MOTOR RACING: John Abbott from Withcott has a passion for ex Bathurst touring cars and will drive one with a bit of Bathurst history at this weekend’s Autumn Historic Nationals at Morgan Park.

There are 165 nominations for the event being run by the Historic Racing Car Club of Queensland.

Abbott’s Toyota Celica Supra was the first factory Group A Supra and was built for Team Toyota Great Britain for Group A racing in Europe.

It was first raced by Win Percy in the British Saloon Car Championship during 1983 and 1984, before being entered for the prestigious Spa 24 hour race in July 1984, where Gordon Spice and the Martin brothers from Belgium finished 5th outright; the highest placed finish for a Toyota in that event.

The car came to Australia straight from Belgium in August 1984, to be raced by Sydney Toyota dealer Peter Williamson.

Williamson campaigned the car from 1984 until 1987, and along the way the car was driven by other well known drivers including Charlie O’Brien, Thomas Mezera and Mark Skaife. The car won the Group A class at the first event in Australia, the Castrol 500 at Sandown in 1984, and continued to win its class at that event ever year it competed there.

However at Bathurst, the car was best known for its crashes, including being involved in the start line crash in 1984 which brought out the red flag, and in 1986 the car was very badly damaged in a huge crash on Conrod Straight.

At the end of the 1987 season the car was sold to New Zealand, where it continued to race until 1989. It was then retired and not raced further until it was restored in 2005 by Abbott to continue racing in Historic Group A events.

The car is restored as it was entered at the Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst 1986 for Peter Williamson and Mark Skaife, in its ‘big bad orange’ paint scheme. This was to be Mark Skaife’s first Bathurst, but unfortunately Williamson crashed the car before Skaife got to drive in the race.

The car is one of only 6 Mk 2 Supras to race in Group A worldwide, of which only three are thought to survive.

The car and it’s history has been verified by CAMS, Australian Motor sport’s governing body and now competes regularly in the booming Heritage Touring Car series.

The Heritage Touring Car series travels up and down Australia’s eastern states and caters exclusively for genuine Group C and Group A Touring cars, that raced in the Bathurst 1000 and other Australian Touring Car races between 1973 and 1992.

Round 2 of the 2016 series will be held at the upcoming Autumn Historic Warwick race meeting at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick.

As well as the Heritage Touring Cars, there will also be races for pre ’73 Group N Historic Touring Cars, pre ’86 Sports Sedans, Trans-Am classic American muscle cars and a range of sports cars and single seaters ranging from the ‘60s to the ’80s.

The event will be conducted at Morgan Park Raceway on April 30-May 1 and the public are welcome.

Event promoters, the Historic Racing Car Club, (Qld.) are hoping to see plenty of race fans attend this family friendly event and the venue has an excellent canteen catering for hungry and thirsty race goers.

Adult admission is $20/day or a weekend pass can be purchased for just $30. Concessions are $15/day or $25 for the weekend. Accompanied children under 15 years of age are free.

Admission to the pit paddock area is also free, enabling spectators to inspect the cars up close and chat to the drivers about their amazing vehicles.