Triple 8 Racing Engineering's Andrew Thompson will pilot a TeamVodafone V8 Supercar around Lakeside Park as part of the grand old circuit's final 50th anniversary celebration, the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars from August 12-14.
Thompson, who drives full-time for Triple 8 in the Fujitsu Series and will partner Jamie Whincup in the main game endurance races at Philip Island and Bathurst this year, will drive demonstration laps around Lakeside in the TeamVodafone Holden on both Saturday, August 13 and Sunday August 14. This will be the first Lakeside outing for a V8 Supercar in almost a decade and is likely to be the last due to the circuit's noise restrictions (which have been lifted for these four anniversary race meetings), making it a truly unique opportunity for race fans.
TeamVodafone will set up a V8 Supercar-style race garage adjacent to the Lakeside Function Centre, where the car will be on display over the weekend.
While the TeamVodafone Commodore represents the front-running touring cars of today, the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars will also showcase some of the finest touring cars ever to turn a wheel at the iconic circuit, with three of the best from the late '60s/early '70s heyday. Allan Moffat's iconic 1969 Trans Am Boss Mustang and Norm Beechey's famous 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning HT GTS 350 Monaro will be coming from the Bowden Collection, while the late 'Pete' Geoghegan's GTA Mustang that took the touring car crown three years running from 1967-1969 will also be there.
"To see these cars thundering around the same track at the same time is something we are unlikely to see again anywhere, let alone at Lakeside," enthused Queensland Raceways Chairman John Tetley. "What's more these vehicles will be driven by men who made their reputations at Lakeside - touring car legends Jim Richards (Grand Marshal of the race meeting), John French and Kevin Bartlett."
Apart from demonstration laps from these superb machines, the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars will feature a full program of serious racing, plus a regularity trial and a huge Sunday show and shine display.
On track fans will be treated to a full grid of Group C and Group A cars, many of which have not been back to the circuit since they raced in the Australian Touring Car Championship in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Expect to see some fierce rivalry between the Falcons, Commodores, BMWs, Mazda RX-7s, Ford Sierras and the giant-killing Nissan GTRs.
In addition to the huge thrill of watching historic Group C and Group A take to the track, spectators will be treated to a weekend of non-stop action with Group N (historic touring cars pre-1973), HQ Holdens, Geminis and the thunderous roar of the Australian Trans Am Championship.
The Group N category will feature one of the most famous father and son combinations in Australian touring car history, Barry and Glenn Seton. While Glenn won the Lakeside round of the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1995, father Barry (Bo) drove in Lakeside's first ever ATCC round in 1964. Both Setons will pilot a Ford Capri in the Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars, with Newcastle driver Alan Lewis racing yet another Seton-built Capri.
"We have assembled what is obviously going to be a huge weekend for fans and their families," said Mr Tetley. "We really hope that this weekend will become one of those special family events that lives on around the dinner table for many, many, years to come.
"When the last of the anniversary events finishes on Sunday afternoon, more than 500 competitors and around 20,000 spectators will have enjoyed Lakeside as it was, for one last time," Mr Tetley concluded. "Queensland Raceways is proud to have achieved a fitting tribute to the revitalised Lakeside that maintains the soul of Queensland motorsport and the excitement it has brought to three generations of Queenslanders."
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