The story so far
Back in mid-2021 the Australian Motor Heritage Foundation identified a gap in Australia’s motorsport history. As many would know, virtually all our car racing results since 1997 are available on the Natsoft web site. Previously, organising clubs would mail paper copies of Official Results to all competitors after their event. Many of these organising clubs in the eastern states no longer exist and results have been lost. Examples include the once prominent Queensland Racing Drivers Club (QRDC), Australian Automobile Racing Club (AARC) and the Light Car Club of Australia (LCCA). Stewards’ reports for each race meeting were sent to CAMS with a copy of the results, but for reasons that are still not clear, these were disposed of when the CAMS office re-located earlier this century.
Natsoft in Launceston was also approached and while it expressed interest in hosting the earlier data, the complexities of getting printed paper results into its unique format was just not feasible.
The AMHF now holds a complete set of Racing Car News and these have been a useful resource to confirm event dates. However, space usually restricted the magazine’s race reporting to place getters only.
Up to February 2024 I contacted over 130 former competitors and officials and asked to get copies of their results. Most have been willing to lend their past results to the AMHF for scanning and return. As well, many race and hillclimb results were found in the archives of the late Graham Howard, which now resides at the AMHF. We also appreciate the co-operation and exchange of data that continues with the Victorian Historic Racing Register (VHRR) and Sporting Car Club of South Australia (SCC of SA).
As a result, the Foundation currently has a database of over 1,200 Australian car race results and more than 700 Australian Hillclimb results. By using “searchable pdf” format, driver names or car names can usually be located using the search function.
Official Results are held for race meetings between 1925 and 1997 and now include the majority of Australian Grand Prix results. Where available, qualifying times and lap charts are also captured.
The story of your historic racing car
The typical “barn find” racing car seldom comes with a documented history, and we may be able to help here.
Supporters and patrons of the AMHF can now get copies of a limited number of these results as part of their annual membership. For more details, have a look our listings at “The Collection” tab on our web site:
We have already been able to help many owners establish their racing car’s history in order to have a Historic Logbook approved by Motorsport Australia (MA).
Former competitors – how you can help
There are still a lot of gaps to fill, so if you still have paper copies of your pre-1998 race results, the AMHF would love to hear from you. Event results can either be donated to the AMHF or we are happy to carefully scan your originals and return them to you along with a digital copy.
AMHF volunteer, Rod Chivas is currently running this project. Rod can be contacted by email at results [at] motorheritage.org.au or 0413_360_772.
