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 The Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) of WA is looking forward to building on the success of its 2007 and 2009 Caversham Events with it set to become an annual event in 2010 known as the “Caversham Revival”. This will culminate in the biggest event of them all, the 2012 Caversham Revival which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the last Australian Grand Prix held at Caversham in 1962.
The 2012 event already has one booking, no less than Sir Jack Brabham, who was the special guest of the VSCC of WA for 2009. Sir Jack was in the West last month to attend the Caversham Motoring Fair and unveil the plaque naming the area containing the Caversham Motor Raceway “Sir Jack Brabham Reserve”.
Sir Jack attended a cocktail party in his honour on the Saturday evening at which he was reunited with the nose cone from the first ever Brabham Racing Car to grace his homeland. The BT4 was here to compete in the first ever Gold Star race and AGP on the 18 of October 1962. It seems that in the haste to return to the pits to access the damage caused with the incident with Arnold Glass which saw Black Jack collide with the half tyre wall on KLG corner, he left a portion of the nose cone on the track. This was collected by the flag marshal and has been in his possession ever since. The ever witty Brabham responded with the cry that “I’ve been looking for that”. Well maybe he should have asked earlier, it has been hanging on a nail in VSCC member Rob Fergusson-Stewarts garage for too long and was on the night presented to the VSCC to add to its ever growing list of memorabilia.
The members and invited guests were treated to a grand exposé of Sir Jack’s motor racing past and even some insights into the future of the Brabham name in the sport.
With the Sunday event the crowd was again treated to a spectacle to behold, 12 vintage aircraft and gliders attended the day giving a low level fly past and landing on the T section of the race circuit where they stayed until the early afternoon, before flying off with another flypast. The crowd watched as fifty cars competed in the motorkhana being conducted on the main straight with vehicles from all different ages and categories.
In excess of 25 specialist one marquee clubs and special interest groups associated with Historic Motor Sport attended on the day putting on a display of over 300 cars and 100 bikes and their special interests, even the recovery crew was there.
 The highlight of the day was of course the naming of Sir Jack Brabham Reserve, Sir Jack now has his own postcode and his reserve has in its midst the last remaining totally intact aerodrome style racing circuit in Australia. Sir Jack spoke with the crowd and graciously accepted the honour of having the area named after him, fitting recognition of his contribution to the sport, something which is long overdue in this country.
The event concluded with a spirited parade of the vehicles’ around the circuit, they were flagged off by local member Ms Rita Saffioti MLA who has been a long time supporter of the community’s efforts to retain the Caversham Motor Raceway. City of Swan Mayor and local ward Representative, Mr Charlie Zannino along with spokesperson for the Minister for Planning Mr Frank Alban MLA were on hand to congratulate Sir Jack and assist in the naming ceremony and unveiling of the plaque.
We all hope that our civic leaders saw on the day the true cultural value of the circuit and its meaning to the assembled crowd of 5000 people. The area is under threat of development and needs assistance with its preservation. Details on how to assist the VSCC of WA can be found on their website at www.vsccwa.com.au.
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