Albany's Long Weekend of Motorsport

Published: Thursday June 3 2021
The small town of Albany in Australia’s South West will be taken over by motoring and motorsport enthusiasts this coming long weekend with the Burson Auto Parts Albany Classic 2021 and Burson Auto Parts Mt Clarence Hill-Climb making a return after a year off in 2020 due to

The small town of Albany in Australia’s South West will be taken over by motoring and motorsport enthusiasts this coming long weekend with the Burson Auto Parts Albany Classic 2021 and Burson Auto Parts Mt Clarence Hill-Climb making a return after a year off in 2020 due to COVID-19.

The hugely popular festival will take over the streets of Albany with more than 100 cars showcased throughout the weekend at the event hosted by the Vintage Sports Car Club of WA.

On Saturday the Mt Clarence Hill-Climb kicks off the weekend of motorsport where competitors will get four runs of the course in a bid to post their fastest times. The Mt Clarence Hill-Climb however isn’t the only Saturday option with a separate event by the Speed Event Series organisers being held out at the Albany Wind Farm featuring some more up to date machinery.

On Sunday the Albany Classic takes over the streets of Albany turning the township into a race track with competitors competing in a regularity style event where they aim to achieve the same lap time each time around the town, rather than actually racing each other, to see who has the best control and feel of their vehicle.

On Monday the Speed Event Series organisers finish out the long weekend of motorsport in Albany with the Pendeen Sprint.

Event information for the Speed Event Series is hard to come by for the general public, we’ve asked over the last few years for the organisers to make event information available for the public but information still remains in their Facebook group only and still remains very competitor focused, even for spectator friendly events at Collie Motorplex or Wanneroo Raceway.

Meanwhile for non racing action, there will be a selection of car clubs and their members with cars on display around the course as well as having a lunch time parade on the Sunday around the regularity setup in Albany.

Vintage Sports Car Club Of WA secretary David Moir will also be competing in the event in his Austin Healy and was excited for the event to return after being cancelled in 2020.
 
“It’s brilliant that we are back and we are really excited to be running again,” Moir said.
 
“There has been heaps of interest surrounding this event – both from a competitor and spectator point of view. A number of our categories were actually oversubscribed and we had to knock back a few people – so I think a lot of people are keen.
 
“With that said, Albany has always been a popular event despite it being a fair way from Perth and being the first weekend of winter, I think people just enjoy coming here because it’s a great atmosphere and there is great support from the Albany Council and local community. 
 
“From a fan’s perspective – it’s a pretty big event. This and the Flying 50 are the only events of its kind in Australia and I think people just love seeing old vintage cars in action – this event also attracts members of the public who don’t know much about motorsport – so it’s a great introduction for them. 
 
“Unfortunately there is a bit of rain expected, which could make it difficult for the drivers because it’s a street course, not a race rack, so the roads are harder. But with that said, everyone is looking forward to it.”
 
For more information about the Albany Classic and Mt Clarence Hill-Climb, visit the official Facebook page for details.