Driver Behaviour

Many people have said that historic racing is putting the “Sport” back into motor racing. Certainly, CAMS and the Historic Commission are very conscious of the need for a quite different standard of driving and track behaviour, and a different attitude to be displayed by drivers in this category of racing.

Historic racing drivers compete for trophies and not for prize money; no advertising is permitted on competing vehicles. These two factors alone mean that commercial involvement is minimal, with professional cut and thrust being actively discouraged (and indeed not at all necessary). Aggressive driving really has no place in the historic racing scene. Similarly the policy against “updating” of historic cars really means that the win-at-all-costs philosophy is far removed from this sphere of the sport.

The attitude which is encouraged is good competition, within the bounds of good sportsmanship. The Stewards of the Meeting, Driving Standards Observer and the Clerk of Course are specifically instructed to look closely at any behaviour which, whilst possibly tolerated in modern racing, is incompatible with historic motor sport.

It is important to be fully aware of certain factors which apply to historic car racing, in order that you have a better appreciation of CAMS’ attitudes and philosophy towards it.

First, historic cars enjoy a number of exemptions from some contemporary safety requirements, which is some of the earlier groups includes roll bars, seat belts, etc.
Second, CAMS does not permit monetary awards for historic racing in any circumstances, hence the incentive to win is very much diminished when compared with contemporary racing.
Third, no individual advertising is permitted on cars, again reducing the incentive to win and in turn impress a sponsor. (This does not prohibit signage which is known to have been on the car in the period).

Historic racing has been developed and fostered by CAMS as a purely amateur activity with the accent very much more on participation rather than results. In other words, historic racing is intended to be fun with more emphasis on the preservation and use of cars, rather than a demonstration of driving ability.

Since 1996, the Historic Commission has been recording in an incidents data base all those driver-related incidents recorded by flag point marshals and reported in Stewards, Driving Standards Observer or Clerk of Course reports. This data base enables the Commission make recommendations with regard to driver behaviour as appropriate.

Appointed Driving Standards Observers 2009-2010:

Kevin Bartlett (QLD)
Bob Piper (SA)
Stuart Kostera (WA)
Peter Mohr (QLD)
Ken Innes-Irons (VIC)
Lyndon Sperring (WA)