Have you ever had a really great day at a race track? The Race Torque headed off to the Phillip Island Classic yesterday, along with most of Victoria, and had a brilliant day out.

Over the coming days, we will unpack all of the action from every angle, with the first cab off the rank being the more modern Touring Cars – Group C and A, plus 5 Litre Touring Cars from the Supercars era.

While the Group C and A cars ran in their traditional format, the 5 Litre Touring Cars took to the circuit in a super sprint style event, essentially against the clock, with some invited guests thrown into the mix.

Despite the low-key format, it didn’t stop some drivers from going full send!

5 Litre Touring Cars

If it looks like a Supercar, and sounds like a Supercar…

Although they weren’t strictly racing, it was great to see some big V8s out stretching their legs at Phillip Island.

And unlike other meetings, the cars were oh-so accessible, with fans able to get up close and personal with some awesome bits of kit.

While the cars are stars, the drivers have some decent history too.

Larry Perkins jumped behind the wheel of his last Bathurst car, and was quick too – in the afternoon session he was third fastest of the Supercars, and looked genuinely racey.

Jack Perkins was of course quick, as well Bradley Neill, both behind the wheel of the more modern ex-HRT VF Commodores.

There was genuinely a great mix of cars on track, each with their special stories to tell.

Some of these are museum pieces, so it’s special to see them on track, blowing the cobwebs out.

Group A

From 1985 to 1992, these rockets ruled the race tracks of Australia.

And they have all made the trip to the Phillip Island Classic – the Nissan GT-R, Ford Sierras, Holden Commodores, BMW M3s, class Toyotas, and rarities like the TWR Jaguar and JPS BMW 635i.

Jonathon Webb was the class of the field in his ex-Colin Bond Sierra, although he was pushed all the way by Tony Alford’s GIO GT-R, and Chris Stillwell in the other Caltex Sierra, while Bryan Sala finished second in the morning race in his family’s ex-B&H Sierra.

Was Group A this good back in the day?

Group C

While the newer-spec cars fill out much of the grid, the Group C machines still know how to turn it on.

From the big bad Falcons, Commodores and Toranas to various class cars, there was a fair representation of the category on show.

While the Group C races are dedicated solely to bonafide period race cars, the 5 Litre super sprints allowed some invitational replicas out to play, including the Allan Moffat Federation hardtop look-alike.