A FORMER Super Touring BMW that competed in the Bathurst 1000 and the BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship – and is understood to have taken part in the inaugural FIA Touring Car World Cup at Monza in 1993 – is lining up to take on the Group A and C Heritage Touring Cars in August.
Long-time motorsport identity Trevor Sheumack ran the car at the Phillip Island Historics earlier this year and is a confirmed starter among a bumper 35-plus car line-up of Heritage Touring Cars at the Winton Festival of Speed on August 2-4.
Super Tourers and early era V8 Supercars (up to 1998) are invited cars into the Heritage Touring Car field and Sheumack’s BMW is the only Super Tourer among the entry list at this stage.
Sheumack acquired his BMW from New Zealand earlier this year and it’s a car with plenty of overseas and local history
Reportedly raced by Johnny Cecotto in the 1993 FIA World Touring Car Cup at Monza, it came to Australia the following year and was used by Paul Morris in the latter rounds of the local two-litre series.
Kiwis Craig Baird and Brett Riley drove it in Diet Coke colours in that year’s Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst before it spent time in the Australian Super Touring Championship in 1995 and 1996.
New Zealanders Dennis and Debbie Chapman acquired the car prior to the 1999 Bathurst 500 and ran it at that Bob Jane T-Marts-backed ‘Bathurst ‘99’ event. It also returned to Australia to compete in the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour event.
The car has since, prior to this year, resided in New Zealand and run in club and Historic events.
Sheumack, who is Michelin’s motorsport tyre distributor in Australia, is no stranger to Super Tourers in period.
He made two starts in the 1998 season, one in the privateer BMW usually raced by the Faber-Castell team. His other start came in that year’s season finale on the Grand Prix circuit at the wheel of a third Brad Jones Racing Orix Audi A4 quattro.
The Winton Festival of Speed live streaming coverage will be shown on the V8 Sleuth website, YouTube channel and Facebook page on Saturday August 3 and Sunday August 4.
The event will also include the Just Cars 50K Cup for Group N touring cars, Touring Car Tributes, HQ Holdens, Alfa racing, Group S sportscars, Formula Vee and Formula Ford.
The event will also feature a grand parade of show cars on track both days including a special celebration of the 60th anniversary of Ford Mustang.
Tickets will be available at the gate as well as online here with further information on the event here on the VHRR website.
