Barry Butterworth Classic takes racing back to the good ol’ days

7 February, 2017

 

If you’re unfamiliar with the name Barry Butterworth, that might just be set to change, with some of the most hotly anticipated events on the local speedway calendar approaching. February 11 will see the Barry Butterworth Classic held at Vodafone Western Springs Speedway, in memory of one of the greatest legends on local dirt — a race meeting that takes racing back to the good old days with Sprint Cars, F2 Midgets, Midgets, and TQ Midgets in contention.

In this event, the classes race “like they did in the old days”, with the fastest qualifier starting last, and they then select who they would like to have start back beside them. With the fastest drivers thus positioned at the rear of the pack, exciting racing is guaranteed with a fight to get to the front — just as it was done in Barry’s heyday. 

Find out more information at springsspeedway.com.

Super affordable supercar

The owner of this 1978 GTV, Stephen Perry, with only a skerrick of wishful thinking, says through half-closed eyes, “It is not dissimilar to the Maserati Khamsin”.
The nose is particularly trim and elegant from all angles, featuring cut-outs for the headlights echoing Alfa’s own exotic Montreal. The body is unfussy, lean with lots of glass, and the roofline shows a faint family resemblance — although on a much more angular car — to the curved waistline of the earlier 105s. The slightly hunched rear means there’s much more space in the rear seats than in the cramped rear of 105s — very much a 2+2 — and a generous boot. These more severe lines are not quite as endearing as the 105’s but they are still classy and clearly European.