By Brendan Rees
Like the rest of his family, car racing is in the blood of Michael Gibson.
He was only 10-years-old when he started driving go-karts. Now, the keen motoring enthusiast is gearing up for the Historic Winton race in Benalla later this month.
The 33-year-old from Cannons Creek will race his 1983 Lola – which can reach a top speed of 240km/h – on the Winton Motor Raceway.
Michael says it’s an exceptional car, and has won most races in its class. He also won the Australian Sports 2000 Championship three years ago.
“The car is quite competitive. It always punches above its weight,” he said. “It’s a well sorted out little car that’s for sure.”
He says the car, which has a two-litre Ford engine with a Hewland transmission, has been raced in historic events all over Australia.
“It’s just an easy car to run – it’s a fun car to drive.”
Michael says he’s always wanted to race professionally but says people don’t “realise it’s not about your talent but how big your budget is.”
“I was luckily enough signed with Dragon super car team for a brief time until they wanted excessive amounts of money so I had to back away from that.”
A mechanical engineer by profession, Michael also works on a collection of racing cars in Dandenong South.
For Michael, racing cars has become a family affair.
“I’m a third generation racing driver,” he says. “My grandfather raced, my uncle’s raced; my father raced sports cars. I had two uncles in Formula One as mechanics so it’s grown from there.
“My racing doesn’t happen without my sponsors Apex Deal and Liqui Moly.”
Historic Winton will be held at Winton Motor Raceway near Benalla on May 25-27.
It is Australia’s largest and most popular all-historic motor race meet and will feature over 400 historic racing cars and motorbikes from the 1920s to the 1980s plus a huge heritage display of veteran and vintage vehicles.
