When I come home from a weekend of car stuff, I usually say, “Yeah, I did car stuff,” but this weekend was different. I met Mad Mike Whiddett, witnessed time attack cars shatter lap records, and explored 101 different types of vehicles at the 2024 International Festival of Speed Perth.
In the lead-up to the event, my Facebook buzzed with notifications. Local automotive group chats lit up with messages: “Anyone got this part I can borrow?” “What’s causing this issue?” The Perth car community really came together for the two-day festival earlier this month.
Heading to the event on the first day, the hum of Saturday commuters in Western Australia’s capital city faded into quieter roads, eventually giving way to the winding backroads leading into CARCO.com.au Raceway in Wanneroo. As I turned the corner from the spectator parking area, the walls surrounding the motorsport facility peeled back to reveal a vibrant sea of multicoloured cars sprawled around the race track.
The event’s beauty lay in its diverse offerings, combining car displays, drifting demonstrations, burnouts (of course) and track laps, with other quirky elements like high-powered lawnmowers and tractors.
The organisers aimed to engage the public with Q&A sessions, track walks, passenger rides, dyno runs, and interactive displays.
Key event highlights included time attack cars vying for lap records, with Western Australian and Eastern state competitors chasing perfection. The excitement peaked when Tim Slade, piloting the Xtreme GT-R, crushed the track’s ‘closed car’ lap record set in 2019 by nearly 1.6 seconds, clocking a blistering 51.574-second lap. Unfortunately, day two saw the highlight cars face challenges, though many drivers significantly improved their early times.
This was interspersed with main-track drifting demonstrations by Mad Mike Whiddett in his TCP-Magic-built 4-rotor, twin-turbo Mazda 3 ‘Bullet’ and local drifting stars, along with historic touring car races featuring some classic Australian machines.
The presence of high-profile guests elevated the atmosphere, inspiring everyone to deliver their best on-track performances.
Off-track car displays added to the energy, with the largest Mazda rotary gathering seen in Western Australia since 2015.
The 2024 International Festival Of Speed Perth showcased unity in diversity, with camaraderie shining through as people from all corners of the car community came together to help each other and enjoy the festivities.
Diversity drives enthusiasm, and there’s plenty of that for this event.
Jack Major
Instagram: majorlymedia
majorlymedia.com
Photography by Josh Ramsden
Instagram: ramsdenmedia
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