Gay finishes in blaze of glory, clinches third in championship

RICHARD Gay saved some of his best for last as the Victorian Motor Racing Championships came to a rip-roaring end at Calder Park Raceway last month.

Rounding out a stellar season, Gay – representing the Ballarat Light Car Club – ended the series for sports compacts and two-litre sports sedans in overall third place.

Competing in his restricted turbo Toyota 86, he was touted as a potential winner following his round three of the series pole and three wins at Calder mid-year.

Manned with new slicks and data man on the Saturday for practice, qualifying and races one and two, the weather had other ideas, with the rain pouring all day.

Without wets and only bald R specs to use, the day didn’t go to plan, with Gay qualifying 17th in the 20-car field.

A great start in race one allowed him to pass five cars into turn one and slot into 12th spot, where he remained until the finish despite multiple slides, including sideways on the main straight in fifth gear at 204km/h.

Gay did his best in the lingering shocking conditions in race two, securing enough points to snare outright third in the championship.

With spots second to fifth all up for grabs going into the weekend, a top three finish was the definite aim.

While conditions were vastly improved on the Sunday, Gay opted to sit out race three, still on a wet track, and lined up in 19th spot in race four.

Determined to finish on a high, and with the track mostly dry, Gay produced arguably the highlight of his 24 series races across six rounds and two states (Victoria and South Australia), engineering an audacious last-to-first run to win the final race.

Still with the bald R spec tyres on, he passed nine cars into turn one, picking off plenty more to be placed third after two laps and hunting down the leaders at over one second a lap faster.

His stirring momentum was briefly halted with eight laps to go when the pace car was called for following a crash on the back straight.

With the field bunched when the green flag fell, Gay stormed to the lead, setting the fastest lap of the race of 2.07.87 with a top speed of 242km/h on that restart lap.

Capping a stellar first full year of racing in the 86, he crossed the finish line 2.1 seconds clear of second-placed Linda Devlin in the blue turbo Mini and third-placed Jimbo Harris in the wild Bluebird to claim the final race of the year.

An outright third series finish and second in class E was punctuated by four race wins, 12 podiums, several fastest laps and a round win to complete the championship.

For Gay, it was an all-round performance that exceeded expectations.

“I was the only one in the top six without slicks or aero…it’s one of those things where I am a little hamstrung, but we are getting there,” he said.

“But it was a ripper year.

“Most of the other cars around me have been racing for five to 10 years and are all well-developed – we were doing it on the run.

“But no doubt the highlight was that last race of the year; starting 19th and passing everyone to win was pretty cool, especially after an average day the day before.

“An amazing way to end the series.”

With the championships done and dusted, attention for Gay and his team will turn to 2026 and a tilt at some rounds of the compact series and the Victorian sports sedans, including Phillip Island and Sandown.

Plans for the new year also include some dirt events in his WRX rally car, complete with a rebuilt engine.

Gay said a highly successful 2025 campaign was made possible with the support of his family, friends and sponsors.