Mustangs Rule as the Weather Turns at Sandown

Victorian Trophy Tour Round 4 Sandown
August 8-9 2026

Pics by Phil Wisewould Report by Jervis and Friends

The Victorian Trophy Tour Round 4 brought the Racer Industries Historic Touring Cars to Sandown International Motor Raceway for a weekend that delivered just about everything. There was outright Mustang speed, a stunning charge from the back of the field, a new race lap record, changing conditions and, by Sunday afternoon, a dramatically slower circuit that completely reshuffled the order.

While the Historic Touring Cars shared the program with the Porsche 944s, the battle within the historic field was a fascinating contest in its own right. Ford Mustangs filled the leading positions for much of the weekend, but the Chevrolet Camaro, Valiant Chargers and Holden Torana ensured there was plenty of variety throughout the field.

Qualifying – Pierce Leads a Mustang Charge

Friday afternoon qualifying immediately established Scott Pierce as the man to beat.

Driving the #21 Pierce Plumbing Ford Mustang, Pierce put together a superb 1:21.1591 to take Historic Touring Car pole position. He completed 11 laps, but remarkably his quickest came on only his third tour.
Darren Collins was not far behind. His #97 Ford Mustang produced a 1:21.6904, leaving him just 0.5313 seconds behind Pierce and making it an all-Mustang front row for the Historic Touring Car field.

There was then a sizeable gap to Peter Meuleman in the #43 Bitchin Mustang. Meuleman’s 1:24.3149 put him third among the Historic Touring Cars, while Geoff Munday was right in the hunt aboard his Chevrolet Camaro with a 1:24.8145.

The pair were separated by exactly half a second, setting up an intriguing battle between the Mustang and Camaro for the races to follow.

The Valiant Chargers occupied the next two HTC positions. Craig Miles recorded a 1:26.1718 in the #37 Charger E49, while Glenn Miles managed a 1:27.1879 in the #16 Charger.

Stephen Pillekers flew the Holden flag with his #14 Torana GTR XU, recording a 1:28.3280.

At the bottom of the qualifying order was a driver who would become one of the major stories of the weekend.

NSW visitor Ben Wilkinson completed only four laps in his #189 Wilkinson Carpentry Ford Mustang and managed a best of just 1:40.7829. On qualifying pace alone, Wilkinson appeared to be well out of contention.

That impression would last only until Race 1.

Race 1 – Wilkinson Charges Through and Breaks the Record

Saturday morning’s opening race produced a complete turnaround.

After his troubled qualifying session, Wilkinson suddenly showed the Mustang’s true speed. Starting well down the combined field, he charged his way forward and ultimately emerged as the Historic Touring Car race winner.

And he didn’t simply win. Wilkinson’s fourth lap was completed in 1:20.4956, substantially faster than anything he had managed in qualifying and quick enough to establish a new Historic Touring Car race lap record.

It was a remarkable transformation from Friday afternoon.

Pierce, meanwhile, backed up his qualifying pace with another strong performance. His own best lap was a rapid 1:20.7972, but Wilkinson had the edge when it mattered.

After ten laps the two Mustangs were separated by just 1.2159 seconds, with Wilkinson taking victory from Pierce.

Behind them, Collins completed an all-Mustang top three. He finished 14.619 seconds behind Pierce, his best lap a 1:21.9187.

Wilkinson, Pierce and Collins had effectively established a leading Mustang trio, but there was plenty happening further down the field.

Meuleman brought his Mustang home fourth after ten laps, recording a best of 1:24.6015.

Munday’s Camaro followed in fifth with a 1:25.0572 best, while another particularly close contest developed between the two Valiant Chargers.

Craig Miles crossed the line sixth in class in the #37, but Glenn Miles was almost attached to his rear bumper. Craig completed the ten laps in 18:45.1890 and Glenn in 18:45.6605. The difference was only 0.4715 seconds.

Interestingly, Glenn had actually recorded the slightly faster individual lap – 1:27.5623 compared with Craig’s 1:27.5864 – but Craig had done enough across the complete race distance to stay ahead. Pillekers completed all ten laps in the Torana, finishing eighth and producing his fastest lap, a 1:28.3303, on the final tour.

There was disappointment for Darren Jones, who had joined the field in another Ford Mustang. Jones managed only a single lap before becoming the race’s sole Historic Touring Car retirement. The first race therefore belonged to Wilkinson. From a difficult qualifying session to victory and a new lap record, the NSW Mustang driver had turned his weekend around in emphatic fashion.

Race 2 – Wilkinson Does It Again

Conditions were clearly very different when the cars returned to the circuit on Sunday.
The lap times tell the story. Wilkinson’s record from Saturday remained at 1:20.4956, but nobody came close to matching it during Race 2.

That didn’t stop Wilkinson from continuing his winning run. Over 11 laps he controlled the Historic Touring Car contest and took his second victory of the weekend, completing the race in 19:55.1989.
His best lap was a 1:24.9338.

Behind him, the order changed.

Collins moved into second place aboard the #97 Mustang. He finished 35.3625 seconds behind Wilkinson, but the real battle was happening immediately behind him.
Pierce was charging.

The pole-sitter produced the fastest Historic Touring Car lap of the race on the final lap, recording a 1:24.7494 as he closed on Collins.

At the chequered flag, Collins held on. The margin between the two Mustangs was just 1.4884 seconds.
Meuleman again proved consistent, taking fourth in the #43 Mustang, while Glenn Miles moved his Valiant Charger up to fifth.

Munday was sixth in the Camaro, followed by Craig Miles in the second Charger.

The battle between Munday and Craig Miles became another close one. Munday completed the race in 21:23.7041, with Miles crossing the line only 1.109 seconds later.

Pillekers continued to circulate reliably in the Torana. He completed ten laps to take eighth, with a best lap of 1:33.2659.

Jones had a much longer run than in Race 1, completing eight laps in his Mustang, but again failed to reach the finish.

Wilkinson had now won both races, while Pierce and Collins had each demonstrated the pace to challenge him.

The stage was set for the final race. But Sandown was about to throw another variable into the equation.

Race 3 – Collins Masters the Final

By Sunday afternoon the circuit was significantly slower again. Race 3 was scheduled for 14 minutes but ultimately ran for six laps, and the lap times had climbed dramatically compared with the dry speed seen earlier in the weekend.

Drivers with wet tyres obviously had the advantage. This time it was Darren Collins who mastered the conditions.

Collins put the #97 Mustang into the lead and recorded the fastest lap of the race on lap two, a 1:33.3306.
From there he controlled proceedings and completed the six laps in 13:26.5371 to claim his first victory of the weekend.

Behind him, Meuleman produced arguably his strongest result of the round. The #43 Mustang came home second, 14.1237 seconds behind Collins, giving Ford another one-two finish.

Wilkinson, after dominating the first two races, found the final considerably tougher. Nevertheless, he brought the #189 Mustang home third to complete a remarkably successful recovery from his qualifying difficulties.

Behind the three Mustangs came a terrific scrap involving three completely different cars.
Munday finished fourth in the Chevrolet Camaro. Craig Miles was fifth in the Valiant Charger. And there was almost nothing between them. Munday’s final race time was 13:46.9765, while Miles finished in 13:47.3421 – a margin of only 0.3656 seconds after six laps.

Both also produced their fastest laps on the final tour, Munday recording a 1:36.3433 and Miles a 1:36.4490.
Munday’s result, however, carried an important qualification: the official results show a five-second penalty applied to car #68. The published classification nevertheless lists Munday fourth and Craig Miles fifth.
Glenn Miles completed the weekend with sixth in the second Valiant Charger.

Pierce had been the qualifying star and a Race 1 podium finisher, but his final race was a much more difficult affair. His best lap was 1:44.0437 as he finished seventh in the #21 Mustang.

Pillekers again made it to the chequered flag aboard the Torana, completing six laps and finishing eighth.
Jones’ frustrating weekend continued. After retiring from both earlier races, he completed four laps of the finale before recording another DNF. His 1:35.7563 best lap nevertheless showed considerable speed – it was quicker than the best laps recorded by several of the classified finishers.

A Weekend of Mustang Muscle

Across the three races, the Ford Mustangs were unquestionably the dominant force at Sandown.
But there wasn’t one single driver in control from beginning to end.

Pierce began the weekend as the benchmark, claiming pole with his 1:21.1591.

Then Wilkinson produced the performance of the meeting.

After qualifying at the back of the Historic Touring Car contingent following limited running, the NSW visitor stormed through to win Race 1 and set a 1:20.4956 race lap record in the process. That record remained unbeaten for the rest of the weekend.

Wilkinson backed it up with another victory in Race 2, making it two wins from two starts. Then, when conditions became more challenging for the final race, Collins stepped forward. His victory completed a weekend in which three Mustang drivers – Pierce, Wilkinson and Collins – had all shown front-running speed, although it was Wilkinson and Collins who converted that speed into race victories.

Meuleman was another consistent performer. While he couldn’t quite match the leading Mustangs on outright pace, his fourth places in the opening two races were followed by an excellent second in the finale.
Munday kept the Chevrolet Camaro firmly in the contest, while Craig and Glenn Miles provided plenty of interest with their pair of Valiant Chargers. The two Chargers were especially closely matched in Race 1, when less than half a second separated them at the finish.

Pillekers, meanwhile, kept the Holden Torana GTR XU circulating throughout the weekend and reached the finish of all three races.

Jones endured the toughest round, with his Mustang failing to finish any of the three races, although his pace in the finale hinted at what might have been.

From the outright speed of Friday qualifying and Saturday’s lap-record performance to the much slower and more difficult conditions of Sunday afternoon, Sandown provided three very different tests.
Pierce took the pole. Wilkinson took two victories and the lap record. Collins took the finale.

And through it all, the Mustangs thundered at the front – but the Camaro, Chargers and Torana ensured the Victorian Trophy Tour’s Historic Touring Cars put on a wonderfully varied display of Australian touring car history at one of the country’s most famous circuits.