Motorsport enthusiasts are flocking to Phillip Island this weekend to see some of the finest examples of historic racing cars ever to compete in Australia.
Leading the pack will be a group of F1 cars that arrived from England via ship just a few days ago and will head back immediately after the weekend to fulfill other commitments in Europe.
There was a huge logistics exercise to assemble the vehicles, transport them to Southampton on England’s south coast and ship them to the Port of Melbourne before transporting them to Phillip Island.
This was the job of global logistics company C.H. Robinson which liaised with the event’s organisers to ensure the vehicles arrived in time for the event in racing condition.
C.H. Robinson’s head of the automotive vertical in Oceania, Paul Morcom said the transport of vintage and historic cars was a specialist challenge that required administrative skills and transport knowledge.
Timing is imperative
“You are dealing with unique individuals and their special requirements when you move historic vehicles,” Morcom said.
“For a start the cars are valuable and much loved by their owners and you have to understand that.
“Exporting and importing the vehicle – for just a short time – requires a lot of paperwork and the cooperation of the authorities such as quarantine in a set timeframe. Timing is imperative. The cars have to be here and ready to race on track on a given date, so the risk of delay has to be minimised as much as possible.”
The FI vehicles arrived in two containers shipped from Southampton. The shipment included:
- Shadow DN8 F1
- Surtees TS 16 F1
- Ensign N179 F1
- Lotus 81 F1
- Tyrrell 012 F1
- Hesketh 308 F1
- Lola T70 MK3B
- Chevron B31
- Chevron B6
- Cobra 1965 289
The Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport takes place at Philip Island’s famous track during the March long weekend.
C.H. Robinson is a global company with $28 billion in freight under management and 20 million shipments annually.
