- 1,115
- Rivera
- Tsukishima-TDUDT
Introduced in the early 1980s, the Group C and GTP regulations considerably increased the global appeal of sports car racing. The class attracted entries from manufacturers and teams from almost all corners of the world, including several Australian teams. The profile of sports car racing received a further boost 'Down Under' by the addition of a World Championship round at Sandown Park in 1984.
This inspired Adelaide-based privateer racer Bernard van Elsen to commission the construction of an Australian Group C car. The design and construction was entrusted to K&A Engineering, run by Dale Koennecke and Harry Aust. Although very experienced, the two engineers had not yet developed a 'ground effect' racing car before. Fortunately two friends of Aust's John and Bob Murphy had just returned from the United States where they worked on the 'ground effect' VDS Can-Am cars.
In order to speed up the development process, Van Elsen acquired a Lola F5000 racer. This was stripped of the suspension components, the Chevrolet engine and the Hewland gearbox. These were grafted to a new, purpose-built aluminium monocoque chassis. This was built to GTP specifications with the pedal box behind the front axle, to ensure the new car could be raced both in the World Championship and the lucrative IMSA Championship in North America.
The front suspension featured lower wishbones and top rockers that actuated in-board mounted springs and dampers, which allowed for a clean airflow into the all-important 'ground effect' tunnels that ran on either side of the cockpit. The tightly wrapped body sported a very low nose courtesy of the 'hip-mounted' radiators. Like the Porsche 956, the car was fitted with a full-width rear wing. When additionally downforce was needed, a small front aerofoil was also tried.
When the car was completed, the five-litre engine sourced from the F5000 Lola was fitted. Halfway through 1986 this was replaced by a slightly larger, 5.8-litre Chevrolet V8. The regulations did not limit the engine size but did restrict the fuel available per race, so most other teams running the Chevrolet V8 settled on the 5.8 litre version for mileage reasons. The all-alloy unit was mated to the same Hewland DG300 gearbox also found in the single-seater Lola.
As a tribute to the car's constructors, Van Elsen chose to name the car Veskanda. He asked one of Australia's leading single seater racers, John Bowe to drive the car. Testing commenced in June of 1985 but due to an accident caused by a wheel failure, the car's competition debut had to be delayed until August. Even though the Veskanda was still not fully sorted and still powered by the five-litre engine, Bowe immediately put a marker down, beating the previously dominant Lola T610 and Kaditcha at the Calder round of the Australian championship.
There was no World Championship race at Sandown in 1985, so the team focused on the 1986 Australian GT/Sports Car championship. Bowe absolutely dominated, winning every round, setting new sports car and even outright lap records at most tracks. Such was the dominance that the 1987 championship had so few entrants that it was cancelled after just three of the six rounds. Needless to say, Bowe and the Veskanda won all three rounds.
At the end of 1988, the Veskanda finally had a chance to be measured against international competition as the World Championship returned to Sandown once more. Bowe was joined for the occasion by Dick Johnson and the V8 engine enlarged to six litres. They qualified eighth in the 18-car strong field. Six laps down on the winning Sauber-Mercedes C9, the Veskanda also finished eighth but it was disqualified after the race for exceeding its fuel allowance.
Generally acknowledged as the fastest sports car built in Australia, the Veskanda still holds many of the lap records set in period. In recent years, it has been completely restored for historic racing by K&A Engineering. After several outings in Australia, it was acquired by England-based Australian Paul Stubber. He gave the car its international debut in 2012 when he competed in the Historic Group C Championship.
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