Competitors and enthusiasts attending the 2009 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 13-15 will support the Victorian Bushfire Appeal through a range of on and off-track activities.

• Part proceeds from programme sales at the meeting will be donated towards the appeal

• Motor racing legends including three-time World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, four-time Australian Touring Car Champion Bob Jane, seven-time Bathurst winner Jim Richards, two-time Australian Touring Car Champion Glenn Seton, Australian Sports Car Champion and Bathurst winner John Bowe and former driver and team owner Fred Gibson will all autograph posters at the Shannons Super Rig in the paddock for a gold coin donation

• Richards, Seton and Bowe will additionally donate ‘hot laps’ to the highest bidders at a special auction held at the meeting’s Saturday night gala dinner

• Laps of the Grand Prix circuit alongside Seton or Bowe in the new Nissan R35 GT-R that will be used as the ‘pace car’ on the warm-up laps for the combined Group C and Group A touring car races will also be sold

• All gold coin entrance fees to view the Shannons Showroom collection of more than 100 classic sporting and muscle cars to be held in the new circuit’s new Expo Centre will go to the appeal.

Combined, these initiatives are expected to represent a substantial donation by historic racing enthusiasts towards the Bushfire Relief Fund.

More than 560 historic racing, sports and touring cars spanning six decades – including 18 overseas drivers from six nations – have entered the meeting, which is supported by Shannons, CoolDrive and the VACC.

Practice and qualifying for all categories will take place on Friday March 13, with racing from 9.00am until 4.40pm on the Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15.