Three generations of Quinn in ARC at Symmons Plains

Tony Quinn will share the grid with son Kent and grandson Ryder when Round 2 of Aussie Racing Cars unfolds at this weekend’s Beaurepaires Tasmania SuperSprint.

Ryder will make his debut in the category fresh off his first weekend in car racing altogether when he contested the Queensland Formula Ford Championship opener last month.

The 16-year-old finished second at that Morgan Park round and is set to become an Aussie Racing Cars regular alongside his Formula Ford programme.

Ryder is the son of Klark Quinn, an Australian GT champion and former Aussie Racing Cars competitor, and will be part of a 27-car field at Symmons Plains which also includes uncle Kent and grandfather Tony.

“I’ll be racing there; my eldest son, Kent, will be racing there; and Ryder, my eldest grandson, will be having his second race [meeting],” Tony Quinn told Speedcafe.com.

“He turned 16, and he raced Formula Ford in Queensland, finished second for the weekend, which was a good result.

“He wants to just have a play with Aussie Racing Cars, and I said to him that he should concentrate on the Formula Ford Championship in Queensland, see if he can make a good job of that, then come and have some fun in the Aussie Racing Cars.

“To be fair, in Aussie Racing Cars, the top 10 drivers in there are pretty handy, pretty good, so we’ll see how he goes.

“He was so smart when he raced the Formula Fords, at Morgan Park, and he’s a bit of thinker.

“He’s not desperate or anything, he’s quite methodical in how he approaches it. It’ll be interesting.”

For Tony, being able to race with his family is far more important than his own results.

“I’m going to love it, I’m going to absolutely love it,” said the man who also owns the Aussie Racing Cars category.

“I don’t care what the results are.

“I’m not the only father or grandfather that has raced with their sons or grandsons [but] I just think it’s one of the best things I can do nowadays.

“I mean, I can’t do much very well anymore, so I’ve just got to enjoy the participation, if you like. It’s good.

“I remember when Klark used to race with us. At the end of the race, if I didn’t know where he’d finished, that was the first question I’d ask the team; ‘Where did Klark finish?’”

Tony has shared a car with Klark in the Bathurst 12 Hour, and father-son driver combinations are far from unheard of.

Furthermore, three members of a family were entered in the same car as recently as this month’s Bathurst 6 Hour, when the McLeod brothers steered an Astra.

Tony Quinn, however, hopes to go even further one day.

“I see more and more of it,” he said of multi-generation entries.

“I mean, it’s always happened, father and son. I did it for years with Klark, and now Paul Morris will be doing it with Nash, and I think that’s always been a thing.

“But I think the grandfather, son and grandson, that’s next level, so we’ll see how we get on.

“My ambition really is to do the Bathurst 12 Hour or Bathurst 6 Hour or GT, whatever comes, with grandfather, son and grandson.

“That would be a bucket list thing for me to do.”

Nick Simmons leads the Aussie Racing Cars Super Series after Round 1 on the Mount Panorama 500 undercard.

Practice, Qualifying, and the first of four races at Symmons Plains take place on Saturday.

Entry list: Round 2, Symmons Plains International Raceway