2023 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Rd4 Programme

PROUD FUEL SUPPLIER OF THE HI-TEC OILS SUPER SERIES

hi-tec oils super series Round 4

Welcome from Series Management

Welcome to Morgan Park for Round 4 of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series - we've passed the halfway mark of the 2023 season and we're now on the run home!

The previous round at Queensland Raceway was held in conjunction with the Days of Thunder event and was highly successful, with the local Queensland categories all enjoying the exposure of running as part of a national-level race meeting. Once again, we're pleased to welcome some Queensland categories onto our program this weekend, with the QLD Production Cars, Replica Tourers, QLD Touring Car Championship and Australian Trans Am all returning for another taste of our series.

The QLD categories will join a trio of national classes. The TA2 Muscle Car Series is a mainstay of our program and is delivering what is shaping up to be an epic title fight, while the Mazda RX8 Cup returns for the first time since our Winton event.

The final national class on the program is the Legend Cars Australia Series, which makes its first appearance on our program for the season with a quality field which should provide plenty of entertainment.

Morgan Park is a great regional race track with a mixture of fast, flowing corners and tighter technical sections, so it should produce some great racing. The Warwick community are always supportive of national-level motorsport at the venue as well.

As always, a big thank you to George Gambino and the Hi-Tec Oils team for their support of this year's series, along with our hard working volunteer officials for their efforts in ensuring our race meetings proceed smoothly.

Cheers, Stephen Whyte - Benalla Auto Club General Manager

Welcome from the Sponsor Officials Track map Schedule

TA2 Muscle Car Series Mazda RX8 Cup Legend Cars Australia QLD Production Cars

Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Round 4 official event programme

Editor: Lachlan Mansell

Photos: Colson Photography, Riccardo Benvenuti, Trackside Media, Matthew Paul Photography, MTR Images

The Hi-Tec Oils Super Series is proudly owned by the Benalla Auto Club and sanctioned by the Australian Auto Sport Alliance.

Publisher: Chequered Flag Media hi-tec oils super series RoUnD 4 3

welcome from the sponsor

On behalf of Hi-Tec Oils, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Morgan Park Raceway for the fourth round of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series.

Motorsport sponsorship continues to represent an important marketing activity for the Hi-Tec brand, and we're fortunate enough to have sponsorship properties across multiple disciplines of the sport, including drifting with our Hi-Tec Drift All Stars, endurance racing with the Bathurst 6 Hour, speedway with the Toowoomba venue and now, national-level circuit racing with the HiTec Oils Super Series.

From the three rounds we've completed so far at Winton, Hidden Valley and Queensland Raceway I've been impressed with the passion of the competitors and the professionalism of the Benalla Auto Club staff members in running the series.

This weekend's Morgan Park round will again feature an entertaining assortment of categories, with three national championships joined by some local QLD-based classes.

I would encourage all competitors and spectators of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series to visit the Hi-Tec Oils website and have a look at our range of products. While oil is our most familiar brand, it is certainly not the only product we sell - we also provide coolant, brake fluid, fuel system additives, cleaning products and windscreen wipers, while one brand we're really pushing at the moment is our battery brand, which is gaining traction in the market.

Once again, this weekend's event will feature live streaming and television coverage, so if you're not trackside at Morgan Park, make sure you tune into the live stream via the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series social media channels on Sunday morning, and SBS or Fox Sports in the afternoon!

Cheers, George Gambino - CEO, Hi-Tec Oils

Officials of the meeting

Duty

Name

Series Manager Stephen Whyte

Series Administrator Shannon Jones

Series Stewards Richard Whyte, Michael Fitzgerald

Series Clerk of Course Andrew Wilton

Deputy Clerk of Course Merv McKenny

Chief Timekeeper David Douglas

Driving Standards

Category-appointed

Technical Advisor Jeff Grech

Scrutineers Ross Wood, Garry Quigley

Judges of Fact Andrew Wilton, David Douglas, Merv McKenny

Circuit map

Event schedule

friday 7 july 2023

Saturday 8 july 2023

sunday 9 july 2023

experience v youth

The 2023 TA2 Muscle Car Series is shaping up as a battle between experience and consistency versus youthful speed and bravery.

There are few drivers who can say they've won races in as many categories as Dylan Thomas. In addition to his TA2 victories in Darwin, the Sydneysider has achieved success in numerous state Formula Vee races (he's a two-time NSW champion in the open-wheel category) as well as both state and national-level production car races.

He's also a race winner in the Toyota 86 Series - a category full of young drivers aiming to forge professional motorsport careers - and even took victory in a Carrera Cup twin-driver race at Phillip Island, holding off no less a driver than Bathurst winner Nick Percat in a straight fight.

For an ostensibly amateur driver now in his mid-40s, it's no mean feat, but Thomas will have his work cut out if he's to win the TA2 title, with a couple of young guns in the form of Jackson Rice and Josh Haynes set to mount a stiff challenge in the remaining rounds of 2023.

The title fight looks to be down to those three drivers, with a difficult round for Nicholas Bates at Queensland Raceway dropping him a daunting 129 points away from the series lead, with Graham Cheney a further couple of points adrift.

One driver expected to be a title contender in 2023 was South Australian Brad Gartner, but crashes at Winton and Queensland Raceway have left him languishing outside the top 10.

Nevertheless, Gartner will be back on track at Morgan Park in a rebuilt Mustang, which now boasts support from Australian Tarmac Rally, as he looks to bounce back from his difficulties in the first half of the season.

Points after Round 3

a close title fight

Three rounds in, the 2023 Mazda RX8 Cup title fight is building nicely.

This year's Yellow Express Mazda RX8 Cup title fight is looking to be a close as ever - after the first three rounds at Phillip Island, Winton and Sydney Motorsport Park, the top four drivers are separated by just 26 points - less than the 30 awarded for a race win.

Justin Barnes looked to have the ascendancy after winning Round 2 at Winton, but a couple of tough results at Sydney Motorsport Park brought him back into the clutches of Justin Lewis, owner of series sponsor Yellow Express.

The likes of Jack Pennacchia and Luke Webber have both shown strong speed as well, while Tom Shaw is in recovery mode after an engine failure sidelined him for the majority of the Winton round.

Ryan Gorton won two races at Winton and dominated the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park, but is only committed to a partial campaign in 2023 and is thus not a title contender.

This weekend's Morgan Park round sees a couple of newcomers joining the grid, with talented karter Brock Paine lining up for his maiden start and experienced production car racer Jake Camilleri also having a run.

good thing, small package

They might be small in size, but the Legend Cars are big on action.

A popular addition to the Morgan Park schedule will be the Legend Cars Australia series, which always produces highly entertaining racing among scaled-down versions of classic Ford or Chev coupes.

Uniquely, Legend Cars can run in either circuit racing or speedway, with the process to change a car from one configuration to another only taking a couple of hours.

While most of the cars in the field run the carburetted 1250cc engine, a new 850cc fuel-injected “Z” motor is gradually being phased into the category. As well as producing similar power outputs to the old engine, the Z motor is more reliable, easier to tune and easier to obtain parts for.

After the opening two rounds at Winton and Sydney Motorsport Park, the top three drivers in the standings are covered by just seven points with the speedy Billy Finnegan set to battle it out with the ever-consistent Brendon Hourigan and ever-improving Scott Morgan for title honours.

Points after Round

a car for every occasion

The variety of corners at Morgan Park should allow all the cars in the QLD Production Cars field to showcase their strengths and weaknesses this weekend.

The QLD Production Car Series returns to the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series program this weekend after a successful run at Queensland Raceway last time out.

Unlike the QR round, this weekend’s race format sees the production cars competing in a quartet of sprint races, and Morgan Park’s mix of tight, technical corners and faster, more flowing sections will play to the strengths of different cars compared to QR’s long straights and big braking zones.

With the front-runners from QR, Beric Lynton and Ryder Quinn, not running this weekend the main outright contenders look to be the Mercedes C63 of Tony Levitt and BMW M2 of Roman Miller.

However, the QPC’s point-scoring system is based on class results rather than outright finishing positions, and thus it’s the Class D Toyota 86 of Murray Dowsett that comes into the weekend as the points leader, ahead of Trentan Allen’s Subaru WRX and Richard Shinkfield’s BMW E92 M3.

Points after Round

a bit of everything

Whether it's front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, turbo or naturally aspirated, chances are you'll find it in Replica Tourers.

The Replica Tourers category allows drivers to race their interpretation of a touring car, with the majority of cars in the field being production-based vehicles with limited modifications.

Replica Tourers is divided into classes for Under 2.0 Litre, 2.0 to 3.5 Litre, 3.5 to 5.0 Litre, 5.0 to 6.2 Litre and also an open class for vehicles with stroked engines larger than 6.2 Litres.

The category typically caters for motoring enthusiasts who not only enjoy racing their cars on weekends, but also tinkering with and modifying their cars in the garage or

backyard during the week. In the last round at Queensland Raceway, it was Steve Hay who took overall weekend honours in his VK Commodore, presented in a livery that pays homage to the Holden Dealer Team cars affectionately known as the “last of the Big Bangers”, which finished first and second at Bathurst in 1984.

Hay’s main opposition at QR came from fellow Commodore driver Stuart Walker, while the Mustang production car of Geoff Russell (father of Erebus Motorsport Supercars endurance driver David) finished on the podium.

Horsepower versus brakes

What gives you more an advantage - the ability to go, or the ability to stop? It's a question that will be answered in the Queensland Touring Car Championship this weekend.

Featuring a mixture of cars that resemble vehicles from the Group C, Group A, Super Tourer and V8 Supercar eras of Aussie motorsport, the QTCC will provide plenty of action between cars with different strengths and weaknesses.

In the last round at Queensland Raceway, it was Rob Bellinger who finally broke through for an overall round victory in his BMW M3, defeating the more powerful Commodores of points leader Peter Bray and reigning champ Chris Brown.

Bellinger will again be strong this weekend - the nature of Morgan Park should suit his BMW’s nimble handling characteristics and innate strength under brakes.

Points

after Round

Old-School Muscle Cars

The Australian Trans-Am category captures one of the most spectacular eras of American motorsport - the muscle car period of the mid 1960s to early 1970s.

Australian Trans-Am was established to celebrate the great period of American Trans-Am racing of the mid-1960s to the early 70’s. Australian Trans-Am is open to 2-door, 4-seat, rear wheel drive, V8 powered American production vehicles built from 1963 to 1974.

As well as Mustangs and Camaros, the Australian Trans-Am Series also attracts other iconic muscle cars including Pontiac Firebird, Plymoth Duster and AMC Javelin.

Like the American Trans-Am Series, all Australian Trans-Am races have a rolling start. Australian Trans-Am is based in

South-East Queensland, appearing regularly at Queensland Raceway.

The series also visits New Zealand biannually thanks to a flourishing partnership with New Zealand’s Historic Muscle Cars and the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing held at Hampton Downs.

In the last round at Queensland Raceway, it was Alwyn Bishop who took the overall round win in his Plymouth Duster, ahead of John Prefontaine and Sean English, both in Mustangs.

2023 calendar

Round 1: Winton Raceway, 17-19 March

Round 2: Hidden Valley, 29 April-1 May

Round 3: Queensland Raceway, 2-4 June

Round 4: Morgan Park, 8-9 July

Round 5: Sydney Motorsport Park, 13-14 October

Round 6: Calder Park, 24-26 November