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THE DOOMSAYERS HAVE LATCHED ONTO A STORY IN THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER TALKING DEBT AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS, BUT SUPERCARS OWNER BARCLAY NETTLEFOLD SAYS ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS. ANDREW CLARKE AND BRUCE WILLIAMS REPORT ... THE HEADLINE in The Australian newspaper screamed ‘Supercars First-Year Financials Not So Super’ as it proceeded to analyse the 2022 financial accounts by Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises (RACE) which were recently lodged with ASIC, Australia’s corporate regulator and are which are fully audited. The words of Adelaide-based writer Cameron England had critics of the ownership and underbidders in the sale process in 2021 salivating on social media. “The operator of the Supercars racing competition booked a $2.7m loss in its first 15 months of operations and was probably reliant on its owners tipping in more money to stay afloat, documents lodged with the corporate regulator show,” England says in his article. “The 2022 financial accounts for Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises (RACE) show that the organisation turned over $112.5m in the 15 months to the end of 2022, booking a $2.7m loss in the process. “RACE’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by $4.9m, with a current asset deficit a key indicator of financial distress.” Which is true, says business turnaround expert Brent Morgan of Rodgers Reidy, but it is not always the full story and nor is it the end. “The financials only ever tell one part of the story, and we sometimes find when we get involved that things aren’t as bad as they seem,” Morgan said. “We regularly help save businesses in situations worse than what is reported here. “It is about how the debt was generated and the future forecast. “Are they willing to deal with any of the issues that are holding the business back? “I haven’t spoken to them, but it might not be as dire as the article makes out.” RACE Chairman Barclay Nettlefold said in an exclusive interview with Auto Action
last week that there is more to the story that has been reported, and that he and the RACE Board are not concerned. He said part of the issue was a legacy created from a lack of investment in the sport by the previous owner, Archer Capital, and the way the business was structured with the teams, along with other issues - such as the need to hold an additional race in New Zealand that have impacted the bottom line and may continue to so for another year. “It seems to have slipped past many commentators that we created an additional event in 2022 and that came at a big cost to us. “We’re also reshaping our motorsport department as one step. “There’s a real story around the lack of investment by Archer Capital over the years with COVID hitting and the wind tunnel testing not occurring, even though it was promised to Ford by previous management. “We are investing in the long-term future of the sport and are sending two cars and technical people across to do extensive wind tunnel testing in US – as we see that as vital. “In addition, we going to do extra transient dyno work with the two engines over there as well.” “Clearly, we are investing in getting all the data that we can and using the best tools available to work to ensure the longterm viability of the sport.” Nettlefold emphasised. The reported cost for the wind
tunnel and dyno testing is reportedly north of a million dollars, meaning the financial hits aren’t stopping, but Nettlefold says this is critical moving forwards and is not threatening the sport. The accounting report, he said, needs some explaining and shouldn’t be taken in isolation as the first year of a new business. He said there were a lot of transitional costs included in the figures and there were lots of balance sheet adjustments with prepayments from government authorities and assets being realised among the many things required by the auditors and financial advisors to the business. “We’re not losing money,” Nettlefold said forthrightly. “In those accounts, you’ve got bank restructuring costs and a lot of oneoff things; you’ve got things like W&I (Warranty and Indemnity) insurance because we couldn’t get any warranties from Archer. That doesn’t come cheap. “There’s a material amount of transaction costs associated with the lawyers and advisors, and other costs associated with setting up a new business.” The quoted turnover of $112.5m is on the rise too, he said, but that revenue was never the full story. It is believed, for instance, that the Newcastle race was losing more than $1m a season and was
Brent Morgan. only just getting ready to return a profit when the race was cancelled for 2024. The biggest sticking point for 2022 was the series return to New Zealand and the need to run the final event at Pukekohe to help setup Taupo in 2024. Aside from the freight cost required to get the cars there, which in the immediate post-COVID era were at all-time high, Supercars also had to pay the teams for a 13th round while only being paid for 12 as part of the broadcast agreement. Every team except Triple Eight Race Engineering took a reduced fee for that round, but it was still costly. Supercars promote half of the events on the calendar, meaning it gets the gate receipts, but for the other six it takes a fee to appear. “Operationally, the business is in better shape than it’s ever been. “What tipped us into the red were all the transaction costs coupled with the additional round and the W&I insurance. “The shareholders are happy, were hitting our KPIs and all the indicators on the growth of the sport are fantastic. We are well up compared to all other sports in Australia.” Newttlefold concluded.
Barclay Nettlefold.
UP COMING RACE EVENT CALENDAR Brought to you by www.speedflow.com.au WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD 13 RALLY JAPAN NOVEMBER 16-19 • MOTOGP RD 20 QATAR GRAND PRIX NOVEMBER 17-19 FORMULA 1 RD 22 LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX NOVEMBER 16-18 • AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP RD 6 NATIONAL CAPITAL RALLY NOVEMBER 18-19 SUPERCARS RD 12 ADELAIDE 500 NOVEMBER 23-26 • FORMULA 1 RD 23 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX NOVEMBER 24-26 • MOTOGP RD 21 VALENCIA GRAND PRIX NOVEMBER 24-26
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UNDERWHELMING SUPERCARS CALENDAR CALENDAR HISTORY RELEASED … BUT NOT WITHOUT REASON SUPERCARS HAS released the muchdelayed 2024 Calendar to an underwhelming response, the 12-race meeting calendar meandering through Australia and New Zealand with three and four-week breaks for most of the season. Despite criticism of the calendar, RACE Chairman Barclay Nettlefold, said that “given we are heading into an Olympics year, the calendar is OK. “I’m on the record as saying that more is better,” he said when dealing with the 12-round issue, but added there were circumstances next year, including the broadcasters losing staff to the Olympics, that meant an expansion next year wasn’t possible. “We’ve got an Olympic year coming where basically all the broadcast staff are away; all the cameramen are over in Europe. The whole world goes into a three or four-week hiatus on broadcast where every man and his dog get seconded across. “We’re setting the calendar for the future; there’s a lot of moving parts to get aligned, and it is not easy. There’s a lot of politics about getting this right with governments,
broadcasters, and promoters. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.” Changes to the race weekends were also announced, with SuperSprint weekends in Darwin, Perth and Launceston now featuring two one-hour races rather than the previous three 110km races. The Taupo and Sydney events will feature two 200km races for the weekend, with 500km weekends at the Bathurst season opener, Townsville, Gold Coast and Adelaide. The Bathurst 1000 and Sandown 500 remain unaltered, and the exact length of the races at the Australian Grand Prix has not been revealed – but for the first time in many years, there will be no compulsory pitstop. As revealed in Auto Action several weeks ago, The Bend has made way for Taupo, and an earlier-than-normal finish to the season has been locked in to allow for a possible non-Championship fly-away weekend to support Formula One in Qatar. Supercars needed to keep to 12 rounds to avoid unbudgeted payments to the teams, which, with the broadcast deal with Foxtel, is not believed to offer any extra revenue until a 15-meeting trigger is reached, that would
2024 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR RD 1 2
EVENT DATE Bathurst 500^ 23-25 February Melbourne SuperSprint 21-24 March Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix 3 ITM Taupō Super400 19-21 April 4 Perth SuperSprint^ 17-19 May 5 betr Darwin Triple Crown 14-16 June 6 NTI Townsville 500^ 5-7 July 7 Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight 19-21 July 8 NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint 16-18 August 9 Penrite Oil Sandown 500^ 20-22 September 10 Repco Bathurst 1000^ 10-13 October 11 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 25-27 October 12 VAILO Adelaide 500^ 14-17 November ^ Event will feature Dunlop Super2 and Super3 Series on Support Card
come straight from the bottom line. The Bend was offered a round with a sanctioning fee that would have covered the loss but rejected the offer. The first five rounds all feature threeweekend breaks, with the routine being broken for a two-weekend break between Darwin and Townsville and then a oneweekend break before the Sydney SuperNight before another three-weekend break to keep clear of the Olympics. Tasmania is curiously in the middle of August, which will no doubt require thermals, leading into a four-week break before the 60th and possibly final Sandown 500. Supercars has announced The Bend will host an endurance race in 2025 which, while not definitive, is a good pointer to the limited future of the Sandown 500. “It is a backup option in case Sandown doesn’t happen,” Nettlefold said of The Bend announcement, encouraging us not to read too much into it. He also said Newcastle wasn’t dead in the water yet and that Supercars would keep working with the stakeholders of the Newcastle 500 for a possible return in 2025. Andrew Clarke
Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
A TOTAL of 27 race circuits have hosted rounds of the Supercars Championship, which has run as few as 10 rounds in a season and as many as 15. Nine of those tracks have been street circuits. Many of the original tracks from the Series have gone by the wayside as the series has outgrown the old-school facilities, and others have made way for the suburban sprawl. Tracks such as Winton, Queensland Raceway and The Bend harbour a return to the series, while Phillip Island may also see a return to the series … It is the flux around the street circuits and overseas races that has caused the most change. Canberra, Hamilton and Homebush have all been and gone, while Shanghai and the Circuit of the Americas hosted one race each, while Bahrain and Yas Marina got a handful of events. The Newcastle Street Circuit is also on the outer next year, but Supercars is hoping to get back there in 2025. The most rounds in a season is 16 – when the support to the Australian Grand Prix joined the championship along with the Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville. For many years, both the Grand Prix and the support races for the IndyCar race on the Gold Coast were run outside the Championship. Qatar is still a chance to be run as a non-championship round in 2024. There have been as many as four nonchampionship rounds in a season when both the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 were not raced for points, and Qatar would be the fifth track used outside the Supercars championship and the sixth track outside Australia to feature Supercars. HOW MANY ROUNDS? 1997-1998 – 10 Rounds 1999-2006 – 13 Rounds 2007-2011 – 14 Rounds 2012 – 15 Rounds 2013-2017 – 14 Rounds 2018 – 16 Rounds 2019 – 15 Rounds 2020 – 11 Rounds 2021 – 12 Rounds 2022 – 13 Rounds 2023-2024 – 12 Rounds THE HOSTS ADELAIDE STREET Circuit, Albert Park Street Circuit, Bahrain, Calder Park, Canberra Street Circuit, Circuit of the Americas, Eastern Creek, Hamilton Street Circuit, Hidden Valley, Homebush Street Circuit, Lakeside, Mallala, Mount Panorama, Newcastle Street Circuit, Oran Park, Phillip Island, Pukekohe, Queensland Raceway, Reid Park Street Circuit, Sandown, Shanghai, Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Symmons Plains, The Bend, Wanneroo, Winton, Yas Marina Calendar History. Andrew Clarke
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VAN GISBERGEN’S FORWARD FOCUS: NEWCASTLE DOESN’T MATTER ... SHANE VAN GISBERGEN says he is focused on winning in Adelaide but says the outcome of the title is out of his hands after a lack of speed midseason and the consistency of Brodie Kostecki cruelled his title hopes, rather than the first race disqualification, which stripped 150 points off his tally. “Our championship is ultimately probably decided from the first race in the midseason, where we weren’t strong enough. So, we just have to go out there, two good races, and perform at our best level with no mistakes. And whatever happens will happen. That’s on Brodie. “But I think early on in the year, we just weren’t fast enough and didn’t get enough points.” After Red Bull Ampol Racing dominated the season opener in Newcastle, both the team’s cars were disqualified from first and second for the illegal placement of a second cooling system in the car, which the team still says it had approval for from the Head of Motorsport, Adrian Burgess, despite his denials to the same.
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In an extensive interview with Auto Action, van Gisbergen says that made for a ‘messy’ opening to the season, but now, a few months later, it is not worth dwelling on despite the angst it caused at the time. Van Gisbergen’s reaction at the time showed the hurt and led to the infamous media conference where he let his ‘racing do the talking’ and copped an on-air slap-down from Mark Skaife, which created further angst. “That was very messy by the person in charge of that. You can’t be pissed off about it. It’s happened, and we obviously moved on, but that was a pretty shitty time and decision by Supercars. “It was more about how much it hurt Dutto and how much it hurt all the guys at our shop because they put in so much effort; and Triple Eight, they put in so much more than anyone else into designing and making this car race-ready for Newcastle. All those cars at Newcastle were pretty much prototypes. There weren’t any complete race cars! “The scrutiny I felt was a little bit over the top, but it is what it is. We’ve got
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to move on. But it did hurt because of how much effort and time our team had put in.” If van Gisbergen and Feeney hadn’t been disqualified from the first race, the reigning champion would be
heading to Adelaide with a 37-point lead in the series rather than a 131-point deficit. For the rest of our exclusive interview with van Gisbergen, go to pages 28 to 31. Andrew Clarke
This graph shows the championship gap throughout the season if van Gisbergen hadn’t been disqualified from the first race. He would have walked away from the Newcastle weekend with an 87-point lead. Kostecki would have taken a slender four-point lead at the end of the round in Tasmania, but van Gisbergen would have grabbed it back at the next round before opening up his biggest lead in the series in Townsville.
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BURGESS ON THE MOVE? ADRIAN BURGESS and Supercars have parted ways, with the Head of Motorsport resigning last week before heading off overseas as part of this hunt for a new job. Burgess’s tenure with Supercars has been mired in controversy, with the troubled Gen3 program coming under his guidance and a recent drinkdriving charge creating tensions. Burgess is believed to have a fall-back option with a Melbourne-based team should nothing come off in Europe, although at least one team owner said he would fight that option given Burgess’ access to team data during his time at the helm. Supercars is believed to be chasing departing Tickford boss Tim Edwards, who remains adamant he will do a ‘lap of Australia’ with wife Trudie and a caravan. Burgess’s time in Supercars began in 2007 after working at McLaren, Jordan and Midland in Formula One. He started at Dick Johnson Racing when it was part-owned by Charlie Schwerkolt and oversaw James Courtney’s championship win in 2010 before departing when DJR was split into two. He then worked for Triple Eight, Walkinshaw Racing and Tekno before joining Supercars in 2018 as its Head of Motorsport. One of his key tasks at Supercars was designing and developing the Gen3 race cars, which has created tensions within the Supercars community, with reliability and
Left to right: Supercars CEO Shane Howard, with Adrian Burgess and Tim Edwards. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
parity issues afflicting the new racers, along with an extraordinarily high build cost. There was also a massive budget overrun due in part to the development program being extended through the COVID period and the rising costs of materials during that phase. The cars were also delayed, which placed pressure on the teams to complete their builds before the start of the season. If that wasn’t enough, he was caught in a hearsay storm at the start of the season when Triple Eight Racing Engineering
claimed he gave them verbal approval for a modification before he denied that claim, as the team’s two cars were disqualified from the opening round. He was tied up in a legal storm in the lead-in to Bathurst after appearing in court on drink-driving charges, which he failed to inform Supercars about in the lead-up. While Supercars leadership was upset, it confirmed that Burgess had not been stood down and issued the following statement: “Supercars is aware that Adrian Burgess
has appeared in Southport Magistrates Court due to an incident involving driving under the influence of alcohol. “Adrian has been addressing the matter and has provided remorsefulness, transparency, and honesty since the incident. “Supercars continues to work with Adrian in regard to this matter.” Auto Action believes Burgess will remain in his role until after the wind tunnel and transient dyno testing of the new cars in the States. Bruce Williams
COLD LAS VEGAS A GAMBLE FOR F1 TEAMS LAS VEGAS says it is ready for Formula One, but is Formula One ready for Las Vegas? The year-long build-up to the race has had all the glitz and glamour of the famous strip, and the track looks like it will challenge the drivers and engineers with a whole set of new challenges. The first Las Vegas Grand Prix is the third of the races in the United States for 2023 and is one of the most anticipated new races on the calendar in many years. But the new street circuit will have its challenges. Surprisingly, one of those will be dealing with the cold, given the race is scheduled to start at a very unusual 10pm, giving a breakfast race in Europe and a pre-dinner spectacle in Australia. Ensuring effective performance with the three Pirelli compounds is not the sole challenge for teams in Vegas. The atypically low temperatures will significantly impact overall car cooling and consequently affect aero specifications. Modern hybrid V6 power units are not only averse to running too hot but are also not designed for extreme cold conditions. Maintaining an optimal temperature for components like the plenum chamber becomes crucial. While F1 cars often run in cold conditions during testing in Europe, Vegas adds a layer of complexity as it is a competitive event with no room for compromises in power unit usage. The car spec remains fixed from the start of qualifying.
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The lengthy main straight along The Strip introduces its own set of challenges similar to Baku, potentially causing brakes and tires to be colder than optimal when approaching corners. Street circuits like Vegas pose uncertainties, with limited detail available for teams to simulate bumps and understand the newly-laid surface. Teams acknowledge the uniqueness of the challenge in Vegas. Williams’ Dave Robson emphasises the importance of being prepared for various scenarios, given the unpredictability of the track surface and its interaction with the tyres.
Tyre management has been crucial in the 2023 season, and teams face the challenge of finding the right setup in Vegas, considering the mechanical aspects and potential safety car periods. Red Bull’s Paul Monaghan highlights the relationship between tires and aero specifications, emphasising the challenge of getting the tyres into the operating window for a decent race stint. Teams are expected to adjust cooling strategies for Vegas, focusing on managing the power unit and gearbox within their operating windows rather than seeking aero gains. The relationship between cooling and downforce levels adds another layer of complexity. Teams will weigh the trade-off between opening up the car for better downforce and the potential loss of aerodynamic efficiency. As the season approaches its end and teams operate under a cost cap, the decision to design and manufacture new parts becomes a strategic choice. The cost cap introduces a game theory element, forcing teams to optimize their packages for specific circuits while considering the choices of their competitors. In other news, that you would only ever get in Vegas, U2 has been forced to pause its residency at the $2.3bn Sphere while the track has been built. Formula One has taken over the hi-tech venue, and will use it as an advertising billboard during the race. Andrew Clarke
‘HOLY GRAIL’ FOR THE BEND THE DISAPPOINTMENT of missing a round of the Supercars championship next year quickly disappeared for The Bend with the announcement it will host an endurance race in 2025, which The Bend says is the ‘holy grail’ of Supercars. It will be a long-awaited occasion for The Bend, which was in line to host the highprofile 500km September pre-Bathurst enduro in 2020. But those dreams were dashed by the arrival of COVID-19 as Bathurst was the only co-driver race for three years until Sandown’s celebrated return in September this year. In 2024 the famous 500km race will remain at its spiritual home, Sandown, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary since the inaugural six-hour race was held in 1964. It is unclear whether or not the famous Sandown 500 will remain in Supercars following that and The Bend would host a third enduro in addition to Bathurst, similar to the Enduro Cup era of 2013-19 when the Gold Coast was a two-driver affair, or whether it would replace the Victorian venue. No matter the situation, hosting a Supercars endurance race will be a big deal for the owners of the South Australian circuit which was named as the International Motorsport Facility of the Year in 2019. The Bend Managing Director Sam Shahin
Sam Shahin in The Bend’s pit lane. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES said the 2025 enduro will be a major moment as hosting such a race has long been a burning ambition. “Hosting a Supercars endurance round has long been considered the holy grail for our venue and we are thrilled we have finally been able to secure this prestigious event for 2025,” he said. “I am naturally disappointed that a Supercars event will not be held at the best motorsport facility in Australia in 2024. “However, we are thrilled to have secured the coveted endurance round for The Bend in 2025.”
Supercars CEO Shane Howard said both the championship and The Bend ‘agreed’ they should ‘focus on 2025’. “Following discussions with management at The Bend, both parties have agreed that the best outcome is to focus on 2025, where the South Australian venue will host an endurance event for the first time,” he said. “The circuit has produced incredible moments on track since 2018 and is wellsuited for Supercars endurance racing. “We’re all excited to see what happens on track when endurance racing debuts at The Bend in 2025.”
Despite the omission of Supercars, The Bend is hopeful of providing a ‘jam-packed schedule’ next year. After a stunning start at the sold-out Spring Nationals, the new Bend Dragway will continue hosting National Drag Racing Championship rounds where both Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Cars will entertain with three further events. The Australian Superbike Grand Finale is coming up on December 1-3, while a return of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia event, which came down under for the first time earlier this year is also promised. The Bend CEO Alistair MacDonald said a full 2024 calendar will be revealed at the start of next month. “We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to share further plans for major events at The Bend in 2024,” he said. “We have some exciting developments to announce over the coming weeks. “The Bend has reached an understanding with Supercars to confirm the grand 2025 plans.” South Australia is getting ready to welcome back the VAILO Adelaide 500, which is on November 23-26 and will decide the championship battle between Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen. Thomas Miles
Which of The Bend’s multi-layout options will host a 2025 endurance race?
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THE LOCALS CHASING CHAMPIONSHIPS SOUTH AUSSIE teenagers Kai Allen and Jobe Stewart dreamed of racing on the streets of Adelaide and next weekend they have the chance of lifting championship trophies in front of their friends and family. Blue Lake boys Allen and Stewart are both high chances of winning the Super2 and Super3 crowns respectively at the final Dunlop dance of the year at the VAILO Adelaide 500. Whilst Allen has already rewritten record books in Super3, won in Super2 and impressed in Supercars at Bathurst, he has unfinished business at the South Australian capital. Twelve months ago the Eggleston Motorsport driver was in the box seat to convert a record-breaking Super3 season into the ultimate success. However, his dreams were dashed at the infamous Turn 8 and the Super3 crown went to Brad Vaughan. Since then Allen has kicked on to make his Super2 debut and win in his third round at Townsville and backed it up again at Bathurst, where he also turned heads driving a DJR wildcard in the Great Race. Despite cutting Zak Best’s championship lead to just 30 points ahead of the finale, Allen remains focused on continuing his development instead of chasing the big trophy. “I am not fussed about the championship and have just got to keep doing what I am doing,” he said. “It is only my first year in Super2 and this season remains a learning one because I am still new to a Gen2 Supercar. “I did Super3 last year and it obviously came down to the wire but I have learnt a lot from that which I am putting into this. “Zak is so fast and has been strong all year, so he deserves to be where he is. He has had some bad luck over the last few rounds so we will keep pushing and see what happens. “I will just do the best I can and let the gods decide.” Whilst Allen has a thrilling finale ahead, Stewart has a more smoother and certain journey to the Super3 title. The Image Racing and Erebus Academy
Jobe Stewart – the Super 3 crown is within reach. Image: MARK HORSBUGH driver enjoys a 192-point advantage over second placed Jett Johnson and more importantly 279 over arch rival Cameron McLeod. Although McLeod has been fast, Stewart has been ultra consistent, never finishing a race outside the top two all year. It has been a big leap forward for the Mount Gambier teen, having entered the year after a solid COVID affected stint in the Toyota 86 Series where he was unable to win a race, but showed plenty of grit and speed. Due to a mix of his consistency and McLeod’s misfortune, Stewart admitted he is a touch surprised to find himself in such a strong position ahead of the finale. “At the start of the season my thing was just about learning the car and the championship just came with it,” he told Auto Action. “Every time I get in the car I am still learning so much and improving my technique but now at this stage in the year it is about finishing the championship.
Kai Allen, here at Bathurst – looking to make up for last year in Super2 ... Image: PETER NORTON “I did not really expect to be in this position, especially heading into Sandown when we were so close with Cam.” Having grown up four hours away from the scene of the VAILO Adelaide 500, the famous street race has been a key part of Stewart’s passion for the sport, with many family road trips to watch the Supercars over the years. So the thought of taking on the track in a Supercar fuels him with excitement, let
alone the chance to lift the Super3 crown on the same podium he has looked up to for years. “Adelaide was one of the races dad and I went to so many times,” he said. “It is a track I have always loved and raced a lot on the sim so I am so excited to finally drive it. “Being a street circuit with the kerbs, tight corners and walls, it is kind of a track that suits my driving style. It is going to be wicked.” Thomas Miles
McLEOD TESTS FOR WAU
CAMERON MCLEOD is hoping a test drive with Walkinshaw Andretti United earlier this week will open some doors to keep him climbing the ranks. McLeod has dominated every series he has tried this year, and but for a short fill at Sandown, he would be leading the Super3 Series heading into its final round at Adelaide next weekend. The third-generation racer is looking for a way to fast track his Supercar ambitions, and his father, Ryan, accepts he may need to flee the family coup to make that happen and that the WAU test may be just the ticket. As a Super3 driver, McLeod is restricted to running only 10 laps, but he happily gave up an afternoon of testing his Nissan Altima at Winton to be with the team for the afternoon. “There’s nothing more or promised past this test with
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WAU – it is just a test and the chance to be involved with the team for an afternoon,” Ryan said. “All Cameron can do is what they ask him to do. “To go from basically a family-run team with a donated car from Brad Neil to funding a full Super2 outfit, you’re talking $800,000 or something in that region. At the moment, I have no scope to fund anything at that level. “If we have to, we’ll run Super3 again. “The best scenario is for him to become part of a bigger operation that’s got links to getting into the main series. If we run our own car and we get to the end of next year, and maybe we even win, but we may be no further to getting a foot in the door. “The immediate level in front is Super2, but the big picture is that Cameron wants to be able to race for wins in the main series and before not too long.”
Image: AUTO ACTION
BJR LOCKS UP FULLWOOD BRYCE FULLWOOD will remain behind the wheel of the #14 Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet Camaro in 2024 and 2025. The two-year contract extension comes off the back of what is on track to be Fullwood’s career-best season, with the Darwin native currently sitting ninth in the championship ahead of the Adelaide season finale. The 2019 Super2 champion has achieved 11 top 10 finishes in 2023, which is almost more than the amount he achieved in his previous three seasons combined (14). After debuting at Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2020 and finishing on the podium at The Bend, Fullwood was on the move after just two seasons at the Clayton operation. Last year he arrived in Albury and has found a happy home at BJR, developing a strong relationship with engineer Phil Keed and showing consistent speed in the Gen3 Camaro. Fullwood also scored a third straight
top 10 finish at Bathurst with Dean Fiore despite starting from 21st.
It has also been confirmed Fullwood will continue carrying the familiar
pink Middays Electrical colours he has represented since his karting days. With many positives for the 24-yearold, there was no reason to consider a change. “It’s awesome to be back with BJR for next year,” Fullwood said. “So far 2023 has been a great showing of what we are capable of. “We have a really good, solid crew on our car and I have a lot of faith in what they’re able to achieve and we have a great base from this year to build from.” BJR team owner Brad Jones has been impressed by Fullwood’s work, having helped the team push to third in the teams’ championship with Andre Heimgartner. “Bryce has performed exceptionally this year,” he said. “Keeping him in the BJR fold was important to us; we all work so well together, and he’s shown throughout this year what is achievable.” Thomas Miles
DAVE KINDIG – ADELAIDE SUPERCARS BOUND By Paul Gover SUPERCARS RACING has an important new fan in the USA – reality TV star Dave Kindig. He’s not just a couch potato with a yearn for Aussie-style touring cars and will prove it soon. The custom car creator will be a special guest at the Adelaide 500 for the Supercars grand final of 2023 from November 23-26 and told Auto Action he cannot wait for his first trip to Australia. He and his sidekick from the high-rating Foxtel series Kindig Customs, Kevin ‘Kevdog’ Schiele, will be fronting the Kindig Custom Car Show but he is just as interested in being trackside for the Supercars racing. “Those drivers are crazier than cat shit. It’s crazy,” Kindig said, talking to Auto Action from his workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah. “I’ve watched a bit of the racing. It’s fantastic.”
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Kindig still needs some education on the history of Supercars, and the difference between Australia’s signature Falcon and a Commodore, but intends to do plenty of research during his trip to the city of churches. “I’m a little familiar. Only from my experiences watching the Road Warrior (Mad Max) movie”. He continued his joking responses when he talked about his first trip down under. “Well, they don’t want me in the US any more. So I guess I gotta go somewhere great,” he said. “It’s very exciting. You know, I’ve never been to Australia before. I’ve been invited 100 times.” One of those invites came from an Aussie customer who had Kindig do a full re-make of his humble golf cart. For the Australia trip he is bringing two of his own cars – one is his father-inlaw’s 1950s Chevrolet Corvette and the other is still secret – as well as judging an invited field of custom cars during the
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Kindig show. He knows he will be busy, but is hopeful there will be less pressure than US events and the trip will give him a new memory for the traditional Thanksgiving holiday in the ’States. “This is a perfect fit because I don’t have anything going on for Thanksgiving (in the US), other than turkey. I’m really excited to see your car culture down there. “If you’re into hotrods, four wheels and a steering wheel, I think everybody’s got the opportunity to see something that just blows their mind. “It’s just a different culture, but at the end of the day it’s truly all the same.”
The bottom line for Kindig is his enthusiasm for the on-track Supercars action. “I have watched a little bit of footage of your Supercar races over there,” he said. “I have never seen anybody cut straight through multiple chicanes at full throttle. It’s crazy, you know.”
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STOP / GO
ROBERTO RETURNS
SPANIARD ROBERTO Mehri will return to the cockpit of an S5000 car, for next week’s event supporting the VAILO Adelaide 500. Mehri finished a close runner-up in the 2021 S5000 Tasman Series – run at SMP and Bathurst – before a single cameo appearance earlier this year, for GRM, at the opening championship race, in Tasmania. Most recently, Mehri completed the latter part of the 2022/23 season for the Formula E Mahindra Racing Team and took some podiums this year in Super GT in Japan. For Adelaide, the 32 year-old will return to Team BRM – for whom he drove during that successful 2021Tasman challenge.
TICKFORD EXPANDS INTO SUPER3 TICKFORD RACING has expanded its Dunlop Series program into Super3 for the VAILO Adelaide 500. Toyota 86 racer Rylan Gray, 17, will race the #55 FGX Falcon Tickford will field in the third tier series. “I’m so excited to get stuck in and learn the streets of Adelaide,” Gray said. “We have had a programme in place throughout the year to help get me as ready as possible for this event and I feel we have learnt a lot and are in a good position heading into the season finale event. “The car looks incredible; it’s going to be a massive weekend and the Supercar will be all new to me.”
BOWE APPROACHING TCM FINISH LINE TOURING CAR Masters legend John Bowe is bracing himself for an emotional final chapter as a full-time driver in the category at Adelaide. Having been racing Touring Car Masters for the last 16 seasons since he called time on his decorated and celebrated ATCC/Supercars career in 2007, it will be an emotional final two rounds beginning with this weekend’s Bathurst International. During this time Bowe has become one of the categories greatest ever, being a six-time champion with half of the crowns achieved in his current Holden Torana SL/R 5000. Having made the announcement at the start of the year, the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner has been on a “testimonial tour” but now with only Adelaide, it is starting to hit home having provided an immense amount of joy. “I have lived and breathed Touring Car Masters for 15 years,” Bowe told Auto Action. “It played a major part in me coming through some mental health issues and can’t emphasis enough how much I have enjoyed it. “That is because of the nature of the cars and people involved who do it for the right reasons. “I am very grateful for the following I have had from the people that love Touring Car Masters.
Image: RACE PROJECT “But nothing lasts forever and I am grateful I can transit slowly. I will try to enjoy the final round and I may do a cameo appearance in the future – who knows!” Bowe heads to the finale sixth in the championship with one win on home turf at Symmons Plains and another at Winton, having suffered some costly DNFs early in the year. But he delivered at Mount Panorama, starting the weekend with a memorable win in the Trophy Race. He continued to be on the pace for the remainder of the Bathurst International and scored a special podium. “It is always a pleasure to race here and done so every year since 1985,” Bowe said post podium. “These guys are terrific to race with and seeing signs around the track was lovely.”
Bowe is now in the middle of a tight race for third in the championship with just 18 points between third placed Marcus Zukanovic and Bowe in sixth. However, Bowe is not worried about the championship at all and just wants to give it a red-hot crack. “I am not really worried about it,” he said. “We had some bad luck earlier in the season in the first round so we were on the back foot from the start. “I don’t think anyone will beat Steven Johnson – he has been the form driver and car all year. “I am just going to try and do my best. “I don’t know where it (the championship) will shakeout and to be honest I don’t really mind.” Thomas Miles
Jack Beeton navigates the tight streets of Macau. The F3 race follows this weekend. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
LEGEND TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT OPEN DAY BATHURST LEGEND Colin Bond will take centre stage at Team 18’s open day this weekend at its Mount Waveley base. The 1969 Hardie Ferodo 500 winner and 1975 ATCC champion will be the special guest at the squad’s second annual open day. The event will be held this Sunday, November 19 from 11.00-14.00 AEDT at Mount Waverley, Melbourne. Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt cannot wait to connect fans with such a famous driver. “Having Colin Bond as our guest of honour is fantastic,” he said. “He is a legend in Australian motorsport, and he’s been an inspiration to many, including myself. “To have him here at our Open Day is a way to give back to our fans and treat them to a great day at Team 18.”
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BEETON’S PROGRESS : MACAU GRAND PRIX FORMULA 4 FIFTEEN-YEAR OLD Australian youngster Jack Beeton finished second and fifth in the two South East Asia Formula 4 Championship rounds run on the demanding Guia Circuit around the roads of Macau during the Formula 4 Macau Grand Prix event, last weekend.. With two rounds run, and two to go, Jack has 50 championship points bagged aboard his AGi Sport-run Tatuus F4-T421 Abarth, one point adrift of series leader Tiago Rodriguez. Beeton won the opening two rounds at Zhuzhou in
late October. The final rounds are at Sepang, Malaysia on November 2426 and December 1-3. The ex-karter and 2022 Ferrari Driver Academy South Pacific winner had a poor season this year in the Italian F4 Championship where he scored only two points and finished 23rd in the VAR run car. Impressive results in Asia will reignite his chances of a decent drive in 2024. Beeton and AGi were the only real challengers to Prema Racing’s five-car team in both the Sunday morning sprint and afternoon feature
at Macau. The 30- minute feature saw a race-long battle for second between Beeton and Prema’s Leong and Al Dhaheri, but a late Safety Car cruelled the Aussie’s chances. Red Bull’s Arvid Lindblad won both races for Prema. Kevin Bartlett was the first Australian to win the Macau GP in 1969 aboard the famous Mildren Alfa Romeo V8 aka The Yellow Submarine. Others to follow his lead are Vern Schuppan, 1974/76 and David Brabham in 1989. Perhaps Jack will win the F3 classic in 2024 or 2025.
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MOFFAT RELIEVED TO GET BREAKTHROUGH TITLE AFTER THE best part of two decades trying, James Moffat was full of emotion at finally joining his illustrious father Allan in scoring a national level championship crown. Moffat’s breakthrough arrived in Trans Am at Bathurst and, even after a dominant year, it almost slipped away at the very end due to mechanical gremlins. But thanks to the GRM crew, the #34 Mustang returned from the pits to limp home and get a crucial 14th place finish, which was enough to cling onto the title as a DNF would have handed it to Lochie Dalton. While Moffat was enduring an agonising wait sitting in the pits, the anxiety under the helmet was clear. Not only was one year of hard work on the line, but a golden chance to end a near two-decade wait for the 39-year-old to finally win a national level title. Moffat has come close on a number of occasions including top three finishes in the Porsche Carrera Cup (2008) and Super2 Series (2009 and 2010) across three straight seasons. Across his full time Supercars career from 2011 to 2017 a title tilt never arrived despite the odd flash in the pan such as victory at Winton in 2013. Since he has been relegated back to co-driver status, Moffat has had cracks at Carrera Cup and TCR, but it is Trans Am where he has found his niche. Driving in the plum GRM seat vacated by Nathan Herne, Moffat has been on fire, scoring seven race wins.
A mid-race drama almost scuppered Moffat’s title jopes, but the car returned to be classified as a finisher. Images: RACE PROJECT Now, after finishing the job and getting the monkey off his back amid fanfare at a dramatic Bathurst International, Moffat could not hide his emotions. “To do something like this is pretty special and there are so many people to thank,” Moffat reacted on Stan Sport. “They are an amazing crew at GRM and I have loved coming to the race track with them. “To do it here at Bathurst is extra special. We will look back at it one day and be very happy with ourselves.
“Also I have got to remember my mum. I lost her in February so I hope she is looking down today and very proud.” Despite dominating the year and putting himself in the perfect position to clinch the crown in the final race, it almost slipped away and Moffat’s wait could have extended. Smoke started appearing from the back of the #34 Mustang whilst in the lead and he limped to the garage. With Dalton charging up to 12th, a DNF for Moffat would have seen the crown
change hands in the final race. But after a nail-biting lap in the garage, GRM got the Mustang back out to make Moffat’s dream come to reality and he was full of praise for his mechanics. “I thought it was all slipping away there. It was under control and then it wasn’t pretty quickly so it was a big scare ,” he recalled. “(But) I knew I had the best team in pit lane and would do anything they could to get me back out and I am fortunate they were able to do that.” Thomas Miles
CHAMPION BUCHAN FEELS FOR TEAMMATE DESPITE OVERCOMING his HMO Customer Racing teammate in a thrilling Supercheap Auto TCR Australia title fight, victorious Josh Buchan feels for Bailey Sweeny. All season the HMO Customer Racing Hyundais have been the class of the TCR field and the two men behind the wheel of the Elantra Ns found themselves in the thick of the title fight along with Aaron Cameron. Sweeny was the favourite to take the crown heading into the final day of the season with a 16-point lead. But everything changed in Race 2 when a loose intercooler hose sent the #130 into retirement and Buchan onto the Aussie podium. The dramatic change of events in the finale meant that, despite scoring a season-high five wins in 2023, Sweeny was relegated to third in the standings also behind the fast finishing Tony D’Alberto. Meanwhile, the more consistent Buchan, who scored two wins both at Phillip Island, but more importantly missed the top 10 just once from 21 races, was the champion. Whilst being ecstatic to etch his name into the TCR history books as the first non Supercars driver to go all the way, Buchan could not help but feel for
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his luckless teammate. “Bailey was super unlucky,” Buchan told Stan Sport. “He was the fastest driver in the fastest car this year but I have lost things like that before. “He would have been a deserving champion this year and will have his day.” Sweeny was devastated after seeing the championship disappear. “It’s been a bittersweet weekend at Bathurst, and a weekend of what could have been,” said Bailey. “To come so close is hard to take and to say I’m disappointed is a bit of understatement.” Despite the pain on one side of the HMO Customer Racing garage, Buchan remained a joyous figure post-race having never achieved such a high before. “What a crazy weekend, and a tough way to wrap up the championship,” he said. “It’s a massive relief. I haven’t won a national championship before, and I’m lost for words at the moment. “I feel very honoured and privileged to be on the grid, let alone to win races, let alone to take the series. “I am incredibly humbled and gracious for this.” Thomas Miles
Image: RACE PROJECT
THE BEND JOINS TCR 2024 SEASON THE BEND will return to the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series next year, having been included in a seven-round calendar announced at the Bathurst International. The South Australian circuit has previously hosted TCR twice with both rounds occurring during the 2019 season and replaces Winton Motor Raceway and will welcome the category having missed out on a spot in the 2024 Supercars season. TCR will play a big part of an expanded SpeedSeries season next year with the first round kicking off in early February at Melbourne’s Sandown Raceway. The season stays south with a trip across Bass Strait to Symmons Plains for another Race Tasmania event in March, which opened 2023. A stop at the iconic sweeping Phillip Island follows in April before the return to South Australia which represents the halfway mark of the 2024 season. Queensland Raceway in July follows before a massive break. The TCRs will not go racing for another three and a half months until the
“You can see the success of the World Tour coming here for the last couple of rounds with the international drivers going head to head with the Australian contingent,” he told Stan Sport at Bathurst. “They have been so competitive especially at a track like this where it is a real challenge to commit across the top and get lap speed “The category has started so successful, running in many different countries and for us to grow on that platform will be really good.” TCR World Tour returns in November. The season ends in a big way with the world coming to Sydney Motorsport Park and Mount Panorama just like this year. Race Sydney kicks off the double header on the first weekend of November, while the big finale at Bathurst arrives a week later as the TCR World Tour has been promised to return. Whilst Winton has missed out on the TCRs there is still a ‘to be confirmed’
round on August 30-September 1 in the SpeedSeries draft calendar. The last races at The Bend were shared by Will Brown, John Martin, Aaron Cameron and Nathan Morcom as it hosted the season finale where Brown was crowned champion. New Motorsport Australia CEO Sunil Vohra is particularly excited about the prospect of running side-by-side with the TCR World Tour once again:
2023 SUPERCHEAP AUTO TCR AUSTRALIA CALENDAR ROUND 1: Sandown February 9-11 ROUND 2: Symmons Plains March 15-17 ROUND 3: Phillip Island April 12-14 ROUND 4: The Bend May 24-26 ROUND 5: Queensland Raceway July 12-14 ROUND 6: Sydney Motorsport Park November 1-3 (TCR World Tour) ROUND 7: Mount Panorama Bathurst November 8-10 (TCR World Tour)
SRO SHOWS OFF 2024 GT WORLD CHALLENGE SCHEDULE GT World Challenge returns to Phillip Isalnd in April.
THE SRO Motorsports Group has launched its seven date 2024 GT World Challenge Australia schedule, starting with February’s Bathurst 12 Hour. After the SRO Motorsports Group announced it was taking control of both
Australia’s GT3 and GT4 competitions, the GT3 calendar has followed the GT4 Australia Series release. The calendar features both Sprint and Endurance rounds, as the GT WCA is set to reach levels of integration, growth, and
profile through the SRO’s takeover, with six of the seven rounds taking place within the 2024 SpeedSeries calendar. Combined as the first round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Australia’s summer enduro returns to Mount Panorama for the first of two Endurance Cup events on the calendar with the Bathurst 12 Hour on February 16-18. Four Sprint dates then follow, running from April to September, with Phillip Island set to host Round 2 on April 12-14, followed by The Bend on May 24-26, Queensland Raceway on July 19-21, and round in September with a venue that’s yet to be decided. The second Endurance Cup round will then take place at SMP with a four hour race on October 18-20, with the final sprint round then seeing a return to the Mountain for the Bathurst International. SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP 2 x 60 Minute Practice Sessions, Qualifying: Minimum 2 x 20 min sessions, Races 2 x 60 Minutes
ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Bathurst 12 Hour: 280 Minutes of Practice, Qualifying 2 x 30 Minutes, Top 10 Shootout, Race 1 x 12 Hours. Sydney Motorsport Park: 2 x 60 minute Practice Sessions, Qualifying 2 x 20 Minutes, Super Pole Shootout, Race 1 x 4 Hours. An overall title for teams and drivers will combine the Endurance and Sprint Cups. Timothy W Neal 2024 GT WORLD CHALLENGE ROUND 1: Bathurst 12 Hour February 16-18 *(Endurance Cup) ROUND 2: Phillip Island April 12-14 ROUND 3: Shell V Power The Bend Motorsport Park May 24-26 ROUND 4: Queensland Raceway July 19-21 ROUND 5: TBC August 30 – September 1 ROUND 6: Sydney Motorsport Park October 18-20 *(Endurance Cup) ROUND 7: Supercheap Auto Bathurst International November 8-10
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CARRERA CUP HEADING ACROSS THE TASMAN THE PORSCHE Carrera Cup Australia championship will head across the Tasman and conduct a category-first in New Zealand in 2024. The one-make series will follow the Supercars Championship to Taupo Motorsport Park on April 19-21. Whilst Supercars has been racing in New Zealand since 2001, it will be the first time Carrera Cup heads across the Tasman to go racing and just the second time overseas following the trip to Malaysia in 2017. The New Zealand round has been promised to be the second stop on the 2024 Carrera Cup calendar which is “to be released in due course”. Carrera Cup Australia has a proud New Zealand heritage dating back to the inaugural champion of 2003, Jim Richards, and the most successful driver, Craig Baird, who scored five titles. Jaxon Evans is the most recent Kiwi to win the crown, in 2018, but this year young gun Callum Hedge is in the running to join
Carrera Cup Australia will hit Taupo in April.
the club at the upcoming season closer in Adelaide. All up 10 different Kiwis have won a combined total of 152 Carrera Cup Australia races over the two decades of racing. Multiple championship winning operation McElrea Racing is owned by noted NZ racer Andy McElrea, while Earl Bamber Motorsport/Team Porsche New Zealand are chasing title glory this year.
Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Manager Barry Hay said this weight of history makes an NZ race perfect sense. “Returning to an overseas venue has been on the agenda for the championship for some time, but it needed to be the right venue, the right time and the right place,” he said. “This ticks all of those boxes and so much more and we’re proud to be taking one-make Porsche racing back to New Zealand in 2024.
“Following the Supercars to Taupo for the first ITM Taupo Super400 event made all the sense in the world, and we have worked closely with the Supercars Championship, Porsche Motorsport New Zealand and our teams and competitors to make the trip achievable. “Carrera Cup has such incredible Kiwi heritage and DNA and while we are Carrera Cup Australia, we are fiercely proud to represent New Zealand as well as witnessed with the teams and drivers who come from across the Tasman to race with us. “It’s going to be an incredible trip for our teams and drivers and a great experience to take the show on the road to another country. “The Kiwi fans will have plenty of local to cheer for in our field next year and I am sire they are relishing the chance to watch another Kiwi sporting star beat up on the Aussies in New Zealand.” Thomas Miles
HEDGE CLINCHES AMERICAN OPEN-WHEEL CROWN KIWI YOUNG gun and Carrera Cup contender Callum Hedge took out the Formula Regional Americas Championship in Austin, Texas, after winning 13 of the 18 races across the season. It’s been a massive year for the young Kiwi, competing both at home, in Australia, and in the States, with the final round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia to come where he can cap off a huge year of international racing with another championship. Hedge’s Race 1 win in Austin saw him take out the title with two races to spare in a dominant year for the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport team, as they took a second title of their own within the space of a week after their AGI Sport-supported team won the F4 US title. As a reward for winning the title, the young rising star will now have the chance to compete in the Japanese Super Formula, as his compatriot Liam Lawson did this season,
which would see him working with the Honda Performance Development (HPD) and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC). “It’s super awesome to win the championship. It’s been a really long year, with a lot of travel, but it means a lot to finally get a reward for all the effort my team and I have put in,” Hedge said. “The Formula Regional Americas has been a really fun category to race in, and I expect to see the championship continue with great success in the coming years. My weekend in Austin, Texas was almost perfect. I was the fastest car in every session. “Qualified on pole by nine-tenths and won two out of the three races. In the final race, I was really able to push hard, with nothing to lose, and crossed the line with an almost 10 second lead. “It has been a pleasure to drive for the Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport team and kudos to them for claiming both the FR and the F4 championships this year.”
Hedge’s efforts this year have seen him compete in 50 races across the Formula Regional Oceania, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and Formula Regional Americas, claiming 20 wins, 14 pole positions and 36 podiums, as well as getting to test out some Indy NXT machines at Indianapolis last month. “It’s just really a big credit for the people who made it happen for me – my managers, Mark Pilcher and Steve Horne, from M2 Competition Management – without them looking and finding this series, I wouldn’t be able to go on and do the cool things that I’m going be able to do next year. “Also a massive thank you to those who came on board and supported this adventure – the Tony Quinn Foundation, Giltrap Group and Tasman Motorsport Group.” Hedge now heads to Portugal for the Porsche Junior Shootout at Portimao, a title he sewed up at the Sandown 500 weekend,
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before returning home to battle Jackson Walls for the Carrera Cup title, with 21 points between them. Timothy W Neal
HUGE ARC FINALE INCOMING THE FINAL round of the Australian Rally Championship kicks off this weekend in the forests surrounding the nation’s capital, Canberra, where a number of intriguing storylines will unfold. The Rally of Canberra will fittingly be the scene of the final chapter of a ARC title fight that has gone down to the wire between a pair of ACT local brothers Lewis and Harry Bates. Lewis is the current reigning ARC Champion and leads his brother by 23 points going into the final round. With 110 points to play for over the weekend, the potential is there for the entire championship to go down to the final 3.5km power stage at Kowen Rally Village on Sunday afternoon. Lewis won the last round of the championship at the Adelaide Hills Rally, but Harry has won the last four Rally of Canberra events. Both Lewis and Harry are teammates and drive for their father Neal Bates who has also won multiple ARC Championships. They will not be the only big names to watch as 2016 Australian Rally Champion and 2021 Extreme E Champion Molly Taylor returns to the Canberra forests. Taylor was the first female to steer her way to an ARC outright Drivers’ title seven years ago. Taylor has also previously competed in select rounds of the World Rally Championship and has two finishes to her
name in the famous Dakar Rally. On this occasion she’ll be competing in the ARC Production Cup at the Rally of Canberra onboard a Subaru WRX. With Scott Pedder also in the field debuting a prototype Subaru WRX, there are four ARC champions in the field. A Finland-based Aussie is also coming to the Capital looking to further his reputation. Twenty-one-year-old Newcastle-based driver Taylor Gill has taken time out of his busy European rally schedule to take part in the 35th-anniversary edition of the
Rally of Canberra. Gill is currently competing in the FIA Rally Star competition and will fly into the country just days after competing in the LausitzRallye in Germany. At Canberra he will be competing in the ARC Production Cup in a Subaru Impreza WRX that he campaigned the last time he raced in Australia. The late Ken Block’s longtime co-driver, Alex Gelsomino is also co-driving for Indonesian driver Gandewa Sanders in an ARC Production Cup Ford Fiesta.
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Below: Lewis and Harry Bates – competing brothers, in matching Toyotas. ....
The ARC finale hits full throttle this Saturday.
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ADELAIDE MOTORSPORT FESTIVAL 2024: THE ULTIMATE AUTOMOTIVE SMORGASBORD THE TENTH anniversary of the first Adelaide Motorsport Festival promises to be a beauty, chockers with thrilling variety. Held during South Australia’s Mad March – March 15-17, there are a swag of cultural and sporting events to be taken in apart from the festival. It’s The Time of Year for a fortnight’s holiday in Adelaide. The major elements of the festival are the Victoria Park Sprints on a shortened variant of the GP track, some fantastic static displays of racing and road cars, and the Friday night street party. Stay in the city or North Adelaide and the whole shebang can be imbibed on foot. For many of us, the most spectacular F1 of all was the 3.5-litre era when the sound and feel of screaming V10s and V12s both rattled your brains and played wicked games with the erectile-tissues! The entry of a Benetton B200 raced by Giancarlo Fisichella during the 2000 season will be a major drawcard. Benetton was sixth in the Manufacturers Championship that year while ‘Fisi’ scored three podiums at Brazil, Monaco and Canada. The highlight was second place in Sao Paulo behind Michael Schumacher. Back then the bright blue B200 was powered by a Playlife badged Supertec FB02 V10. Now it has a 750bhp V10 Judd
engine fitted, but rest assured that brainjangling, exotic scream will be just as good. The Mazda 767B Le Mans endurance racer will perhaps be even more earsplitting than the Benetton for fans who didn’t experience the sound of Allan Moffat’s Wankel racing-rotary RX-7s back in the-day. The 767B was the precursor to the 1991 787B Le Mans winner; older fans will recall Mazda’s long commitment to and exploitation of rotary technology, three Mazda R100s first raced at Bathurst way back in 1969. A ‘Rice Burner’ of an altogether different kind is the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 Godzilla. The two Gibson Motorsport cars that won the Great Race and Australian Touring Car Championship in 1991-92 driven by Jim Richards and Mark Skaife will be in action at the festival. These ‘pack-of-arseholes’ Group A machines – so hated by the local V8 brigade – were devastatingly quick, highly sophisticated four-WD, twincam, four-valve, turbocharged 2.6-litre powered panzers that – 30 years on – still make current Supercars look positively Boganesque. At the hang-on-for-grim death end of Grand Prix bikes were the late 1980s-early
A Le Mans Mazda 787B will be among the exotic race cars at the Adelaide Motorpsort Festival. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES.
1990s 160-190bhp screaming 500cc twostrokes. From that perspective those who never had the chance to see these bikes, and their savage power delivery, race in anger will be blown away by an ex-Robbie Magee Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha YZR 500. The Horsham Hurricane, winner of the 1988 Spanish Grand Prix, will ride a ’92 spec YZR in most spectacular fashion. A more sophisticated but no less impressive bike is the 2013 Team Aspar Aprilia ART GP13 machine to be ridden by
another former Australian MotoGP winner, Peter Vermeulen. Peter won the 2007 French Grand Prix and will take to the streets in this 1-litre four stroke, 230bhp raced by Aleix Espargarò that year. Be there folks! It’s a superb weekend, a chiropractor’s weekend actually. Your head is constantly spinning at the variety of road, F1, Supercars, sportscars, Group C and Group A tourers and IndyCars to watch, look at in depth, hear … and feel. Mark Bisset
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FEATURES INCLUDE: CONTROL ROOM AND HIGHLY SPECIALISED DYNO FACILITY • RARE SPECIAL PURPOSE MECHANICAL ENGINE RECONDITIONING EQUIPMENT • CLEAN PRECISION ENGINEERING WORKSHOP Built and occupied by John Sidney Racing, with a steep and decorated car racing history, this site has housed and been involved in the manufacturing of both successful and innovative motor racing machinery for decades and remains one of the most highly regarded operations of its kind in Australia. The roof has been completely replaced and the factory area features numerous 3 phase outlets, airlines, and is both heated and cooled.
TO VIEW FULL DETAILS OF THE PROPERTY FOR SALE VISIT THE LINK BELOW www.realcommercial.com.au/for-sale/property-19-treforest-drive-clayton-vic-3168-504438204 For further information call or email Matt O’Dea 0448 566 566 • matt.odea@faceyproperty.com.au
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VALE FRANK MIDGLEY A MAGIC TIME
LONG SERVING Speedway Media Maven, Frank Midgley has passed away at the age of 85. Frank started his media role, photographing and writing race reports in the mid-1940s and continued well past the turn of the century and into the early 20s. Over this time Frank has worked for many print media outlets local, national and international which includes Auto Action and Speedway Australia Hall of Famer Peter White from Speedway World. Along the way he has catalogued the most thorough South Australian speedway historical photographs and records by far. Sadly, father time caught up with Frank and he stopped attending the tracks around the time of the Covid period; however he still to took great interest and recorded as many results as possible, keeping his records current until his passing. In addition to working in the media, Frank was a competitor, having raced a TQ for a short period of time at the iconic Rowley Park Speedway, before returning to concentrate solely on his media duties. He is a life member of the Speedway Drivers Association of South Australia amongst other organisations for the services he has provided to Speedway racing on 2, 3 and 4 wheels. To travel to his most local weekly events,
AT THE ISLAND
Frank Midgley at the Sunline Speedway Waikeire, June 2018.
Frank would venture from his home in Yankalilla to Speedway City, 100 kms or to Murray Bridge Speedway 120 kms away, not to mention his longer road trips to the more regional or interstate venues. Prior to Franks passing there was a positive movement to have him inducted into the Speedway Australia Hall of Fame for his seven decades of media service. On behalf of the motor sport community, Auto Action send condolences to the Midgley family, friends and the greater Speedway community. Paris Charles
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WHEN COMPROMISE ISN’T AN OPTION
PIARC’S ISLAND Magic is a fortnight away. In its 33rd year, the meeting is always a cracker and returns to a more focused eight-category event after the overload of recent years. A fitting finale to fast and furious racing in 2023, the 50K Plate for Sports Sedans will also be the final round of the 2023 Victorian Sports Sedan Series. The ‘Plate – a pinnacle Sports Sedan event – dates back 51 years and was first won in 1972 by Bryan Thomson’s LJ Holden Torana Chev V8. The formula of non-stop sprint racing returns; there are no Endurance races this year. The Endeavour Cup for the Porsche 944 Challenge will see the Stuttgart stormers on track for three exciting races, while Formula Vee is back with great support from sponsor SPECO VHT with around 25 cars expected. Running both FF classes, Formula Ford and Formula Ford 1600 will swell numbers over previous years. Great open wheeler battles are expected from these enduring cars which have given many current Supercar champions and Australian F1 drivers Tim Schenken, Vern Schuppan, David Walker, Larry Perkins, David and Gary Brabham, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo ‘a start’. Building on last year’s Formula Open debut at Island Magic, this superfast group
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BE RYCO READY
Tony Groves’ Mazda 3 MARC car will be among the Sports Sedans competing.
of predominantly Formula 3 open wheelers will again grace our favourite seaside venue with a up to 25 vehicles expected. The PIARC Victorian Historic Touring Car Trophy will attract over 30 cars providing further opportunity for the very fast and nostalgic Monaros, Camaros Chargers, Cortinas, Mazdas, Mustangs, Toranas, BMWs and Minis to provide the aural and visual pleasures to end the year. Improved Production Cars Matthew Flinders Plate always attracts a big field too. Again, with over 30 cars expected, it will not disappoint, with almost everymarque in the field. The Island Magic is always a great season-ending meeting; be there at Australia’s most picturesque and challenging circuit. For more details as we head towards late November keep an eye on www.piarc.com. au for updated details. Admission tickets will be available online via Eventbrite. Mark Bisset
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SPRINTCARS COMING BACK TO WARRNAMBOOL
MILLER: MALAYSIA A “HEAD SCRATCHER”
JACK MILLER has described his eighth place at the 2023 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix as a “head scratcher”. P8 was the result from an encouraging weekend for Miller, who took a step forward in the KTM but was left wanting more at Sepang where the Ducatis once again dominated. The weekend started brilliantly with the #43 showing top three pace on Friday but could not unlock that same speed in qualifying and had to start 10th. In the Sprint Miller moved forward to sixth, while he also enjoyed a great start in the Grand Prix, charging from 10th to sixth on the opening lap alone. But once again as the race went on, Miller lost some ground and eventually took the chequered flag eighth, a big step forward from Thailand. Reflecting on the race, Miller could not quite put his finger on why he could not keep up with his rivals without “anything silly” happening. “Eighth in Malaysia – if it feels like I always finish eighth here it’s because I nearly always do, that’s five times in the last six races here!” Miller said. “The race was a bit of a head-
scratcher because it wasn’t one where I nearly ran off, did anything silly, nothing like that. “Eighth was just our pace, that was where we were compared to the Ducatis, at least the three guys on Ducatis up the front anyway. “I suspected after the Sprint that we’d have a bit more for those boys at the front on Sunday, but they could pretty much run Sprint race pace the whole Grand Prix race while we’re ending up nearly a second a lap off.” Miller continued by revealing he lost front end grip towards the back end of the race which is why struggled to keep the Yamahas behind. “I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong and rode pretty solid, the pace was halfdecent,” he said. “I had (Ducati’s Marco) Bezzecchi in front of me and was eyeing up a move on him, but couldn’t get close enough to even attempt anything so I was kind of stuck at that pace. “As the race wore on I got the frontend too hot and dropped off him, and at the end of the race the Yamahas came past, I tried to do what I could to keep them at bay but they had plenty of grip
towards the end and I wasn’t able to fight.” Despite being disappointed with the result, Miller said it was a step forward he and KTM needed to take after the “disaster” of Thailand. It helped him maintain a top 10 position in the championship with Alex Marquez closing in, while the familiarity of riding at a test track was a big boost to start the weekend strong. “It’s a bit further back than we wanted, but a solid weekend after Thailand for me, which is what I needed as that one was a bit of a disaster really,” Miller said. “The steps that we made on the bike and the feeling I had with the bike was good. Being back here in Malaysia was good for me as it’s the first repeat track for me on the KTM. Because we’d tested here before the season, and I always enjoy it. “We’ll keep working, and I’ll try to get better as well with set-up and maximise what we can for these last two in Qatar and Valencia.” The penultimate round of the 2023 MotoGP season is at Qatar this weekend.
SPRINTCARS WILL be back racing at Premier Speedway this Saturday night to stage rounds of the Total Tools Warrnambool Sprintcar Track Championship and SRA Open Sprintcar Series. The second round of the Total Tools Warrnambool Sprintcar Track Championship and fourth event of the SRA Open Sprintcar Series is expected to feature drivers from all over the country. Almost half of the 32-car field are interstate travellers with representation from five states of Australia. Fronting the interstate charge will be the likes of Lachlan McHugh driving the VA71 Domain Ramsay owned car and rising Tasmanian talent Tate Frost fresh off a victory at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway last week. Current ‘Classic’ champion Brock Hallett returns to Sungold Stadium as he looks to accumulate points in his quest to defend his Total Tools Warrnambool Track Championship and evoke memories of his special drive in January’s Grand Annual. Hallett is joined by former National champ Marcus Dumesny from New South Wales, who will also be a contender. SRA Series points leader Bobby Daly is nominated along with current second place in points Daniel Pestka who took the series championship last season. They will be resuming their championship arm wrestle at Warrnambool, while a host of young guns will be looking to make a name for themselves. Jordyn Brazier who scored his best result at Premier Speedweek a fortnight ago returns to the venue where his father Garry enjoyed great success. Queenslanders Ryan Newton and Jye Corbet are also names to watching having qualified on the front row in the season-opening event. In addition to sprintcars, Formula 500 complements the racing program where the prestigious Jack Willsher Cup will be on the line. Formula 500’s have received 27 nominations fronted by current national champion Dylan Beveridge from Tasmania. But Beveridge will not have all his own way with Dylan Willsher a former winner and keen to get his name on the trophy in his ‘Pa’s’ honour. Veterans including Tim Rankin, Justin Bowen and Dale Sinclair are also expected to be challenging at the front. Gates will open at 16.00 AEDT with on-track action firing up at 17.00 AEDT.
AUSSIE TEEN ANAGNOSTIADIS TO CHASE F1 DREAM MELBOURNE TEENAGER Aiva Anagnostiadis is preparing to move to the UK to chase her Formula 1 dream with the support of Alpine. Anagnostiadis, 16, is a go-kart racer currently part of the Alpine Rac(H)er Academy Program and in 2024 her career will reach top gear. The teenager and her family will relocate to Oxford, England to race a full season with Dan Holland Racing. The British team is a highly successful karting squad racing around the United Kingdom and Europe with championship wins in the Rotax British, European championships, plus the X30 Junior series. For Anagnostiadis, this is a golden opportunity to make her dream of becoming the first female driver to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi at Austria in 1976. Alpine (formally Renault) has a history of supporting Australian drivers with current McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri breaking records with the French squad in Formula Renault, Formula 3 and Formula 2 as an academy member. Whilst Piastri moved to McLaren to join the F1 grid this year, there was still an
Aussie in the Alpine ranks in the form of current Formula 2 driver and F1 reserve driver Jack Doohan. One day within the next four years Anagnostiadis hopes to be on the pathway to join those names at Alpine’s F1 team in the academy. “I have grown up around motorsport and just love it,” she told Neil Mitchell on 3AW Mornings. “I love racing and especially the adrenaline you get from it.
“I am doing go-karts at the moment and hopefully soon (transition) to cars. “I would like my trajectory to be as quick as possible but we will see how it rolls through. “Oscar did it quite fast, winning a lot so if we can get to do the same as what Oscar did that would be amazing. “Hopefully around 19 and 20 we have that pathway pretty much set up.” The 2021 Australian Ladies Karting Trophy winner already has some
experience in the home of open-wheel racing Europe, representing Australia in the FIA Motorsport Games and doing a handful of club karting meetings in the UK. But now she is going to race there full time with even her family sacrificing their life in Australia. “We are heading over to Europe on December 31 so will start the new year in a new country,” Anagnostiadis continued. “We will be based around Oxford in the UK. I will mainly be in the UK and all over Europe racing with Dan Holland Racing, one of the biggest British go-kart teams so that will be pretty good. “I will do year 11 and 12 online.” Anagnostiadis is one of six young female Karters from all over the world in Alpine’s Rac(H)er programme. The French Formula 1 team also brought Sophia Floersch into its academy and supported the German in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 championship this year, plus Abbi Pulling, who has raced in both the W Series and Formula 1 Academy championships. Anagnostiadis hopes to be doing the same very soon.
TOTANI BECOMES NEW TCR CATEGORY MANAGER, MCMELLAN TO SRO LISA TOTANI will be the new Category Manager of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia series into 2024 as Ben McMellan steps up to head SRO. On the Tuesday after the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, Australian Racing Group Barry Rogers confirmed the change of personnel in a letter assigned to all TCR teams and competitors. Since TCR arrived on Australian shores in 2019, McMellan has performed the role of Head of Category Operations and TCR Australia Category Manager. But after the final round of the fourth season won by Josh Buchan at Mount Panorama last weekend, it has been revealed he will change direction. Instead McMellan will transition to becoming the Head of SRO Motorsport Group Australia. In 2024 SRO is expanding its motorsport footprint in Australia with the arrival of a new GT4 Australia category that will run within the SpeedSeries. McMellan’s successor, Totani arrives with extensive experience within the ARG setup. She has overseen S5000 as the category manager throughout the 2023 season which will wrap up at the VAILO Adelaide 500. Totani has also spent three years as part of the ARG’s TV production crew. Next year the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season will remain at seven
rounds and welcome back the TCR World Tour for a double header at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst. Rogers thanked McMellan for his time as TCR Category Manager and welcomed Totani. “First congratulations on delivering two excellent rounds over the past two weekends. Race Sydney and the Bathurst International WSC rounds were entertaining and truly a reflection of a fantastic global racing series,” Rogers said.
“The past two weeks have been very busy, and we wanted to inform teams and competitors post event that Ben McMellan will be stepping down as Category Manager of TCR Australia to take up a role as Head of SRO Motorsport Group Australia. “Ben has done an outstanding job in this role, and we thank him for his contribution to both TCR Australia and the Australian Racing Group. “We would like to announce that Lisa
Totani will take over as Category Manager of the TCR Series. “Lisa was appointed Category Manager of S5000 for the 2023 season and has been part of the Australian Racing Group TV production crew for 3 years.” It is the latest development in a big year of change for ARG with the likes of Liam Curkpatrick, Ken Collier, John McMellan, Grant Rowley and Chris Lambden, who all departed throughout 2023. Thomas Miles
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GM OFFICIALLY ENTER THE F1 ENGINE RACE GENERAL MOTORS has officially put up its hand to construct a Cadillac badged Formula 1 engine by the 2028 season in support of an Andretti F1 team, which would make it a true allAmerican works team. Whilst the Andretti F1 push has been approved by the FIA there is still the hurdle of making an agreement with the F1 commercial rights holders, which will now be boosted by the fact that an Andretti entry would officially be accompanied by an engine works deal. The American manufacturer would join the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda Renault, Audi and Red Bull by 2028 should the Andretti licence be approved, but it remains unclear as to what engine will power the Andretti entry prior to 2028 should they be approved to enter F1 in 2026 as planned. The initial deal – which
has now lapsed – was with Renault, but if its entry is approved, it’s more than likely that the option would be revived. Andretti Global team owner Michael Andretti said that GM’s entry into the PU (Power Unit) F1 is the first step toward creating an American F1 dream. “The GM PU will be a strong addition to F1, we are proud the Andretti Cadillac partnership will make this possible,” Andretti said. “Our commitment to excellence will not be taken lightly as we continue planning to enter F1 as soon as possible and, in 2028, Andretti Cadillac will compete as a true American works team. “This historic partnership will accelerate the sport in the fast-growing U.S. market as well as globally.” Statements released by GM have indicated that the works are already well
underway in the construction of a Cadillac F1 powertrain. “Development and testing of prototype technology is already under way” and the advancement of “GM’s expertise in areas including electrification, hybrid technology, sustainable fuels, high efficiency internal combustion engines, advanced controls, and software systems”, is making progress. GM President Mark Reuss is confident that they can turn Andretti into a competitive works team. “We are thrilled that our new Andretti Cadillac F1 entry will be powered by a GM power unit,” Reuss. “With our deep engineering and racing expertise, we’re confident we’ll develop a successful power unit for the series, and position Andretti Cadillac as a true works team.
“We will run with the very best, at the highest levels, with passion and integrity that will help elevate the sport for race fans around the world.” The biggest voice of support through the whole Andretti push has come from FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who feels that an American team and specifically Andretti would be great for the sport considering it would also bring a new engine builder to the table. “Delighted with the news that GM has registered as a PU supplier for FIA F1. This is a further endorsement of the FIA’s PU regulations,” he said. “The presence of iconic American brands Andretti and GM is good for the sport.” This weekend sees the third US Grand Prix of the season on the Las Vegas strip on November 16-18.
SUPERCARS FORCES SPEEDSERIES SEASON TWEAKS THE ARRIVAL of the 2024 Supercars Championship has once again forced SpeedSeries to make some late modifications to its 2024 calendar. The largest SpeedSeries season remains at 10 rounds with the seventh event still without a venue. But Motorsport Australia has announced the dates for the trip to The Bend Motorsport Park and second stint at Queensland Raceway have been tweaked. The fourth round of the season at The Bend was originally scheduled to take place on May 24-26. But the return to South Australia will take place a week later on May 31-June 2 where TCR fronts the racing line up. After a mid July journey to Queensland Raceway, the “Paperclip” was lined up to host a doubleheader on the very next weekend of July 19-21. But now with Supercars going racing on that weekend under lights at Sydney
calendar coming to light much later. Regarding the TBC round, a Motorsport Australia statement outlined discussions are continuing with a number of circuits. “The September round listed as a TBC in the draft calendar is still yet to be locked away while Motorsport Australia continues discussions with circuits and state governments around the country,” it read.
2024 SPEEDSERIES CALENDAR
Motorsport Park, Motorsport Australia has pushed the second Ipswich round back a full fortnight to avoid a clash. This will now be held on August 2-4 so fans can still enjoy some local motorsport during the Paris Olympics which Supercars avoided.
It is not the first time Motorsport Australia has had to make changes following the arrival of the Supercars season. Last year the SpeedSeries was forced to move its Sandown date a week earlier due to Supercars announcing the Sandown 500 on the same date despite the latter’s
ROUND 1 - February 9-11: Sandown ROUND 2 - March 15-17: Symmons Plains ROUND 3 - April 12-14: Phillip Island ROUND 4 - May 31-June 2: The Bend ROUND 5 - July 12-14: Queensland Raceway ROUND 6 - August 2-4: Queensland Raceway ROUND 7 - August 30-September 1: TBC ROUND 8 - October 18-20: Sydney Motorsport Park ROUND 9 - November 1-3: Sydney Motorsport Park ROUND 10 - November 8-10: Mount Panorama
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MORE FIRSTS IN FULL 2024 CARRERA CUP CALENDAR A DAY after announcing a maiden trip across the Tasman, a maiden night race has been included in an eight-round 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia calendar. The first time the one-make series will go racing under lights will be at Sydney Motorsport Park in July which will be the halfway mark of the season. To accomodate for the trip to New Zealand, The Bend drops off the calendar for the first time in a full season since it opened in 2018. Racing will once again kick off at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix on March 21-24 which was also the season opener this year. After racing around Albert Park the field jumps across the Tasman to Taupo Motorsport Park to stage a historic inaugural round in New Zealand.
The first international round since Malaysia 2017 is a double header with the Supercars Taupo Super400 event in April. A return to the Darwin Triple Crown follows before the Carrera Cup heads to the harbour city. Sydney will be the scene of the category’s first night race in late July. In addition to supporting Supercars, the Carrera Cup will welcome its feeder series Porsche Sprint Challenge to the track once known as Eastern Creek. After a two-month break the season fires back up for a big finish starting at the 60th anniversary Sandown 500. October is a busy month with bigticket races at the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 500 events before the highprofile season finale at the Adelaide 500 for a second year in a row.
The end of season Porsche gala will also be held at the South Australian capital. With all eight rounds running side by side with Supercars, all will be broadcast on Fox Sports, while five will be on Channel 7. Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Manager Barry Hay said it is a “well balanced” calendar. “The 2024 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship calendar has been challenging to piece together, but we are very proud of the outcome,” he said. “It is well balanced, offers incredible events for our competitors and perhaps the most diverse calendar in the history of one-make Porsche racing in Australia. “From International events, night racing, outstanding and classic
permanent circuits, street racing and arguably four of the largest motorsport events in Australia, it offers incredible value for everyone involved. “Next year is looking like another bumper year with new names stepping up and familiar ones returning, plus several new cars that are due to arrive in Australia soon.”
2024 PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA CALENDAR ROUND 1 - March 21-24: Albert Park ROUND 2 - April 19-21: Taupo Motorsport Park ROUND 3 - June 14-16: Hidden Valley Raceway ROUND 4 - July 19-21: Sydney Motorsport Park ROUND 5 - September 20-22: Sandown ROUND 6 - October 10-13: Mount Panorama ROUND 7 - October 25-27: Surfers Paradise ROUND 8 - November 14-17: Adelaide
HEIMGARTNER DETERMINED TO WRAP UP BIG YEAR IN STYLE ANDRE HEIMGARTNER is on track to vastly improve on his personal best season and wants to finish on a high at Adelaide. After a stunning start to the season which included six podiums across a stretch of 14 races from Albert Park to Sydney, Heimgartner sits sixth in the standings. It is a big jump from the Kiwi’s previous best which is 10th, achieved in his first season at BJR last year. Heimgartner is also on track to write himself into the record books at BJR. If he can hold onto sixth, he will equal the best ever result for a driver from the Albury based squad. Sixth is currently the high watermark set by another Kiwi, Fabian Coulthard when he enjoyed a breakout year in 2013 collecting three wins and nine other podiums. But with only one point between him and the charging Cameron Waters, Heimgartner will still have to fight for it.
Despite the success, Heimgartner established qualifying as a major area of improvement. Since a special Sydney when he claimed his first pole in three years and a front row, he has started in the top 10 just twice in the last seven races. Heimgartner is determined to end a great year on another high but knows one-lap pace could be critical around the streets of Adelaide.
“Recently our qualifying has really struggled, and that’s hindered our performance and our consistency,” he told Supercars. “That’s something we need to work out as a team, and it’s something we’re working through at the moment. “Adelaide will be about working on those qualifying things and trying to prepare the best we can for next year, we have lots of ideas of what we want to test.” Despite the recent dip in form, Heimgartner is thrilled with how his first experience of racing Gen3 has gone and is even eying the goal of turning the team into championship contenders next year. “It’s been a great year for us with a lot of ups and downs,” Heimgartner said. “Looking forward to Adelaide. We want to get through the weekend, and secure the best championship position of my career, equal BJR’s best and go into next year hopefully being title contenders.”
NATIONALS NEWS David Banks winning the Sunday morning race, in a Talon MR1 Chev, from the Ex Kevin Bartlett/John Walker Lola T332 Chev of Codie Banks.
NEW ZEALAND’S TASMAN CUP REVIVAL F5000 SERIES 2023-24 THE FIRST round of the NZ Revival F5000 Tasman Cup was held at Manfeild (Circuit Chris Amon) on November 11-12. A small but select grid of 10 cars greeted the starter, with more to come at Taupo and Ruapuna, before the final round at fast and furious Phillip Island during the traditional March Classic historic meeting on March 7-10, 2024. Following Saturday’s qualifying, the season opening six-lapper was won by Grant Martin’s ex-Amon Talon MR1A Chev – all of the cars racing are Chev powered – from Kevin Ingram’s Lola T332 and David Banks’ ex-Jon Woodner Talon MR1. Sunday’s racing comprised a six lap race in the morning with an eight-lap event in the afternoon, all with a rolling starts. Series co-ordinator Tony Jack established handicapping gaps – slower cars at the front and faster cars at the rear of the rolling start – with Tony Annabell first away in his McLaren M10B but that all came unstitched when Bruce Kett spun his Lola T332 on the final turn before starting his second lap. Out went the safety car. When the race resumed the faster cars were bunched behind the slower ones. Leader Annabell then spun leaving the field in reverse order to find their way past. The inevitable closing contact resulted in Codie Banks Lola T332 tapping Kevin Ingram’s Lola up-the-chuff as they headed for the grass. While mobile, both headed to the pits for damage inspection, and then retirement. By now David Banks was up to second position and overtook the Group A (pre-1970) McLaren Fank Karl’s ex-Mike Walker McLaren M10B Chev was the standout Pre-1970 performer. Images: JAROD CARRUTHERS
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M10B of Frank Karl on the penultimate lap. Last to start and at the back of the melee, Grant Martin (Talon MR1A) moved to fifth on the fifth lap, leaping to second before the chequered flag and finished 1.8sec behind Banks. Shane Windelburn’s Lola T400 was third with Karl’s M10B fourth. As the mild weather weekend continued, the afternoon eight lap race had Codie Banks ( junior) and Ingram back on the grid for a 10-car start. With progressive gridding (and allowing for the inclusion of Banks and Ingram) all was well, until Grant Martin’s Talon MR1A – with brake issues – and successive spins culminated in a big-lose towards Higgins corner, he left the track, crossed the gravel and went sideways into the tyre barrier. While Martin emerged bruised, the beautiful ex-Norris Industries Talon will require more attention than its Piha based pilot. Out front, Ingram made good on his starting position, taking the chequered flag with David Banks, Talon MR1 second, 11.53sec behind. Codie Banks’ Lola T332, was third a further eight seconds behind his father. It was now a win-apiece to Martin, Banks and Ingram. Frank Karl, McLaren M10B, again led the pre-1970 Group A field, finishing fifth. There is plenty of excitement among F5000 fans at the prospect of a big grid of crowd pleasing, fire-breathing, blood and thunder 550bhp roller-skates exploring the limits of adhesion on the wide open expanses of Phllip Island; hopefully enough cars to justify a grid of their own at the 2024 VHRR Phillip Island Classic! Mark Bisset
Image: RACE PROJECT
TCR: IS IT JUST SLEEPING? THE TCR World Tour should have kicked some life into the ailing local TCR scene, but it didn’t, and that is all on the Australian Racing Group and Motorsport Australia and their seeming desire to run ‘secret’ race meetings with the SpeedSeries. To say the past fortnight has been an opportunity lost would be one of the greatest understatements of the motorsport year. Think about it. An international motor racing series came to Australia. Yeah, it had to run at Sydney Motorsport Park, or Eastern Creek as we still prefer to call it, but it was running at Bathurst. Only problem was, the internationals didn’t really show – which is not on anyone here – and the promotors didn’t do any promoting. Professional motorsport is not professional without crowds and TV eyeballs. This was not professional. I spoke to Marcello Lotti, the global boss of TCR International, last year, and he talked a big game. He told how TCR was booming globally and that Australia was one of the jewels in its crown: “The TCR World Tour will race in Australia, which will see the manufacturer customer racing TCR World Tour teams race in Australia with the TCR Australia
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DEEP THOUGHT teams and series.” If you believe the relevancy of touring car racing is about running the cars we drive on the streets, aside from racing SUVs, this should be the class we all watch. There are cars from 17 manufacturers homologated and another five having dabbled on the edges of the series without committing fully to the various championships. There are five full FIA international series for the cars and a further 29 series globally using TCR regulations for its cars. ARG shouted from the rooftops about the TCR World Tour coming to Australia for a race meeting at Sydney Motorsport Park and then the Bathurst International. Lotti’s grand vision and that of the local series managers was going to give us something special. The only problem was, there was no crowd at either event. Twelve of the series elite racers and teams were meant to head down under for a head-to-head
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with the locals, yet they did not. Will Brown and Tony D’Alberto led the Aussie charge against names like Norbert Michelisz, Zac Soutar and Rob Huff. It should have been a multicultural feast of motorsport with Swedish meatballs, German sausages, Korean Kimchi, Spanish paella, Italian pasta, and Belgian chocolates against our humble set of meat pies. But it wasn’t, and the teams’ apathy was only matched by that of the Australian motor racing community and fans. This is a pity because some sparkling talent performed, and no one was watching. It reminded me of the old saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” If no one sees professional motorsport, is it professional? ARG has been bleeding people this year with highly regarded Head of Category Operations and TCR Australia Category Manager Ben McMellan, the
latest departure. He joins Liam Curkpatrick, Ken Collier, Chris Lambden, Matt Braid, John McMellan, Andrew Jansen and Grant Rowley as critical departures over the past 12 and a bit months. At Sandown in September, after snaffling the date Supercars wanted for the Sandown 500, the race meeting was held with no promotions to speak of. Ditto Sydney Motorsport Park last week and, to a lesser degree, the Bathurst International. What staggers me is that a seven-meeting TCR Championship calendar has been released for 2024, starting at Sandown in early February and running until the Bathurst international in November. My question is, why bother? To me, TCR and the SpeedSeries feels like it is on life support. What is going to change? With the staff departures and a commitment to Stan, there will be no more eyeballs on the cars that used to provide great racing when the series was pumping. Although, when I have been talking to a couple of team owners, they are optimistic about the future of TCR and the new free-to-air television package that is apparently coming for the
SpeedSeries. I’m told that several new cars are being ordered for the 2024 season. That’s great. I love Garry Rogers for everything he has done for motorsport in this country and for allowing us to enjoy his eccentricities and sense of humour. His son Barry is no less a serious operator in both motorsport and business – so what is going wrong? It feels like crunch time is coming. The grids are tiny, and a class that should be a great stepping stone for young talent is not proving that. ARG has lost so many staff it is hard to believe anyone is left to answer phones in the office. Stan is failing and the tree is falling without a sound. I hope I am wrong. I hope there is a plan. I hope Garry and Barry pick up the phone and talk to me about the future, about how it is positive and not failing because of the stupid requirements for a Supercars Superlicence to race in the Bathurst 1000 because I don’t buy that as the only reason for the malaise. Now I am left wondering if TCR International needs to do the same as the SRO Motorsports Group and find another way to handle TCR in this country. Please don’t make me such a ‘Negative Nellie’, I don’t like it.
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LACEY WRAPS UP AMERICAN CAMPAIGN IN STYLE AUSSIE TEENAGER Jesse Lacey wrapped up his rookie overseas campaign in the F4 United States Championship with a podium at COTA, but it was so close to being more. The Melbourne product finished sixth in the first two races at the home of the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, with the latter particularly impressive after being spun early. The final race was the highlight with Lacey starting fifth and surging to second with around eight minutes to go. He then hunted down a 3s deficit on USF4 champion Patrick Woods-Toth and snatched the lead on the final lap at Turn 13, but only after contact was made at the proceeding corner and a drag race down the back straight. This setup a thrilling side-by-side battle across the final four corners and Woods-Toth waited until the final lefthander to wrestle it back from Lacey. After a gripping battle, Lacey had to settle for second and fell just 0.017s short of victory. Despite the near miss he still recorded his sixth podium of the year in second place. These results ensured he finished fourth in the championship and just three and a half points away from third. Lacey was pleased to come away from an up-and-down round with a consistent set of results and finish the season on a positive note, but believed the move that saw the win stolen from him could have been a touch contentious. “It is a strong way to finish the season,” Lacey wrote on social media. “We started fifth after I could not put the lap together and the first race was a tough one. “From starting third to getting hit back to dead last (25th) I stormed through the field and finished sixth. “This was pleasing because it showed we had the pace to go for it. “(In Race 3) I drove three seconds back to take the lead on the last lap and got passed out of track limits. “So we took second by 0.017s and ended up fourth in the championship. “I cannot thank everyone at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport enough for all their help this season; without them it would not have been possible.” Lacey will step straight into preparations for 2024 by testing a Formula Regional car. Thomas Miles
Image: TAYLOR GILL FB
AUSSIE GILL WINS RALLYSTAR FINALE AUSTRALIAN RISING stars Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic (above) finished their FIA Rally Star season on a high by topping the test in Germany. After criss-crossing Europe, Gill and Brkic put together an impressive campaign claiming three wins from six attempts at San Marino, Rally Saaremaa and now the Lausitz-Rallye. The pair had to overcome a mix of wet and dry gravel conditions across 10 stages on the edge of Dresden. Gill completed the journey in his Ford Fiesta Rally3 with a time of 1:29:44.9, which was enough for sixth overall but importantly first of the FIA Rally Star competitors.
The Aussie emerged full minute and four seconds ahead of FIA Rally Star runner-up Jose Abelardo Caparo from Peru. Gill’s season-long rival Romeo Jurgenson could only manage 10th overall and fourth of the FIA Rally Star drivers. For Gill it was a great way to cap off a massive year full of experiences that will hold him in good stead for the challenges ahead. “What an incredible rally and year,” Gill said. “Both Dan and I have learn’t a huge amount this year, it really feels like we’ve done a rallying apprenticeship.
“I’m really happy with how the weekend panned out! I’ve still got some improving to do with driving in the deep ruts but our pace was a nice step up from Estonia last month where we faced similar conditions. “To finish all six events is something we can be proud of.” Despite the FIA Rally Star being ticked off the list, there is no time to rest for Gill and Brkic. After a few days with the FIA in Geneva, the pair head straight back home to Australia to contest the Rally of Canberra where they will compete in the ARC Production Cup this weekend. Thomas Miles
WEBSTER SALUTES ON FIA INDIAN F4 DEBUT FRESH FROM the GB4 Championship as 2023 Vice-Champion, Aussie young gun Cooper Webster is taking on the Indian F4 Championship, and took two wins in the season opener. All the cars are run by Dutch junior formulae team MP Motorsport, and Webster is racing for the Chennai Turbo Riders team in the Alpine engined Gen 2 Mygale F4 car, in a series that is backed by the FIA – meaning there are Super Licence points up for the taking. The opening round was also set to be a street circuit affair at Hyderabad street circuit, but elections in the local area (Telangana) forced the opening round to Chennai’s Madras International Circuit. Webster finished in P6 for the first of these encounters, with a monsoon hitting the track at the end of the race, with Indian racer Akshay Bohra taking the win. Webster started on pole for Race 2 with the top-six flipped and he quickly got the jump to control the race,
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with young Bohra fighting through the field for P2, 6.893s behind the Aussie. Taking the fastest lap of Race 2 had Bohra on pole again, and the Indian national would eventually drive to a 3sec victory, but the race would be awarded to Webster owing to a 25 sec post-race penalty. Webster led the field at one point after slipping into the front after Bohra had made contact with another driver, before Webster himself got contact from Bohra, with young Vietnamese driver Alex Sawer becoming the first Vietnamese national to take a podium in an FIA sanctioned race. Webster now returns home to take on the final round of the S5000 season with Versa Motorsport at the Adelaide 500 that he was juggling with his GB4 duties with the Aussie run Evans GP outfit. The next Indian F4 round is at Madras on November 30-December 1. Timothy W Neal
Image: VERSA MOTORSPORT
Was this the high water mark for Supercars? Pick the brands ... pick the stars ... When there were five (brands) in Supercars ... Image: DANIEL KALISZMOTORSPORT IMAGES
JUMPING THE SHARK THE COLUMNIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE REVEREND LIMITER PONDERS IF SUPERCARS HAS JUMPED THE SHARK.
BACK IN 2001 I wrote a column for Auto Action under the alias of The Reverend Limiter. The Good Reverend was known for his love of motorsport to the point of being a religious experience. Limiter also had an insatiable appetite for popular culture and often linked it to car racing to make his points. A good example was in October 2001 when he stumbled across a now defunct website – www.jumptheshark.com – that identified the moments when television series reached their peak. The ‘jump the shark’ expression stems from Happy Days, which was judged to have begun its long slide down the ratings charts when Fonzie, literally, jumped a shark while waterskiing. Happy Days’ producers tried to breathe new life into the show, by jetting the cast off to Hollywood for a series of episodes when ratings began to drop.
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REVVED UP The long-gone website highlighted thousands of other moments from dozens of programs. Some of the better known ones include The Wonder Years’ Fred Savage reaching puberty, the time when cousin Oliver joined the Brady Bunch, or when Klinger stopped wearing dresses on M*A*S*H. The site anointed actor Ted McGinley as the patron saint of shark jumping. When Ted joined the cast of a TV show, it signalled the program was doomed. Happy Days, The Love Boat, Dynasty and Married With Children all experienced the McGinley phenomenon. The term ‘jumped the shark’ soon became part of everyday language. It’s now used for all manner of subjects, to highlight the point when the rot set in. Back in 2001, the Australian Super Touring Championship’s demise had me pondering exactly when the 2-litre category jumped the shark. Super Touring travelled pretty well for five seasons, 1994 to 1998. But from 1999 onwards, once the factory
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teams departed, the category was on borrowed time despite TOCA Australia’s best efforts. I pinpointed Sunday 19 October, 1997 as the day Super Touring leapt the hammerhead. That day was two weeks after the Super Touring 1000, when the V8 event attracted over 50,000 people to the mountain, quadruple that of the AMP Bathurst 1000 on 5 October. In short, V8 Supercars’ event was a huge success, while the general public’s reaction to the 2-litre race was, at best, lukewarm. Until 19 October, no one – be they promoters, media, fans, or sponsors – was 100 percent sure which of the two events would be the bigger success. Now, 26 years later, I’m pondering if Supercars itself has jumped the shark. I’m not deathriding our premier series, I’m merely asking if it has peaked? Probably it has, but that doesn’t mean it can’t continue dishing up topline motorsport entertainment well into the future.
If I had to pinpoint when Supercars jumped the shark I’d nominate when images broke cover in November 2018 of the high-roof, Frankenstein monster-like Mustang testing at Queensland Raceway. What should have been quite an occasion for the category, signalling an exciting development, left fans scratching their heads and asking WTF? As to the totally separate question of when the sport was at its peak, I can suggest two high-water marks – one on the track and one off it. On track, I’ll nominate the 2014 Clipsal 500, when Scott McLaughlin gave “it some jandal” to huge public approval as Volvo became the fifth marque on the V8 Supercars grid. What RACE would give now to have five different badges competing. If it was around then, maybe it could have managed the unrest within the paddock. Forces worked against the new manufacturers behind the scenes which contributed to the new chums soon departing. There are Supercars identities who like to paint themselves as white knights, whose politicking for their own marques saw the new entrants disappear as quickly as they arrived. Off track, I reckon the highwater mark came in early 2010
when V8 Supercars launched a much-hyped television commercial fronted by then mega popstar Pink with her Get This Party Started song as the sport’s soundtrack. This was the glamour, big buck TVC that long-time series chairman Tony Cochrane had wanted to deliver. It signalled that V8 Supercars had ‘arrived’ on the Australian sporting landscape. Until then, only the AFL, NRL and cricket had launched comparable quality advertising campaigns. The Greatest Show On Wheels campaign was funded by the TV rights money injected into the category from the Seven Network’s big six-year deal that ran from 2007 through 2012. The sport was really flying through this period, fuelled by Seven’s cash, enthusiasm for growing the sport’s profile and widespread coverage. Sponsors came from every direction. But then, when it came time for this rights deal to be renegotiated, V8 Supercars’ big wigs got greedy. They upped the asking price and Seven walked away from the negotiating table. When it returned, it offered half the TV cash per annum. The sport has never really recovered. Actually, maybe that’s the moment when Supercars jumped the shark. What do you think? These Happy Days are yours and mine … Happy Days.
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SPEEDWAY NEWS
PREMIER SPEEDWAY LAUNCHES BIG SEASON Image: RICHARD HATHAWAY
MADSEN HANGS UP THE WINGS ONE OF Australia’s finest local and International Sprintcar drivers Ian Madsen has announced his retirement from racing after a 20year career which included two Knoxville Track Championships and an impressive World of Outlaws CV. The brother of Kerry Madsen (the winningest Aussie at the legendary Knoxville track), the New South Welshman recently competed at the Knoxville Nationals (otherwise known as the ‘The Granddaddy Of ‘Em All’) in the US, where he finished up 11th on the points table, racing for fellow Aussie Lynton Jeffrey, making the A-Main alongside his brother. Some of his highlights include capturing the 2018 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year award, as well as visiting Victory Lane four times in the World of Outlaws series. Also in his US career, he also had four All Star Circuit of Champions victories, and at the spiritual home of Sprintcar racing at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, he won an impressive 12 features, which included being crowned the Knoxville Track Champion on two occasions, the first of which came in 2014. Most recently on home soil, Madsen claimed wins at Avalon Raceway in the Presidents Cup and at Eastern Creek Speedway, both last season. An emotional Madsen had this to say on his retirement via his social media account. “It is with great sadness that today after 20 years, I am announcing my retirement from Sprintcar racing,” Madsen said. “This was not an easy decision, perhaps the most difficult of my life. I arrived at this decision for a myriad of reasons. “This time felt different like a receding glacier. We all know this will come one day. “Still, it doesn’t make it any easier. I do not know a world outside of racing, nor do I know if I will have anything to offer my new world. This is both terrifying and exciting for me.” He concluded. TW Neal
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Jock Goodyer – still the man to beat. Image: GEOFF GRACIE THE OPENING weekend at Sungold Stadium Premier Speedway in Warrnambool saw three of the country’s best Speedway racers kick off the year in style. The first of 15 nights of action this season saw a great turn-out for Sprintcars, Pro Sprintcars, and Modified Sedans, for the second round of the SRA Open Sprintcar Series, and the first of the Total Tools Warrnambool Track Championship. Once again, Tasmanian Jock Goodyer proved he’ll be a force to reckon with in 2023/24 as he took out the A Main for Sprintcars, whilst Lockie McHugh has come back from his US campaign in fine nick to take the Pro Sprints. And in the Modified Sedans, former champion Kye Walters started his season in ominous form. Goodyer, the reigning Australian Sprintcar Champion, ran down poleman Jamie Veal to ice the cake in the first Track Championship hit-out, taking the lead with six laps to run.
SA racer Daniel Pestka finished up third in A Main, storming home from ninth spot, while Sydney’s Jordyn Brazier had a career-best result at the venue finishing fourth after finishing second in the Last Chance the B-Main. Veal had worked through the field early and was setting a solid pace lapping mostly in 10.5 second efforts as Goodyer shadowed him after passing Jy Corbett. In a race of attrition there was no shortage of crashes with more than half the 20-car field not finishing. Defending Grand Annual winner Brock Hallett’s race was over early when he broke a shock absorber entering turn one after rolling his car just two laps in. This set off a chain reaction of retirees including, Glen Sutherland, Chad Ely, Rusty Hickman, Supercars driver Cam Waters, Tate Frost, Brett Milburn, Jy Corbet, Bobby Daly and Ryan Jones, while Daniel Sayre didn’t start. The Heat winners were Sutherland, Milburn, Corbet and McHugh.
Earlier in qualifying, Goodyer set the overall fastest one lap time of 10.249 sec from Hallett (10.315), Veal (10.369s) and Pestka (10.664s). The C&H Trucking sponsored Pro Sprints action saw McHugh led home teammate Jordan Rae in a famous victory for popular car-owner, Domain Ramsay of Geelong. They both proved good all evening to defeat Veal in the 20 lap feature To round out the winners, former national champion Kye Walters turned on a masterclass to win the 20-lap VMPA Tritech Lubricants feature race in the Modified Sedans. Walters was strong from the outset to lead from Dylan Barrow, and would eventually do it comfortably over Lachy Fitzpatrick and Scott Angus. The next meeting at Premier Speedway will be on Saturday November 18 with round four of the SRA Sprintcars series and the time-honoured Jack Willsher Cup for Formula 500s. TW Neal
STORER DOMINATES 2023 ACT SPEEDCAR CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORIAN LUKE Storer (right) was on the pace from the green flag jumping away from pole position on the fast and tacky ACT Speedway on November 4, winning comfortably in the end and taking the ACT crown home to Victoria. Storer’s victory came ahead of local driver Jay Waugh who showed great pace early in the race but couldn’t match the Image: PETR NORTON Victorian as the track gripped up over the 30 laps. Hayden William was also on the pace with a solid finish to start his 2023-24 and took second from Waugh mid-race Season. but made an error coming off Turn 4 The night started beautifully for the which handed the spot back to Waugh. big crowd of over 1,000 race fans in Third place went to Greg Rooke who attendance, but a shower during the had a clean run all night and was happy Speedcar Pole Shuffle halted proceedings
for almost an hour. Official’s worked hard to ensure a return to racing and with the support of the Wingless Sprintcar division, the night was able to continue on a track that became even faster than before the rain. In the Wingless, it was a win for Tyson William, with Chris Davis dominating the Lightning Sprints Final and Shaun Davoodi taking out the RSA Street Stock feature race. Next up for the ACT Speedway is the December 2 Compact Speedcar Stampede, with tickets available online at Eventbrite later this month – for more information, visit the ACT Speedway Facebook page. Craig Revell
REDEMPTION RACERS THINGS WERE tough through 2023 for two of the undoubted stars of Supercars racing. David Reynolds and Will Brown both faced significant struggles in their top-end campaigns, despite their towering talents and past successes. Reynolds showed flashes of his usual one-lap brilliance at Grove Racing, but the spotlight was clearly on rookie Matt Payne as the young Kiwi proved he is a future star with a string of impressive performances including a front-row start on the Gold Coast. When Reynolds went looking for a three-year contract extension at the surging Grove squad he didn’t get the reaction he expected. And definitely not what he wanted . . . So now he is high-tailing it to Team 18 for 2024 and beyond, into the welcome arms of Charlie Schwerkolt, although his long-time pitlane partner Al McVean is not taking his engineering expertise with him. Will Brown, in contrast but also comparison, has had a good year but was expecting something great at Erebus Racing. The pocket rocket began strongly – and still sits third in the Supercars standings heading to the grand final in Adelaide – but he is more than 450 points behind his team mate Brodie Kostecki and out of contention. So, Brown could be called the Sergio Perez of Supercars – good but not great and overshadowed by a mercurial team mate. But is that fair to either Brown or Reynolds? We will only really know once they are deep into season 2024, as Reynolds looks to renew his magic in the 18 team and Brown banks on the brilliance at Triple Eight and a rivalry with Broc Feeney which should drive them both forwards. But there are early signs that things should work, thanks to a pair of starring late-season performances. Reynolds won on the Gold
with Paul Gover
THE PG PERSPECTIVE Coast after a front-row start alongside Kostecki and then Brown upstaged the international aces when the TCR world title contenders landed at Sydney Motorsport Park, scoring two victories from three starts. So they have not forgotten how to win. In the case of Reynolds, his talent has always needed supporting. It’s come from McVean and his family, but it also takes a sniff of victory to get him going. When things are tough, he can let his shoulders drop. There was nothing to droop on the Gold Coast, as he was fast from the start on a track he
likes and that suits his driving style. Grove also got going with a car that suited Payne, which is a pointer to a potential championship challenge next year. But Reynolds, better known as the Joker of Supercars than for his title tilts, was serious fast and seriously focussed at the Gold Coast. “Before the start I told Brodie I was prepared to crash if I couldn’t win. I told him I didn’t care about the championship,” Reyolds told me. So it was a win-or-bust effort and it paid off, not just with the wickedly funny celebrations on the podium – first squirting a fire
extinguisher and then throwing pot plants to the crowd – but with the redemption he has craved through the tough times since his Bathurst 1000 win with Luke Youlden. It was much the same for Brown in Sydney, as he jumped into a TCR Audi which has not given him the results he has deserved as a former Australian champion. But the car was great, everything clicked, and Brown was a winner. Twice. The success came after he finally admitted there was something wrong in Supercars through 2023. He had a significant back injury which gave him massive sciatic pain in his right leg for much of the year. Anyone who has suffered with sciatic troubles knows the pain is excruciating. How he coped with the brake and accelerator is a secret for Brown, but it clearly could have contributed to the
tiny errors which cost him so badly at Erebus. But surgery before the Gold Coast had him smiling, a bit, once again before the TCR shootout. “I loved it,” Brown told me afterwards. “At the driver’s briefing, I asked if it was Australian rules on contact or the World TCR approach. They said it was Aussie. “Then we went racing. Into Turn 1, one of the internationals had a half-turn of right lock into another bloke. They take no prisoners.” So, as Reynolds and Brown look for extra redemption – perhaps in Adelaide but definitely next year – Brown has some other positive thoughts. “I reckon Supercars needs to use the same rules on contact as TCR. If a bloke gets in the way, take him out. Then watch for pay-back on the track. The crowds would love it,” he said, laughing as hard as Reynolds did through his victory celebrations on the Gold Coast.
Will Brown’s end-of-year TCR success – and medical patch-up – point to a strong 2024, in his new environment. Image: RACE PROJECT
SVEN BURCHARTZ LIVES MOTORSPORTS LAWYER AND PARTNER
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sburchartz@kkilawyers.com.au • Teams • Series owners • Manufacturers
T +613 8825 4800 kkilawyers.com.au
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PUBLISHER Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555
Email: letters@autoaction.com.au Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street. Oakleigh Victoria 3166
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Bruce Williams STAFF JOURNALIST Timothy W. Neal STAFF JOURNALIST Thomas Miles NEWS EDITOR Andrew Clarke FEATURES WRITER Paul Gover SENIOR ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION Caroline Garde NATIONAL EDITOR Thomas Miles HISTORICS EDITOR Mark Bisset SPEEDWAY REPORTER Paris Charles ONLINE EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AUSTRALIA Josh Nevett, Dan McCarthy, Bruce Newton, Mark Bisset, Geoffrey Harris, Bruce Moxon, Gary Hill, Craig O’Brien, Ray Oliver, Martin Agatyn, Reese Mautone. David Batchelor, John Lemm, Pete Trapnell , Toby Cooper
SOCIAL DISCOURSE WITH THE ARRIVAL OF 2024 CALENDARS AND MORE RACING ACTION, COMMENTS ARE FLOODING IN ON OUR SOCIAL NETWORK ... 12-ROUND 2024 SUPERCARS SEASON
David Kirby LOOKS FULL. Not sure what to do on the other 40 free weekends If F1 can fly all around the world to different countries over 20+ weekends with some being back to back-to-back across again different countries then surely Supercars can do better then just 12?
FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconelos US CORRESPONDENT Mike Brudenell PHOTOGRAPHERS AUSTRALIA Mark Horsburgh-Edge Photography, Peter Norton-Epic Sports Photography, Ross Gibb Photography, Daniel Kalisz, Mick Oliver-MTR Images, Rebecca Hind-REVVED, David Batchelor, Randall Kilner, Richard Hathaway, Bruce Moxon, Ray Ritter, Ray Oliver, autopics.com.au Roy Meuronen Photography, Angryman Photography, Riccardo Benvenuti, Matthew Bissett-MJB Photography, Phil Wisewould Photography. Geoff Colson - Colson Photography INTERNATIONAL
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Auto Action is published by Action Media Partners ABN number 62976094459 Suite 4/156 Drummond Street Oakleigh Victoria 3166 Phone: 03 9563 2107 The trademark Auto Action is the sole property of Action Media Partners The website www.autoaction.com.au and associated social media platforms are wholly owned by Action Media Partners. All rights reserved No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Action Media Partners. Printed by ive Group Distributed by ARE Direct Retail Distribution Australia
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SMP State/TCR World Tour round. Great racing – but where was the crowd? Image: Daniel Kalisz/ARG
AN EMBARRASSMENT! PROMOTION ALL UP THE CREEK
THE ATTENDANCE at the Eastern Creek Nationals on the first weekend of November was very disappointing. Terrible. I often go as it gives me an interest in the racing that’s on and this time I went on the back of a mate telling me he was helping out with a race car in one of the support events. I was shocked at the complete lack of people at the event. I have been to state racing series events with many more people there. What I can’t believe is that I had no idea what was going to be on over the weekend, so I was amazed to see the TCR cars racing for some world championship and all the heroes in Trans Am at the event as well. The racing was great and exciting, but I felt like they put the show on just for me. I felt embarrassed for the teams and sponsors and hope that whoever is responsible for putting on this show and for not getting the message out there that it was on should be ashamed. Plenty of people would have liked to attend if they had known it was on. When I got my copy of the latest Auto Action I saw that you at least had a news story about the event, so good on you.
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I hope they told more people that they were racing at Bathurst (on November 10-12). Andy Wilkinson Heathcote, suburb of Sydney
HOORAY FOR REAL RACING – AT LAST
THE GOLD Coast 500 was a fantastic success. Just what V8 Supercar fans love. Regardless of the results, it was edge-of-your-seat entertainment, down-to-thewire finishes, and pressure on the drivers’ championship leaders. You couldn’t take your eyes off the racing because finally it was driver against driver, Ford against Chev. Congratulations to all who have completed a lot of work under extreme pressure. Bring on Adelaide! Nomadic Phil On the road to Adelaide.
GEELONG SHOULD GET SUPERCARS – WITH OR WITHOUT AVALON
GEELONG, VICTORIA’S second-largest city, should have an annual round of the Supercars Championship. Why not build a Townsvillestyle part-permanent, parttemporary motorsport facility there and have an annual Geelong 400 or 500? If Geelong had a facility like Townsville, it could have a round of the Supercars at a lower cost than on street circuits like Newcastle.
Co-operation and joint funding between the federal and Victorian governments could make it a reality. A Geelong 400 or 500 would have the potential to be a very successful round of the Supercars and could attract large crowd attendances. Even though there is a proposal to build a new stateof-the-art motorsport complex at nearby Avalon, Geelong should have a round of the Supercars all the same, even if an Avalon circuit is built. Melbourne’s west has one of Australia’s fastestgrowing populations and Geelong is not far away from Melbourne. The area would have accommodation available close to a Geelong motorsport facility and it could attract thousands of fans from around Victoria and Australia to watch Supercars. It could be a great long-term investment for the Geelong region with major economic benefit. Malcolm Webster Boronia, Victoria Editor’s note: Geelong has long been touted as a potential venue for Supercars. It’s difficult to envisage it getting a round on a street circuit if a track is built at Avalon. The complication for both is that the Victorian government is up to its ears in debt. And it’s hard to imagine the federal government getting involved anywhere other than Bathurst.
Malcolm Webster FOR THE 2024 Supercars Championship, Phillip Island, Winton and Queensland Raceway should have been allocated a round each. So should have The Bend and why not make Calder Park a second night round? Shane Ratcliffe CLOSE TO month between a lot of rounds … that will keep the fans engaged. Kieran Harrison SUPERSHAMBLES ROLLS on. Why no Phillip Island? No race at Winton, QR or The Bend. QR and The Bend have spent lots on improving/building better/best facilities. No wonder local tracks die when the country’s “best” series doesn’t bother to front up. Kevin Peart TASMANIA IN The middle of winter? Wet, windy and will the cold weather cause tyre temperature issues? The crowd numbers will be well down. Chris Patajac PRETTY POOR schedule – 12 rounds is not enough, especially with Bathurst twice, which is just wrong.
PAYNE ON THE RADAR Ken Oath WITHOUT A doubt this young man is the real deal and will be getting chased by most teams.
Dale Sudholz MATT IS a lovely young man as well, so natural to chat with, then can he a driver a car … big future.
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The missing link – is Andrea Stella (centre) the inspired choice to take McLaren back to the front? Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
McLAREN’S AMAZING TRANSFORMATION SOMETIMES YOUR best decisions do not come from your own volition but are forced upon you. But then, it’s up to you to make the most out of the opportunity you have been given and extract everything you can from the hand you’ve been dealt. Which brings us nicely to what has happened to McLaren this year and helps explaining why the historic British team came from having the second slowest car in the field when testing started in Bahrain at the end of February, to a car capable of challenging Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in Mexico and Brazil. As the 2022 season came to an end, Audi formalised an offer everyone knew was coming and signed Andreas Seidl to join the German manufacturer at the start of 2026, immediately after his contract with McLaren would expire. The company’s CEO, Zak Brown, knew that offer would come and had already selected engineer Andrea Stella as the man who would take over from Seidl, but, together with the
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F1 INSIDER shareholders, made an inspired decision that made life easier for everybody: agreeing terms with the German company to let him go immediately and promoting Stella to the role of Team Principal with immediate effect. Going into a new season with a new boss can be complicated, but Stella – unlike Vasseur at Ferrari – was no newcomer to McLaren. He’d been with the British team since 2015, moving up from Head of Race Operations to Performance Director in 2018, and then to Racing Director in 2019. In this later role, he was on par with Technical Director James Key and Production Director Piers Thynne, all working directly under Seidl, so he had a deep
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knowledge of how the team operated both at the factory and on the tracks. That’s why Stella didn’t need much time to make a couple of big decisions– starting off by letting James Key go and empowering Peter Prodromou to develop the MCL60, while waiting for David Sanchez to end his ‘gardening leave’ from Ferrari and become available to join the team at the start of next year – his first task being the design and development of the all-important 2026 car, the first of a new generation of chassis that will last, at least, until the end of 2030. That the MCL60 was a slow car was pretty much obvious from the start of testing, carrying
all the bad characteristics of last year’s car – a bit like the Mercedes W14 inherited the 2022-spec car’s negative aspects – so Stella gave a free hand to Prodromou and Engineering Director Neil Houldey to develop it the way they wanted. It soon became clear that Key was not keen on seeing big changes in the car concept and wasn’t really pulling the team together; and the results from his departure seem to confirm those rumors. With a free hand, the new technical leaders quickly developed the car, big steps being made with the upgrades introduced in Austria and then in Singapore, showing they knew what would make the MCL60 quick. Since that first big upgrade, McLaren has scored 265 points, against 240 for Ferrari, 215 for Mercedes and only 107 for Aston Martin. Before you ask, Red Bull scored 461 points since the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, so there’s still quite a way to go
before McLaren becomes a real challenger for the Austrian team, but they’re already the second force. The progress made this year was Stella’s first important victory as the new leader at McLaren. The 2024-spec car – that will largely be the base of the following year’s chassis – will be the Italians second big challenge and the way Sanchez and all other new arrivals will integrate into the team and come up with the 2026-spec McLaren will determine the Italian’s long-term future at Woking. The early signs on and off the track are great, Stella also keeping the great atmosphere on track that came from Seidl’s era, but drastically improving things back at the factory. But, as they say, you’re only as good as your last race ... so Stella still has a lot to prove but I wouldn’t bet against him bringing McLaren back to the front of the field for the first time in 25 years.
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FORMULA 1 NEWS – LUIS VASCONCELOS
AUDI’S SILENCE “OUT OF RESPECT FOR ALFA ROMEO” HAAS US GP APPEAL REJECTED HAAS’ ATTEMPT to get several drivers penalised for repeatedly exceeding track limits in Austin’s Turn 6 during the US Grand Prix, was dismissed by the Stewards of the Meeting of that race, who reconvened the week after the São Paulo Grand Prix to analyze the American team’s request for their decisions to be reviewed. Teams have up to 14 days after an event to request the Right of Review and Haas waited until Friday of the Interlagos event to lodge its petition, basing it on what the team believed was new and significant evidence that Lando Norris, Sérgio Pérez, Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant had repeatedly exceeded track limits on that corner from which there was no reliable TV footage, using onboard footage from theirs and other cars to demonstrate it. That hearing was due to take place in full last week, but was adjourned after the first part had been completed so it could be reviewed independently. Then, with representatives of the six teams involved plus two representatives of the FIA, the meeting took place a day later, the Stewards hearing everyone before quickly concluding that, while there was new evidence regarding Alex Albon’s case, there was no relevant new evidence and, therefore, they rejected Haas’ petition, explaining, “there is no significant and relevant new element that was unavailable to Haas at the time of the decision”. The Stewards did, however state that, “they find their inability to properly enforce the current standard for track limits for all competitors completely unsatisfactory and therefore strongly recommend to all concerned that a solution to prevent further reoccurrences of this widespread problem be rapidly deployed.” They went on to state that, “whether the problem is properly addressed by better technology solutions, track modifications, a combination thereof, or a different regulation and enforcement standard, the Stewards leave to those better positioned to make such assessments. “However, based on the timing of this decision, it is clear that a complete solution cannot, as a matter of practicality, happen this year. But, given the number of different circuits where significant track limit issues arose this season, acknowledging that the FIA in conjunction with the circuits have already made significant strides, further solutions should be found before the start of the 2024 season.” It’s a decision and justification that plays right into president Ben Sulayem’s insistence that the FIA should get a bigger slice of Formula 1’s massive profits, to improve the Federation’s ability to monitor all cars at all times as, what we saw both in the Austrian and the US Grands Prix clearly demonstrates the regulator doesn’t have the tools to do its job fully properly and needs more funds to develop technology to help it improve its own structure.
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AUDI’S COMMITMENT to entering Formula 1 by 2026 hasn’t wavered at all, Sauber’s Team Representative Alessandro Aluni Bravi told AA during the Brazilian Grand Prix, explaining the lack of communication from the German manufacturer comes, “out of respect for our relationship with Alfa Romeo, which has been our main sponsor and partner for the last five seasons.” Since mid-year there were rumors regarding Audi’s intention of going ahead with its Formula 1 program and those were accelerated with the decision to replace Markus Duesmann with Gernot Döllner in the role of CEO of Audi in the Volkswagen’s Group Board of Management. Duesmann had been the driving force behind Audi’s historic decision to enter Formula 1 for the first time in the company’s history and his departure was perceived as a direct threat to this program, as Döllner was not known for being particularly favorable to an intensive and expensive motorsport program. The fact that there was never any official denial of the rumors that kept on growing, especially in the German media, led many to believe those stories were true, some reputed journalists insisting that, “there’s no smoke without fire” and making it clear that, in their view, “if Audi is not denying it, then it must be true.” It was left to Alfa Romeo Sauber Team Representative Alessandro Aluni Bravi to quash the rumors during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. Not yet bound by any direct link with Audi – the German manufacturer will only take control of the team on January 1, 2025 – the Italian lawyer insisted that, “Audi has a strong commitment to Formula 1, and of course together with Sauber”, going on to explain that, “this commitment comes from a decision not only of the board of Audi
Audi – definitely coming ...
but also the advisory board of Audi and the Supervisory Board of Audi/Volkswagen. So, it’s a group decision and the commitment is there.” When asked to explain why there has been no word coming from the German manufacturer, the Italian immediately said that the reason for “this lack of communication is simple. We are Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake. So, until the end of the year, we have certain limitations in communicating about the team, about the future, about the involvement of Audi, and we fully respect Alfa Romeo for this. That’s why we don’t want to make any kind of announcement or more than what is strictly related to each individual race and the championship.” Aluni Bravi went on to tell us that, “those rumors started as soon as a new CEO was put in place and that coincided with the Italian Grand Prix weekend. Now, the Monza weekend was super special for our relationship with Alfa Romeo, as you know. It was our last time together in their home Grand Prix, so we wanted it to be a huge celebration of our five years together. You were there, you saw us launching together
the new magnificent Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, a car that the two companies did together and is a masterpiece, so the focus was on our work with Alfa Romeo and diverting attention to speak about Audi would have been wrong on so many levels. “Until the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix we’ll do everything we can to promote the Alfa Romeo brand, because they are our valued partners and, even at a personal level, all relationships are excellent. From January 1 we’ll be back to being Sauber F1 Team and then we can talk about our future with Audi.” Asked if there was already any kind of investment coming from Audi, Aluni Bravi explained that, “we are working hard to develop the structure of the team. We have a strong recruitment plan in place. “James Key is one, but we have, on a weekly basis, new appointments. And it’s not a matter of the involvement of Audi in financing the team or sustaining this development process. We have two owners, you know, two shareholders – there is a governance in place according to the different stages of the transaction that will be completed ahead of the 2026 season and so we are proceeding with the investment plan, with everything, in accordance with the governance that has been agreed.”
ALONSO UPSET WITH SWITCH RUMORS: “THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!” FERNANDO ALONSO left no one in doubt about his feelings regarding the crazy rumors that mentioned a seat swap between himself and Red Bull’s Sérgio Pérez at the end of the season, going as far as threatening the initiators of those rumors with unspecified consequences. Initially the Aston Martin driver seemed reluctant to address the issue, saying that, “I’ve got nothing to say – it’s just rumors.” But when he realized the questions were going to keep on coming, he made it clear that, “these are the normal paddock rumors from people that just try to make fun of it and gain some followers and this kind of thing, but I’m not into that game.” The veteran Spanish driver seemed to believe that the intention behind the rumor was to cause some damage to his relationship with the Aston Martin crew, as some people might start questioning his loyalty to the Silverstone-based team on reading those stories: “Of course, that’s the thing that they are making. But I will make sure that there are consequences.” But when asked what those consequences
Alonso – shock Brazil result came against a backdrop of rumours ...
would be, Alonso just replied, “I’m not commenting on that anymore”, before making sure the message he had to send was targeted at just social media influencers, as he defended the Formula 1 press corps he was facing at that time: “For sure I’m not enjoying these stories. Because, even in this room, I appreciate that all of you are journalists and professional people that have been in Formula 1 for so many years and you gain your respect and this is how it should be. All the rumors are coming from people that are not in this room –
they’re just here to make fun, and I think it’s not funny when they play with anything.” Alonso made a point of addressing the issue both with Aston Martin’s management and in the engineering meeting held on Thursday at the Interlagos circuit, as a man as experienced as him knows well that it doesn’t take much for people start believing the wildest rumors and how disruptive those can be for a team, especially when performance is not as good as expected, as has been the case with Aston Martin.
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RICCIARDO UPSET WITH “LAME RULE”
DANIEL RICCIARDO and Oscar Piastri’s chances of scoring points in Brazil were basically scrapped by the time the two Australians restarted the race. Having been in the pits since the end of the first lap, as they were both innocent victims of the first corner incident between Alex Albon and the two Haas drivers, Ricciardo and Piastri were already one lap down, restarting from the pit lane when the race resumed, something the AlphaTauri driver was clearly not happy about. An unusually downcast Ricciardo said that, “First, what happened exposed something in the rules, because I didn’t feel we actually did a racing lap and then you’re already starting your race one lap down – so Oscar and I fell victim to that today. I think for me it’s like, ‘OK, two of us today”, but if 15 cars had damage and had to do what we did, are they going to start the race with 15 cars one lap down? I don’t think so. I think they have to be a bit more open minded; that was frustrating.” Having pitted to replace the rear wing of his AlphaTauri AT04, broken after being hit by a flying tyre that had come off the rim on Albon’s car, Ricciardo admitted that, “we hoped there was a red flag and we could get back in the race. We got to the pits, we heard there were reds; the team did a great job fixing the car, so we were ready to go. Then they tell me that Oscar and I are starting a lap down. All the excitement you have to race again just gets completely zapped out of you. There was not a green flag racing lap completed. I don’t know how we start the race then a lap down. That’s really frustrating. Obviously, it’s something kind of a bit lame in the rules.” While Ricciardo’s disappointment is understandable, especially because he had the pace to fight for points, even starting from P16, the truth is that both Piastri and he pitted after one lap, while the rest of the field followed the Safety Car for another lap before the race was stopped and everyone directed to the pit lane. That meant the other cars still in the race had burned a bit more fuel and used their tyres one lap more than the two Australians and that’s why the rule that upset Ricciardo had to be applied. That rule states that, “any cars in their garage at the time the race was suspended will be arranged at the back of the line of cars in the fast lane in the order they got there. Any such cars will be permitted to leave the pit lane when the race is resumed but must re-enter the pit lane when the Safety Car returns and may join the race once the last car has passed the pit exit after the re-start.”
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack – dealing with internal team division ... All images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
ASTON MARTIN FACES INTERNAL DIVISIONS DESPITE IT’S fortuitous out-of-the-blue showing in the Brazilian GP (aided by the flukey qualifying conditions), Aston Martin’s drastic loss of general performance since the Canadian Grand Prix has had a direct impact in the internal atmosphere both on and off the track, with several team insiders admitting the design team is split in three different factions, along with a clear divide between the factory and the race team. Add to that Fernando Alonso’s open disappointment with the way things have been going, especially since the end of the European season, and Lance Stroll’s clear lack of enthusiasm for what he has to do on and off the track, and you can understand why Mike Krack is sitting on top of a very tense situation and doesn’t seem to be able to unite his team. Aston Martin’s quick growth in personnel and structure came with the arrival of hundreds of experienced Formula 1 people, the majority of them coming from either Red Bull – where they had worked with new Technical Director Dan Fallows – and Mercedes, as the Brackley-based team needed to slim down its salary expenditures to comply with the newly agreed budget cap. But the bulk of the design and production team is still composed of the
people who worked for Force India and Racing Point for the last 15 years, with most of them being ‘moved sideways’ to make room for the new arrivals. When results exceeded everyone’s expectations in the first part of the season, everyone seemed to be happy with the way things were going, as success brings happiness and the prospect of the team finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship boosted everyone’s morale – as did the clear possibility of receiving the biggest Christmas bonus of their careers – that traditional extra payment is always based on the position each team ends the season in. However, once the development of the AMR23 took a turn for the worse, cracks inside the structure have come to the surface, as three different factions have been formed inside the factory, each one of them blaming the other two for the downwards spiral the team is going through. The old regime, formed by the people who have been in the Silverstone-based squad for a long time, stands united, while among the new arrivals there are two distinct and rival factions – those who came from Red Bull and those who came from Mercedes. Each of these groups points the finger at
the other two as the culprits for the poor developments that have been introduced in the AMR23, while collaboration between the three groups now seems to be very limited. At the same time, the design team and the race team are having a lot of communication issues, the factory-based personnel complaining the race team doesn’t follow its guidelines in terms of basic set-up and changes during the Grand Prix weekends; the race team complaining those guidelines have made them start some weekends on the wrong foot and compromise their chances. The race team’s decision to start both cars from the pitlane, with heavily modified set-ups, in Austin, was very badly received in the factory, increasing the divide between the race and the factory-based team with Mike Krack seemingly unable to get everyone pushing in the same direction. That seems to have been quickly noticed by Fernando Alonso, who allegedly lost no time in demanding action and the fact there hasn’t been any improvements in the internal situation may help explaining the veteran’s increasing frustration with the current trend in Aston Martin’s performances on and off the track.
SÃO PAULO GP ORGANISERS BRACE FOR MASSIVE FINE A MINOR track invasion not shown on the broadcast of the Brazilian Grand Prix has landed the organisers of the Interlagos race in hot water, the Stewards of the Meeting summoning them to a hearing a couple of hours after the end of the race, determining there had been a breach of the International Sporting Code, referring the matter to the World Motor Sports Council, that will issue a ruling – and a hefty fine is to be expected. What was later seen on private footage was that between 15 and 20 youngsters climbed the fence on the outside of the first corner and outran the sole security man that was on site, running to the run-off area, while cars was still running, albeit at reduced speed, having just crossed the finish line. The Stewards noted that, “a large group of spectators managed to break the security lines and accessed the run off area at Turn 1 while the race was finishing and cars were still on track. The security measures and/or security officers
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and/or equipment which were expected to be in place for the event were not enforced and/or were not sufficient resulting in an unsafe environment for the spectators and drivers” and deemed this situation to be a “breach of Article 12.2.1.h of the 2023 FIA International Sporting Code (i.e. failure to take reasonable measures, thus resulting in an unsafe situation).” As a result, “, the Stewards heard from representatives from SPF1 and from the FIA and considered the video evidence available on the above facts; SPF1 candidly admitted the failures in terms of the security protocols and safety measures. SPF1 concurred with the FIA Sporting Delegate and the Race Director report and agreed that comparable circumstances already occurred in Brazil and that this was an unacceptable situation which could have had disastrous consequences. SPF1 stated, in mitigation, that they would conduct a thorough investigation and take steps to remediate in time for the next event in Brazil.”
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In conclusion, considering the circumstances, “the Stewards hereby determine that: SPF1 breached Article 12.2.1.h of the 2023 FIA International Sporting Code. SPF1 urgently (i.e. at the latest by January 30, 2024) present a formal remediation plan to the FIA that adequately addresses the serious concerns above.” Then, passing the ball to the FIA’s higher instance, they stated that, “as this relates to serious issues around safety and security, the Stewards hereby request the FIA to review and comment on whether the abovementioned steps are adequate to address the concerns raised and to state if any further measure(s) need to be taken, as soon as possible. This should be done directly with SPF1. In addition, the Stewards hereby formally refer this incident to the FIA World Motor Sports Council for a further investigation to determine whether any additional steps need to be taken or penalties applied beyond the
A handful of spectators in Barzil jumped the fence while cars were still on-track.
remediation plan presented by SPF1 (and reviewed by the FIA) to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of future events in Brazil.” The date of the hearing will coincide with the next World Council for Motor Sports that will be held in Baku between December 6 and 8, and it will then be the organisers of the São Paulo Grand Prix will know the extend of the penalty they’ll get – and judging by president Ben Sulayem’s recent appetite for heavy fines, they’re bracing for a very hefty one.
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FAREWELL FOR A DECADE AND A HALF HE HAS BEEN A MAINSTAY OF THE SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES, GROWING FROM A PRECIOUSLY TALENTED YOUNG KIWI INTO ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS. BUT NOW OUR FLIGHTLESS BIRD IS LEAVING US FOR USA PASTURES. HE REFLECTS WITH ANDREW CLARKE ... WHEN ROSS and Jim Stone plucked an 18-year-old New Zealander to slot into the Team Kiwi Racing Falcon at Oran Park part way through 2007, Ross said he knew what he was doing. We didn’t see much, but we did see enough. It was at Sandown the next season, in the middle of a Melbourne winter in atrocious conditions, when the penny dropped for the rest of us. Thirty races into his career, the web-footed rookie finished second to Jamie Whincup after starting ninth in a sprint race. He was off and running. But SBR wasn’t what it once was, and he went podium-less in 2009 before lining up 10 podiums in 2010. His first win was on home soil on the streets of Hamilton in 2011, which was the first of 80 in the series. At the end of 2012, SBR was sold to Erebus and van Gisbergen famously walked away from what he felt wasn’t going to be good for him. He joined Tekno Autosport amidst a furore, and that led him to Triple Eight, where he started to win titles and Bathurst 1000 races before Gen3 came to suck the life out of him. Then came his record-breaking win on debut in the NASCAR Cup Series in Chicago. Right there, on a wet day in the Windy City, his life changed. He’s been hard work at times for us in the media. We’re not sure about his fan friendliness either, but he is supremely talented and straight up when you get him one-on-one. ADC: Hi Shane. Well done on this part of your career ... we’ll start from the top. You were so young when you started in the sport – did it feel like you were growing up in public? SVG: I guess so. It’s been half my life in this series and pretty much my whole adult life, so I guess from the outside, people have seen that.
be some amazing years, and I learned a lot more about people and won a lot more races than I would’ve otherwise.
ADC: You’ve obviously had some great moments and some difficult moments. Do you think you’d do things any differently? Specifically, looking at the time when you walked out on Erebus? SVG: We’re getting deep at 7:30 on a Wednesday! It’s hard to reflect yet because the story’s not over. I’m fully focused on Adelaide and not in a reflecting mood yet. But I definitely didn’t walk out on the Stone brothers. I loved and still love the Stones – I would’ve raced for them forever. Now, I would’ve controlled the narrative about it all. I definitely never said I had mental health problems, but that was the story that got spun. I do struggle with that sometimes, but that wasn’t the reason why I was stopping. I didn’t believe in the project and definitely didn’t believe in the new team owners, but that’s in the past now. They’ve obviously shown that now, they can be capable, but it would’ve been a horrible few years if I’d stayed there. For sure, I made the right call. But I didn’t speak up; the press release went out, and there were none of my quotes, but of course, I approved what went in. But I don’t really regret it because it turned out to
ADC: That learning about people is one of the most important parts of this sport, though, isn’t it? You’ve got to have the right people around you. SVG: Exactly. Environment is everything, and leadership from the top is too. The Stone brothers were great. Going to Tekno and meeting Steve Hallam changed my outlook and perception of being a professional race car driver. I have to give him a lot of credit for how he made me think about things and how he managed the team. He was instrumental, and I guess that’s what helped get me to get the drive at Triple Eight with Roland. I guess Roland probably wouldn’t have signed me if I was still what I was like when I was at Stone brothers. ADC: And Triple Eight’s been a pretty good place to you, hasn’t it? It seems like you’ve blended beautifully – your philosophy on racing and your attitude towards it just seems to gel with how they go about it. SVG: It’s been awesome. It’s a great team, and with all the partners that they have there, they’ve allowed me to keep being myself. And when we joined, there were obviously three very different personalities – with me, Jamie, and Craig – but they didn’t try and make me be like Craig or Jamie. They let me be myself and pulled me back into line or guide me where they needed. But I’ve felt at home there since I joined.
“ ”
ADC: They’ve also been very encouraging of you doing other things, haven’t they, which has helped your adaptability? SVG: That’s what I always did when I was a kid. Every week, I’d race a quad bike, I’d race Speedway, and then we started gokarting. I’d still be doing all the other stuff. It kind of stopped at Stone Brothers. They made me focus fully on Supercars, which is good as well. I needed to learn and be part of that. But when I went to Tekno, they let me go and do other stuff and try other
I got my ass kicked at that, and I was just starting to get better at the end of the season, and then I had to stop ... Shane’s international career, as a youngster began in 2008, with Stone Brothers Racing (left), although he raced for Team Kiwi in 2007.
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GIZ!
Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES, MARK HORSBURGH - EDGE PHOTGRAPHICS, DANIEL KALISZ/LAT The big win in Adelaide, in 2013, with Teckno (below and below right) – look at the rest of the podium – confirmed Van Gisbergen’s spiralling career. Shane’s first two Supercar wins had come in 2011 (below right) with SBR. ADC: Being in the States, there’s obviously a chance you’re going to be able to still do some Sprintcar stuff, but I imagine the schedule’s not going to allow rallying or anything like that, is it? SVG: No, but there are plenty of midweek Sprintcar races and stuff. A couple of the guys do that, like Kyle Larson, and a couple of them got hurt, so I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to. But I’d love to do some speedway and keep driving different stuff. But living the NASCAR life racing every week, I think, is a dream as well.
things again, and then you just expand your portfolio and experience skills, I guess. You work with so many more people; you learn so many more engineering or mechanical philosophies about everything, and then, of course, the driving of different cars. You just keep expanding and learning rather than just focusing on one thing. So, I think it got me much better all-around as a driver and still does. And then obviously, racing cars is fun as well, so I’m getting to race most weekends, and it’s awesome.
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ADC: You’ve done Supercars, drifting, Sprintcars, open wheelers, little Aussie Racing Cars, GTs, and the World Rally Championship. Which one do you enjoy the most? SVG: I don’t know. I think they’re all fun. Supercars is still obviously what I wanted to do, and I still love that, but I like the other challenges. I’d really love to keep doing Sprintcars. I got my ass kicked at that, and I was just starting to get better at the end of the season, and then I had to stop. I’d love
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to keep getting better at Sprintcars. It’s so cool jumping in something that you’re shit scared of, and you’re the limit, whereas in the Supercar, the car’s the limit. So, driving something where you’re the limit and you’ve got to try and make yourself better and get your personal level higher. I really love cars like that. And then, rally ... I was just starting to get better at that too, and now, I’m stopping. I love the challenge of new cars that are cool to drive.
ADC: That’s where I was about to go next. There’s so much racing there, it is like Shane Van Gisbergen heaven. SVG: Exactly. And it’s a comparatively short season, timeline-wise. So, they start after Supercars and finish before it, I think. The Supercars calendar is not good at the moment. It’s only 12 races, and it’s so spread out. You can’t get into a rhythm or routine with your driving. You’re seeing it more and more now that more drivers are going and doing other stuff because we don’t race enough.
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were just flat out the whole time on each other’s bumpers. And back then, there was no fuel drop, no minimum tyre pressure, and no aero wash… we were just flat out, and you were 60 laps up each other’s bumpers. That’s stuff you can’t do any more. You could watch those two cars, or three cars because Frosty was in the battle as well, and all three cars looked completely different in how they made their speed, and it was one of the best races ever. It was a bit of a thing for me – watching that 10 years ago, just going “shit!” We’ve changed things a bit here.
SVG has perfected the art of the burn-out celebration ... ADC: You’ve obviously got the love of Supercars racing, and it’s given you great rewards. How hard is it when you feel like you’re falling out of love with something like that, because of the cars, and the equipment, and things? SVG: It sucks. I would’ve happily been a Supercar driver for the rest of my life. The cars were awesome. I love the series. It’s close to home. But this year, it hasn’t really been fun for many people, and it’s changed in a very short amount of time. I think it’s still good and has potential, but going and seeing the world and getting that opportunity in NASCAR has changed it for me. I’m in the prime of my driving career and I’ve got plenty of good years left, so it’s probably now or never to go and try something else and have a proper crack at it. If I waited another three years, I’d probably be too old. I can always come back to Supercars. But at the moment, it’s difficult. I love Supercars. I love all the teams
The day it all changed – beating the NASCAR establishment in Chicago ...
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and stuff in it, but this year has been very, very different. ADC: It’s funny ... sitting on the outside, the struggles that you have with the car appear to be qualifying, but once the racing starts, you’re in your little zone. Is that kind of how it operates for you? SVG: It’s actually the opposite. Qualifying is great, I’ve found qualifying the most exciting part of this year. Everyone’s so close – it’s awesome. But racing is the most important part of our sport and it’s been woeful.
absolutely done. But this year, we just drive around saving tyres, doing nines. And then I got out, and I’m like, “Oh, I could go and do that again.” No one was making mistakes because we’re all driving around at half-throttle. So, you want to be at the limit the whole time and be able to attack, and race, and pass. But at the moment, we all sort of spread out to get clear air, so our tyres don’t get hot. And then sometimes, we can race at the end, or sometimes we can’t. So, I feel like there needs to be some changes there.
ADC: Is that having to race to the tyre? SVG: Every race this year has been a tyre race, which is good for me, I guess. I’m normally alright with the tyres. Normally, that last 60 laps at Bathurst, you’re just flat out. And it’s the most amazing feeling – you’re on the limit, and there are Safety Cars because people are driving over the limit, and you finish those 60 laps just spent … you’re
ADC: And this is something to perhaps explore a little bit with you – it’s not the winning that necessarily gets you off, it’s actually the racing. Like, anybody can go out to win races, but if you’re not having a ball doing it, what’s the point? SVG: Oh, a hundred per cent. I’ve had plenty of good races where I’ve come second, like the Gold Coast with Jamie 13 years ago – we
ADC: Next year is different for you now. You’re getting the most amazing racing – there were 15 different race winners this year. SVG: I’ve been following NASCAR even closer this year to try and learn as much as I can about it. And you go to every race not knowing who will win, which is awesome. When people are getting 10 top 10S in a row, that’s a huge achievement! It’s so different and diverse within that field and how it all works. To be a champion over there or to make the final four is a massive achievement. It’s quite different, and I’m really looking forward to just being a part of that, getting into the routine, racing on a Saturday or a Sunday, coming back a couple of days, prepping for the next one, and then having a day off and go to the next race. It’s going to be a pretty big adjustment, but I’m looking forward to it. I think the hardest thing is to be consistent and be good at every type of track. I’ve had some chats with Marcos [Ambrose]. He’s been very helpful and open. It’s awesome what info he has given me and just what he went through. Like me, he hadn’t really done anything like that – it’s a huge, huge change, and I’m
far ahead, but next year is a learning year, and trying to build up towards ‘25 and the Cup Series. Then, hopefully, I’m there for a good few years. I can do it for at least 10 years, and then I’ll see what happens afterwards. My dream is to retire in New Zealand on a farm somewhere and never be heard from again. But I’d love to come back and do some Bathursts and race just a couple of times a year for fun when I’m older. We’ll see if that plan works out.
Was this the ultimate post-race celebration? With the throttle wide open, SVG climbed onto the roof of the car ... The balance of the public SVG (left and below) is quite a bit more restrained ...
“ ”
It sucks. I would’ve happily been a Supercar driver for the rest of my life. The cars were awesome ...
looking forward to learning new skills and hopefully, his tips fast-forward the process as well. ADC: How much did Chicago change your life? SVG: I wouldn’t be doing what I am now without it. It’s changed the whole direction. I don’t really have a plan for my life but, as I said earlier, I was happy to continue to race Supercars and then Chicago came about and it opened my eyes. Being a part of that team and the atmosphere at Trackhouse, the way they go racing, was super cool to see.
Above: SVG has spoken at length with Marcos Ambrose, who had a similar career path in Supercars, and issues with the media and ultimately arrived in NASCAR ... But he won his first race.
ADC: You seemed like a different person over there. You seemed happier, I suppose is the bottom line, which is probably how you’ve embraced it. SVG: I feel like that’s just me. I could be myself and feel comfortable – and I felt that this year, I was just fully guarded. Everything I say gets turned into something stupid in a headline, which I guess is part of being a champion. I’m doing it now ... but when you’re talking, you have to think about what you’re saying and how it’s going to be portrayed. And even stuff like I said after Bathurst, about wanting Richie to get my drive. That blew up. Jamie had to justify why Will is the best driver for the car. That was just me saying something off the cuff, and it comes back to bite you.
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But I guess over there, I felt like I could just be myself. In Supercars at the moment, everyone’s highly strung. The narrative’s always very negative, and it drags you down a bit. ADC: It’s the politics here, isn’t it? SVG: I think so. You just feel like everyone’s out to get you. Everyone’s out to drag you down. You win a race ... it’s because you’re in a Camaro, stuff like that. It feels very draining. Every time I’ve gone and done something else this year, it’s been uplifting. So, hopefully, whoever’s at the top of Supercars can find a way to turn that around and start bringing the positive back. ADC: The vibe in NASCAR is quite different, they’re just there to race. There’s none of these rules about touching, there’s none of these rules about blue flags and all that sort of stuff. Racing is the only thing that matters. SVG: And I’ll tell you what, the parity over there is much worse than it is here – they’re very different cars. There’s really nothing in it here, and we’re splitting hairs. Over there, it’s completely different, and you never ever hear about it. They just get on with it. ADC: So, the move itself – and I say this with the greatest of respect – but I hope we never see you back here racing! SVG: Well, neither do I. It means I’ve succeeded over there. I haven’t thought too
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ADC: So, if we just start to wrap up the career, what are you proudest of so far? And knowing, of course, that we may have to have a chat on a Sunday night soon. SVG: I don’t really know. It’s all been a pretty cool journey, and I made some cool friends. It was always my dream to be a Supercar driver and to have done it for as long as I have has been amazing. I’ve been able to live my dream job, so I guess that’s the best part. ADC: As you said earlier, you are always much more guarded when you’re talking to the media, et cetera. But talking to people like Mark Dutton, there’s clearly a Shane Van Gisbergen that we don’t see from the outside. SVG: Yeah, which is good. ADC: Not always. It makes it hard for us to understand you at times. It’s good to have your own life and your own personality, but I think when you’re in the spotlight, if we knew you better, it’d probably be a bit different. And interestingly, I feel like I’ve got a better handle on you since Chicago. I saw a different Shane van Gisbergen there. I grew to appreciate you as a person, not just as a racing car driver. SVG: Cool. Thanks. You’d love to just walk away from a sport on a normal week and be anonymous, but I guess that’s part of our racing. You’re an advertising machine with all the brands and stuff. ADC: Marcos Ambrose, like you, had a pretty testy relationship with the media over here, but he felt incredibly comfortable when he was in America. SVG: Yeah, it’s funny. He’s like, “You’re going through the same stuff I did in 2005.” And he just said, “You’ve got to get over there and go and make the most of it while you can.” So, I am ...
Signing off from Bathurst (below) – with a win ...
www.autoaction.com.au I 31
IT’S A TWO H THE FIRST TITLE OF THE GEN3 ERA IS GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE, WITH BRODIE KOSTECKI HOLDING A SLIM BUT SIGNIFICANT LEAD OVER SHANE VAN GISBERGEN HEADING TO THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500 NEXT WEEKEND. ANDREW CLARKE CRUNCHES THE SCENARIOS IN OUR READY RECKONER ... IT IS THE kind of head-to-head battle that leaves fans of motorsport salivating. Two hard-nosed racing drivers – easily the hardest-nosed in the field – and a 131-point gap and only a basic calculator needed for crunching the numbers over two races to determine the winner. They have traded blows all season like the best heavy-weight boxers to get to this stage, Kostecki only scoring two more points than van Gisbergen in the past 25 races after the reigning champ stumbled in the first round – well, to be fair, from the outside, his team stumbled since it was only an illegal car that prevented a pair of wins from starting the season. But we aren’t here to debate the rights or wrongs of that; we’re here to talk about the title fight.
THE FACTS
BRODIE KOSTECKI and Erebus have been nothing short of phenomenal this season. Any time you can fight a guy like van Gisbergen in a Triple Eight car, the same make as your own so there’s no parity debate, and be in front, you have been bloody good. There is a reason Erebus is leading the Teams’ Championship, and it comes down to the planning that went into the build and development of the team’s Gen3 racers. Erebus is the only team to build its own chassis, for instance. Kostecki’s form has been so good it is hard to believe he hasn’t even run 100 races yet. If he wins the title, it will be the fastest climb to the top since Craig Lowndes. It is also hard to believe that his Friday win in Melbourne at the Grand Prix was his firstever series win. He looks like he belongs
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on the centre step, and he has owned more than anyone else this year, winning six races for the season and standing on the podium another 12 times. He has only missed the podium in eight races for the entire season. He recovered from his winter lull with absolute dominance at The Bend after his NASCAR debut and he hasn’t looked back since. He is also the qualifying champion for the season, which is a bit of a bonus. Van Gisbergen has five wins, the same as his teammate Broc Feeney, and has another six podiums to his name, for 11 in total. After his DNF in Tasmania in Race 11, he has finished outside the top five only twice – a sixth and a seventh – and has crawled himself back into the game. Broc Feeney and Wil Brown have been in and out of the battle, but mathematically, they are out of the running, but not out of being able to affect the outcome. Feeney has five wins for the season, and Brown has four. The dominance of the two teams is seen in the Teams’ Championship, where Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus leads Red Bull Ampol Racing by 170 points, with Brad Jones Racing (Cars #8 and #14) a further 1304 points back in third. That’s nearly 10 race wins off the lead!
THE SCENARIO
KOSTECKI AND team boss Barry Ryan run a simple philosophy – win races and the title sorts itself out. Aside from the revitalised Fords, you’d back Kostecki to hit the ground with speed in Adelaide, which means van Gisbergen could be chasing again. The T8 Camaros haven’t been the best qualifiers this season – Erebus has 12 poles and T8 has six – but the races are long, and that suits van Gisbergen.
Here are some of the options on how Kostecki can win the title on Saturday: WIN – If Kostecki wins on Saturday and van Gisbergen isn’t second, then the title is over. PODIUM – If Kostecki finishes second, van Gisbergen can finish fourth or above and still have a mathematical chance. Third for Kostecki means SvG needs to be fifth. NO PODIUM – With the point gaps for each position diminishing as you go down the order, the following applies. If Kostecki is fourth or fifth, van Gisbergen needs to be two spots or better behind Kostecki. Anywhere from sixth to eighth, and van Gisbergen can be no more than three spots behind. In ninth, the gap is four spots and from 10th down, the gap is five spots. KOSTECKI DNF – if Kostecki doesn’t finish, any points to van Gisbergen will keep it alive with the smallest points up for grabs being 30 for 25th, which would drop the margin to 101pts. Across the two days, Kostecki just needs a pair of eighths or better to beat van Gisbergen if the reigning champ can win both races. It will be hard for van Gisbergen – Kostecki and Erebus have not had many bad days this year, and that is what is needed. But it is Adelaide.
IN THE END
Let’s hope both drivers have put some thought into the victory celebration – last year’s by van Gisbergen is as good as we have seen anywhere in the world, and we’d love to see the battle to be known as the best celebrator to be as hot as the battle for the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship.
HORSE RACE THE WHAT IF’S IF KOSTECKI FINISHES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
RACE BY RACE – PODIUMS THROUGH THE 2023 SEASON SVG MUST FINISH BETTER THAN 2 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 13 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
POLES WINS PODIUMS Brodie Kostecki
8
6
18
Shane van Gisbergen
3
5
11
Broc Feeney
3
5
10
Will Brown
4
4
9
Cam Waters
3
2
4
David Reynolds
1
1
4
Anton De Pasquale
1
1
3
Jack Le Brocq
1
1
1
Mark Winterbottom
0
1
1
Andre Heimgartner
1
0
6
Chaz Mostert
0
0
6
Thomas Randle
1
0
3
James Courtney
0
0
1
Will Davison
0
0
1
WIN
2ND
3RD
Cam Waters Chaz Mostert Shane Van Gisbergen Chaz Mostert Shane Van Gisbergen Brodie Kostecki Brodie Kostecki Shane Van Gisbergen Brodie Kostecki Shane Van Gisbergen Broc Feeney Andre Heimgartner Shane Van Gisbergen Brodie Kostecki Will Brown Brodie Kostecki Broc Feeney Will Brown Will Brown Andre Heimgartner Broc Feeney Brodie Kostecki Will Brown Broc Feeney Mark Winterbottom Broc Feeney Broc Feeney Shane Van Gisbergen Jack Le Brocq Andre Heimgartner Will Brown Broc Feeney Anton De Pasquale Brodie Kostecki Brodie Kostecki Chaz Mostert Shane Van Gisbergen Andre Heimgartner Brodie Kostecki Chaz Mostert Brodie Kostecki Thomas Randle Brodie Kostecki Cam Waters Feeney/Whincup Kostecki/Russell Van Gisbergen/Stanaway Kostecki/Russell Cam Waters Shane Van Gisbergen David Reynolds Brodie Kostecki
Brodie Kostecki David Reynolds Will Brown Broc Feeney Will Brown Brodie Kostecki David Reynolds James Courtney Brodie Kostecki Shane van Gisbergen Will Brown Brodie Kostecki Will Davison Andre Heimgartner Broc Feeney Chaz Mostert Andre Heimgartner Will Brown Anton De Pasquale Thomas Randle Chaz Mostert Thomas Randle Van Gisbergen/Stanaway De Pasquale/D’Alberto David Reynolds Cam Waters
Images: MARK HORSBURGH
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www.autoaction.com.au I 33
ADELAIDE ALIVE THE VAILO Adelaide 500 will be alive with a loaded support bill running alongside the Supercars. THOMAS MILES and TIMOTHY NEAL preview the other championships that will be decided in the South Australian capital …
DUNLOP SERIES - DUEL IN THE STREETS
ONE OF the most competitive Dunlop Series battles in years will go down to the final race. In a year when five drivers have won races from as many rounds, just two remain with a realistic shot at Super2 success – Zak Best and Kai Allen. Unlike previous years, Best is the hunter and is desperate to be champion after finishing second best in the last two seasons. He is hoping it will be a case of third time lucky in 2023, but the Anderson Motorsport driver only has a 30-point advantage over Allen. The Eggleston Motorsport driver is also chasing a shot at redemption having heartbreakingly lost the Super3 crown last year on these same streets. Since round two in Perth, the teenager has found his stride and a second win of the year
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at Bathurst put his championship aspirations into top gear. Ryan Wood, Cooper Murray and Zach Bates remain in mathematical contention, but are highly unlikely to challenge, being more than 200 points adrift. This means it will be a two-car shootout between Best and Allen, the established star and the rising talent, Ford versus Holden – all roads lead to a nail biter. The field will be without veteran Jack Perkins, who has vacated his #70 ZB to focus on TV duties and in his place comes Jordan Boys. The Super3 title fight is a lot more straightforward with Jobe Stewart taking a near unassailable lead into the finale. Having finished either second or first in every race, Stewart sits 192 points ahead of Jett Johnson and, notably, 279 in front of arch-rival Cameron McLeod. McLeod and Stewart have gone headto-head all season, but the Image Racing driver’s extreme consistency means he simply has to avoid disaster to be crowned Super3 champion, fittingly on home turf. Although the championship title may be close to gone, McLeod will be determined to make one last statement.
If the third-generation racer takes both poles, he will match Allen’s record set just last year, while he needs just one more win to get the most within a single season. The question is if McLeod finish, can Stewart bow out as champion on a winning note or will a new face such as Johnson, Mason Kelly or Valentino Astuti finally stand on the top step? Action begins with practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday before the two 40-minute races are on at 13.25 and 13.20 ACDT Saturday and Sunday respectively.
CARRERA CUP – PORSCHES KEEPING IT TO THE STREETS
AFTER EIGHT rounds, the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia fight will be settled on the streets of Adelaide, with only 21 points separating youngsters Jackson Walls and Callum Hedge. It’s also the first time that the Porsches have been to the SA streets since the cancelled 2020 season. After Hedge claimed the Junior Shootout prize at Sandown – giving him a chance to qualify for the Mobil 1 SuperCup in 2024 – Walls fought back at Bathurst in the
absence of Hedge. He then outperformed him on the streets of the Gold Coast to take the championship lead back after the Earl Bamber Motorsport pilot cut a chicane to get penalised in Race 2, which turned the pointscore in favour of Walls. Hedge is looking to become the sixth Kiwi to win Australia’s biggest one-make series, with Jaxon Evans the last to do so, in 2018, and will be looking to make it two titles in the month after he recently captured the Formula Regional Americas open-wheel championship, and will have also returned from the Junior shootout by the time the Adelaide 500 gets going. With overtaking hard on the Adelaide streets it will all be about qualifying position for these two contenders, with Walls needing to stay close to Hedge wherever he is on the grid, if not in front of him. The championship is out of reach for any other driver, with Dylan O’Keeffe looking to hold third after a big comeback from a sluggish start from well outside the top-10. O’Keeffe is still in frame to win the Endurance Cup Pro though, holding a 17-point lead over the young Kiwi. It’s been a fine season for quality fields
GT WORLD CHALLENGE – THREE-WAY FIGHT
TOURING CAR MASTERS – MUSTANG v TORANA
Super2 (above) goes down to the wire, while Jobe Stewart (left) is favoured to take the Super3 crown. S5000, GT World Challenge and Muscle Car Masters (above) titles are all up for grabs, as is the Carrera Cup crown (below right). Images: MARK HORSBURGH, DANIEL KALISZ, PETER NORTON
in 2023 with some internationals and some returning past champions back on the grid, as well as there being seven different round winners in as many rounds, with McElrea Racing’s Bailey Hall taking out the Gold Coast with his maiden wins to move fifth on the table, as well as there being eight different race winners to date. Again, it’s been a year for the younger drivers, proving the top of Australia’s Porsche Pyramid to be a good springboard for opportunities both at home and abroad. In the Pro Am title there’s a three-way battle going down between Adrain Flack, Sam Shahin, and Dean Cook, with only 23 points separating the three of them, and Flack holding a 15 point lead over Shahin at the top. And in the Endurance Cup Pro Am, it’s Flack by 13 points over Cook. The 2023 season ends with Qualifying and a 20 min Race 1 at 15.25 on Friday, the 40 minute Enduro race at 12.50 on Saturday, and the season-ending 20 min affair at the same time on the Sunday.
RYAN HANSFORD is on a mission to chase back-to-back Touring Car Masters titles and stop Steven Johnson from charging to championship glory in Adelaide. They will be the two protagonists when the nostalgia-hitting category takes on the streets of Adelaide. Johnson holds the high ground as they head to the finale, enjoying a solid 75-point lead over Hansford with one round to go. But the reigning champion has the momentum, having gained 41 points on Johnson to make the title fight more interesting. But Johnson can turn to his last trip to Adelaide, 12 months ago, where he took a feature race sweep, for inspiration. All eyes will also be on John Bowe, who will compete his final round as a full-time TCM driver at the Adelaide 500. What will excite many fans will be the sight of Bowe finding form ahead of his farewell round, winning the Trophy Race at Bathurst. Bathurst round winner Marcus Zukanovic has shot up to third in the standings after a breakthrough round win at Mount Panorama, while the likes of Andrew Fisher and Cameron Tilley can also be contenders. TCM kicks off the on-track action at 08.00 ACDT on Thursday before qualifying at noon. The Trophy race awaits at 09.25 Friday morning before race one follows at 16.15. The final two races will both begin around 11.30 on both Saturday and Sunday.
S5000 – CAMERON HUNTING FOR MAIDEN GOLD STAR
THE S5000 Australian Drivers Championship comes to a close at the Adelaide 500 and it will end with a maiden Gold Star winner. GRM’s Aaron Cameron is in the box seat after not missing a round, with the TCR and Super2 driver holding an 84-point advantage over Versa Motorsport’s Cooper Webster. Cameron has won four of six races since title leader Joey Mawson was forced onto the sidelines, whilst Webster missed a round due to his GB4 Championship commitments at Silverstone in Britain. Both Cameron or Webster would also be the first drivers other than Mawson to claim the national S5000 title since its first full season in 2021. Webster has been flying in his ‘Big Banger’ returns, with his worst finish being a P4 with six podiums and four wins. There’s still enough points available for Webster to take the title, but he’d need Cameron to falter significantly, whilst Jordan Boys in fourth (behind Mawson) is 53 points behind him. Last time at the Adelaide 500 the S5000s put on a great show in an entertaining weekend of racing with a grid that also featured F1 race winner Giancarlo Fisichella. With no word on any visiting internationals as of yet, ARG’s Barry Rogers has said to expect a 14 car field (which would be the largest of the year) with some marquee signings in the works. After Friday’s qualifying, the S5000s will have three 20 minute races across Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 14.15, 10.45 and 08.30 ACDT respectively.
THERE IS nothing in it as the three-way fight for the GT World Challenge championship goes down to the wire at Adelaide where famous German brands will collide after more than three months of waiting. After falling to second best in the Adelaide finale last year, Liam Talbot now holds the high ground albeit by just seven points over fellow Audi driver Geoff Emery. Reigning champion Yasser Shahin and codriver Garnet Patterson is still in the mix just 22 points adrift in the #1 EMA Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R. Whilst not in championship contention, the Mercedes charge is led by the likes of Ross Poulakis/Jayden Ojeda and both Triple Eight Mercedes, steered by Prince Abu Bakar/ Jamie Whincup and Prince Jefri Ibrahim who all cannot be disregarded in the conversation for race wins. The Am title is also up for grabs and not quite as close with Brad Schumacher in front. But, with only 23 points up his sleeve to Matt Stoupas/Paul Stokell, the Bathurstbased driver cannot afford to take his foot off the gas in the #55 Audi R8. Following practice on Thursday and qualifying on Friday morning, racing begins at 13.25 later that same day. Morning starts await on the weekend with races at 08.50 and 09.20 ACDT on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
V8 SUPERUTES – FIGHTING FOR PRIDE THE TITLE may be decided, but the V8
SuperUtes cannot get enough racing and are coming to Adelaide for an extra nonchampionship stoush. Drivers will be chasing the inaugural Go Sunny Tradies Cup across four races. If the 2023 title fight was anything to go by, it will be an unpredictable and eventful affair. Aaron Borg clinched back-to-back champion-ships but only after the battle went to the very last lap with Adam Marjoram. Ryal Harris was also in the mix, winning three of the four races. Despite rounds in 2018 and 2019, it will be the V8 SuperUte Series’ first trip to Adelaide in the current V8 era. After qualifying on Thursday, racing commences with two sprints at 11.15 and 14.55 on Friday. Race three opens Saturday at 08.15 and the finale is at 10.50 on Sunday
www.autoaction.com.au I 35
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Dean Amos broke the cours record ... Greg Ackland was best of the under 2000cc class and finished third outright. Images: GEARS AND WHEELS PHOTOGRAPHY
AMOS IS KING OF THE HILL
DEAN AMOS is the 2023 Australian hill climb champion after taking out the national title with a record breaking run in his Gould GR55B. The 2023 Motorsport Australia Hill Climb Championship took place in Ringwood Park Motor Sport Complex in NSW, hosted by the MG Car Club of Newcastle. Amos was dominant against a field of more than 100 entrants with his 650bhp 3.5L V8 Nicholson McLaren-engined machine, taking top spot in the outright and Formula Libre 2001cc and Over category, denying the second placed Dean Tighe and his Empire Wraith a sweep of Aussie titles for the year, whilst the podium was rounded out by Greg Ackland. With every competitor allowed seven runs, Amos was 0.74s quicker than Tighe with a best time of 32.66 seconds, whilst
also being the outright fastest over six of his seven runs, with penalty on his fifth attempt likely denying the full sweep. After Tighe took out the Motorsport Australia Supersprint Championship, last year’s hill climb title holder could only crack the sub-33 mark in three of his runs, with Amos putting down two other times that were enough to claim victory. Amos also broke the previous course record of 32.86 set by Malcolm Oastle in 2014 in his Turbocharged Hayabusa powered OMS 28. As for third place, Ackland’s time of 34.03s was also enough to claim the up to 2000cc class victory in his Ninja GA8, finishing over two 2001cc and over competitors Warwick Hutchinson and Brett Bull in their OMS 28 RPV03 and Van Diemen RF03K machines. The rest of the top 10 was also filled by the Formula
Libre component, completed by Alan Foley (RFoley FL - 34.59s), David Mahon (Dallara F394 - 35.60s), Neil Lewis (Fly-001 - 36.39s), Miles Hoare (OMS 25 - 36.57s), and Dave Morrow (Krygger Suzuki 37.38s). Peter Brown was the highest placed outside of that class in the Pro Sport Mulsanne category, finishing 11th outright with a time of 37.58 seconds in his 2C Supersports AII. The fastest tin-top placing went to Matthew Brown in his Audi RS4 in 14th overall, with a pass of 39.08 seconds. The fastest female competitor win went to Pauline Graham with a time of 41.75s in a Datsun 1600 SSS in 43rd outright, whilst Travis McGeorge topped the juniors down in 83rd with a time of 45.68 seconds Peter Brown was the highest
placed driver outside of the class – the Pro Sport Mulsanne Supersports driver going 11th fastest overall with his time of 37.58 seconds just two tenths short of Morrow in 10th. Just three places below Brown was the fastest tin-top driver in Matthew Brown, who guided his Audi RS4 to 14th overall with an impressive time of 39.08 seconds. TW Neal
TOMKINS/FARRELL WRAP UP DAVID LOWE MEMORIAL AUSTRALIA’S RICHEST Excel event, the David Lowe Memorial, was taken out by Harry Tomkins and Jarred Farrell. The two-race event with $10,000 on the line was held at Winton Motor Raceway over the weekend of 28-29th of October and went down to the wire. Just five points separated the two leading combinations and in the end Tomkins and Farrell edged out Jett and Cooper Murray to claim the special prize. A 24-car field took on the nation’s action track with some high calibre drivers on show such as former Supercars drivers John Faulkner (who raced with son Pieter) and Chris Pither, Super2 stars Jordan Boys and Cooper Murray, plus rising third generation talent Clay Richards. A huge weekend of racing lay ahead of the drivers with Friday practice followed by separate qualifying sessions for both drivers, a Top 10 Shootout and a 90-minute race featuring a compulsory driver change. This was schedule was repeated on Sunday. Initially it was car #96 with all the pace. Brad Vereker topped the first leg of Saturday qualifying before co-driver Pither did the same in the second leg, just edging
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Winner Harry Tomkins (with Jarred Farrell) leads away from pole. Image: PHIL WISEWOULD out Ben Grice. But in the shootout it was Grice, who found the ultimate pace, beating Jett Murray and Boys by a tenth. The Grice/Ryan Phillips #8 machine converted pole to control the opening segment of the race, leading the first 11 laps before dropping to third. This allowed the #111 of Kobi Williams and Dale Carpenter to complete a rise from ninth to first. However, they emerged from the cycle of stops second best to the #92 of Toby Waghorn and Donny Mrnjavac. They led laps 18 to 34 until they suddenly dropped to 16th.
This put Grice and Phillips back in the ascendancy, but also for a short period of time as a mistake on lap 37 saw them slip from first to fourth. This presented an open door to the #33 and it was taken with both arms as Tomkins and Farrell laid the foundations to a special David Lowe Memorial win by taking out the opening race. Tomkins and Farrell controlled the back end of the race to run out 2s winners. Vereker and Pither managed to hold off the Murrays for second with just 0.7s separating the pair, while Phillips/Grice fell
just short of the podium. Despite the eventual winners getting the early bragging rights there was still plenty to play for with extra points on the line on Sunday. Williams and Farrell claimed the respective Driver A and B qualifying sessions that preceded the big 45-lap finale. Although Grice/Phillips fronted the field for the first five laps, it was the #111 on the charge. Having been as low as sixth on the first lap, Williams/Carpenter flew into first by lap seven and did not look back. They dominated the remainder of the race and were never challenged, leading 44 of the 49 laps. Despite the big 5s win over Barton/Boys and the Murrays, they fell just short of the big prize. A fighting drive to snatch fourth by just 0.17s over Vereker and Pither proved to be enough for Tomkins and Farrell to win the coveted David Lowe Memorial. The final event on the Hyundai Excel Racing Association of Victoria season is at Calder Park on November 24-26. Thomas Miles
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Image: GEOFF CULSON
Bradley Smith racing hard at Broadford
HYPER RACER X1 TAKES BROADFORD RECORD THE HYPER Racer X1 recently became the first motor car to race at the Broadford State Motorcycle Sports Complex. The AASA and Drive Events made the event possible, no less than 30 years after the circuit opened for motorcycle and kart racing. Broadford is a challenging race track, with big elevation changes, blind corners and fast straights leading to the nickname of “a miniature Nurburgring” by some. The race day comprised of five sessions -–practice, qualifying and three 15 lap races. Rookie driver, Lucas Stasi, surprised everyone by dominating the day and smashing the outright lap record with a time of 54.9451. His lap was 1.5 seconds quicker than the previous lap record set by a Superbike. Stasi had to overcome some close competition with the top four Hyper Racer drivers all under the old record. The Hyper Racer X1 is an Australian designed and manufactured open wheeler ‘wings and slicks’ racing car. Racing drivers Dean Crooke (engineering) and Jon Crooke (designer), head-up the Melbourne based operation, which produces the X1’s for the local market and also exports to the UK and USA. In the first two years of production the company has built 23 cars with another 18 cars sold and under construction. The Hyper Racer X1 is powered by a 200hp Hayabusa engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox. Weighing at 400kg, the ground effects-assisted car is designed be a fast, safe and affordable racing machine, while maintenance is minimal. Tickford Supercars star Cam Waters recently drove an X1 at Winton and recorded a time of 1:16.7 seconds, 2 seconds faster than the Supercars qualifying lap record. “The X1 is nimble, mega responsive and generates incredible grip and it’s proper fast,” Waters reacted. The 2024 Australian Hyper Racer Championship will be a six round series run under the AASA.
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Rhys and Andrew Howell in a Honda Civic, finished fourth. Images: JOHN DOUTCH-B TEAM RALLY MEDIA
FIESTAS FLY IN BENDIGO IT WAS A Ford Fiesta trifecta at the Bagshot Rallysprint in Bendigo which acted as round seven of the 2023 Historic Rally Association Rally Championship. A solid field of 42 drivers started the event, but none of the diverse range of cars could match one particular model. The Ford Fiesta dominated the Rallysprint, filling all the podium places after six runs of the 3km layout. Emerging on top was the #33 of Tony Moore and Scott Innes with a total of 12:53 points. They finished 0.8 points clear of Ross Murdoch in the #32 while the #10 of Andrew Murdoch ensured the podium was a sea of blue. The highest non Fiesta ST was Rhys and Andrew Howell in a Honda Civic, finishing fourth.
Tony Moore and Scott Innes took the win. Rounding out the top five was ORV winner Tony Stokes and Ian Johnson in the Subaru WRX. The fight for P81 honours was a competitive one as 0.13 points covered the top three. The Datsun delivered in the end with Keith and Jack Lewis’ 1600 emerging on top. Nothing could separate Michael Ward/ Sharon Elis and Andrew Taylor/Jeff
Cameron in the fight for second as they both finished on 13:53 points. David and James McKenzie won CRC comfortably in their Chrysler Galant by recording 14:06 points. The next best was Owen and Anthony Polanski with 14:21. SCC was taken out by Nicholas Rossi and James Dewar in their Ford Falcon Forte ahead of the BMW 318 ti of Paul Watson and Michael Miller. The only H81 competitor was David Johns and Paul Franklin in their Lancer. Of the 42 entrants, six did not finish, while there were numerous father-son combinations. The final round of the Historic Rally Association Championship is the Southern Classic Rally at Marysville on Saturday, November 18. Thomas Miles
THE KNUCKLEHEADS CRACK MELONAID THE BEND Motorsport Park played host to the annual MelonAid 25-hour enduro, a fun race for budget minded teams, while raising funds and awareness for the Rare Cancers Australia foundation. Auto Action’s PARIS CHARLES was on hand to record the action and shoot the images. The race attracted a record field of 55 teams, the basic rules were each team having four or more drivers with each driver running a maximum of 90 minutes before a driver change, fuel stops were for a 6-minute minimum time.
The race was run over a three-day period. Starting on Thursday and culminating on the Saturday – each day the track was a different configuration, concluding with the GT and International track layouts. The teams were divided into four categories based the Redbook listing on their car’s engine size and performance capabilities. Many of the cars were cleverly themed with a creative team name and paint livery to match. Some of the more notables included Team Nahboro, a tribute livery to the iconic Peter Brock Group C Commodore and Days of Blunder Racing Mellow Fellow NASCAR inspired warpaint. After a tiring but fun-filled 25 hours of action, Team Knucklehead Garage took their Nissan 350Z to an impressive 389 laps
ME-3 class winners Cosmo Motorsport to win outright in addition to the ME-0 (200Kw+) Open class honours. Next to the line were the ME-1 class winners, Shwarze Wurst Motorsport, four laps in arrears. The first of the ME-2 class was the Buccaneers, followed by ME-1 class winners the Drought Breakers. It is fair to say that the 400-lap barrier could have been reached if not for the red-light stoppage for Tumble Bee living up to its name, rolling over and out of contention on the final day. Outright/ME-0 winner Knucklehead Garage Nissan 350Z
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NATIONALS WRAP
NSW STATE CHAMPS REACH FINISH LINE
THE 2023 New South Wales Motor Racing Championships wrapped up at Sydney Motorsport Park’s Gardner Circuit. Small fields was the order of the weekend, Auto Action’s BRUCE MOXON was there to bring you the action.
Holt’s HSV and West Australian Chris Lillis in his Camaro. After all the pit stops, Soole was back in the lead from Hodges. Soole dropped out of contention late in the race with a tyre failure, leaving Hodges in front from Lillis and Holt. A late Safety Car due to oil and debris didn’t give Lillis more than a sniff of the win, with Hodges crossing the line first from the Camaro, then Holt.
SUPERSPORTS
MARK WILLIAMSON (Revolution) and Jonathon Canavan (Radical) led away off the line in what would be a dramatic opener. Mark Brame (Radical) then took control after a lap and headed the field until Williamson regained the lead six laps later. Williamson pulled away to what appeared to be a certain win, until a tyre failure saw him out with two laps to go. Canavan crossed the line first but he also saw the win slip through his fingers after a 15s penalty dropped to fourth. After the late race drama, the win went to Brame, from the Radicals of Sergio Pires and Justin Tigani. Tigani, Pires and Canavan filled the top three in the second race while Williamson drove from the rear to be fourth. In the finale, Canavan took the flag from Pires and Brame.
SPORTS SEDANS
THE RACE for Sports Sedans glory was blown wide open as early as race one when front-runners Brock Schafer (Calibra) and Theo Cambouris (Commodore) had major failures and were out for the weekend. Ben Mannix made the most of the opportunity and took all three wins in his RX-7 Chev. The MARC pair of Tim Leithhead and Barry Kelleher took all the second and third place trophies respectively while Jessica Nicholson put aside her Race Director duties and steered to a trio of fourth places.
FORMULA VEE
FORMULA VEE produced three very entertaining races, with the results in doubt from start to finish. Michael Kinsella (Jacer) took pole but blew up his engine and did not start the first race. This allowed Jason Cutts to take the win by just 0.0051s from Tyron
FORMULA CARS Ben Mannix was dominant in the Sports Sedans winning all three races in his Chev powered RX7 Wiseman, who started racing this year. The win was secured by the vastlyexperienced Cutts after he towed into the lead in a superbly-timed move right on the finish line. The two of them, with Curtis Porter (Jacer) and Darren Williams (Sabre) fought at the front for the rest of the weekend. In Race 2, Kinsella had changed engines, but didn’t finish as Wiseman took the win from Cutts and Porter. In the third race, Kinsella charged from last to ninth in just one lap, and fourth after six, to be in the lead bunch. He fell just 0.07s short with Wiseman taking another win, and Williams third.
FORMULA FORD
EDISON BESWICK (Spectrum) took a hattrick of wins, but not without a fight. Cody Maynes-Rutty (Spectrum) led half of the first race before falling 5s short. The second race fizzed a bit, with MaynesRutty stopping on-track and bringing out a Safety Car late enough that there was no restart. Liam Loiacono took second, with Lachlan Evennett (Mygale) next. The last race was a benefit for Beswick, opening up an 11-second lead by the end from Loiacono and Maynes-Rutty, who’d started at the back and put in a great drive.
RX-8 CUP
JUSTIN BARNES and Jack Pennacchia shared the lead in the first race, before Luke Webber snuck by on the last lap to
Edison Beswick was the man to beat in Formula Ford, here leading Maynes-Rutty who had speed but no luck, both in Spectrums. Images: BRUCE MOXON
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beat them both. In the second, more battles were to be had as Barnes and Pennacchia swapped behind Webber. Race 3 was shortened after a nasty shunt for Bailey Scott as Webber won again from Pennacchia and Justin Lewis. In the final, Lewis was involved in his own crash, with others, while Webber overcame Pennacchia and Ben Shaw. The results ensured Pennacchia wrapped up the RX-8 Cup championship, an impressive effort for the 20-year-old in just his second year of racing.
SUPERKARTS
DYLAN STEPHENS (Mavrick) had the only 250cc Kart entered and proceeded to win three races from four, despite appearing to struggle with handling. In the first race Mark Vickers (Woodgate) from Jock Dos Santos (BRM) completed the podium. In the second, Adam Stewart found a way past to win from Stephens and Dos Santos. Stephens them hit back to win race three and the finale.
THE FRONT row in the Formula Cars’ opener could not get going with both polesitter Andrew Roberts (Dallara) and Peter Bouzinelos (Mygale) having dramas. Roberts was eventually able to get going, albeit at the tail of the field, but Bouzinelos was out. Doug Barry took the gifted lead in his Reynard Formula Holden and held it until the end, with Rodney Baker (Dallara) next, from the recovering Roberts. Barry held the lead for the first four laps of the second race, until Roberts passed him and took the win by nearly 10 seconds. In the final, Roberts was unchallenged to win again from Barry.
HOLDEN HQs
LITTLE SEPARATED Chris Molle and Jarrod Harper in the fight for Holden HQ honours. Molle took the first two races from Jarrod Harber before positions reversed themselves in the last race. This meant Molle won the round by just two points, while David Proglio took a trio of thirds.
PRODUCTION TOURING 1 HOUR
THE ONE hour enduro for Production Touring Cars went pretty much to script, with the BMW M4s of Anthony Soole and Simon Hodges leading one-two for the first few laps. Hodges was trying from the start to find a way past and once he did so, pulled away. Behind was a scrap between the V8s, Matt Hodges heads Sool in the Production Touring car race, both in BMW M4s.
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SPEEDY GONZALEZ WINS EXPERTS CUP
Image: AARON JAMES MEDIA THE 2023 Experts Cup has been taken out in style by Daniel Gonzalez and Daymon Nicoli (above), who also won the final round of the WA Rally Championship. Gonzalez and Nicoli edged out former Supercars driver Alex Rullo by 8.8s over the six-stage rally held around the Wellington Dam, Collie region just over two hours south of Perth. Warm, dry and dusty conditions greeted the 40 crews when they took to the start line for the opening 22.6km McClusky special stage. This is where Gonzales showed his first signs of speed in the Skoda Fabia R5 by winning the stage by 8s over Rullo and
Ben Searcy in the Hyundai i20N Rally 2. They were 2.5s ahead of third place Dylan King and Lee Tierney in their Mitsubishi Evo IX, while just 0.2s further back were Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith in the Subaru WRX STi. The shorter SS2 at Cameron Gully across 12.3km saw Gonzalez take another win, but this time only just by 0.4s over King, while the top four were covered by just 2.4s. This stage was to see the demise of Rando who had to win the event outright to stand any chance of taking the championship out of Gonzalez’ hands. Pushing hard, Rando went off on the first
corner of the stage, beaching the Subaru on the outside of a tight right hand corner. A repeat of the opening stage awaited next and Gonzalez defeated Rullo, while King a further 7.5s back just pipping John O’Dowd and Toni Feaver in another of the Skoda Fabia R5’s. King reigned in SS4 by less than a second over Gonzalez, and the two Rullo’s, Peter in front of Alex. Alex Rullo made a late charge, taking out both of the final two stages. Despite the fast finish, it was Gonzalez who held on to win the event by 8.8 seconds over Rullo with King in third. Peter Rullo took a credible fourth in front of O’Dowd.
The two-wheel drive battle was taken out by David Smith and Rodger Pedersen in the Ford Fiesta ST150 ahead of Alex and Lisa White returning in their Nissan Silvia. Gonzalez’ points from the event win were enough to seal him the 2023 championship, and Nicoli back-to-back co-driver crowns following his win with Ben Searcy in 2022. Bruce Williams WA RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Daniel Gonzalez 475 Dylan King 368 Craig Rando 316
DALTON BEST IN BEGA, TAKES SERIES LEAD RICHIE DALTON and co-driver Dale Moscatt (right) have soared to the lead of the Hoosier New South Wales Rally Championship after being the best in the Bega Valley Rally. Dalton and Moscatt aboard their Shamrock Motorsport Toyota Yaris claimed outright honours after an intense opening stages battle between their team, Tim Wilkins, Josh Redhead, and Riley Walters teams. Wilkins was on track to retain his championship lead early on after winning the opening stage, but was forced to relinquish the title advantage due to a mechanical related retirement. Despite the retirement just 14 points separate Dalton and Wilkins in the standings. The back and forth nature of the battle for the Bega Valley Rally win was evident from the outset. Wilkins showed early speed by winning the opening stage, plus Special Stages 4 and 9.
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Image: ROY MEURONEN PHOTOGRAPHY But Redhead fired back with successes in Stages 2 and 5, while Dalton was on top in stages three, six. The heat was on between the top four teams when they arrived at Special Stage 10 where the rally was turned on its head. Both Wilkins and Redhead retired from the rally during the Bonnie Down stage, which eased the pressure off Dalton and Walters. Mechanical damage forced Wilkins and
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Jim Gleeson to stop their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, while Redhead and Ray WinwoodSmith hit a bank on the outside of a bend. Despite the disappointment both Wilkins and Redhead have confirmed the retirements will not impact their unavailability for the season finale in Canberra. These retirements opened the door for Dalton, who snatched the opportunity with both hands by winning the final two stages
and the rally outright. It also helped Walters snatch second in his Subaru guided by Andrew Crowley. Rounding out the podium after a consistent run, were Bryan and Zane Van Eck aboard a Toyota Altezza. Glenn Brinkman and Steven Richardson finished fourth aboard a Ford Escort Cosworth with David Opie and Kam Baker rounding out the top five aboard their Mitsubishi Evo. First in Class 3 and seventh outright was Claude Murray and Elizabeth Ferme aboard a Datsun P510 behind sixth placed Miles Sandy and Kim Bessell aboard a Subaru Impreza. Alexander Neill now leads the NSW Clubman Rally series after finishing eight outright aboard a Subaru WRX with Peter Hellwig as co-driver. All eyes will be on the Hoosier NSW State Championship contenders, Dalton, Wilkins, Walters, and Redhead as they battle it out for title glory during the Rally of Canberra on November 18-19. Raine O’Keeffe
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NATIONALS WRAP
SVG heads title contender Reece Chapman as the 2023 crown was decided – behind the Supercars pilot.
SVG SOARS TO A NEW FIRST THE IMPRESSIVE resume of Shane van Gisbergen continues to grow after he nailed his first attempt at driving Aussie Racing Cars, as Joel Heinrich was crowned champion at Highlands, in NZ. Van Gisbergen added some star presence to the field as a wildcard to the Aussie Racing Cars finale and the versatile racer had no trouble adapting to his miniature #97 Chevrolet Camaro. Whilst the three-time Supercars and Bathurst champion was busy winning all four races, there was also a titanic title fight to be decided. Just seven points separated leader Heinrich and the CoolDrive cars of Josh Anderson and Reece Chapman and after a four-month wait it all came down to the Kiwi finale. A consistent weekend and a seventh
place in the finale proved to be enough for Heinrich to secure a second crown alongside his 2018 success. “It was an awesome year and I am absolutely stocked,” said Heinrich. “It was smooth sailing at the start and some early wins set us up, but the last couple of events were tough. “This weekend was just about trying to consolidate and I am so glad we got there in the end.” After getting acclimatised to his new smaller machinery, van Gisbergen hit top gear in qualifying, taking a crushing pole with a 1:46.495, six tenths ahead of Anderson. The first of four races was shortened due to an early red flag for a crash between Steve Jakic and Nathan Williams. Van Gisbergen then secured a debut win
after fending off a challenge from Cody Brewzynski at the Bowl, while Anderson was third and Heinrich fourth. The battle between SVG and Brewzynski then got physical in Race 2 when contact meant the latter lost second to Heinrich. This opportunistic move proved to be vital in his title chase with Chapman fifth and Anderson fourth. Van Gisbergen took a hat-trick in Race 3, but the journey to victory lane was far from straight forward due to the top 10 reverse grid format. But Van Gisbergen raced through the pack and hit the lead with two laps to go after tussling with Brewczynski. Anderson rounded out the podium with Heinrich in fourth. SVG had to fight hard for victory in the
fourth and final race too as he crossed the line just 0.3s ahead of Brewczynski with Anderson a further 2s back in third ahead of Chapman. Van Gisbergen loved his time racing the pint-sized category. “It’s been really good. I was quick in qualifying, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to go in the races,” said van Gisbergen. “In the first race we were good, I couldn’t break the tow, and the other guys have gotten quicker and have learned the track. “The front three now have restrictors, so we are equally as slow as each other. It made it harder to come back through the field in the reverse grid race against the guys with no restrictors. I think it all works out pretty well.” Thomas Miles
GRIGG-GAULT TAKES EXCEL DOUBLE THE 2023 CERA Circuit Excel Nationals have been run and won at Wanneroo Raceway with Ethan Grigg-Gault (right) taking his second national title in a row. A massive field of 27 cars made the trip out west to chase the 2023 Hyundai Excel Nationals crown. The first heat start was delayed due to a fuel leak for Anthony Jewell while, on lap four, it was abandoned when Zane Rhodes executed a slow roll in the sand at Turn 7 and the race was red-flagged. Heat 2 was an entertaining affair as GriggGault, Brett Sherriff and Jack Clohessy wrestled for victory. Although Grigg-Gault came back and passed Rinaldi on the last lap, he couldn’t catch Sherriff. Heat 3 saw both Anthony Jewell and Zane Rhodes return to the fray. Grigg-Gault took the lead at the start and led until lap nine when Rinaldi passed both Grigg-Gault and Sherriff to take the lead and held on to take a narrow win. Runner-up Sherriff received a 5s penalty for exceeding track limits which promoted
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Ethan Grigg-Gault crossed the Nullarbor to win his second CERA Circuit Excel Nationals. Image: MICK OLIVER Grigg-Gault to second and Jack Clohessy to third. Anthony Jewell’s meeting went from bad to worse when he was disqualified for being underweight. Sherriff got the best start in Race 1, but lost it to Rinaldi on lap six, only for GriggGault to snatch it after a mid-race Safety Car. Rinaldi and Sherriff then exchanged
places several times in a wrestle for second eventually won by Sherriff. The 20-lap final was dominated by Grigg-Gault who opened a gap early whilst Sherriff, Rinaldi and Clohessy fought over the minors. Grigg-Gault took the win and the title whilst Clohessy took second from Sherriff who held off Rinaldi at the line.
Grigg-Gault said a lot of challenges were overcome before and during the event, including mastering Wanneroo for the first time. “After a crazy few weeks and some actual phone service, we’re back home and with another national championship,” 2023 champion, Grigg-Gault said. “Over 8000 kilometres driven, a few issues along the way, and enough fuel used to power an intercontinental ballistic missile. “Awesome four days at the 2023 Hyundai Excel Nationals Perth … new track, huge challenges and tough racing. Congrats to all the competitors who put on a great weekend of racing! Can’t wait to have a crack at the three-round national series next year. What a great concept from CERA Australia and Dunlop Tyres Australia & New Zealand – just shows what a great class circuit Excel has become! “Just like to thank all my family, friends and sponsors who made this trip a possibility. Without you, this whole thing wouldn’t have been achievable.” Mick Oliver
Want to see your category event or news story included in the Auto Action Nationals Wrap. Send your information, images and contact details to team@autoaction.com.au or give us a call on 03 9563 2107 Images MICK OLIVER
BIG FIELDS SALUTE WA STATE CHAMPS WANNEROO RACEWAY wrapped up the 2023 WA Sporting Car Club State Championships in a big way with a large amount of racing headlined by the National Excel title. In fact it was so big, time-certain finishes were required in all races and Auto Action’s MICK OLIVER was able to keep up with all the action.
Above: Tomas Chapman heads the Formula Ford field en route to victory. Below: Andrew Lockett and Brett Scarey in a tight Vee tussle. Right: Rob Marcon and Jackson Callo contesting Saloons victory. Below right: Brian Edhouse shows the way in Historic Touring Cars. Images: MICK OLIVER
SALOON CARS
FORMULA VEE
IN 1600S David Caisley led the field away to take a dominant win over Rod Lisson in Race 1 where Danny Cerro spun early. Caisley once again controlled Race 2, leaving Lisson and Paul Moltoni to fight for second with the latter prevailing. Caisley had problems on the start of the third race but managed to rejoin at the rear as Moltoni took the lead. However, he copped a 5s penalty and was demoted to sixth, handing Franz Esterbauer victory. Caisley then made a stunning charge from last to first within seven laps from Moltoni and Esterbauer. The last race was for the Morton Plate and Caisley led early until he encountered problems and retired. Lisson took the lead only to give way to Moltoni three laps later, which setup a mad dash for the Morton Plate which went to Lisson. Brett Scarey and Andrew Lockett had a mighty battle for 1200 honours with Scarey making a lunge at the line to take the opening race win. The second race was a repeat of the first with Scarey getting his nose ahead of Lockett. Scarey once again led away in the next race but Lockett got revenge and secured the race with a move on lap six. Lockett then went back to back in Race 4 and took the lead at the start of the BM Graphics Plate race. But he missed a gear at Turn 4 and was passed by both Scarey and Myles Lockett. Despite the setback, Andrew Lockett recovered quickly and retook the lead and the plate.
IMPROVE PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION AND STREET CARS THESE CLASSES were combined due to the number of entries. Matt Cherry’s
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Monaro overcame Denver Parker’s Skyline in the opener. Cherry took out the IPC class win, Parker the Street class and James Gellan (Toyota Varis GR) Production class. The second race was cut short after three laps when Neil Pollard had a major engine blow up and ended up in the fence at the pit exit. In Race 3, Parker took the Street Class and overall win from Maloney and IPC winner John Callegari and Production frontrunner James Gellan.
FSR
CALEB SUMICH took all three wins over the three races with Conner Cutts and Brandon Duncombe filling the minors, while others had problems. In Race 2 John DiGiovanni left the track at the exit of Turn 4 but recovered and Joel Wheeler also went off. Bradley Russell and John DiGiovanni had a coming together in Turn 7 on lap four, but both recovered.
FORMULA FORDS
THE FORMULA Fords started with an entertaining opener where Logan Everleigh overcame Craig Jorgenson and Marc Redmond in a last-lap classic. Redmond got the better of the start in race two but only led briefly as Jorgenson soon after and was unchallenged from there, while Everleigh won an intense battle for the minors. Jorgenson and Everleigh both led early during the final race, but Tomas Chapman beat them both with a late run to the line.
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FREE FORMULA
THE INAUGURAL Robert Creasy Memorial was on the line in Free Formula and Daniel Gates (Ralt Rt4) got the best of the start leading Jamie Kerkhoff (Formula Toyota Argo). The race was interrupted on lap two when Arthur Abrahams was stuck in the Turn 1 dirt and Allan Jones had a fire. When racing recommenced Gates went off at Turn 7 which gifted Kerkhoff victory, while he dominated Race 2. The third race was the special one, in memory of Robert Creasy who was the last of the Caversham racers and a many time State Champion in open wheelers. Kerkhoff led for the first six laps when Simon Alderson made his race-winning move and Abrahams also snatched second.
SPORTS CARS AND MUSCLE CARS
RICHARD BLOOMFIELD dominated in his Porsche 997 GT3, leading the opener from start to finish ahead of Tim Wolfe. Wolff retired from Race 2 which was interrupted by Chris McKenzie having rear suspension problems before it was red flagged when Peter George crashed at pit entry.
HQ HOLDENS
RACING GOT off to a bad start when Mark Alfonsi lost a wheel and failed to get off the line. When the race resumed Stuart Kenny opened up a gap over the rest of the field, while Peter Marsh snatched second. Kenny cruised to another win in Race 2, while Mark Watkins made a late break to take second from Marsh.
ROB MARCON got the best of the start and led Mason Harvey and Jackson Callo into Turn 1. But Harvey hit back on lap two to snatch the lead. His race was looking good until lap six when he suddenly slowed and dropped to the back. This allowed Marcon to take the win from Callo and Chase Hoy. Marcon enjoyed a smoother run to victory in Race 2 as Callo and Hoy won a tense battle for the minors. In Pro-Am Michael Koberstein dominated the class taking wins in the first two races with Reg Ralph and Craig James fronting the minors. Koberstein led the last until the second last lap and was passed by Ralph and James and finished third.
HISTORIC TOURING CARS
BRIAN EDHOUSE led away from Stuart Young (XU-1) and Don Behets (Ford Galaxie). Edhouse opened a reasonable gap over the field but mid-race Young was slowly closing the gap as brakes and tyres were taking their toll on the Mustang, but held on to take the win. A similar situation in Race 2 unfolded with Edhouse on top again. In the last the same situation was repeated with Young closer to Edhouse. On the last lap exiting the esses Young slid into the back of Edhouse who spun. The following cars managed to pass but Craig Smith also spun as Behets took the win from Mike Rowe (BMW2002).
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NATIONALS WRAP Scott Bormann’s Wolf F1 Extreme won the Top 10 Shootout. Images: JOHN LEMM
BORMANN BEST AT THE BEND
THE ANNUAL Bend Classic has been conquered by Scott Bormann, who blitzed the Shootout. The Bend Classic is an event bringing open wheelers and tin tops from all eras to the state of the art South Australian circuit. Most categories ran the Supersprint format on the West Circuit, aside from Formula 5000 and Historic Touring Cars which conducted races on the International Circuit. But all eyes were on the Top 10 Shootout which put the fastest cars against one another for the fight for event glory. However, it proved to be a one-driver show as Bormann blew the field away. Driving a green and black 2022-spec Wolff Racing Cars F1 Extreme, he set a blazing time of a 1:17.981. There was no contest as Bormann won with a massive 3.3s margin over Matthew Roesler. Roseler recorded a 1:21.245 in his 2015 Tatuss FT50 to win a more competitive battle for second with 4s covering the next four drivers in the shootout. Almost all of the entrants managed to get a lap on the board aside from Rihard Goerlitz, who was unable to finish. Not only did Bormann take home the overall spoils by topping the Shootout, he also dominated the Classic Open Wheel/ Formula 1 Sprints. He won three of the four Sprints . The exception Matthew Woodlands’ success in the second when A big field of 24 Historic Touring Cars delighted fans when they went racing as another Camaro versus Mustang rivalry developed. It all started with a Saturday morning Top 10 Shootout where Paul Stubber drew first blood, recording a 2:10.694 in his 1969 Camaro.
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Bill Hemming (Elfin MR8) and Rod Carrol (Lola T140).
The Historic Touring Cars had by far the largest field. Despite falling more than a second short over one lap, Craig Allan hit back when racing began driving a Mustang of the same vintage. This set up a back and forth battle as Stubber hit back by taking out a hotly contested race two by just a second. But Stubber’s charge was halted in race three where Allan cruised to a comfortable win. Despite the blow, Stubber once again found the perfect response to win the finale by 5s, but Allan’s consistency took overall class honours. The screaming Formula 5000s put on a show across four races. The first was taken out by Rod Carroll, who beat Bill Hemming by 5s. The second was the same result, but much closer with just three tenths the difference at the chequered, while the remainder of the weekend was dominated by Carroll on his way to a clean sweep in the Lola T140 Formula A that is 55 years old. David Smoker smoked the Modern and Classic Sports field by taking out all four sprints by comfortable margins. However, the Audi R8 LMS
GT3 driver battled during the Regularity, finishing eighth as Sean Day topped it in his 2004 Porsche GT3 RSE. The Vintage field lived up to its name with Stuart Brown driving a Dodge Speedster more than 100 years old, while Graham McDonagh’s Mercedes Targa Florio is also about to hit a century. The Sprints were shared by Grant Perryman in his 1966 Brabham BT18 and Simon Lambert in his 1969 Brabham BT29. Come the Regularity it was the latter’s slightly older Brabham that prevailed. In addition to the wide range of four-wheel favourites there was also something on offer for the two-wheel fans. A total of 15 bikes filled out the Classic Motorcycles category ranging from John Whalin’s 1954 BSA DBS 350 TO Andy Belford’s 1987 Ducati F1 900. Despite ‘Classics’ entries reportedly being down compared to previous years, after a big weekend of on track action, event organisers were
pleased with the 2023 edition of the Bend Classic. Following the success of the Spring Nationals drag racing event, the gates were thrown open with fans enjoying free entry to The Bend Classic. Perfect sunny skies greeted enthusiasts to produce a notable weekend and organisers hope to continue building the event’s momentum into 2024. Thomas Miles 1 Scott Bormann 1:17.981 (2022 Wolf F1 Extreme) 2 Matthew Roesler 1:21.245 (2015 Tatuus FT50) 3 David Smoker 1:22.640 (2013 Audi R8 KMS GT3) 4 Sam Rasheed 1:24.112 (2005 Tatuus FT40) 5 Matthew Woodland 1:25.498 (2015 Tatuus FT50) 6 Sean Day 1:28.074 (2004 Porsche GT3 RSR) NC Richard Goerlitz (2010 Nissan GTR R35)
Simon Lambert’s BT29 was the quickest of a trio of Brabhams in the Vintage category.
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BASKERVILLE BRILLIANCE THE 2023 running of the Baskerville Historics took the event to new heights with great crowds enjoying great cars take on the classic track. A total of 180 cars across 15 classes ensured there was something for everyone with memorable cars of all shapes and sizes including Toranas, Minis, Mustangs and Elfins just to name a few. Soaking up all the action was what organisers claim to be a record breaking crowd for the event which has continuously grown since it first arrived in 2009. The previous benchmark was 5000 over three days, set in 2022. Hobart Sporting Car Club president Mike Ellis was delighted, with the 2023 Baskerville Historics living up to its name as fans watched from the comfort of their own cars on the hill as some stunning machines from by-gone eras provided a special dose of nostalgia.
Classic Sports Sedans – Peter Fowler driving the replica of the original Bryan Thompson Volkswagen Chev he built in the 70s, leading another Fowler/Thompson creation, the Simon Pfitzner-owned Mecedes 450SLC.
David Turnbull having a run in the Regularity class in his wonderful Wolseley 24/80 Sports Sedan. Malcom Boyd in the ex-John Bowe Elfin 792 F2-in the classic Ansett Elfin colours, leads Darryl Hurd in a Ralt RT4.
Anthony Tenkate leans his Mustang into the bend ahead of Bruce Combe’s Ford Falcon Sprint. Rocky Carosi in the striking red Jaguar Mark 2 leads Rodney Woods’ FJ in the ‘Hounds of Baskerville’ Regularity run.
“We had 180 competitors and record crowds,” he told Auto Action. “It was very much a family event because there were lots of kids coming with their grandparents. “One of the things about Baskerville is that it is the oldest continually operating circuit in Australia and, with its natural amphitheatre, it lends itself to spectators sitting in their cars on the hill watching the whole event and getting very close to the cars. “It lends itself to that old 60s and 70s feel being the oldest continuing track in Australia.” One of the highlights of the 2023 event was not only the presence of Australian motorsport legend John Bowe, but
the special tribute dedicated to the twotime Bathurst 1000 winner. Five cars either raced by Bowe or the same model displayed in a livery raced by him graced the track on Sunday afternoon. One that turned heads in particular was a Mercedes 450SLC Historic Sports Sedan he once raced in the early 80s. Bowe himself also jumped behind the wheel of a sleek red March BMW sports car. But what was particularly poignant was his chance to drive a certain Elfin, which took him all the way back to his earliest racing days at the same circuit half a century ago. “There were a few of my old cars and a couple that were replicas. The whole thing was terrific fun,” Bowe told Auto Action. “Bill Hemming from the Elfin Heritage Centre allowed me to do a couple of laps
in his little Elfin Junior which was the same as a car by dad owned and I first drove at Symmons Plains on an open practice day when I was 11 years old. That sent me back in time! “I have a soft spot for them because my first race meeting was in an Elfin Formula Vee – I can still clearly remember my dad towing the Formula Vee on a little open trailer and feeling so nervous I thought I was going to vomit. “That was at Baskerville, 50 years ago, so things have changed since then!” Not only did the fans vote with their feet, but Bowe himself loved what the 2023 Baskerville Historics offered. “Months ago they asked me to be the patron and I was very honoured by it and loved the entire event,” he said. “The organisers ran such a great meeting that was action packed with lots of special cars. “It was probably right up there with the best historic meeting I have ever been to in my life and I have been to quite a few.
“It was just so much fun, which is what historic racing should be.” Numerous classic cars of all shapes and sizes were flying around the undulating and storied Baskerville Raceway. There was a big field of open wheelers featuring Elfins and Reynards and more, while an entire pack of Mini Coopers raced for the Chris ‘Kit’ Ellis Memorial. But the ones that turned the most heads were the Historic Sports Sedans with 15 of the finest machines from the 70s and 80s taking centre stage. In addition to the ex Bryan Thomson Mercedes 450SLC which John Bowe also raced, Adam Gowans’ Repco V7 Celica AND Glenn Gerstel’s Mazda FC showed speed, while the VW Fastback of Peter Fowler captured hearts and minds even if it did encounter mechanical gremlins. With new garages being constructed and Group A and C machines promised, plans are already underway to make the 2024 Baskerville Historics even bigger. Thomas Miles
Below: The star of the show, John Bowe at speed in Joe Calleja’s March/ BMW 973. Above: The AA Publisher’s favourite Sports Sedan from back in the day – Adam Gowan driving the Bruce Gowan Repco V8-powered Toyota Celica which was built in 1977 with the help of racing legend John McCormack. Images: ANGRYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
Images: ANGRYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
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NATIONALS WRAP Ryan Woods was the standout performer in the HQ Holden races. The HQ’s again provided great numbers of cars and crowd pleasing action and racing all weekend.
AN HISTORIC OCCASION
THE 2023 EDITION OF THE VICTORIAN HISTORIC RACING REGISTER’S ‘HISTORIC SANDOWN’ WAS ANOTHER HUGE SUCCESS, DELIVERING SOME OF THE MOST HISTORIC AND INTERESTING RACING CARS TO THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTRE OF MELBOURNE FOR THREE DAYS OF ACTION. AUTO ACTION PUBLISHER BRUCE WILLIAMS SPENT THE WEEKEND SOAKING UP THE ATMOSPHERE ... WITH OVER 260 vehicles competing over the weekend, it was another successful event with plenty of keen spectators out to enjoy all the action in great weather conditions at the wonderful venue-that is Sandown. It’s great to attend these types of events for many reasons; first is to see some of the fantastic racing cars actually being used for the purpose that they were created and to see them being driven at speed and raced against other similar vehicles. Seeing and hearing some of the most significant race cars built being driven hard by their owners is a far better proposition than to see them in museums and on static displays. And to me, and most of the others that attended, it doesn’t matter if it’s a powerful McLaren sportscar or a Brabham formula
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and we all appreciated it very much. But of course, it’s not just the Historic racing cars we get to enjoy. So much of the time spend at these events it talking to great people from the sport – and after being involved is motor racing for decades it’s hard to walk far without being bailed up for a chat by someone you don’t see all that often. So, catching up with people is another highlight amongst many – and of course there was plenty of on-track action as well.
HISTORIC TOURING CARS Craig Allan shows the way in a packed Historic Touring Car field. car, or indeed the people in their Formula Vees and the HQs which are still out in numbers.
So, good-on all those hard-working teams and owners who took their precious metal out for a fang – it brought out many smiles
AS ALWAYS, big fields of these great cars were racing and there was some fantastic action on the racetrack with one of the great historic categories. These are no doubt crowd pleasers and always put on a great show. Back at Sandown in big numbers and, as has become the norm at these bigger
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GROUPS M, O SPORTS AND RACING & INVITED
Damian Johnson – Toyota RA Celica Sports Sedan
Simon Elliott (MGB) leads Phil Chester’s MGB GT. the trot, with Mewett and Talbot fighting over second and third in all three races. Standout performer in the Up To 5.0 Litre class was Queensland’s Graeme Wakefield in his Ford Mustang Coupe with three wins.
GROUPS P, Q, R RACING AND Q, R SPORTS AND INVITED
Bryan Sala (Matich A50/51) leads the Nola Chev and a fascinating combination of F5000s and sports cars. Below: Richard Hill’s Mini Cooper leads a busy and final podium group of small-capacity Historic Touring Car group. Bottom of page: Laurie Bennett in the classic McLaren M1B. Images: IAN SMITH, NEIL HAMMOND.
events, they had two divisions – a class for the smaller capacity and earlier model cars which included Ford Cortina’s, Mini Cooper S, and a few Holden grey powered cars from yesteryear. DIVISION 1 THE STANDOUT performers in the smaller capacity final were Richard Hill in a Morris Cooper S, Peter Van Summeren in a Ford Lotus Cortina and Philip Barrow in a three-on-the-tree grey-powered Holden FJ. DIVISION 2 THE RACES for the outright contenders in the Historic Touring cars are always crowd-pleasing events and the big cubed and now very high-horsepower Mustangs and Camaros battled it out against some local muscle cars, including GT Falcons, Chargers, HQ Monaros and smaller capacity GTR XU1 Toranas and, as usual, they put on another great show of racing. Craig Allan in his Ford Mustang was fastest in qualifying ahead of Trevor Talbot in a Chevrolet Camaro and Ian Mewett in another Ford Mustang. In all three races Allan showed the pace of the Mustang and won three on
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DANIEL NOLAN, driving the car his uncle built in the 70s – the Nola Chev sports car – was fastest in qualifying with a 1:11.84, ahead of Tim Macrow in a Prosport 3000 SC91, followed by Malcolm Oastler in the bright yellow Mildren Formula 5000 third fastest. The final race was a dominant display by Nolan who powered away from the rolling start and forged a big lead in the Nola Chev. Behind It was battle of the Formula 5000s with Oastler in the Mildren and Dean Camm in the black Chevron B24 fighting over second. A couple of laps into the race Oastler made his move into second with the Chevron of Frank Harris holding fourth ahead of the Ralt RT5 of James Crichton. With only a couple of laps to go, the three front-running 5000s were together – however Bryan Sala in the Matich A50/51 had started at the rear of the field after an off in the earlier race of the day, and with repairs carried out, had started to charge through the field to get to the other F5000s. As the race ran down, the F5000s were close together and at the flag it was a clear win to Nolan, with Oastler in a battle to the line with Sala who was only 0.4 of a second behind in third.
HISTORIC SPORTS SEDANS
ONE OF the categories that draw a lot of attention from the fans was the Historic Sport Sedans. Many of these cars owe their creation to the demise of another great category that was big in the late 60s and early 70s – Formula 5000 – with many made up of components from Formula 5000 cars that had passed their use-by date. Major components such as engines, transmissions uprights and brakes from old Lolas became Monzas, Chargers or Celicas and many of the other great Sports Sedans from the time. Historic Sport Sedans have started to grow their numbers and some very spectacular and exotic cars that have found a new beginning with the guidance support of Simon Pfitzner. One of several highlights was the display of the Peter Fowler-built replica of the Volkswagen fastback Chev
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that he created for Bryan Thomson in the mid 70s. This recreation car was commissioned by Pfitzner and is a wonderful tribute – however, some minor issues saw it parked over the weekend. Another attraction was the ex-Graeme Whincup Chevrolet Monza which, at the time of its creation, was a state-ofthe-art Sports Sedan. The Monza was looking beautiful and proving to be fast – unfortunately a minor altercation with the wall following an oil spill saw the restorer and current owner Carey McMahan forced to put the car away for the weekend. Over the weekend the Historic Sports Sedans ran a series of sprints to set fastest laps. Jason Maros, driving the ex-Clem Smith Chrysler Charger, set the fastest time ahead of Simon Pfitzner in the Peter Fowler built Mercedes 450 SLC – these were the two standouts, with the ex-Doug Clark Toyota Toyota RA40 Celica of Damian Johnson ,which was also a great performer with a smaller capacity six-cylinder Holden red engine for a power plant.
AT THE end of the qualifying session, best was Laurie Bennett in his classic McLaren M1B with a time of 1:15.65. Next was Andrew Robson in a Brabham BT30, with Wayne Groeger in a Brabham BT23B third fastest. The racing saw a dominant display by Bennett in the powerful McLaren, but he was shadowed in all three races by Andrew Robson in the Group O Racing Up To 1600cc Brabham BT30, with both having a big lead over the field. Robert Harborow in the McLaren M6B was also a solid performer across the weekend.
GROUP S SPORTS CARS
TERRY LAWLOR was the big performer all weekend in his Shelby GT350 Mustang, with David Baker in a Chevrolet Corvette also strong in the three races. In the final eight-lap race it was Lawlor ahead of Baker, with Wayne Seabrook in a Porsche Carrera in third ahead of Alexander Webster Porsche 911 Carrera.
MG AND INVITED BRITISH
IT WAS another dominant display of brute force by the trio of Philip Chester in his big-cubed MG with the BGT V8, and Simon Elliott in his modified MG B, and Richard Milligan in another hard-core MGB V8, with all three sharing the podiums. In the final race of the weekend, it was a clear win to Chester ahead of Elliot and Milligan in third with lapped traffic getting involved. In the smaller capacity cars, it was a solid display by Trevor Lindsay in the elegant Triumph GT6. Classic ... Nick McDonald heads Graeme Raper.
Jonathan Miles leads Andrew McInnes and the Formula Ford queue.
FORMULA FORD
A BIG field of 27 Formula Fords took to the track for the qualifying session. At the end of qualifying, Jonathan Miles was fastest in a Van Diemen RF89 with a time of 1:20.45. Nicholas McBride in a Swift DB1 finished ahead of Neil Richardson in another Van Diemen RF89. In the first two races it was Miles - the class standout ‘forever’ - the winner with Andrew McInnes in another RF89 stepping up to challenge Miles. The final saw an easy win to Miles who got the jump at the start and despite an early effort to reel him in by McInnes it was a clear win, with Declan Foo in an RF88 third.
GROUPS J, K, LB, FORMULA VEE AND INVITED
ANOTHER BIG group of open-wheel cars from a huge cross section and eras of motorsport. From home-grown specials made up from early Production cars through to Formula Vees, it was an interesting group of race cars. The stars were Nick McDonald in the Repco Holden Monoposto and Graeme Raper in the famous, presented as-raced George Reed Ford V8 Special. The two battled hard all weekend with McDonald taking the last race by just over a tenth of a second at the flag, with Dick O’Keefe in a Photon Lotus 11 Rep taking third.
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NATIONALS WRAP
An international field of TCR cars heads into Turn 1, with Bargwanna and Brown heading Race 1. Image: RACE PROJECT/ARG
SYDNEY WELCOMES THE WORLD EASTERN CREEK was the stage for the TCR World Tour’s first taste of racing on Australian soil and locals and internationals alike shone under the Sydney stars. Nine TCR World Tour drivers raced alongside the TCR Australia drivers to create the category’s biggest field down under. Despite the small crowd, the racing was fierce under lights as the Aussies took the fight up to the international stars and even beat them. Cyan Racing Lynk & Co made a big statement straight away, with all four cars topping the timesheets in the opening practice session. But come qualifying, it was the locals who found the ultimate pace. The only domestic driver with TCR World Tour experience, Ben Bargwanna, soared to a special pole position. Bargwanna excelled in mixed conditions, setting a 1:37.8033 which was more than eighttenths better than his nearest rival Will Brown, while the leading international, Mikel Azcona in third, was more than a second away. More rain arrived at the start of the historic opening race, sparking wild scenes.
Bargwanna got the jump off the line to lead into Turn 1, while TCR World Tour championship leader Norbert Michelisz went off at Turn 2. Cyan Racing Lynk & Co’s Santiago Urrutia also spun Jordan Cox as Michelisz found more trouble, making contact with Tony D’Alberto, spearing the #1 Honda off at high speed. A stopped Zac Soutar brought out an early Safety Car and when racing resumed the unforgettably comical scene of close to the entire field flying off at the end of Turn 2 occurred when when the slick-shod runners were caught out by the ever-changing conditions. The race was then red flagged and the shuffled field, now on wets, was reset with Brown in front. He enjoyed an unchallenged run to a stunning overall win, 12s ahead of leading World Tour driver Ma Qing Hau in the Lynk & Co after a 5s penalty was applied to Azcona. Brown was the only Aussie in the top six with Aaron Cameron seventh. Not even the reverse top 10 could stop
Brown going back-to-back on Saturday afternoon. The Erebus driver, steering an MPC Audi, stormed through the field from 10th to first, having hunted down Cameron on lap 13 when he forced the GRM driver into a mistake at the T8 hairpin. Cameron gained track position initially after Thed Bjork and Nestor Girolami ran wide at Turn 2. Bjork then started fighting for second with Michelisz and that ended in tears with the Lynk & Co forced to retire after a tangle at T2. Not even a SC for the stationary Girolami could stop Brown as he resumed his charge following the restart. It became clear Cameron had received a 5s penalty for jumping the start which dropped him from second to eighth. This shot Rob Huff to second while championship rivals and teammates Josh Buchan and Bailey Sweeny were the next best Aussies in fifth and sixth. “It is cool to get the win from 10th – I did not think it was possible,” Brown said. “Goodness, these guys race hard and I
had to give it back to them a few times, but they were great. “It was an awesome race with so much going on ... so loved it.” After being upstaged twice by Brown, the World Tour drivers were determined to salvage some pride from Sydney and Brit Huff came to the party under lights. He shot into a lead he would not let go off the line; meanwhile Frederic Vervisch and Cameron came unstuck at Turn 1 with the latter lucky not to roll in an incident that hurt his championship aspirations. Enrlacher and Hua clashed, while debutante Will Harris spun. Brown was second on the road, 2s behind Huff but was hit with a 5s penalty for jumping the start. This only relegated him to third overall and did not stop him from sweeping TCR Australia honours. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the locals with the Hyundai teammates next best and Buchan only gaining one point on leader Sweeny ahead of the Bathurst finale. Thomas Miles
LODGE LEADING THE WAY A SOLID field of X3 NSW Hyundai Excels produced some entertainment at Race Sydney and one driver was a cut above across the five races. James Lodge (leading, right) fell just short of producing the perfect weekend, dominating the non-championship affair. Lodge won four of the five races, while Blake Tracy edged out Toby Waghorn by two points in a tense battle for second best. Lodge sprinted out of the blocks and won the opening race by the slender margin of 0.3s over Waghorn.
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Image: RICCARDO BENVENUTI/PRICELESS IMAGES His hopes of a clean sweep were dashed as early as race two when he could only
manage fourth as Tracey drove into victory lane ahead of Waghorn.
Lodge then hit back by cruising to the biggest win of the weekend in race three to the tune of 1.4s. The weekend wrapped up with a pair of cliffhangers on Saturday afternoon. In Race 4, the lead changed hands four times with Lodge sneaking 0.18s ahead of Waghorn after making a last-lap move. Three different drivers led the finale in another entertaining affair, but once again Lodge found a way to win. This time Tracey was the runner-up as less than 2s covered the top five. Thomas Miles
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Image: SPEEDSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY
GARDNER CLINCHES RADICAL TITLE Contenders Morris and Moffat head a tight Trans Am field. Image: JACK MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY
MOFFAT AND MORRIS SPLIT SMP WINS ROUND 6 of the National Trans Am series had a bit of spice in the lead up with the championship race thrown open after series leaders James Moffat and Lachie Dalton had their Round 3 points stripped by Motorsport Australia. That left Elliot Barbour in the title lead, but a successful appeal by the GRM team had the lead reinstated on the Friday evening, with the contentious modification to the pedal box having not been used in the races at Winton. With his championship lead reinstated, Moffat wasted no time in asserting his intentions by taking pole position over Nash Morris in the Supercheap Auto Mustang. The opening night race of the round for the Trans Ams was then taken out by the series leader, whilst Norris hit back with two of his own before Moffat took Race 4 to clinch the round. Dalton and Barbour made no in-roads into the lead with one round remaining, and the Victorian #34 Mustang driver will enjoy a 78 point margin over Dalton, whilst Barbour is a further 103 behind second place in his Camaro. The opening race was a convincing one for Moffat with a 3.9 sec win over Morris, whilst Dalton took third.
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It was a tense affair on the opening laps however, until Morris dropped off the radar to squabble with Dalton, with Cody Gillis also giving the podium a shake. Morris managed to flip the tables on Moffat in Race 2 after the two batted side-by-side early in the roiling start, with Moffat throwing the kitchen sink at the #67 pony to no avail. After it became a breakaway matter for the win, a Safety Car was called over an Elliot Cleary puncture, with a one-lap dash resulting in a much closer affair. After Morris nailed the restart, this time it was Gillis who prevailed over Dalton for third. Into Saturday evening the Supercheap Auto driver knocked off another to make it four wins for the year. Again, it was Moffat in pursuit as well as the previous podium getters, with Dalton clipping the #9 Mustang to bring out a safety and taking a penalty, whilst Cleary took a third straight DNF under the flag with mechanical issues. This time it was Vic driver Ben Grice who took third, with a fresh set of Hoosier’s giving him the heave-ho to get up there over Tim Brook and the recovered Gillis from the rear of the field. The finale, under lights, was a chaotic
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affair to close the weekend, with Gillis capping a great weekend in the All American Driveline Pony with a second place over Norris. Despite taking damage early, Moffat found the edge to keep his nose in front over two Safety Car interventions. Whilst Cleary brought the first with a quartet of DNFs, Barbour resulted in the second, with another one-lap dash to decide the winner, where Dalton and Grice made contact down the field, whilst Gillis held off Morris for a third podium of the weekend. Visiting American Robert Noaker had his best finish of eighth for Dream Racing, whilst Brook and Edan Thornburrow’s consistent weekend had them fourth and fifth for the round behind Gillis. “It was full send at the end there, as a team we wanted to do our talking on the track,” Moffat said. “I couldn’t be prouder of everyone at GRM for sticking fat through a difficult situation in the lead-up.” A quick trip across the mountains now lay ahead for the teams, heading for the Trans Am finale at the Bathurst international, the following weekend (see report elsewhere). TW Neal
16-YEAR-old racer Alex Gardner (above) took out the Radical Cup Australia in his first year racing full-time in a national series, as he outlasted close rival Elliott Schutte. The Volante Rosso Motorsport youngster had to work for it across the two days, and the kart graduate had to wait until the final race of the year, securing a podium, to get it done. “It is just an awesome feeling – I am just over the moon with the result and the season that we had,” Gardner said. “To become Radical Cup Australia Champion in my first season is beyond what I could ever dream of. “We had one of the more difficult weekends this year, but I was in a good spot. After Race 2 and the penalty I just had to keep a cool head and get on with it, which I was able to do.” The weekend started smoothly for the #93 SR3 RSX driver, taking an important pole by 0.062 sec over Cooper Cutts. He converted his pole into a Race 1 win, holding off his rival by over a second, with Cutts in third. Race 2 went the way of Cutts however, over reigning champ Chris Perini, whilst taking a 30 sec penalty for making contact with Schutte to drop to ninth which put Peter Paddon in third. Race 3 had the youngster back on the top step with a dominant five second win over Schutte to put one hand on the trophy, with Cutts in second. The finale saw Gardner start in sixth and, whilst Perini would take the win over Cutts, an important drive saw Gardner cement his title with third place, whilst Schutte could only manage fifth behind Paddon. TW Neal
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NATIONALS WRAP
BUCHAN WINS THREEWAY TCR TUSSLE
BAILEY SWEENY and Aaron Cameron’s misfortune was Josh Buchan’s gain as he was victorious in a thrilling three-way tussle for the 2023 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia crown at Bathurst. As the TCR World Tour got its first glimpse of mighty Mount Panorama, there was a lot going on at Bathurst, but in the end all eyes were on the HMO Customer Racing Hyundai garage as teammates Buchan and Sweeny went head-to-head in a back-andforth battle for the championship, while Cameron also had a big crack in his GRM Peugeot. Sweeny arrived at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International with a 29-point advantage over teammate Buchan, while Cameron was a further 20 adrift. Things were going to plan for Sweeny after Saturday, maintaining a 23-point lead into the final day. However, a loose water cooler hose destroyed Sweeny’s championship hopes in Race 2 while he fell short to teammate Buchan on track in the finale, a disqualification due to a breach of the allowed turbo boost was the final straw. These troubles opened the door for Cameron, who even snatched the effective title when he hit the lead early in Race 3. But this only lasted one corner before he went off at The Chase. His dream was dashed for good when his 308 ground to a halt at Hell Corner. At the end of it all, Buchan managed to navigate his way past all the hurdles to etch his name into TCR history. AFTER FINDING their feet around the iconic corners of Mount Panorama, the TCR World Tour Lynk & Cos showed speed, but none of the fleet could stop local Tony D’Alberto from snagging pole. The reigning champion was on fire in the brand new Honda Civic FK7 TCR, being
TCR AUSTRALIA CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1 Josh Buchan 809 2 Tony D’Alberto 759 3 Bailey Sweeny 748 4 Aaron Cameron 743 5 Lachlan Mineeff 659
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The internationals lead away, with Tony D’Alberto right in the mix. Images: RACE PROJECT almost four-tenths faster than the rest, while the nearest local was Buchan more than a second off the pace. But when lights went out, Santiago Urruatia got the jump off the line to take the lead in his Lynk & Co and did not look back. Despite a Safety Car caused by Nestor Girolamo, setting up a two-lap dash, the Uruguay driver remained cool under pressure to lead home Nestor Girolami and D’Alberto, who waved the flag for the locals as the only Aussie in the top seven. Buchan was the second highest TCR Australia competitor in eighth, gaining ground on Sweeny, who could only manage 12th overall and fifth in class after recovering from a slow start. The TCR Australia title fight was turned on its head in the inverse top 10 grid race. Cameron led early from Michelisz and Frederic Vervisch, who battled all the way up to Griffins Bend. But there was big drama by the time the pack began charging down Conrod Straight, as Sweeny started slowing and eventually crawled to the pits on lap three. On lap four Michelisz snatched the overall
lead from Cameron at the Chase, while Buchan also lost ground, slipping from eighth to 15th after contact with Zac Soutar at Murrays. Not only did Sweeny suffer dramas, so did Will Brown (driveshaft) Soutar (puncture) and Brad Harris who “felt unwell”. Although Hyundai World Tour driver Michelisz won, Cameron claimed an important TCR Australia win as the second car on the road after a big battle with Thed Bjork, Rob Huff and Yann Ehrlacher. D’Alberto was the local runner-up ahead of Buchan, while Sweeny returned to the track, but still retired. Sweeny’s costly retirement meant just 24 points split the three contenders ahead of the final 11-lap race in grandstand finish. Cameron had track position, starting eighth, with Buchan 10th and Sweeny 17th, while it was a sea of blue up front with Ehrlacher, Urrutia and Bjork making it at Lynk & Co one-two-three. But all eyes were on the Aussies as the championship fight changed hands twice in three corners. Cameron dived down the inside of
D’Alberto at Forrests Elbow to snatch both the TCR Australia race and championship lead. But the GRM driver threw it away by bowling a wide at The Chase and slipped from fifth to 10th overall and third in class. Meanwhile, Sweeny soared from 17th to 12th and third in TCR Australia honours, two spots ahead of Buchan. Hopes of an all-Lynk & Co podium vanished when Urrutia whacked the wall under ‘The Tree.’ This arrived moments before the race-ending Safety Car which ended Sweeny’s charge. It was initially scrambled due to Jordan Cox stopping just before pit lane entry. But there was bigger drama at pit exit where Cameron’s championship dream ended having been forced to pull over due to overheating issues. This meant it was a straight shootout between the HMO teammates and a special one-lap dash to decide the title was brewing. But it never materialised after Hyundai World Tour driver Mikel Azcona incredibly crashed at Forrests Elbow behind the Safety Car. As a result an entertaining round and thrilling title fight ended in the anticlimax of the Safety Car. But it did not stop a relieved Buchan from emotionally celebrating his TCR title after a wild weekend, while D’Alberto seized second in the standings due to his brilliance and Sweeny and Cameron’s misfortune. To add to the drama, the TCR World Tour is bracing itself for an even closer finale with only one point separating Ehrlacher, Huff and Michelisz. The internationals, plus Ben Bargwanna all head to the streets of Macau this weekend as Buchan savours his success. Thomas Miles
Josh Buchan ended upo with the TCR title after a rollercoaster Sunday ...
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ZUKANOVIC ON TOP
Moffat leads a tight field into Griffins Bend. Images: RACE PROJECT
MOFFAT SMOKES HIS WAY TO GLORY JAMES MOFFAT completed a dominant Trans Am season by wrapping up the title by a comfortable 76-point margin at Bathurst – but that is far from the full story. Moffat carried a solid 78-point advantage over Lochie Dalton into the finale after winning the penultimate round in Sydney. All was going well after he won the first race at Mount Panorama, stayed out of trouble in the crash-shortened second and led off the start in the third. However, the alarm bells were going off when smoke started pouring out of the #34 Mustang early on. Then it was panic stations as Moffat dived into the pits with the threat of retirement hanging over his head and Dalton now in the provisional championship lead. But the GRM crew managed to perform under pressure and got the car back out to get the critical finish required for Moffat to be crowned champion. Meanwhile, the round also went down to the wire with Tom Hayman emerging on top as nine points split the top four cars. It all started swimmingly for Moffat, who topped both practice sessions before taking pole in a tight qualifying where less than four-tenths split the top four. Moffat edged out Edan Thornburrow by just 0.07s with Dalton a close third ahead of Cody Gillis. The championship leader carried on his momentum in the opening race, leading the way off the line ahead of Thornburrow and Dalton.
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The race stayed clean until chaos erupted on lap six when a spin by Zach Loscialpo blocked the track at the bottom of the Mountain where both Ben Grice and Elliot Barbour both careered into the Camaro. The race was unable to be resumed in time due to the incident, with Moffat securing another win, this time under the control of the Safety Car. Even less racing was possible in the second race which was declared a nonevent due to an early incident. Moffat once again led from Thornburrow but was stopped in his tracks by a red flag caused by Josh Thomas who had a big crash at the top of the Mountain. With a big clean-up required, the race was a non-event, setting the stage for the final race where Moffat carried a 84-point lead over Dalton. This appeared more than enough two corners into the finale as Moffat led away once again and chaos unfolded at Griffins Bend. Nose to tail contact between Thornburrow and Gillis sent Dalton into the tyres on corner entry, dropping him from second to the back. But then on corner exit Gillis ran over the kerb, clipped the outside wall and fired Thornburrow head on hard into the concrete, wiping both out on the spot. With Elliott Barbour also caught up in a separate incident down at Hell Corner, the Safety Car was required straight away. Moffat restarted in control and opened an
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early gap over the field but not all was well. Smoke started pouring out of the back of the #34 GRM Mustang and lost pace when it began climbing up the mountain. Moffat lost the lead and round win to Tom Hayman at the Cutting and was swallowed up by the pack, eventually going straight to the pits. To add to the drama, Dalton sensed his golden opportunity and went on the attack. He made some bold moves to importantly pass Josh Thomas for 12th at Murrays Corner on lap six. This meant Dalton would snatch the Trans Am title if Moffat stayed in the garage and retired. However, the GRM crew managed to get Moffat back on track after losing just a lap to avoid a championship-losing DNF. It arrived at a key time as the Safety Car returned when Robert Noaker, Tim Brook, Joshua Anderson and Mark Crutcher all spun at the messy Murrays Corner. With Moffat back in the train, in 14th, and Dalton sixth, the race-ending Safety Car gave everyone a chance to take a breath before the son of racing legend Allan Moffat finally got a chance to add a national championship trophy to the family cabinet. Thomas Miles 2023 TRANS AM CHAMPIONSHIP 1 James Moffat 1334 2 Lochie Dalton 1258 3 Brett Holdsworth 1134 4 Tom Hayman 1087 5 Elliot Barbour 1074
THERE WERE big celebrations at Bathurst after Marcus Zukanovic (above) finally climbed the Mountain to his maiden Touring Car Masters round win. Zukanovic’s XD Falcon set the pace all weekend, taking pole and two wins, while John Bowe also produced a special podium in his full-time farewell and Ryan Hansford gained ground on Steven Johnson in the points race. After a disrupted quali, racing started in a special way with Bowe producing a fairytale drive in the Trophy Race. Starting sixth, Bowe was on the charge in the Holden Torana SL/R and rose to third second by lap two. Bowe then snatched the lead from Brad Tilley on lap four and held on by threetenths in a close finish over the hard charging Andrew Fisher. In Race 1, Cameron Tilley jumped Zukanovic and led through Turn 1 but the latter’s Ford Falcon XD showcased its power by sprinting ahead up Mountain Straight. Fisher’s victory dream ended when he had a rear end failure in the run into Forests Elbow and just avoided contact between the wall and Cameron Tilley. But Brad Tilley was not so lucky, with a reported puncture sending him hard into the Griffins Bend concrete on the final lap. Up front Zukanovic claimed a 2s win over Bowe and Cameron Tilley. Zukonovic carried on his momentum on Sunday morning and comfortably overcame Hansford. The six-lap affair was highlighted by a breathtaking battle for third between Bowe and Cameron Tilley. It came down to the final corner where Bowe flew around the outside and claimed the final spot on the podium by one hundredth of a second. In Race 3, Zukanovic and Hansford found themselves side-by-side on the exit of Hell Corner where the XD Falcon prevailed after a close call at Griffins Bend. The race then settled down until lap three when Zukanovic was suddenly under pressure and cracked at Murrays, running wide, allowing the Torana to steal the lead. But it was not done as the pair did a drag race up Mountain Straight where Hansford held on. The timing of the move proved to be critical as the yellows were required moments later when the Chevy Monza of Ben Dunn went too fast into the right hander before the Dipper, rotated and rear-ended into the concrete hard. The damaged Monza came to rest alongside the barrier on the inside on the entry to The Dipper, bringing out the Safety Car, which led the field to the chequered flag. Hansford’s final race success ensured the Touring Car Masters title chase stayed alive with Johnson in seventh ahead of the VAILO Adelaide 500 finale on November 23-26. Thomas Miles 2023 TOURING CAR MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Steven Johnson 877 points 2 Ryan Hansford 802 3 Marcus Zukanovic 725 4 Cameron Tilley 720 5 Andrew Fisher 707
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NATIONALS WRAP
Dominant performance – Cam McLeod. Image: DANIEL KALISZ
MCLEOD MASTERS THE MOUNTAIN FOR THE SECOND time in as many attempts, rising star Cameron McLeod dominated a category on debut. This time he stunned the V8 Touring Cars field by dominating in Shane van Gisbergen’s 2009 Stone Brothers FG Falcon in a 2010 livery. As McLeod swept up Mount Panorama, Jude Bargwanna clinched the championship crown. The third generation driver blew away the 10-car field straight away by taking pole position by the huge margin of 2.15s with a 2:08.4344. Bargwanna joined him on the front row, but the eventual champion had no answer for McLeod and had to focus on keeping another debutant, Ryan Simpson, behind when racing began. McLeod cruised to a crushing 9s lights to flag win as Bargwanna held off Simpson for second. The second race was heavily impacted by the Safety Car following a big crash at The
Cutting involving Brendan Strong, Jason Foley, and Paul Boschert. Strong was the first to find the concrete and Boschert followed him, while Foley spun further up the tight patch of track and all three were ruled out of the remainder of the weekend. Following a lengthy clean up, a one-lap dash awaited and McLeod showed no signs of pressure, winning in style by breaking his own lap record. This meant he soared to a 4s win over Bargwanna and Simpson. The earlier chaos meant just seven old Supercars lined up on the grid for the final race of the season. It proved to be a cracker as McLeod completed a hat-trick, but from a near impossible position. The race ran to a different script as McLeod stalled it off the line and fell 10s behind the pack. To make matters worse he received 5s penalty for creeping outside his grid box,
but the effective 15s handicap didn’t stop him from surging to second within two laps, with Bargwanna still a further 5s up the road. However, the SVG Ford flew to the back of the fellow Falcon and after a brief battle McLeod passed Bargwanna at Griffins Bend. But there was still plenty of work to do for McLeod, who had to build a 5s gap on Bargwanna within the final four laps to complete the clean sweep. He did enough, but only just, with just half a second the difference once the penalty was applied. It was an exciting end to a new era for the revived V8 Touring Cars category. Thomas Miles V8 TOURING CARS CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Jude Bargwanna 585 2 Jim Pollicina 485 3 Jamie Tilley 451 4 Ray Hislop 414 5 Tony Auddino 379
APC NAIL-BITER THE FINALE of the 2023 Australian Production Cars Championship went down to the final laps at Bathurst. Iain Sherrin headed into the weekend 33 points behind Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns, while Grant Sherrin was in third a further 68 adrift. After sweeping Saturday’s two races, Iain Sherrin was just three points shy of the lead heading into the final double-header on Sunday. Although Iain Salteri took his maiden APC victory in race three, a second place was enough for Iain Sherrin to be the driver to beat ahead of the finale. He carried a seven-point lead into the final race and achieved the ultimate success in the best way possible by winning the final race. With Cowham down in fourth, Iain Sherrin won the APC crown by 20 points. “It was a hard-fought battle this year, we had a lot of ups and downs,” Iain Sherrin said. “I think the cars were quicker this year than they have ever been, which brings
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Image: SPEEDSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHY its own issues sometimes, as we had to get our heads around how the cars were treating the tyres at that level. “It was great teamwork, and I really cannot thank Mike (Michael Sherrin) and Grant enough. “It may be an individual title, but it was a full team effort, and I am just ecstatic for the team to get our fourth outright championship, it is just amazing.”
Further up the road the Invited cars completed their inaugural season which was won by Shane Smollen in his Porsche Cayman. While Smollen might have taken out the title, the Bathurst bragging rights for this event went to category newcomer, Tim Leahey, who won all four races in his BMW G82 M4. Thomas Miles
GILTRAP GRABS TITLE MARCO GILTRAP sealed the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge title in the finale, while Nash Morris stole the show at Bathurst. The championship was virtually a formality ahead of the final round as Giltrap simply had to finish 17th in the opener to wrap it up. The Team Porsche New Zealand/ Earl Bamber Motorsport driver did much more than that by finishing third on Friday. Morris marked his return to the category in style with another win ahead of Marcos Flack in a heavily interrupted 15-lap affair. Due to Tim Wolfe, Caspar Tresidder, Harrison Goodman and Eric Constantinidis failing to finish, two Safety Car periods limited racing laps. Morris then reached further heights on Saturday by completing the clean sweep. In Race 2 he had to fend off Marcos Flack early until the latter had a big lose at McPhillamy and surfed through the gravel. In yet another Safety Cardominated event, the SC arrived early as three separate incidents all occurred at once on lap four involving Jacque Jarjo, Caspar Tressider and Dave Allan. But the biggest victim was Giltrap, who clipped the wall at “the grate” and suffered a puncture which sent him into retirement from second. Ultimately there was not enough time for racing to resume with Morris leading Hamish Fitzsimmons and Oscar Targett. Morris sealed the clean sweep in fine style with a controlled lights to flag success. Meanwhile Giltrap was on the charge, rising eight positions on the opening lap alone. But his daring drive from 25th was limited to 14th as a Safety Car ended another race early due to Slade Orsmond’s crash at Griffins Bend. Pro-Am honours went to Daniel Stutterd and Sam Shahin won the class title. Thomas Miles 2023 PORSCHE SPRINT CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Marco Giltrap 803 2 Aron Shields 690 3 Oscar Targett 662 4 Hamish Fitzsimmons 635 5 Marcos Flack 561
INTERNATIONAL
MOTOGP • MALAYSIA
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Bastianini ran away with the main GP race. Below: Alex Marquez enhanced his reputation with a second Sprint win and second in the GP. Bottom: The start of the Sprint was crowded ... Images: GOLD AND GOOSE / MOTORSPORT IMAGES
BASTIANINI BACK TO HIS BEST ENEA BASTIANINI made a timely reminder of his quality by dominating Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, while Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia also made a statement in his fight for the MotoGP crown with Jorge Martin. Bastianini put a painful year behind him by leading every lap on Sunday in Sepang and beating Sprint winner Alex Marquez by 1.5s. Bagnaia, importantly, claimed third, convincingly ahead of championship rival Martin after they went head to head in a brief battle. Being a fifth career win, but the first in factory colours for Ducati, it was a shot in the arm for Bastianini, who has endured a horrible 2023 marred by early injuries, with the mighty Malaysia ride a sign that ‘The Beast’ is back. It was an all-Ducati top six on the grid and Bagnaia led Bastianini through turn one in the Sprint, while Martin dropped to fourth behind Alex Marquez. By lap three both Marquez and Martin had displaced Bastianini, but it was the Gresini Ducati with the top pace. Two tours later Marquez snatched the lead from Bagnaia at Turn 9 and did not look back, cruising to a special 1s win. This left the championship rivals in a fight for second and the Pramac Ducati rider prevailed, as Bagnaia battled with a piece of debris attached to the bike’s bodywork, which turned out to be “a lunchbox”. Martin gained some ground on Bagnaia, but this proved momentary as Miller lost out to Brad Binder in sixth and Marc Marquez crashed.
MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
ON A SUNNY Sunday Bastianini, Martin and Bagnaia went side by side into turn one and just when the #89 appeared to thread the needle in the middle, ran
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2024 RIDER SHUFFLE ON THE CARDS
wide on corner exit. This saw Martin slip from first to fifth, while the two non-championship contenders surged ahead. As the pack emerged from the tight opening four corners, Bastianini and Alex Marquez quickly opened a gap over Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Martin, while Miller put in a big first lap, charging from 10th to sixth. The Pramac Ducati rider made an important move on Bezzecchi for fourth to be on the back wheel of Bagnaia and a thrilling fight between the heavy hitters followed. On lap three, Martin launched a divebomb on Bagnaia at turn 14 but the #1 hit back and instantly clawed third back after a close call almost evoking memories of Marc Marquez v Valentino Rossi (2015), but eight years later they got through cleanly. Martin had another crack at Turn 4 on the following lap but, again, Bagnaia had the perfect response as they stunningly ran side by side along the following lefthanded sweeper. As the championship contenders battled, the top two opened a 1.5s advantage Further back Joan Mir fell at Turn 4 to bring up Repsol Honda’s half century of crashes in 2023. Bagnaia upped his pace on lap five to
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open seven-tenths of breathing space on Martin as Miguel Oliveira crashed at Turn 9. As riders went into tyre preservation mode, things settled down at the halfway mark. Those who could not survive this period were Aleix Espargaro, Binder and Takagi Nakagami. During this period, Miller started to lose ground following his outstanding start, losing sixth to Fabio Quartararo, who also claimed fifth from the battling Marco Bezzecchi. Up front, the top four had spread out with the best part of 2s between each of the podium contenders, while Bagnaia had pulled more than 7s on Martin. The top six spots remained unchanged during a quiet second half of the race, while Miller lost seventh to Franco Morbidelli. Now the two-rider battle between Bagnaia and Martin will go down to the wire across the next two weekends at Qatar and Valencia.
THE REASON why Enea Bastianini’s Sepang success was so important is because the 2024 MotoGP rider market is still bubbling away. Before Bastianini got his first win for Ducati, the factory team’s sporting director Paolo Ciabatti put the Italian’s future in doubt. He confirmed that if Jorge Martin wins the 2023 championship, the Pramac rider will be promoted to the top team, displacing the #23. Bastianini has had a “very disastrous” first season in red, suffering a broken shoulder in the opener, but made a statement in Sepang. Meanwhile, there are also plenty of rumours surrounding another Ducati rider – Luca Marini. The Valentino Rossi protege (pictured above) currently racing for VR46 has been rumoured to be in talks with the team where it all started for the ‘Doctor’ – Repsol Honda – as Marc Marquez’s replacement. Fabio Di Giannantonio and ex-Honda rider Pol Espargaro are also in the mix, while Moto2 teen Fermin Aldeguer could replace Marini if a vacancy arrives at VR46. It all starts on Friday under the Lusail stars where the current championship protagonists crashed into each other last year. Thomas Miles 2023 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Francesco Bagnaia 412 2 Jorge Martin 398 3 Marco Bezzecchi 323 4 Brad Binder 254 5 Johann Zarco 200
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INTERNATIONAL
BLANEY POWERS PENKSE TO NASCAR DOUBLE
Second place in Phoenix was enough for Blaney to take the 2023 title. Above right: In formation with Top 4 contender William Byron. Right: the field dives for the pits. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES THE CHAMPIONSHIP race of the NASCAR season headed to Arizona to take on the “Desert Oddball” Phoenix Raceway track, with the ‘Championship 4’ of Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and William Byron in contention for the sudden death finale. In his eighth full-time season and sixth with Penske, the #12 Mustang driver gave the famous Ford team back-to-back Cup Series titles, as he outlasted Kyle Larson for second in the 312 lap duel for a maiden championship For the first time since 2014 in the current format, the season finale wasn’t taken out by the champion however, with the ‘W’ going to Ross Chastian, with the Track House Racing driver leading 157 laps in a dominant display. Among the contenders, the season ended in Stage 2 for Bell after his brake rotor blew, sending his Toyota hard into the wall on lap 108, but for the others, it was a three-way battle as they finished second, third and fourth, with the most
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realistic battle being between Blaney and Larson. It was a fiercely fought battle between the Mustang and Camaro driver, with it all up in the air after a restart with 30 laps to go. And while Chastain took total control from that moment, the battle between the main contenders wasn’t settled until only 19 laps were left on the board, with a doorto-door battle ending in Blaney having too much power and tyre for the Hendricks drive to get a second title. “Just so proud of this team. Unbelievable year, unbelievable playoffs for us,” the 29 year old ‘Buckeye’ native said. “To win back-to-back Cup titles for (team owner Roger) Penske, that’s so special. Having my family here, winning my first Cup title, I got emotional in the car. I’m not a very emotional guy.” On the final laps, Blaney was relieved that the field kept in straight for a final green run. “No yellow, I didn’t want a caution. Once I got to the white flag, I felt pretty
good about it. It’s just about getting there, finishing it off. Didn’t want a yellow. Everyone kept it straight. “I want to shout-out also to Kyle Larson and William Byron – that was fun racing those guys all day, and Christopher Bell, unfortunately he broke. “Racing those two guys at the end, racing clean, that’s what racing is all about. It was a lot of fun.” For Blaney, his season wasn’t too dissimilar to the one that got his teammate Joey Logano the title last year, with an early season win going a long way to ensuring a playoff appearance, before two clutch wins at Talladega in the Round of 12, and Martinsville in the Round of 8 to book his spot in the final 4. Of special note, it was also the final career race for NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick, with the Stewart-Haas Racing veteran driving #4 Mustang to seventh, with the 47-year-old closing a career that started in 2001 that included one title and 60 Cup wins (10th all-time).
After Byron started the race from pole, it was the ideal start for the Hendricks contender, leading all 60 laps of Stage 1, with Harvick putting in one last big push to finish just 0.470 behind him with Chastain in third. For the early championship picture, Larson was in fifth after the opening stanza, whilst Bell and Blaney sat in ninth and 10th. Stage 2 saw Bell pick up the extensive damage that would see him listed in P36 by race end, whilst Chastain saw most of the lead before Buescher found his way to the front with only 14 laps left to the ringer. Byron had moved into fourth in the meantime with Blaney and Larson battling away in sixth and seventh. At the resumption of the race, all the leading cars chose to pit, with Chastain leading Byron with 119 laps to go. It only took 19 laps for Blaney to start really building speed, as he took the title ascendancy by ringing down Byron for a small advantage. Of the contenders, Byron and Larson were first to blink for the pits as a flurry of green flag stops came about for tyre and fuel for one final run. Blaney briefly hit the front with 50 remaining but it wouldn’t last, as Busch had trouble at Turn 4 on lap 275 for the race’s fourth caution, with the lead cars pitting for fresh sets for each contender. The resumption was at the 31-lap mark, with the two lead contenders losing Byron to make it a two horse race that was comfortably taken by Blaney with a margin of 2.3s. Round 1 of the 2024 season is the Daytona 500 on February 18. TW Neal
NASCAR PHOENIX I WEC • BAHRAIN
TOYOTA CLEANS UP WEC TITLE IN BAHRAIN THE TOYOTA Gazoo Racing team has continued its dominance of the new Hypercar era in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with the two title-competing GR010 LMH machines finishing one-two at the 8 Hours of Bahrain WEC finale. The #8 winning team of Kiwi Brendan Hartley and Swiss and Japanese drivers Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa were insurmountable from pole for Toyota’s third straight (new-era) Hypercar championship, winning by 47s over the #7 sister car piloted by Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez. Despite winning four races for the year compared to two for the #8 car, the championship winners were only outside the top-two once (a sixth at Monza), winning the title by 27 points. For Hartley it was a fourth WEC title and second straight, a fourth for Buemi, and a second straight for Hirakawa. It was also a fifth straight drivers/team championship for Toyota, as the joining field of LMH and LMDh manufacturers try to catch up with the Japanese giant. Completing the podium at the West Asian island finale was the #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco/ Nicklas Nielsen/Miguel Molina, fourth podium of the year to clinch third in the championship over the sister #51 Le Mans winning Ferrari, with the two LMH spec teams in the top four taking 17 of the 21 podiums for the season. Since leaving Formula 1 for a fulltime Sports Car racing career, Hartley joined Toyota in 2019 and has enjoyed championship after championship. “It has been an amazing year. I am really proud to be part of the #8 crew and this
Toyota team,” Hartley said. “We have had some fierce battles with car #7 and the other Hypercar competitors all year and today was no different … becoming a four-time World Champion is probably going to take a while to sink in, but it sounds really nice.” Heading into the race, the LMDh machines of Porsche and Cadillac were given decent BoP weight cuts, but they still couldn’t contend for the win against the might of Toyota despite one of each out-qualifying the Ferraris, whilst the Peugeot 9X8 LMH machines ended the year in disappointing fashion, two laps back in eighth and ninth and in desperate need of the 2024 upgrade that’s coming for the French squad. The Vanwall 680 car may also have run its last WEC race, down in P33, as it remains to be seen if it can realistically compete with the in-coming manufacturer teams. Starting on the front row with the #2 Earl Bamber-driven Cadillac, the #7 GR010’s title attempt was essentially over at Turn 1 when the Cadillac locked up and turned the Conway piloted machine.
Although they were able to work back up into third by the first hour, the #8 was 30s up. Tyre degradation was a huge factor in the heat and sand of Bahrain with the Ferrari cars the next biggest threat, but Ferrari did as Ferrari does, and a squabble between the two 499Ps in the last hour saw them rub tyres in an in-team scrap, the #51 dropping down into sixth by race’s end. It was an impressive showing from the independent Porsche Jota Team, with Antonio Felix da Costa/Will Stevens/ Yifei Ye, finishing in fourth over the #6 Porsche Factory entry. The Jota team worked as high as third into the final hour, before any chance of a maiden podium was taken by a drive through penalty for an earlier unsafe
rejoin. In the end they were less than a second behind the Ferrari, whilst the #2 Cadillac would never recover from its 60 sec penalty to finish down in 11th after turning the #7 Toyota. The last ever LMP2 title in the WEC went to the WRT team of Louis Deletraz/ Robert Kubica/Rui Andrade, coming from 10th in the field for their third win of the year, with the Belgian team getting one two with the sister #31 car 9s in arrears. The challenging Inter Europol team needed to overcome a 33 point deficit, but never challenged on the day after brief mechanical issues in the fourth hour, with the #28 Jota LMP2 team taking third. The LMGTE Am era also came to a close, with a great farewell story going to the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911, a maiden WEC win for the Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey all female squad after threatening so many times. They took the win by five seconds over the pole-sitting #777 Aston Martin Vantage that had Aussie Liam Talbot behind the wheel, with the Heart of Racing #98 Aston rounding out third, a good send off for a successful car with the Evolution Vantage GT3 to take its place. The 2024 WEC season kicks off in Qatar on March 2, the Hypercar category set to grow with the introduction of new LMDh machines by Alpine, Lamborghini, BMW, and Isotta Fraschini, with a chance to grow to 38 Hypercars. At the same time, the new GT3 era of LMGT3 will see a max 38 car grid replace the LMP2 cars with plenty of new in-comers such as Ford, Lamborghini and BMW joining the fray. TW Neal
The #8 Toyota beat its stablemate to the title by only finishing outside the top six once. Top: The first corner melee decided the race, with the #7 Toyota turned around. Above: Winners are grinners – and champions ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
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INTERNATIONAL
THE MAX & LANDO SHOW
Report: LUIS VASCONCELOS Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES THERE USED to be two races in every Grand Prix this season: one, with Max Verstappen alone at the front of the field, the other between the remaining 19 drivers. In Brazil, things changed a bit but not in the way the fans might have hoped for. Yes, the World Champion was still top of the field, with a relatively comfortable margin, but not too far behind him Lando Norris was also in a race of his own, not close enough to get an upset, but miles ahead of the rest of the field, as the other 18 drivers could only fight for the last podium place. In the Sprint Race, on Saturday, Norris started from pole position but admitted to “being too cautious with the throttle on the second part of the launch”, so by the time they got to Turn 1 it was already Verstappen in the lead and that’s how it stayed all the way, the gap only going over 2s in the last six of the 24 laps of this event. On Sunday, Norris was only starting from P6 but, with Leclerc sidelined before the start and the two Aston Martins getting too much wheelspin, he was up to second by Turn 1. The red flag necessary to clear the mess created by the incident that accounted for Magnussen and Albon gave Norris another chance and, on new tyres, he did close on the Dutchman after fending off Hamilton at the re-start. Pushing his tyres hard, Norris made two attempts to pass Verstappen on lap eight but couldn’t get the move done and then opted to save his tyres, knowing that what he called “a strategic retreat” was the only way to guarantee he wouldn’t run into tyre issues and risk his precious P2. For Verstappen, “the starts were very important today, both of them were very good, and after that, the whole race was
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about the management of the tyres. We were good on any tyre but I think especially that middle stint, we could create a bit of a gap on the Medium tyre and I thought that was very strong there.” As for the only moment he was under attack, the Red Bull driver admitted, Norris, “suddenly closed a lot. I didn’t expect him to have a run into Turn 1 – I had to use my battery a bit. And for one lap, into Turn 1 and into Turn 4, I had to defend.” Norris, for his part, admitted that, “I tried … but we struggled too much in Turn 10, Turn 12. That’s where the Red Bull’s extremely competitive and where we struggle, have struggled all weekend. Apart from when we’re on new tyres and, of course, on
that restart, I used my new tyres and Max didn’t. So, I thought if I was going to have one opportunity, it was going to be there and then. So, I used all of my battery, and of course, had DRS and then you do start catching them very quickly. I had a good line in Turn 1, Turn 2, but Max also had a lot of grip, he got a good enough exit that I only got alongside him, just before the braking zone for Turn 4.” Nevertheless, the McLaren driver was delighted with his result, admitting, “it couldn’t have gone much better, to be honest. Good pace, similar to yesterday, which is the main thing, and a much better start at the beginning to get from sixth to second, which was a nice surprise. On the
second start, I was just a little bit aggressive on it. Still happy. P2 is as good as we can get nowadays and for the time being – but very happy for the rest of it.” For Norris, it was tyre degradation that made the difference between Max and him, explaining that, “it was very similar to what we saw yesterday in the Sprint. I’m not far behind for the first 10-15, but that final phase, I just drop-off a bit too much. I don’t know if it’s just we’re a bit slower and I’m pushing a bit more to try to keep up, and then I pay the price or it’s just a little bit of our tyre degradation is not quite as good and we suffer in the slow speed quite a bit with the rears, and that’s where we struggle then with the lap time in the end.”
SPRINT SHOOTOUT
Above: Hamilton locked a wheel into Turn 1 at the start which let Norris through. Below: After the spectacular weather ‘black-out’ during Friday Qualifying, the rest of the weekend was ‘normal’ Brazil.
RESULTS SPRINT LAP 24 LAPS INTERLAGOS
Pos Driver
Time
Pos Drivers
Make
Laps
1
Lando Norris
1:10.622
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
24
2
Max Verstappen
+0.061
2
Lando Norris
McLaren
24
+4.287 t1
3
Sergio Perez
+0.134
3
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
24
+13.617 -
4
George Russell
+0.235
4
George Russell
Mercedes
24
+25.879 -
5
Lewis Hamilton
+0.318
5 Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
24
+28.560 s2
6
Yuki Tsunoda
+0.397
6 Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTuari
24
+29.210 -
7
Charles Leclerc
+0.455
7
Mercedes
24
+34.726 -2
8
Daniel Ricciardo
+0.500
8 Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
24
+35.106 s1
9
+35.303 t1
Lewis Hamilton
Carlos Sainz
+0.504
9
AlphaTauri
24
10 Oscar Piastri
+0.567
10 Oscar Piastri
AlphaTauri
24
+38.219 -
11
+1.105
11 Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
24
+39.061 s4
12 Nico Hulkenberg
+1.130
12 Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
24
+39.478 s5
13 Pierre Gasly
+1.200
13 Pierre Gasly
Alpine
24
+40.621 -
14 Valtteri Bottas
+1.250
14 Esteban Ocon
Alpine
24
+42.848 s2
15 Alex Albon
Williams
24
+43.394 s4
Kevin Magnussen
15 Fernando Alonso
-
Daniel Ricciardo
Margin 30:07.209 s1
16 Esteban Ocon
+1.766
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas
24
+56.507 t5
17 Lance Stroll
+1.860
17 Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo
24
+58.723 s1
18 Zhou Guanyu
+1.875
18 Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
24
+1:00.330 t6
19 Alex Albon
+1.903
19 Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
24
+1:00.749 t5
20 Logan Sargeant
+1.993
20 Logan Sargeant
Williams
24
+1:00.945 -
Formula 1 Round 20 SAO PAULO Grand Prix - Race report
MERCEDES’ WEEKEND FROM HELL
It was – briefly – close as Lando Norris put out Verstappen’s biggest challenge for some time. The result, though, was the same ... Above: Ocon had an unfortunate coming-together with Alonso in Qualifying but, ater a clean main race start (top) Fernando drove a huge race to beat the second Red Bull (right) The fact he’s the driver with the secondmost points since the summer break says it all, so it’s up to Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin to raise their game to fight with McLaren in the final two races of the season.
ALONSO STARS IN BATTLE WITH PÉREZ
BEHIND THE two front-runners, Fernando Alonso drove an amazing race to claim his first podium finish since the Dutch Grand Prix, after a tremendously entertaining battle with the much faster Red Bull of Sérgio Pérez. The Spaniard had qualified fourth, behind team mate Lance Stroll, both benefiting from the storm that affected everyone on their only Q3 runs, and kept QUALIFYING RACE 21
the position in the first start, passing the Canadian but losing out to Hamilton. He duly passed the Mercedes driver during the first lap after the re-start, opening a steady gap to his rival, that was up to 8.1s when Pérez – starting from P9 – finally moved into fourth place on lap 18. With 53 laps to go it was expected the Mexican would catch and pass the Aston Martin driver quickly, but Red Bull didn’t help him – opting to cover Hamilton one lap later, putting Pérez back in traffic and needing to pass the Mercedes driver again. Alonso only stopped on lap 24 and, on fresher tyres, kept the Red Bull man out of DRS range before and after they both did their final stops. In the end, it was all settled in the last two laps, Pérez finally passing Alonso into Turn 1 at the start of lap 70, with the Aston Martin coming back at him on the final lap with a well-judged move on the back straight. It was a joy to watch to hard racers battle it out without touching each other or pulling dubious moves, Alonso delighted to “keep Checo behind because this result means so much for the team after the hard times we’ve had recently.”
RESULTS RACE 21 71 LAPS INTERLAGOS
CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER RACE 21
Pos Driver
Time
Pos Drivers
Make
Laps
Margin
Pos Driver
1
Max Verstappen
1:10.727
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
71
1:56.48.894 -
1
Max Verstappen
524
-
2
Charles Leclerc
+0.294
2
Lando Norris
McLaren
71
+8.277 s4
2
Sergio Perez
258
-
3
Lance Stroll
+0.617
3
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
71
+34.155 s1
3
Lewis Hamilton
226
-
4
Fernando Alonso
+0.660
4
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
71
+34.208 s5
4
Fernando Alonso 198 s1
5
Lewis Hamilton
+0.742
5 Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
71
+40.845 t2
5
Lando Norris
6
Lando Norris
+1.260
6 Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
71
+50.188 s1
6
Carlos Sainz
192 t2
7
Carlos Sainz
+1.262
7
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
71
+56.093 s8
7
Charles Leclerc
170
-
8
George Russell
+0.863
8 Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
71
+1:02.859 t3
8
George Russell
156
-
9
Sergio Perez
+1.594
9
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri
71
+1:09.880 s7
9
Oscar Piastri
87
-
10 Oscar Piastri
-
10 Esteban Ocon
Alpine
70
+1 Lap s4
10 Lance Stroll
11
Points
63 s1
Nico Hulkenberg
+0.526
11 Logan Sargeant
Williams
70
+1 Lap s8
11
12 Kevin Magnussen
+0.702
12 Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
70
+1 Lap t1
12 Esteban Ocon
46
-
13 Alex Albon
+0.819
13 Daniel Ricciardo
AlphaTauri
70
+1 Lap s4
13 Alex Albon
27
-
14 Esteban Ocon
+0.541
14 Oscar Piastri
McLaren
69
+2 Laps t4
14 Yuki Tsunoda
13 s2
15 Pierre Gasly
+0.546
NC George Russell
Mercedes
57
+14 Laps t7
15 Valtteri Bottas
10 t1
16 Yuki Tsuonda
+0.497
NC Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
39
+32 Laps s2
16 Nico Hulkenberg
9 t1
17 Daniel Ricciardo
+0.503
NC Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo
22
+49 Laps s3
17 Daniel Ricciardo
6
-
18 Valtteri Bottas
+0.615
NC Kevin Magnussen Haas
0
- t6
18 Zhou Guanyu
6
-
19 Logan Sargeant
+0.695
NC Alex Albon
Williams
0
- -
19 Kevin Magnussen
3
-
20 Zhou Guanyu
+0.935
DNS Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
0
- t19
20 Liam Lawson
2
-
autoactionmag
Auto_Action
autoactionmag
Pierre Gasly
195 s1
autoactionmag
62 t1
As for Pérez, now a more comfortable second in the championship, “this was the kind of battle you could only have with two or three guys in Formula 1”, admitting that, “I ran out of battery on the last lap, Fernando still had some left, so I had nothing against him when he came past.” Lance Stroll drove his best race since Spain and helped Aston Martin score a lot of points as he had a lonely afternoon on his way to fifth place, making the most of Ferrari and Mercedes’ terrible weekend.
SAINZ AVOIDS FERRARI CATASTROPHE
FERRARI HAD a terrible start of the afternoon when a differential problem took Charles Leclerc – due to start from the front row – out while the Monegasque was on the formation lap. It was, then, left to Carlos Sainz to bring his SF-23 home and try to battle the two Mercedes, something the Spaniard did with a controlled drive to sixth place, unable to do anything about Pérez and Stroll, but keeping the surprisingly fast Alpine of Pierre Gasly at bay until the end. With Mercedes scoring only four points (read sidebar), Ferrari actually gained four points in the battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship, going into the two final rounds still 20 points behind the German team. With Leclerc out before the race started and Mercedes on the backfoot, there were three unusual places available in the top 10 and Alpine took two of them. Gasly was actually in the fight after a great recovery from P14 on the grid, but ran out of laps to challenge Sainz, while Yuki Tsunoda had another measured drive to ninth place, a minor off while trying to keep a gap to Bottas early in the race costing him 5s but no points. Ocon was a distant 10th, on a weekend where he struggled to keep up with Gasly, an unusual incident with Alonso during Q2 for the Sprint making his situation even worse. The race was red flagged midway through the second lap after a first corner incident that took Magnussen and Albon out on the spot – they were in a three-into-one situation with Hulkenberg soon after the start – and also delayed the German, Ricciardo and Piastri. The two Australians had to pit for repairs at the end of the first lap and, as the rest of the field completed another lap before the race was stopped, they headed to the restart one lap behind the rest of the field, a huge hanidicap neither of them could recover from in spite of showing good pace.
MERCEDES HAD its least competitive race ever, in Interlagos, with Lewis Hamilton struggling to finish in eighth place, more than one minute behind Max Verstappen, while team-mate George Russell retired when he was already down in P10 and under pressure from Esteban Ocon! For a team that dominated last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix, with the much unloved W13, this was a shocking display and both Toto Wolff and the drivers admitted they were baffled by the car’s lack of speed, particularly in race trim. A couple of basic set-up choices do explain some of why the car was so slow over the weekend, but they don’t explain everything. Concerned it might be caught up by the excessive wear of the underfloor plank and determined to avoid another embarrassing disqualification, Mercedes ran the two W14s with a bigger ride height than the ideal setting, to make sure that the bumpy track and a couple of high kerbs – on the inside of Turns 2 and 8, on the outside of Turn 4 and 12 – didn’t wear that wooden plank beyond what the regulations allow. That, of course, cost the W14 quite a bit of ground effect, making it slower on the crucial Interlagos infield. So, to get the downforce level up again, the team opted to run with a bigger rear wing than would be ideal for the Brazilian track and the first direct consequence of that was that Hamilton and Russell were dead slow on the straights – 12 km/h slower than the fastest cars through the speed trap – with the seven-times World Champion complaining, in the race, after being passed by Pierre Gasly that, “even with my DRS open he pulls away on the straights!” The other consequence of that conservative approach to ride height settings was that rear tyre degradation was much higher than expected, because while the big rear wing does provide downforce on the rear, it’s not nearly as much as proper ground effect, generated by running the diffuser close to the ground, does – so the rear tyres were working harder when new and, therefore, suffering much bigger degradation that usual. Team Principal Toto Wolff admitted that, “we ran the car way too high but that wasn’t the main reason for an absolute off-weekend in terms of performance. “There was something very fundamentally wrong, mechanically. It’s not a rear wing, and it’s not the car being slightly too high, because we’re talking a millimetre or two. That’s performance but it’s not the explanation for a total off.” Sources from the team told us the engineering team believes there was something fundamentally wrong with the mechanical set-up the team was locked into after the only Free Practice Session of the weekend and, in spite of being allowed to play with the electronic settings after the Race Director announced a “change of climatic conditions” during the last qualifying session, was never able to get the car to be either quick nor good on the tyres until the end of the race.
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TEST YOUR GENERAL MOTORSPORT KNOWLEDGE ACROSS 7 What is the nationality of former F1 driver Eddie Irvine? 9 The 2023 WRC title was won by Kalle Rovanpera – what nationality is he? 10 The legendary Macau Grand Prix celebrates a significant milestone this year – what anniversary is the race celebrating? 13 Who is the sponsor of the 2023 Adelaide 500? 14 Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and which other driver won the WEC Hypercar title? (surname) 18 Who is the most recent Australian to win the Macau Grand Prix (in 1989 –full name)? 21 Who broke through to win his first Supercars Championship race since 2018 on the streets of the Gold Coast? (surname) 23 Tony Ricciardello won yet another Australian Sports Sedan title on the Gold Coast – how many has he now won? 24 Which team scored a memorable 1-2 for Holden on the Saturday of the Adelaide 500 last year? (abbreviation) 26 To the nearest kilometre how long is the Guia Circuit in Macau? 28 Which brand won the final GTE-Am race in WEC? 29 Where did Sergio Perez finish in the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix? 30 Which manufacturer won the 2023 World Endurance Championship?
2 Lando Norris equalled the record of most podiums without a Grand Prix victory in Brazil – who else holds the record? (surname) 3 Who is the main act on the Sunday night of the Adelaide 500? (full name) 4 Who won the last ever race for a Holden Commodore at the Adelaide 500 last year? (surname) 5 Which Australian won multiple TCR World Tour races at Sydney Motorsport Park? (surname) 6 How many Australians have won the Macau Grand Prix? 8 How many Aussies are racing in the Macau Grand Prix this weekend? 11 Who is the most recent driver to win the Macau Grand Prix in back-to-back years? (surname) 12 How many WEC titles has Buemi now won? 15 Tony Ricciardello drove what brand of car to the 2023 Sports Sedan title? 16 Who is the only Aussie to win the Macau Grand Prix twice? (surname) 17 Who won the inaugural Adelaide 500 round? (surname) 19 Who was the first Australian to win the Macau Grand Prix in 1969? (surname) 20 Who crashed out on the warm-up lap for the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix? (surname) 22 How many WRC titles has Kalle Rovanpera won?
DOWN
25 Who finished third in the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago? (surname)
1 Who holds the record of four Adelaide 500 event wins? (surname)
27 How many Formula 1 races did Eddie Irvine win?
1873 CROSSWORD ANSWERS 1 down – Michael Andretti, 2 down – Zarco, 3 down – ten, 4 across – Brazil, 5 down – seventh, 6 across – Jane, 7 down – two, 8 down – Martin, 9 down – fifteenth, 10 down – Coulthard, 11 down – Leclerc, 12 across – four, 13 across – Moreno, 13 down – Morbidelli, 14 across – Victoria, 15 down – Ford, 16 across – one hundred, 17 down – Hyundai, 18 down – Jones, 19 across – Blundell, 20 down – Bahrain, 21 down – Morris, 22 across – second, 23 across – di Giannantonio, 24 across – Sainz. 25 across – Toyota, 26 across – eight, 27 down – Kelso, 28 across – Tander, 29 across - Prost
We take a look back at what was making news in Auto Action 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago
1973 PETER BROCK pushed Holden into the box seat to claim the 1973 Australian Manufacturers title after a smashing drive at Surfers Paradise. Brock finished first by a huge two-lap margin over John Harvey to push the Holden Torana into the lead of the championship race. To make mattes worse for Ford both the blue and white works cars of Allan Moffat and Fred Gibson retired early due to engine issues. Paul England smashed records to clinch the Australian Hillclimb Championship of 50 years ago. England recorded a “record shattering” 42.2s run in his supercharged Volkswagen powered Musca. Also first pics of the Peter Fowler built, Bryan Thompson Volksrolet Sport Sedan
1983 BRAZILIAN YOUNGSTER Roberto Moreno overcame the locals to win the 1983 Australian Grand Prix at Calder Park. After early leader and local hope Alfredo Costanzo retired due to a diff issue on lap 25, Moreno was never headed and won by 14s over John Smith with Alan Jones in fifth. On the other side of the city, Sandown was making a bid to host a future AGP by announcing a $3m upgrade to extend the layout from 3.1km to 3.9km. The future of Touring Car racing became clear with CAMS confirming an alignment with the Group A regulations from 1985 due to the “demise of locally manufactured V8 engines”.
58 I www.autoaction.com.au
1993 AYRTON SENNA stunned Adelaide by producing a brilliant drive to record his 41st and final Grand Prix victory. In an emotional send-off to McLaren, Senna overcame both the dominant Williams of Alain Prost and Damon Hill. In what would become both Prost and Senna’s final Australian Grand Prix and race against one another, the pair memorably embraced on the podium. The first appearance of the V8 era at Adelaide was full of incidents – Larry Perkins and Wayne Gardner (in his final race for HRT) were victorious. Off the track the Brabham name was beginning its path to make a comeback to Formula 1 through David Brabham and Simtek for 1994.
2003 A WILD weekend in Pukekohe that resulted in another hometown win for Greg Murphy slashed Marcos Ambrose’s championship lead in the penultimate round. A flat spot in Race 2 proved extremely costly for the #4 Pirtek SBR Falcon, finishing the round 11th. As two wins put Murphy on course for round victory, the Kmart Commodore slashed Ambrose’s lead from 90 to just points. Fellow Kiwi Jason Richards made headlines for the wrong reasons by performing a huge high-speed barrel roll. An F1 spy scandal around the possibility of Toyota copying Ferrari started circulating with German and Italian police involved.
2013 MARK WEBBER bowed out of Formula 1 in memorable fashion by driving around Interlagos helmet-less. But before this, Webber saved a classy drive for his final Grand Prix, finishing second and getting a 42nd podium in his 215th race. He was 10s adrift of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, who set a then record for the most consecutive Grand Prix wins (nine). At Phillip Island the Supercars championship race was tightening up with just 30 points between Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes following the pair sharing the Sunday wins. However, there was high drama in Saturday’s 60/60 sprint where Alex Premat and James Courtney had a bone-crunching shunt and Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom went off at the final turn.
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