FROSTY’S HOLDEN FIRST LOOK AT FORD DEFECTOR’S 20 19
COMMODORE
..COM.AU COM.AU
SCOTT
SINCE 1971
THE LOT!
McLAUGHLIN HEADED FOR PENSKE SUPERSTARDOM
TURBO T ERRIERS
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Issue #1750
Nov 29 to Dec 12, 2018
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TCR OZ INVASION BEGINS
SO LONG, FAREWELL
GOODBYE TO FALCON, LOWNDES AND NISSAN
BRUCE NEWTON analyses Scott McLaughlin’s breakthrough title triumph and Shane van Gisbergen’s narrow defeat, as Craig Lowndes bid farewell as a full-timer
THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHED CHAMPIONSHIP REDEMPTION FOR POPULAR KIWI SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN’S 2018 Supercars Championship triumph was built on the wreckage of his last-lap disaster at Newcastle in 2017. This year, there were no crashes and only tears of joy. This year, the penalties were handed out next door. This year, the only contact with Craig Lowndes was a handshake before the icon went out for his final race as a full-time driver and McLaughlin went out to become champion. This year, instead of desperately defending late on Sunday afternoon, McLaughlin pulled the DJR Team Penske Ford Falcon FG X aside from the lead and handed the win to a looming David Reynolds. The championship was the objective above all. “This is bloody good,” McLaughlin smiled as the sun set Sunday evening over his greatest day in motorsport. “So relieved. Last year was just a massive kick in the guts and we have used that all year to come back. We have turned that negative into a positive. “I am so proud to get this for everybody at Shell V-Power Racing. It’s just immense. It was nice to finish off with a podium yesterday and today.” New Zealand born and bred and proud of it, but Australian-based since he was nine, McLaughlin takes his first championship at age 25 in his sixth full-time season of Supercars racing. He made his debut, subbing for an unwell
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McLaughlin admits that last year was “a massive kick in the guts” that motivated his 2018 title charge.
Alex Premat in a Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore, in the final race of 2012 at Homebush, the same day he won the Super2 title for Ross and Jimmy Stone. He won a championship race on home soil in New Zealand and finished 10th for GRM in his rookie Supercars season. The transition from Holden to Volvo and his impromptu, excited ‘jandal’ comments in Adelaide showed off his extrovert personality. It was no surprise he was being dubbed ‘the new Lowndes’. Fifth in the championship in 2014, eighth in a mechanically ill-fated 2015 and then third in 2016 wrapped up his time at GRM. “I owe a lot to Garry Rogers and it was a hard decision to leave that team,” McLaughlin said. “He was the one who gave me my start and he is still a massive supporter of mine.” In 2017 he shifted to DJR Team Penske, associating himself with two of the great names in motorsport, Australian touring car
icon Dick Johnson and US global motorsport powerhouse Roger Penske. Speed and success have followed. And now, as far as McLaughlin is concerned, his ultimate racing goal has been achieved. “This is huge. I never dreamed of going to Formula One or anything like that, I dreamed of being on this [Supercars] trophy. “There are some pretty amazing people on this trophy, people I have looked up to since I was a young kid karting, and it’s just very cool to have my name on that trophy. “It’s also the first championship for DJR Team Penske since the joining of the (two) teams. So it’s an unreal, surreal moment. I am very proud.” McLaughlin won the title in front of his father Wayne, mother Di, sister Sam and fiance Karly. His parents have backed his racing since he was six. After 10 years of karting he made the unusual step up straight into Super2 racing.
“I owe a lot to my mum and dad, and it’s a pretty proud moment for us.” One person was missing though – McLaughlin’s grandmother, Imelda. “I don’t want to get all sobby, but Gran and I were best friends. She passed away in 2015. “I said to her, ‘I am going to win Bathurst and I am going to win the championship, and when I do I am going to thank you in each speech.’ “It’s all aligned today and I am sure she is pretty proud. “This is a pretty emotional day for my family … it’s something I have worked on all year, it’s been a pressure-cooker year.” And a pressure-cooker weekend. McLaughlin arrived in Newcastle with a 14-point lead over Red Bull HRT’s Shane van Gisbergen. It added up to winner take all. McLaughlin was also conscious that Roger Penske would be in town for the finale, just a week after Joey Logano had won the
SVG: THE FIGHT WAS TAKEN OUT OF OUR HANDS
Gutted loser rues title-killing official intervention SHANE VAN GISBERGEN will spend his summer churning dirt and going sideways. Think of the saddle of a dirt bike as his therapy couch. It won’t be the fact fellow New Zealander Scott McLaughlin got the best of him that SvG has to digest, it’s the penalty he received on the final day of the championship. What had been a two-point gap after an epic last-gasp win on Saturday turned into fifth place and a yawning 53-point deficit courtesy of a 25-second penalty for a refuelling infraction. Van Gisbergen prides himself on his fairness and to him this punishment simply did not seem fair. It took the wind out of his motivational sails and he drove to a distant fourth place on Sunday, the front inner guards of his Holden Commodore ZB flopping limply out into the open as if to match his mood. “I don’t want to keep knocking the series, but everyone was pretty dejected,” van Gisbergn told Auto Action. “We just feel the championship fight was taken out of our hands. “I still gave it my all on track and did everything I could, but we just got stuck behind James Courtney and that just made it tough. “It’s one of those things; it was going to be the most tense day in history, it was going to be amazing for the sport, amazing for everything. “I was so looking forward to a straight fight. It was going to be epic. But the buzz just got taken out of the whole place.” Van Gisbergen’s personal disappointment didn’t stop him NASCAR crown for Penske Racing. “I definitely felt the pressure … but I just tried to stick to my objective and drive to my limit.” When he ran out of fuel on the last lap on Saturday and van Gisbergen took the lead with two corners to go, McLaughlin’s points advantage was cut to just two points. The pressure definitely ramped up then! “That wasn’t ideal,” McLaughlin said. “But I knew the objective was to beat Shane; that hadn’t changed.” But a refuelling breach on Saturday resulted in a 25-second penalty handed out on Sunday morning to his Holden rival and he was dropped to fifth place. The gap blew out to 53 points. Instead of having to beat van Gisbergen for the title, McLaughlin now simply had to finish near him. In the end, van Gisbergen never posed a serious threat and finished a dispirited fourth in the final race. With the penalty still to be ruled on, McLaughlin admitted he struggled to sleep on Saturday night. He also revealed mixed feelings about gaining an advantage over SvG via the stewards. “I put more pressure on myself when he did get the penalty because there was more to lose,” he revealed. “It was kind of
LOWNDESY’S CLOUDED FAREWELL Holden hero bows out in a haze of tyre smoke and emotion from paying tribute to McLaughlin, with whom he has waged an incredible all-out war on track this season. “You only get an inch with him, but you get that inch,” he said . “It’s awesome racing all the time; he’s a brilliant driver – a brilliant qualifier, but a brilliant racer as well. “I have nothing but respect for him. He has a championship now and I am sure he will get a couple more.” For all the drama on the final day, the 2016 Supercars champion still takes many positives out of the 2018 season. They include seven wins, six poles, second in the championship and a key role in reclaiming the teams’ championship for Red Bull HRT. “I am really proud of the team. We started good and then we had an average early part of the year, then turning it around and understanding these new cars. “From mid-season on we were really strong, all three cars. The way everyone pulled closer together and worked really hard on set-up was special. We came back and gave it a good nudge. “It’s tough to take, but we’ll celebrate together tonight. The teams’ championship is still awesome and we’ll come back next year.” And no doubt stronger than ever. He will spend the summer at home in New Zealand with his family, exploring the many petrol-fuelled pursuits he loves. “I’ll be fine within a week or two,” van Gisbergen said. “I’ll get back on a motorbike or find something to drive. I’ll be happy in a week.”
déjà vu because I also had the points gap to Jamie [Whincup] last year. “It made me more nervous, but it didn’t change what I had to do. It didn’t affect how I had to execute and it didn’t affect how I drove the car. It’s something I have worked on since last year, not to count your chickens too early. “When the penalty was handed down, I just pretended that it was still a two-point gap. “The last 40 laps of the race were the longest of my life. They were counting the laps down and they were taking so long, so I just said, ‘Stop, don’t do it any more.’ And then I was just trying to drive it straight.” The intensity of the competition provided by van Gisbergen makes McLaughlin’s championship all the more worthwhile. In the end they won 16 of 31 races between them (nine to seven in favour of McLaughlin) and 18 of 31 poles (12 to 6 McLaughlin’s way). The two New Zealanders banged doors all year. At Pukekohe, even after the racing was over... “It’s an intense battle and a lot of people can say what they want, but there is a tremendous amount of respect between myself and Shane. We battle hard and
fair on track. Obviously one or two times one of us has had a hissy fit, but it’s been a battle to the end with him and it’s been amazing. “I think we ended up 500 points clear of third place and that just shows how consistent we were. “I definitely want to catch up with Shane later and have a beer.” The battle also demonstrated the superiority of DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight Race Engineering over the rest of the field. In 2017, with Ludo Lacroix swapping to the Ford team, the Falcon had a pace advantage over the VF Commodore. But the new ZB Commodore swung the balance back the other way this season. DJRTP has had to re-engineer the ageing Ford to hang in there, making McLaughlin’s win all the more meritorious. Chances are, McLaughlin, van Gisbergen, DJRTP and T8 will be fighting for the championship again in 2019, and beyond. And next year, of course, comes the Mustang. “It’s exciting. I think it’s going to be like that for a number of years,” he says. But right now it’s all about Scott McLaughlin, Supercars champion. “This is the pinnacle,” he beamed. “So stoked, so stoked.”
RESULTS OF 23rd and 11th weren’t what Craig Lowndes was hoping for in his final full-time Supercars drive, but the people’s champion still bowed out in smoky style last Sunday in Newcastle. “I wanted to do a bigger burnout than Scotty, so hopefully that came true,” he laughed. “The rear tyres need a warranty job, but it’s nice to blow off a bit of steam after a long day. “Big thanks to the fans, it’s been a hell of a weekend.” The other highlight was the way Lowndes was farewelled by the Supercars community before his final race. He walked the length of pitlane to his gold-painted Autobarn Commodore, past an honour guard of his rivals and, finally, the Triple Eight squad he has raced for since 2005. Some joked around – Garth Tander took a selfy, Chaz Mostert had his race suit autographed – all applauded, and a few hugged him emotionally. Lowndes himself struggled to control his emotions. “That was amazing, it blew me away,” he told Auto Action. “To walk down the pitlane with all the pit crews and all the drivers and then to lead everyone out for the final time was really special. “We’ve got a lot of respect for everyone involved, so it was nice to go out there and have everyone cheering us on.” Ever since he announced his retirement in Townsville, the focus on Lowndes has been huge. Still easily the most popular driver in the category, the appearances, media commitments and fan attention reached a “crazy” crescendo in Newcastle. But, except for a rare public display on Saturday of the hardened and competitive racer that resides behind the legendary smile – prompted by a collision with Scott Pye in pitlane – Lowndes dealt with it all in his usual relaxed manner. “It was hectic at times, no doubt about it, but it’s a good problem to have,” he said. If the weekend’s results didn’t go to plan, the season did. Finishing fourth in the championship – the seventh time he has achieved that in his time at T8 – was a redemptive fightback from a disappointing 2017 when he and rookie engineer John ‘Irish’ McGregor managed only 10th. “My last year, to be fourth in the championship and to have three Triple Eight cars in the top four is not too bad,” Lowndes said. “Irish has come on in leaps and bounds, and it really has been an amazing journey to work with him and show him he can be a race winner.” Not only a race winner, but a Bathurst winner. It was only a couple of months ago Lowndes was standing atop his Commodore with Steven Richards celebrating his seventh win at The Mountain. Between that, the championship top four finish and the reality of it all being over, were there any regrets seeping in on Sunday night about stepping back? “No, I am really excited about what the future holds,” Lowndes insisted. “Hopefully there are some new things on the horizon. “I am comfortable within myself I made the right decision.”
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F1 GP – ABU DHABI
FAIRYTALE FINISH FOR THE CHAMP Another dominant display from World Champion Lewis Hamilton capped off another year of Mercedes superiority in F1. Fittingly, Sebastien Vettel was second and Max Verstappen finished the season with a fifth consecutive trip to the rostrum – denying teammate Daniel Ricciardo a podium in his final race for Red Bull Report: DAN KNUTSON
LEWIS HAMILTON capped off his championship-winning year with an 11th pole position and 11th victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The driver who finished second in the championship – Sebastian Vettel – also finished second in the race. And Max Verstappen, surely a future world champion, joined them on the podium. Daniel Ricciardo was disappointed to finish fourth in his final race with Red Bull. The Aussie actually led from lap 16 to 32 by using a late pit strategy, but in the end it didn’t work out. Hamilton started on the pole for the 81st time and led until the end of lap seven, when Mercedes took a risk and had him pit early for tyres. He then had to get to the finish on that set of Pirelli super soft slicks. The gamble paid off as he retook the lead on lap 33, after Ricciardo finally pitted. “I’ve been able to be a better me all year long,” Hamilton said, “and I will continue to try to work on that and try to work on the energy that I’m projecting to people. I had a lot of fun in the car today. I love driving; I loved driving every minute today and I hope I have many more days to go.” Just like in the championship itself, Vettel and the Ferrari could not catch Hamilton in the race.
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“He’s the champion and he deserves to be the champion,” Vettel said of Hamilton. “It’s been a tough year. I tried everything until the last lap. Catching a little bit, a little bit, but I think he controlled the pace at the front. I would have liked it to be a little more wheel-towheel. Our whole team will try to come back stronger to make sure we give him a harder run into next year.” After a rocky start to the season, Verstappen ended it with five consecutive visits to the podium in his Red Bull. “It wasn’t easy from the start,” he said of the race. “The engine had a bit of an issue, which meant we lost a few places in the opening lap. Once we had sorted the problem I was able to get on the attack and enjoy some really nice overtaking, especially passing (Valtteri) Bottas. I never really had a shot at getting past Seb (Vettel). “I struggled in the closing laps a bit because I couldn’t see. My visor was covered in oil from the back of Pierre Gasly’s car. If I wiped it, it made it worse. It was like driving through fog.” Ricciardo was disconsolate with fourth. “It wasn’t the most exciting race,” the Aussie said. “It (the late pit stop) put me out of reach with the leaders. I don’t know if we had many other options. We could have
ABU DHABI GP – YAS MARINA, 25 NOV 2018 POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 -
Vettel (above) couldn’t match Hamilton, while Ricciardo just missed the podium.
DRIVER Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Max Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo Valtteri Bottas Carlos Sainz Charles Leclerc Sergio Perez Romain Grosjean Kevin Magnussen Fernando Alonso Brendon Hartley Lance Stroll Stoffel Vandoorne Sergey Sirotkin Pierre Gasly Esteban Ocon Marcus Ericsson Kimi Raikkonen Nico Hulkenberg
CAR Mercedes Ferrari Red Bull/Renault Red Bull/Renault Mercedes Renault Sauber/Ferrari Force India/Mercedes Haas/Ferrari Haas/Ferrari McLaren/Renault Toro Rosso/Honda Williams/Mercedes McLaren/Renault Williams/Mercedes Toro Rosso/Honda Force India/Mercedes Sauber/Ferrari Ferrari Renault
LAPS 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 46 44 24 6 0
GAP 1h39m40.382s +2.581s +12.706s +15.379s +47.957s +1m12.548s +1m30.789s +1m31.275s +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap Oil leak Oil leak Retirement Electrical Collision
Points: Hamilton 408, Vettel 320, Raikkonen 251, Verstappen 249, Bottas 247, Ricciardo 170, Hulkenberg 69, Perez 62, Magnussen 56, Sainz 53, Alonso 50, Ocon 49, Leclerc 39, Grosjean 37, Gasly 29, Vandoorne 12, Ericsson 9, Stroll 6, Hartley 4, Sirotkin 1. Constructors: Mercedes 655, Ferrari 571, Red Bull-TAG Heuer 419, Renault 122, Haas-Ferrari 93, McLaren-Renault 62, Force India-Mercedes 52, Sauber-Ferrari 48, Toro Rosso-Honda 33, Williams-Mercedes 7.
Any thoughts Mercedes might have had of gifting Bottas a win disappeared with the Finn’s late-race pace.
Leclerc showed early why Ferrari has signed him for 2019, while Hulkenberg walked away from a huge crash he described as looking spectacular “but nothing really dramatic”! pitted earlier and kept track position. It’s always hard to know. I was just a bit helpless at the end. I couldn’t really do much. The pace advantage (on new tyres) initially was strong. And then it fell away quite quickly. We probably just weren’t quick enough. “I would have loved the podium, so I can’t be ecstatic with fourth, but as a whole, the time here (at Red Bull Racing) was good, some amazing memories and a lot of things I’m sure I’ll reflect on in a few hours.” What’s next for Ricciardo? “The next week I’ll close everything off with Red Bull, be a few days at the factory, then the following week start to initially know a few people at Renault. Then go home to Australia and switch off for a bit. It’s been a long season. So looking forward to going home, talking to the sheep and cows on the farm – they
get me! – and not doing a whole lot for the first few days.” The race started with a scary accident as Romain Grosjean’s Haas tipped Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault into a barrel-roll. The car ended up smoking and upside down. Tense moments for Nico until the marshals carefully righted the car. “I’m all fine,” he said later, “it is just the normal disappointment when you are
out on lap one of the race. I was racing Romain into Turn 8 and we both locked up. I went really wide and he went even wider and I thought he ran off the track so I thought I had Turn 9 to myself. I went to take the apex but obviously he was still there, so we made contact and then the rest we’ve seen. A couple of flips, which looks spectacular but nothing really dramatic.”
Kimi Raikkonen’s 151st and final race with Ferrari ended after just six laps when his car stopped on the pit straight. Fernando Alonso finished 11th in his 312th and – for now at least – his final F1 race. After the cool-down lap, Alonso joined Hamilton and Vettel on the pit straight. The three drivers – with 11 world titles between them – did smoky donuts, much to the delight of the fans. “It was magic,” Alonso said. “The whole weekend has been amazing, and the inlap was not planned. It was a nice touch by them, so thank you Sebastian and thank you Lewis. They are both great champions and I feel very privileged to race with them.” And so the 2018 Formula 1 season came to an end. And the 2019 season will begin just 110 days later with the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
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NATIONALS wrap n compiled by garry o’brie
ALL WHITE IN HIGH COUNTRY FOR THE third time in succession, Jason and John White have won a CAMS Targa Australian Championship event, taking out the fourth round, the Targa High Country, on November 9-11. The Tasmanians were dominant throughout in their Dodge Viper and finished 30s ahead of Matt Close and Cameron Reeves (Porsche GT3 RS). Close had won the three previous Targa High Country events, and was over 3m ahead of third-placed Jeff Morton and Stuart Benson (Lotus Exige). It was White’s third victory in the Mt Buller-based event, but he did have to overcome some mechanical issues. “The tyres were not coping and I thought we’d lost a lot of time, but we were surprised to see we had pulled even more of a gap,” White said. “The car started to vibrate after that and we thought it was a delaminated tyre, but
A consistent Paul Stokell took out the inaugural Targa title.
The Whites and their Viper were dominant. Photos: Angryman it was a big chunk of melted tar from the road that had stuck to one of the front tyres. We knew we had a bit of a gap, so we slowed down a bit.” While the Whites also won Targa Tasmania and Targa Great Barrier Reef, the inaugural CAMS Australian Targa Championship went to Paul Stokell, who finished seventh with Malcolm Read in the navigator’s seat of his Lotus Exige. Even though their Holden Torana broke down on the final stage, Michael and Daniel Bray had enough points in the bag to take the Classic GT Championship. The class event win went to Mick Downey and Jarrod Van Den Akker (Holden Commodore), 30s ahead of Adam Kaplan
and Alisha Penney in their Mazda RX7, which also had tyre delamination issues. In the Shannons Classic Handicap group, Graham Copeland and Josh Herbert looked like victors, only to have their 1941 GMC Jimmy Special succumb to a mechanical ailment. That allowed Colin Byrne and Michael Partridge (Alfa Romeo GTV 2000) to win from Peter Gluskie and Samantha Winter (BMW 325i). Paul Dowie and James Marquet (Audi TT RS) dominated the GT4 class, Peter and Tristan Taylor (Lotus Elise) took out the TSD Trophy, Mark and Scott Meletopoulo (Exige) topped GT Sports, and Stephen Marlin and Stephen Horobin (Mitsubishi EVO IX) picked up Early Modern.
FOUR STAGES OF MUNDARING WINS
Oxley and Wood took victory in the forests of Mundaring. Photo: BJP Photo
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PULLING OUT four straight stage bests enabled Stephen Oxley and Michael Wood to win the Light Car Club of WA’s 2018 Gravel RallySprint in the forests of Mundaring on November 10. In their Subaru Impreza WRX STi, they finished the five-stage rallysprint in 28m33s, more than 30s ahead of the fellow Subaru crewed by Barry McGuinness and Glenn Alcorn, who had been fastest on the first stage. After that, Oxley dominated, finishing the remaining three stages ahead of McGuinness to also take the 4WD class. Coming in third overall were Lee and Joanne Mcilroy, which made for a Subaru podium lockout, while Kiel Douglas and Greg Flood in a Holden Commodore VS SS were the best of the rest, finishing fourth outright and winning the 2WD class. In a Datsun 1200 coupe, Julian Wright and Jeff Huggins rounded out the top five as well as finishing second in 2WD ahead of Alex White and Lisa White (Nissan Silvia S13), who finished sixth outright.
EVOS DOMINATE OBERON UNBEATEN OVER all eight stages, Richard Shimmon and Katie Fletcher won the Oberon Rally, the sixth and final round of the AMSAG Pipe Kings Southern Cross Rally Series on November 3. Based out of Black Springs, the stages (four, which were each run twice) made for a total competitive distance of 108.6km, all within the Vulcan State Forest. Thunderstorms the night before left no bogey roads, which were rallied under perfect weather conditions.
Shimmon and Fletcher teamed up in a Mitsubishi EVO VII to win by 2m40s over Ron and Jo Moore (EVO VI) and Chris and Kate Jacques (EVO IX). The latter pair alternated second and thirds over several of the stages and were split by 15s at the end. In a couple of the stages, Joe Chapman and Adrian Grabham (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) featured in the top three and ended up fourth overall. They finished
ahead of Mark and Tristan Kent (EVO III). The top five were all in Open 4WD. In sixth were Brian Newton and Ryan Price with their Honda Civic, also taking out Open FWD class. They finished ahead of the Classic entries of Richard Knight and Campbell Inglis (Datsun 1600), Darkie BarrSmith and Jono Forrest (Datsun 200B), Brett Wright and Rob Edwards (Toyota Sprinter), and tenth outright Jake Bramble
and Josh Love (Datsun 1200). Behind the 11th and 12th outright-placed Classics of Tony Jordan and Mick Tuckey (Triumph Stag) and PJ O’Keefe and Paddy Skelton (Ford Escort) were the first of the Open RWDs. Richard Thomas and Toby Goldburg (Nissan S13) finished just ahead of class rivals Mick Tori and Jamie McIntyre (Toyota Altezza).
Shimmon and Fletcher headed an Evo clean sweep of the top positions. Photo: Gravel Pics
WINDUS TAKES MAIDEN WIN DARREN WINDUS won the Australian Rallycross Championship open class for 2018 at Winton Raceway’s fourth and final round on November 1011 as Steve Glenney, Will Orders, Fionnan McCallan and Jarrod Keyte won their respective classes. Windus (Hyundai i20) beat Justin Dowel (VW Polo) in the feature after early leader Arron Windus – Darren’s son – spun on the opening lap and retired his i20 with a broken driveshaft. The younger Windus had qualified fastest and won all three heats plus the semi-final. That left Windus Senior to power to victory. Dowel was second, his team having to repair his car after it suffered steering damage in the semi. Marcus Walkem (AP4-spec Peugeot 208) finished third on his debut. Despite being unable to contest the round, Troy Dowel claimed the AWD open class title based on his first three round results. Steve Glenney edged out Cahal Carey to take the AWD Production class, both in Mitsubishis EVOs. Glenney won the heats, but was trumped by Carey in the semi. Starting second in the final, Glenney used the
joker on the opening lap and benefitted from a clear track to take the win. Carey held out Richie Dalton (Polo) in a close battle for second. Making his debut, Matt Lee (S2000-spec Polo) finished fourth. Orders dominated the 2WD category to cap off a championship-winning year, winning all three heats, the semi and final. Jason Fitzmaurice (Toyota Celica) came out on top of an entertaining scrap for second with Conner McLeod (Commodore). In the under 1.6-litre class, Fionnan McCallan (Hyundai Excel) and Zac Edwards (Mitsubishi Mirage) won the first two heats, but McCallan won the third to give him a grid advantage for the semi, which he won ahead of Edwards, Nathan Senior (Excel) and Shane Carey (Excel). McCallan looked set to take the six-lap final but mechanical issues late in the race handed the win to Edwards ahead of Senior and Carey. Side by Side (SXS) racing made its debut, with Jarrod Keyte (Polaris XP Turbo) taking the three heats, semi and final. Andrew Daniell withdrew late in the final, leaving Rob Plagemen to take second after Mitchell Keyte spun mid-race.
Darren Windus won after his son Arron, who had been dominant all weekend, spun in the final.
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