FROM RIDER TO TEAM OWNER – VALENTINO’S LEGACY
ROAD & TRACK
SUPERCARS SEASON DUX AND
REPORT CARD MR VERSATILE
LIVING LEGEND -
VERN SCHUPPAN ISSN 2204-9924
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THE FINAL FLING
A CHAT WITH THE CHAMPION NO-ONE COULD GET CLOSE TO CHALLENGING SHANE VAN GISBERGEN THROUGH THE 2021 RUNNING OF THE REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP. SVG PUT A CHOKER HOLD ON THE CROWN FROM THE OPENING RACE AND REFUSED TO RELEASE THE PRESSURE AS HE DOMINATED FROM START TO FINISH. BUT 2022 HAS BEGUN, AND THE CHAMPION IS KEEN TO REPEAT AND CLAIM A THIRD SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP, AS HE EXPLAINED TO PAUL GOVER.
IT TAKES a long time and a lot of work to get to know Shane van Gisbergen. The speedy Kiwi is focussed and distant at the track, private and reserved away from it. But lob the right question and he can be surprisingly insightful. Helpful too. With his second Supercars championship trophy safely at home, and the pressure of racing removed, he is relaxed and happy to talk. But, before doing his championship revision from season 2021, what is the van Gisbergen view of the coming year? “I haven’t thought about it too much,” he begins. “I haven’t seen the formats. So I don’t have anything insightful. I’m sure there will be some fast cars and fast people.” Those fast people are sure to include a resurgent Chaz Mostert, who proved the pace
of his WAU Commodore with a runaway win at Bathurst, and a more-polished Anton De Pasquale in the Shell Mustang. But, typically, SvG sees stronger opposition as an opportunity. “It will probably take some of the attention off me. No-one was talking about us last year as the title favourite. So we can just go about our business and prepare well.” That preparation has been working well for Triple Eight and the Bulls for more than a decade, although there will be giant changes in ’22 with Roland Dane out of the picture and a reshuffle on the engineering side after a series of high-profile defections that now incudes David Cauchi. “I don’t think about that stuff – I just sort of live in, or enjoy, the moment. I keep pushing as we go.
“It’s obviously a lot of effort and self power that you put into each year. I don’t feel like that’s waning at all. I feel just as motivated.” That motivation will take another shape without Whincup as the benchmark, but that’s a lesson that SvG has learned. “I’ve been sitting beside Jamie for the last five years and know how much effort he puts in. That’s just become normal. “I feel like I’ve been one of the top three every year. I think we’ve been pretty close every year and had opportunities, but not made the most of them. I don’t feel like the last few years have been a failure.” So, 2021? When did van Gisbergen think it was going to be his year? Perhaps at Sandown, when he swept the weekend despite racing with a broken collarbone? “I don’t know about form and stuff like that. You obviously have confidence. (But) I left that weekend thinking that the only person that was going to beat me, was me. “I guess you just get that run of confidence, and that feeling. But I guess that nobody expected that weekend to go that way. Especially the way I felt the week before, leading up to it. That weekend probably gave me the most confidence, that was for sure.” To test himself, SvG ran his car heavily over the kerbs at Sandown and said it was no drama. But was that just bravado and disinformation for his rivals? “There was actually nothing from the shocks, from hitting the kerb strikes. I didn’t actually feel any pain in my collarbone, from where the belts were strapped. “It was actually my core muscles, which turned out to be the ribs. Holding myself upright, with the G-forces at the top of the hill.
That’s where I had the most pain. “Your brain is the most powerful tool you have – I did that weekend and I was focussed on the collarbone. Then I got the X-rays on the Tuesday and found out about the ribs, and then my ribs started hurting. If you don’t know, you don’t have it in your brain.” It’s that brainpower that works so well for SvG, like so many other champions in sport, giving him the extra capacity to do more that just working the controls and driving the car. “To me it does, maybe, seem like it’s normal. But it’s all that understanding and experience. I like to think I know a lot about what’s happening in the race, and be able to help as much as I can with the strategy Sometimes that can be a detriment – when you need to shut up and just drive it – but I do like to think I have a big understanding of the sport and how the races work. It’s not something you consciously think about when you’re in the moment. “You are just always getting information.
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“Boring is good when you’re out front. I do love a good battle, but having an easier run is good sometimes.”
You’re seeing when people pit, and you remember how many laps ago that was and you can work out what tyre situation you’re going to come out with, and how many tyres you’ll need to beat them. “While you’re in those conversations with yourself, you’re talking to the engineer as well. Tyres are like gold these days with these formats, so it’s how many you can afford to take.” It’s all part of his enjoyment of racing, which runs from everything to single-lap speed to door-to-door battles.
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“I do enjoy a good qualifying lap, but I don’t necessarily enjoy the stress of qualifying and the uncertainty. Getting into a race, and just having a go - whether you’ve got a good car or not, even if you’re battling for fifth - I just love racing people. “The majority of the people in the field I enjoy racing. Even the ones I don’t, it’s a different type of enjoyment because you’ve got to learn about, or think about, how those people are going to race you. Some of the best races I’ve had, I’ve finished second. “Boring is good when you’re out front. I do love a good battle, but having an easier run is good sometimes. But that’s pretty rare. It’s never easy.” Looking at the car itself, how does he like it? “I actually don’t have a preference. A fast
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WRC’S NEW HI-TECH ERA
WRC RETURNS IN 2022, WITH NEW CARS AND MOST OF THE REGULAR STARS. HOWEVER, THIS YEAR SEES CHANGE – THE CHAMPIONSHIP MOVES INTO THE HYBRID ERA, WHILE REIGNING CHAMPION SEBASTIEN OGIER STEPS BACK. DAN MCCARTHY PREVIEWS THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SEASON. AS THE FIA World Rally Championship embarks on its 50th season, the ever-popular series embraces a new era, as WRC goes hybrid. The championship is looking incredibly open this year due to that introduction of hybrid technology, and as reigning champ Sebastien Ogier will not return full-time in 2022. The Frenchman has won eight of the last nine titles, but has elected to hang up the boots from full-time rally competition. This means that the only full-time driver on the grid to have previously won a World Rally Championship is Estonian Ott Tanak.
Ford has switched its challenge to the Puma.
THE CARS DON’T WORRY! Before you panic, despite the change to hybrid technology, world rally machines remain as loud and monstrous as ever. The engines will still pop and bang, the cars retain the mean and purposeful appearance and they’ll be as fast as ever. All three manufacturers remain in the championship – Toyota Gazoo Racing with the Yaris and Hyundai with its i20 Coupes. Ford returns with M-Sport also – however after 11 years with the Fiesta, the factory outfit will switch models, to the Ford Puma. The new generation of world rally machines will be known as Rally1 cars. The regulations have a focus
on decreasing costs and improving sustainability. It is believed this will make the sport not only more accessible to other manufacturers, but appeal to them also. “The accessible nature of the Rally1 regulations will quickly allow manufacturers to fight for victories, while the performance parity will help to deliver strong competition between the world’s best drivers,” said the FIA when the regulations were released. “These (new regulations) are the result of months of rigorous analysis and investigation by the FIA’s team of expert personnel in close collaboration with the WRC manufacturers, with every design
A well-disguised Toyota Yaris prototype on test, with Ogier at the wheel.
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cost required to demonstrate a tangible benefit, without losing the ethos of maintaining top-line performance.” The cars will continue to look and sound aggressive, with a similar styling and retaining the existing meaty 380bhp (283.4kW) 1.6L engines. “This new technology is, of course, a bit of a challenge for the teams, and it’s going to be a challenge for the drivers – it’s different ... my first impression was positive” said Ogier. “There are new parameters for us to get used to: we have to adapt to the regeneration and then how we use the [electric] boost. “This is something exciting for us as drivers.
“Everybody likes power. The drivers are always wanting power and this is very nice when it all comes.” Rally1 cars remain four-wheeldrive, but with a simplified transmission running five gears (instead of six) and without an active-style centre differential. Notably, Rally1 regulations have seen the championship revert from a flappy paddle system to a sequential gearbox for the new regulations. The suspension will also be less complex – cars will have shorter wheel travel, with simpler and more cost-effective anti-roll bars, dampers, hubs and hub carriers. Liquid cooling of brakes has also
been removed as an option. Much like Formula 1, braking energy will be harvested throughout a competition stage, utilising an e-motor. The harvested energy can be deployed like an F1 ERS system – the e-motor creates a boost of 134bhp (100kW) and is fitted to the 1.6 L turbocharged inlinefour engine used in world rally competition for many years. In the stages, the FIA governing body will indicate how much power can be used and for how long. All teams have been provided with a standard e-motor, created by Compact Dynamics – a subsidiary of Schaeffler, which supported the factory Audi
Images: Motorsport Images, Red Bull Archive Formula E program until its closure at the end of last season. In contrast to F1 though, the hybrid system as well as its software will be standardised until at least the end of 2024. The FIA is confident this will keep the costs of competition down. As well as a money saver, it will also stop one manufacturer from dominating with a superior motor. (Since F1 introduced its hybrid rules in 2014, Mercedes has generally had the most powerful unit and has been a lead contributor to them winning eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships). The cars are expected to enter into fully electric mode when travelling around the rally’s service
CALENDAR Round Date 1 Jan 20-23 2 Feb 24-27 3 April 21-24 4 May 19-22 5 Jun 2-5 6 Jun 23-26 7 Jul 14-17 8 Aug 4-7 9 Aug 18-21 10 Sep 8-11 11 Sep 29-Oct 2 12 Oct 20-23 13 Nov 10-13
parks, towns and other built-up areas on route to stages. Another big change for both cost and safety of WRC teams and drivers is the introduction of a standardised safety structure. Within the homologation requirements, however, teams are allowed to enter a scaled chassis based on production cars, rather than adapting a chassis to fit one of its roadgoing models. Other changes include a simplified turbo; cars will run on sustainable fuels; f some aerodynamic components such as the rear diffuser are gone as is the fresh air valve in the anti-lag system –all in a bid to cut costs and keep competition close.
Rally Monaco Rallye Rally Sweden Croatia Rally Rally de Portugal Rally Italia Sardegna Safari Rally Kenya Rally Estonia Rally Finland TBA Acropolis Rally Greece Rally New Zealand Rally Catalunya de Espana Rally Japan
Surface Mixed Snow Tarmac Gravel Gravel Gravel Gravel Gravel Tarmac Gravel Gravel Tarmac Tarmac
All rallies can be viewed live on Stan Sports
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THE DRIVERS
WITH SEBASTIAN Ogier only contesting selected rounds, young Kalle Rovanpera steps up as an unlikely tip to win the title. Despite Ogier’s limited program, Toyota seems well ahead of the game in regard to the new regulations. All of its drivers have completed extensive laps behind the wheel of the hybrid Yaris on a variety of different surfaces. Although M-Sport Ford has changed to the Puma, many tests have also been completed and early signs are positive. The same cannot be said for Hyundai – it has been revealed that the Korean manufacturer started work on its Rally1 machine (main image, above) half a year after both Toyota and Ford. In recent weeks, team principal Andrea Adamo and Hyundai made the sudden and shock announcement that they had gone their separate ways. As well as this, one of the teams lead drivers, Thierry Neuville and his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, suffered a horrific testing crash, with the latter suffering a broken collarbone. For this reason, despite a great driver line-up, Hyundai is very much playing catch-up. Once again, five-time series runner-up Neuville and former champ Tanak are the full-time drivers. They will both expect to compete for victories, although the first few rounds may just be extended test sessions in the i20s. The third Hyundai will once again be shared between two drivers – veteran Dani Sordo will drive in selected rounds once more, as will second-generation racer Oliver
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Toyota and its driver line-up are well-prepared ... Solberg (son of 2003 champion Petter). The man who shared the third Hyundai with Sordo in 2021 has been signed as the lead driver at M-Sport. Charismatic Irishman Craig Breen has been given his big break as the lead man at M-Sport Ford. On his day Breen is one of the fastest drivers in the field and, with Hyundai on the back foot, will be expecting to collect podiums throughout the season, and maybe even his long-awaited maiden victory. He will be joined full-time by Englishman Gus Greensmith and fast Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux. Both will be keen to improve on their 2021 campaigns in which they generally rounded out the field. Nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb has been signed by Ford to compete at Rally Monte Carlo – the opening round of the season. It is unknown if he will take part in any other rounds. As always, Loeb will be a valuable asset. Toyota retains Ogier as a part-time driver, sharing the car with Finn Esapekka Lappi who returns to the team he called home in
2017 and 2018. Lappi will be looking to prove himself after being forced to compete in WRC 2 last year. The 30-year-old knows that if he proves himself this year, a potential full-time seat may be on offer. Once again, Takamoto Katsuta will take part in all events driving the fourth machine. The remaining two drivers are unchanged, with Elfyn Evans and Rovanpera concluding the line-up. Based on what has occurred in the preseason, these two drivers are undoubtably the favourites for the title. Although Evans finished above his 21-yearold teammate in 2021, midway through the season Rovenpera recorded his first two rally wins and at times looked unstoppable. Evans also won two rallies but was more consistent than the Finn – however the Welschman is not bulletproof when under pressure. It was be a fascinating title tussle, and this is why the 50th WRC season is one of the most anticipated on record.
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“It wasn’t that easy, but he persisted, and so we did a deal with Mo Nunn.” Vern took over the Ensign of Rikky von Opel, the great grandson of Adam Opel, Opel car company founder, for the Belgian GP and finished 15th. He retired the N174 at Monaco after a lap 1 pile-up then, in Sweden, was disqualified for lining up on the non-existent 26th grid slot and was again disqualified at Zandvoort after a tyrechange infringement. At Dijon in France, he failed to qualify after the team missed three of the four practice sessions, and missed out again at Brands despite his pace the previous year. Then, at the Nurburgring, he failed to finish after a jammed throttle ended a wholly disheartening experience. “The Ensign didn’t progress as it was uncompetitive. Mo Nunn always felt it was the drivers, not a slow car,” Schuppan says. “I then introduced Teddy to Sid Taylor who managed his F1 and F5000 programs. In ‘74 we had plenty of pace in F5000 but poor reliability, I did the fastest laps at Thruxton, Mondello Park, Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Riverside and Pocono. “I won at Brands in the VDS Chevron B24/28 but had eight DNFs from 16 starts in Sid’s Trojan and Lola T332; five due to mechanical failures and three big accidents. At Brands I went off on oil, at 180mph, while leading, through Monza’s Curva Grande ... a rear wing strut had broken, then at Riverside I T-boned James Hunt’s Eagle when he lost it in Turn 9.” Schuppan’s race diet in 1975 was more sports cars and Formula 5000. “I did two races in Sid’s T332 at Silverstone early in the season and Oulton in September, finishing second in both, then Dan Gurney approached me about taking Bobby Unser’s Eagle 755 seat in the US. “The car was a bit tricky to set up, having rising-rate suspension – my best result in a half-dozen races was second to Brian Redman at Long Beach.”
Hooking Dan Gurney’s Eagle 755 Chev F5000 around Long Beach, second to Brian Redman in the ‘75 GP. “In sports cars I took a class win in a 2-litre March 75S at the Nurburgring with Dave Morgan and John Lepp. That year’s Mirage M7 Ford was good, quick despite low-speed understeer. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and I were third at Le Mans – our team mates Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell won. I won the Road America 500K in a Mirage Ford too.” Vern was summoned back to F1 by Graham Hill, but it was a fraught Swedish GP. Team leader Tony Brise’s car played up all weekend, so he took Schuppan’s car, shuffling the South Aussie into an old Lola T370. With limited practice laps, he eventually raced his Hill GH1 well until a driveshaft broke. The South Aussie’s final F1 stint was with
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SUMMER OF ‘76 “I finally had Christmas at home in Adelaide before contesting the Rothmans F5000 series in the Yip/Taylor Lola T332. I won at Oran
Park. Seconds in Adelaide and Sandown gave me the title after the final round at Surfers was washed out with torrential rain,” Schuppan recalls. He tested Garrie Cooper’s new Elfin MR8 Chev at Adelaide International and Calder before travelling to the USA and was impressed, returning as part of Ansett Team Elfin in September. In a thrilling AGP dice with John Goss over 40 laps of Sandown, his MR8 was just pipped by his rival’s Matich A51/53. In the States, Gurney’s All American Racers persevered with the Eagle 755 Chev, but after a stunning engine-induced rear-of-grid wetweather drive at Watkins Glen, Gurney said to Schuppan: “I’m going to buy you a Lola.”
F5000 was great – the championships across the globe were among the most closely contested at the time, with great drivers including Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Jackie Oliver
Driving the Hill GH1 Ford at speed, vexed ’75 Swedish GP weekend being tipped into and out of the new car and old Lola in practice. Evetualyy a DNF with a broken Hewland output shaft.
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another ex-World Champion, John Surtees, in 1977. He drove the Surtees TS19 – vacated by Larry Perkins – at Silverstone, Hockenheim, the Osterreichring in Austria (and at Zandvoort in Holland, where the car failed to qualify), for a best of seventh in Germany. At that time, Australian drivers were flavourof-the-month with Surtees as Alan Jones raced a TS19 throughout 1976. But none of the Australians rated the car or the fractious, difficult-to-work-with ’64 world champ ...
A wonderful Le Mans image – Schuppan with Jean Pierre Jaussaud, finished third in the slinky Gulf GR8 Ford in 1975; the Jacky Ickx/Derek Bell sister car won the 24 Hour classic.
It was a great start to the ’76 Rothmans Series at Oran Park, a win in the Theodore Racing Lola T332.
He was immediately on the pace, with second in his heat and third overall at Road America. “F5000 was great – the championships across the globe were among the most closely contested at the time, with great drivers including Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Jackie Oliver. “The Elfin MR8 was very good on most tracks, but the T332 was good everywhere. I bought an MR8 to race in the States, but when F5000 morphed into central-seat CanAm (in 1977), the aluminium Elfin body was too heavy, and the car was uncompetitive. The Tiga-Chev ground-effect car which followed had too little straight-line speed.” At Indy, the Month of May featured large in Schuppan’s program for the first time. He put the works Eagle 74 Offy into 17th on the grid, finished 18th and took the coveted Rookie of The Year award – he was clearly fast when the car was working. “My first oval race was at Indy. That car and Tom Sneva’s McLaren M24 ‘Sugaripe’ back-up car were the two best Indy cars I ever drove.” Demonstrating his diversity again, Vern shared a Porsche 935 with Bell to fourth place in the Zeltweg 4-Hour race in Belgium, and he was fifth at Le Mans in a Mirage GR8 Ford. A rousing season-ending Macau GP victory in Yip’s Ralt RT1 Ford in a classy field of Formula Atlantics, which included Alan Jones, David Purley, Kevin Bartlett and Graeme Lawrence, finished a good year.
Next Issue: Schuppan remembers his greatest race, Indy cars, Mirage and Porsche success at Le Mans, the perils of manufacturing a road-going supercar, and much more ...
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Schuppan took the Rothmans Series Oran Park win with a ‘press on style’ drive, seen here leading John Goss, in his Matich A51/53 Repco-Holden
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Oscar Piastri OSCAR PIASTRI makes our list of ones to watch – that’s if you can watch him at all. After an all-conquering season in Formula 2 last year Piastri will be absent from competition in 2022, serving as the Alpine official Formula 1 reserve driver, taking part in testing and development (above) while he waits for an opportunity at the top level. It seems remarkable that the Victorian won’t compete full-time after three consecutive open wheel titles, but that is the situation he finds himself in with Alpine. One of the Alpine F1 seats is currently filled by Fernando Alonso, who at 40-years-old is entering the twilight of his career and will be uncontracted heading into 2023. Perhaps Piastri will get his chance then – however until that point it is
worth monitoring his progress as he continues his journey out of the spotlight. It should become clear late in the year whether Piastri will finally realise his dream after an agonising wait. Jack Doohan AFTER A breakout year in 2021, Jack Doohan (below) is ready to kick on in 2022. The open wheel ace just missed out on a title in Formula 3 and will now fill the Australian void left by the outgoing Oscar Piastri in Formula 2. Doohan has plenty going his way heading into a rookie season, with experience on his side, having sampled F2 in a successful two-round stint at the back end of last year. A strong team is also on his side, Virtuosi Racing has been the second-best outfit in F2 for the last three seasons and its latest graduates Guanyu Zhou and Callum Ilott will race in Formula 1 and IndyCar next year, respectively. Expect a smooth transition for the son of motorcycle champion Mick this year after strong post-season testing in Abu Dhabi. Franco Morbidelli IT’S BEEN a rollercoaster couple of years for Franco Morbidelli. The 27-year-old Italian rose to prominence throughout a heavily COVID-impacted 2020, snaring runner-up in the MotoGP World Championship standings despite a previous best finish of 10th. The going was far tougher in 2021 however, as Morbidelli struggled on his second-rate Petronas Yamaha SRT machinery and was significantly hampered by a knee injury. He was promoted to the factory bike (pictured above) but it was clear to see that the promising talent was well off his best, especially physically. This year, however, the stage is set for Morbidelli to recapture his best form. With an extra offseason of recovery behind him and a promotion to the factory garage full-time alongside 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo, now is as good a time as any for the rider to challenge again. Austin Cindric A FOUR-YEAR audition in the feeder NASCAR Xfinity Series has finally produced a full-time Cup Series drive for Austin Cindric. The
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23-year-old son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric and grandson of former IndyCar team owner Jim Trueman steadily improved over his first couple of seasons in the second tier before breaking through for a title win in 2020. He backed that up with a runnerup finish last year and will now step up to the Cup Series in the famous #2 Team Penske Ford. He has big shoes to fill replacing former
Australian tin top ladder, and now with years of running at the front in Porsches under his belt, the time has for him to enter the Supercars fray. Triple Eight will provide Hill with the best equipment available and he will be heartened by the success of Broc Feeney, who won Super2 with the Queensland-based squad and will this season graduate to the big show. Tom Sargent WHAT A year this man had in 2021. Sargent was untouchable in Formula Ford machinery, dominating both the Victorian State and National competitions to finish up with two titles and a sack full of silverware. The New South Welshman was very rarely beaten, victorious in nine of the 12 national races in a category that is a proven breeding ground for highly successful drivers. The 20-year-old was not out of place in tin tops either, experiencing success in the Bathurst 6 Hour, topping the Class D Production results alongside Lachlan Mineeff. That experience will come in handy this year, Sargent shifting out of the open wheel pathway into a full-time Porsche Sprint Challenge drive with the CHE Racing crew of Cameron and Colin Hill. All the ingredients are there for Sargent to continue his ascent – watch this space. Aaron Cameron AARON CAMERON’S plans for the year are yet to be finalised but if he can channel champion Brad Keselowski. The transition will be made easier by Cindric’s familiarity with the main series, having appeared seven times in 2021 in the #33 for a best result of ninth. What won’t be so easy is the weight of expectation that will befall the fulltime rookie in 2022 – how Cindric manages that will almost certainly contribute to his level of performance this season.
NATIONAL Broc Feeney TALK ABOUT having shoes to fill. Super2 champion Broc Feeney (above) will steer the car of retired hall of famer Jamie Whincup this year, stepping up to the Supercars Championship as a teenager. It would be unfair to set the bar too high for the Queenslander in his first year – however if there was a team you’d want to step into as a rookie it would be Triple Eight Race Engineering. Feeney will run alongside two-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, with the backing of a crew that has accumulated nine titles in the last 12 seasons. As such, he is a driver who could deliver strong performances straight out of the gate.
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Nick Percat NICK PERCAT’S big chance has finally arrived. Reunited with Walkinshaw Andretti United after stints with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport and Brad Jones Racing, the time is now for Percat (lower, left) to make his mark on the Supercars Championship. He has been a consistent top 10 finisher since joining BJR, ending each season 10th, ninth, seventh and seventh, but the 33-year-old will be looking to fight amongst the frontrunners this season and forge a powerhouse partnership with new teammate and 2021 Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert. The Walkinshaw car will have speed and he will be well supported. Will we see Percat’s name in lights come season’s end?
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the scintillating form he displayed across categories at the end of 2021, he is bound to feature at the top of national rankings. The 21-year-old won the S5000 Tasman Series in spectacular fashion and also took out runner-up to Chaz Mostert in TCR, proving himself to be adaptable, with exceptional speed. Cameron will be looking to go one better in TCR this year with Garry Rogers Motorsport and has also declared his interest in continuing to pursue open wheel opportunities. Both TCR and S5000 provide a launchpad to race internationally – could our young gun be lured overseas after another successful season? Zach Bates NSW FORMULA Ford. Tick. Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series. Tick. Zach Bates (pictured bottom of page) certainly made an impression in 2021, winning the former and dominating an unscored season in the other at just 17 years young. The young gun’s father Rick has already confirmed that the budget is not available for Bates to jump into a costly, high-powered category this year, not that another year in televised 86s will do his prospects any harm. If the Canberra Grammar student can continue to display his talent and chalk up wins in 2022, then it is only a matter of time before sponsors come knocking.
The 21-year-old won the S5000 Tasman Series in spectacular fashion and also took out runner-up to Chaz Mostert in TCR
Cameron Hill THE STARS are aligning for Cameron Hill (right). After breaking through to become a Porsche Carrera Cup Australian champion in 2021, the 25-year-old has set his sights on a Supercars Championship berth by signing with powerhouse team Triple Eight Race Engineering in the Super2 Series. Hill has long held aspirations to grace the top rung of the
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