2023 NTI Townsville 500 Official Program

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

1

CONTENTS OFFICIAL PROGRAM

7-9 JULY 2023, REID PARK STREET CIRCUIT, TOWNSVILLE

08

PRE ROUND UPDATE

We’re five rounds and 15 races into the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship. Here’s how things are shaping up heading into Townsville ...

04

WELCOMES

06

EVENT SCHEDULE

12

2023 DRIVER & TEAM POINTS

2

The Queensland Government, Townsville City Council, NTI, Repco and Supercars welcome you to Townsville.

A full run down of what’s on the track so you don’t miss your favourite category.

The latest pointscores in the Repco Supercars Championship leading into this round.

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

46

TOWNSVILLE HISTORY

We take a look back at how the Townsville event came to be and some of the highlights - and lowlights - since it joined the calendar in 2009.

14

SUPERCARS ENTRY LIST

16

SUPERCARS DRIVER PROFILES

52

2022 FLASHBACK

Your quick-reference guide to car numbers, drivers, teams and cars.

An in-depth look at each of the 25 drivers in this year’s Repco Supercars Championship field.

We take a look back at what unfolded in Townsville last year.

56

TOWNSVILLE WINNERS

Some of the greatest drivers in championship history have conquered Townsville’s unique Reid Park circuit. We take a look at each of the event’s winners.

66

CHAMPIONSHIP STATS CORNER

70

SUPPORT CATEGORIES

Your quick reference guide to the most race wins, pole positions and podium finishes in championship history.

Dunlop Series’ special milestone round, Porsche Carrera Cup, TGRA 86 and Aussie Racing Cars

62

TOWNSVILLE BY THE NUMBERS

A snapshot of the numbers that matter heading into this year’s NTI Townsville 500.

80

EVENT OFFICIALS

82

TRACK MAP

Thank you to all officials and volunteers for the NTI Townsville 500.

Your guide to the Reid Park Townsville circuit including gate info, parking and much, much more.

2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500 OFFICIAL PROGRAM 2023 NTi Townsville 500 Official Program is published by AN1 Media Pty. Ltd for Supercars

Editor: Aaron Noonan Editorial Contributors: Connor O’Brien, Richard Craill, Will Dale Editorial Assistant: Shane Rogers Design: Daniel Goonan/TWOSIXONE Design Advertising: Jaylee Noonan Statistics: AN1 Data

Photos: Mark Horsburgh/Supercars, Ross Gibb, Nathan Wong, AN1

Images archive (Dirk Klynsmith, Justin Deeley, Scott Wensley, Ian Smith/ AUTOPIX), Porsche Motorsport, TGRA 86 Series Thanks to Supercars staff, its teams and media/PR staff and all support categories for assisting in providing content for the 2023 NTI Townsville 500 Official Program

Publisher: AN1 Media Pty. Ltd, PO Box 6040, Cromer, Victoria 3193 Phone: +61 3 9585 1981, Email: info@an1media.com © The material contained in the 2023 NTI Townsville 500 Official Program is protected by Australian and international copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the prior permission of the publisher.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

3

2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

WELCOME THE NTI Townsville 500 is an annual extravaganza that stands tall on the North Queensland event calendar, drawing in a multitude of enthusiasts from far and wide to the vibrant region of Townsville.

Our city has been immensely fortunate to host this spectacular event since 2009, with each edition delivering an abundance of thrills and amusement for all who attend.

In 2023, we are delighted to welcome back the racing teams, supporters, and the drivers, as well as Ministry of Sound, the world’s leading authority in dance music, who will be performing live on Saturday night.

This year’s Supercars weekend promises to be one of Townsville’s most exhilarating events, not only for the heart-pounding races but also for the

Shane Howard

Chief Executive Officer Supercars

4

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

incredible entertainment line-up that awaits.

Beyond the racetrack, this event brings a significant economic boost to the local businesses and the community. We encourage all visitors to take the opportunity to explore our remarkable region while they are here, discovering firsthand why Townsville is the ultimate destination for events in Northern Australia.

Prepare yourself for an unforgettable weekend of high-speed racing action in North Queensland. Get ready to witness breathtaking feats of skill and precision from the drivers, experience world-class entertainment from Ministry of Sound, and join the tens of thousands of excited fans who will be captivated by the magic of the NTI Townsville 500.

IT is my pleasure to welcome you to this momentous occasion for our sport, the 2023 NTI Townsville, Queensland’s largest annual sporting event.

We are thrilled to bring back the Repco Supercars Championship to North Queensland, showcasing this beautiful part of the world to a global audience of over 233 million households.

This year we have an exciting highlight as Townsville hosts the firstever races between the new Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. We are truly grateful for the support of our loyal and dedicated fans here in Townsville, many of whom have travelled across Australia to be part of this incredible event.

In addition to the thrilling races, we are proud to announce a special performance by the Ministry of Sound Classical Orchestra on Saturday night.

This exceptional act adds another layer of pride to our marquee event, and we hope you enjoy the experience.

We extend our thanks to ATN for their spectacular light show, making its

Cr Jenny Hill

Mayor of the City of Townsville

debut appearance in North Queensland this year. We also express our gratitude to our major partners, the Queensland Government, Tourism and Events Queensland, Townsville City Council, and NTI Limited for their continuous support of this event that has been a major part of our calendar since 2009.

We hope you, our fans, have a fantastic weekend of celebrations both on and off the track.

This weekend holds special significance as we celebrate the 150th round of the Dunlop Series, a platform that has contributed to the success of many of our sport’s biggest stars.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our series naming rights partner, Repco, as well as our valued partners, broadcasters, race teams, drivers, volunteers, officials, and fans for their dedicated support to Supercars.

Without you, our success would not be possible.

Thank you for being part of the 2023 NTI Townsville 500, and we hope you have a memorable and enjoyable experience.

WELCOME to the NTI Townsville 500, a highlight on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar and a wonderful opportunity to showcase Townsville as a tourism destination.

The Townsville community is grateful to welcome visitors who fill their cafes and restaurants, stay in their accommodation, use local transport and explore our unique tourism experiences.

That’s why we support events through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Event program because they bring a welcomed

boost to the local community and supports local jobs. Events like the NTI Townsville 500 allows friends and family to reconnect and creates community pride. We hope you enjoy your stay and return again in the near future.

Be sure to immerse yourself in the local culture and get the opportunity to explore some of our world-class tourism experiences in this beautiful region.

Congratulations to the event organisers and volunteers – we wish you all the best for a successful event.

The Hon. Stirling Hinchliffe MP

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Innovation and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement

Tony Clark

Chief Executive Officer NTI

REPCO welcomes race fans back to Townsville for the fifth event on the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship calendar.

Townsville comes at an interesting time in the championship fight as Erebus Motorsport continues its strong start to the Gen3 era, but the other teams are starting to catch up!

It’s an exciting time for the Repco Supercars Championship as young stars Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Matt Payne, Cameron Hill, James Golding and Declan Fraser continue to make their mark.

Gen3 continues to provide spectacular racing and Townsville’s Reid Park street circuit is set to continue this trend.

A favourite of drivers and fans alike,

NTI is proud and excited to welcome you to the 2023 NTI Townsville 500.

The Townsville round has truly earned its reputation as a fantastic, communityfocused event that attracts both fans and families looking for a fun day out.

This year the days will be packed with exciting activities for everyone, young and old, including the Truck Parade, a celebration of 150 rounds of the Dunlop Series, not to mention outstanding entertainment with the Ministry of Sound concert at the Big Top and Drone Show.

Fans have always been at the heart of Supercars; whether you’re watching on the couch at home or cheering trackside, it’s the fans that continue to make each round an exhilarating experience.

Townsville provides new challenges through its fast sections around the back of the circuit, plus heavy stops towards the end of the lap.

The event is always well run and forms part of an exciting sporting precinct within the city.

Fans of all generations flock to Townsville and this year I know that the North Queenslanders are eager to get their first sight of Gen3.

North Queensland is a big and important part of Repco’s national network.

I know all the Crew up north will embrace the action across the weekend by bringin’ the passion the Repco Supercars Championship provides on its first trip to the Sunshine State for the year.

On behalf of the NTI Team – thank you for your passion and support of this world-class competition.

NTI will once again be drawing the winner of the MND and Me Raffle to win a rejuvenated 1950s Chevy pick-up truck, with all proceeds raised by the raffle going towards funding Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research grants within Australia.

We are so appreciative of the continued support from the Supercars community in helping us with this cause.

Best of luck to all teams – especially those who are part of the NTI family: Matt Stone Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Tickford Racing.

We hope you enjoy the weekend of racing. Sit back, enjoy, and stay safe.

Wayne Bryant

Chief Executive Officer Automotive Division, GPC Asia Pacific

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

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2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

EVENT SCHEDULE FRIDAY 7 JULY 2023 START

FINISH CATEGORY SESSION

7:35

7:55

Aussie Racing Cars

8:35

9:00

Porsche Carrera Cup

8:05

9:05

9:10

TGRA 86

Supercars Events

9:15

9:45

Dunlop Series

10:45

10:55

Supercars Events

10:10

10:40

Supercars

11:05

11:25

Aussie Racing Cars

12:05

12:30

Porsche Carrera Cup

11:35

12:35

11:55

12:45

TGRA 86

Supercars Events

12:50

13:30

Dunlop Series

14:10

14:30

TGRA 86

13:40

14:45

15:25

14:00

15:15

15:35

Aussie Racing Cars Supercars

Supercars Events

15:55

16:10

Supercars

16:35

16:55

Dunlop Series

16:15 17:00

6

8:25

16:30 17:30

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

TGRA 86

Supercars

Practice

Practice 1

Practice 1

Entertainment

Practice 1

Practice 1

Pit Lane Walk

Qualifying

Practice 2

Practice 2

Entertainment

Practice 2

Race 1 (10 laps or 1 lap after 13:58)

Qualifying

Practice 2

Entertainment

TV Track Time

Event Rides Event Rides Event Rides

SATURDAY 8 JULY 2023 START

FINISH CATEGORY SESSION

7:35

8:00

Supercars Events

8:40

8:52

Porsche Carrera Cup

8:10

8:58 9:25

9:45

10:00

8:30

9:10 9:35

9:55

10:10

TGRA 86

11:10

Aussie Racing Cars

Supercars Events

11:20

11:45

TGRA 86

12:40

13:05

Porsche Carrera Cup

13:15

14:00

13:55

14:05

14:40

Qualifying Race 1 – Super3

Qualifying Race 1 – Super2

Supercars Events

10:50

12:30

Qualifying 2

Dunlop Series

Supercars

12:00

Qualifying 1

Dunlop Series

10:30

10:45

Race 1 (12 laps or 1 lap after 8:28)

Porsche Carrera Cup

10:15

10:35

Safety Car, Course Car Experiences, Pit Lane Walk

Supercars

Dunlop Series

Supercars Events

Supercars

Entertainment

Qualifying for Race 16

Entertainment

Race 2 (10 laps or 1 lap after 11:08)

Race 2 (15 laps of 1 lap after 11:43)

Top 10 Shootout for Race 16

Race 1 (17 laps or 1 lap after 13:03)

Race 1 (finish 1 lap after 13:53)

Entertainment

Race 16 (88 laps or 1 lap after 16:48)

SUNDAY 9 JULY 2023 START

FINISH CATEGORY SESSION

7:15

7:40

Supercars Events

8:20

9:00

Porsche Carrera Cup

9:35

9:45

Dunlop Series

7:50 9:15

9:50

8:10 9:25

9:55

Aussie Racing Cars

Safety Car, Course Car Experiences, Pit Lane Walk

Race 3 (10 laps of 1 lap after 8:08)

Race 2 (28 laps or 1 lap after 8:58)

Dunlop Series

Qualifying Race 2 – Super3

Qualifying Race 2 – Super2

Supercars Events

Entertainment

10:00

10:15

Supercars

10:30

10:50

Aussie Racing Cars

Race 4 (10 laps or 1 lap after 10:48)

11:20

11:40

TGRA 86

Race 3 (12 laps or 1 lap after 11:38)

Top 10 Shootout for Race 17

10:15 11:00

11:40

10:25 11:15

11:55

Supercars Events

Supercars Events

Supercars Events

12:00

12:30

Supercars

13:15

13:55

Dunlop Series

12:40

13:05

14:40

Qualifying for Race 17

Entertainment

Drivers Parade Entertainment

Porsche Carrera Cup

Race 3 (17 laps or 1 lap after 13:03)

Supercars

Race 17 (88 laps or 1 lap after 16:48)

Race 2 (1 lap after 13:53)

Note: All times are local Queensland time, AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) OFFICIAL PROGRAM

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THE FIGHT HEADS NORTH The first Queensland round of the year sees Ford keen to launch a fightback in the battle for Supercars glory, as CONNOR O’BRIEN reports …

T

HE last round of the Repco Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley in Darwin on-track was all about fairytales and feel-good stories.

Who will be next as the Repco Supercars Championship rolls up to the streets of Townsville?

First it was 2015 champion Mark Winterbottom at Hidden Valley finally breaking through for Team 18’s longawaited maiden victory.

Heightening the occasion was the fact Winterbottom had not even reached the podium in his first four-plus 8

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

years at Charlie Schwerkolt’s squad, and that it was his first win altogether since 2016. Almost exactly 24 hours later, Matt Stone Racing entered the winners’ circle courtesy of a fine drive from Jack Le Brocq.

While the angst was high as ever regarding Ford’s ability to compete with the dominant Chevrolets, these were bright moments for hardworking crews to cherish after years of grinding away.

Moving to Townsville, Ford might just have its best shot yet in Gen3.

A parity review was triggered postDarwin by a fifth strike of Supercars’ average lap time equation, meaning a tweak is to come for the Mustang fleet sooner than later.

Moreover, the category’s return to a street circuit spells good news for the battle between marques.

That’s because of the five rounds this season, the Mustangs were most competitive at the only previous visit to a street track: Newcastle.

It was there that David Reynolds

PRE ROUND UPDATE

Mark Winterbottom’s drought-breaking win in Darwin, opposite page, gave the 2015 champion his first win since 2016 and resulted in a champagne shower for Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt, above.

“THERE’S AN UNFAMILIAR TEAM LEADING THE BLUE OVAL CHARGE IN 2023, WITH CHAZ MOSTERT SPEARHEADING WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI UNITED’S FIRST FORD SEASON” scored a pole position for Grove Racing, Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters belatedly was classified as the Race 1 winner – and may have contended for a sweep if not for a brush of the wall – and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert left as the championship leader.

So, perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer for the Blue Oval’s teams, drivers and fans.

Remarkably, despite all the drama, Mostert enters Townsville just 179 points off the championship lead, meaning he could well roar into contention if there’s a sudden swing from brand-to-brand.

Ahead of him in the championship, it’s the two drivers from each of Erebus Motorsport and Triple Eight Race Engineering. That in itself is a rivalry which is simmering closer and closer to boiling over.

Will Davison scored his - and the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s - first podium finish of 2023 in Darwin. The DJR Ford team is aiming to score more silverware in Townsville.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

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PRE ROUND UPDATE

Matt Stone Racing’s crew were all smiles, above, after Jack Le Brocq took the team’s first Supercars race win in the Sunday race in Darwin. But the chase continues for championship leader Brodie Kostecki, below, who retained his lead despite suffering damage in the final race.

After rearing its head in Perth when Erebus protested Shane van Gisbergen’s winning overtake on Brodie Kostecki, there was more to come in Darwin following a last-lap Race 1 battle between SVG and Will Brown.

Erebus requested an investigation into alleged dangerous driving by the Kiwi, who slowed up significantly in what Brown claimed was a ploy to ruin his race. Triple Eight for its part suggested Brown had started things by repeatedly pummelling the back of the #97 Camaro.

Watch this space.

After an unfortunate last-start mishap, Kostecki’s lead has been slashed to 10

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

59 points over Brown – but his biggest threat could well be Triple Eight’s other driver, Broc Feeney.

Sitting just 32 points adrift of Brown, Feeney has tasted victory at each of the past four rounds and is on a five-race podium streak.

What’s more is that Townsville has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Triple Eight, with van Gisbergen having won seven of the past nine races at the Reid Park complex.

Others entering north Queensland with recent form on the board include Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones Racing), who now has four podiums in

2023, and Will Davison (Dick Johnson Racing). Davison has been superb in a troubled campaign for DJR, establishing himself as the team’s lead driver and at Hidden Valley securing its first silverware of the year.

Meanwhile at the bottom end of the standings, Tickford rookie Declan Fraser will hope Townsville can spark a change of fortunes, it being the site of his maiden Super2 race win last year.

By the end of Townsville, the 2023 season will be halfway done… and there’ll be a clearer picture on the adjusted parity situation ahead of the biggest races of the year.

It’s all to play for.

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2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP

POINTS STANDINGS 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS POINTS POS

DRIVER TEAM CAR

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 26

Brodie Kostecki Will Brown Broc Feeney Shane van Gisbergen Chaz Mostert Andre Heimgartner Cameron Waters Jack Le Brocq Will Davison David Reynolds Mark Winterbottom Bryce Fullwood Tim Slade James Golding Scott Pye Todd Hazelwood Anton De Pasquale Matthew Payne Thomas Randle James Courtney Macauley Jones Cameron Hill Nick Percat Jack Smith Declan Fraser Zane Goddard

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Red Bull Ampol Racing Red Bull Ampol Racing Mobil 1 Optus Racing R&J Batteries Racing Monster Energy Racing Truck Assist Racing Shell V-Power Racing Team Penrite Racing DEWALT Racing Middy’s Racing Nulon Racing Nulon Racing Team 18 CoolDrive Racing Shell V-Power Racing Team Penrite Racing Castrol Racing Snowy River Caravans Racing Pizza Hut Racing Truck Assist Racing Mobil 1 NTI Racing SCT Motorsport Tradie Racing Supercheap Auto Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Ford Mustang GT Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

POINTS 1164 1105 1073 1054 985 882 877 814 802 743 720 701 685 680 648 622 619 589 584 543 532 467 467 418 369 76

2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM POINTS `

POS

TEAM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Red Bull Ampol Racing Brad Jones Racing (Cars #8 and #14) Walkinshaw Andretti United Shell V-Power Racing Team Tickford Racing (Cars #5 and #6) Team 18 Nulon Racing Truck Assist Racing Penrite Racing Tickford Racing (Cars #55 and #56) Brad Jones Racing (Cars #4 and #96) CoolDrive Racing * Supercheap Auto Racing *

* Denotes single car team

12

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

POINTS 2269 2127 1553 1452 1421 1420 1368 1365 1343 1332 953 890 592 76

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2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

ENTRY LIST

ENTRY LIST 2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

NO DRIVER TEAM

2

Nick Percat

Mobil 1™ NTI Racing

4

Jack Smith

SCT Racing

3

5

6

8

9

11

14 17

18 19

20 23

25

26 31

34

35 55

88

Todd Hazelwood

James Courtney

Cam Waters

Andre Heimgartner

Will Brown

Anton De Pasquale

Bryce Fullwood

Will Davison

Mark Winterbottom

Matthew Payne

Scott Pye

Tim Slade

Chaz Mostert

David Reynolds

James Golding

Jack Le Brocq

Cameron Hill

Thomas Randle

Broc Feeney

96

97

99

777

Macauley Jones

Shane van Gisbergen

Brodie Kostecki

Declan Fraser

CoolDrive Racing

Snowy River Racing

Monster Energy Racing R&J Batteries Racing

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Shell V-Power Racing Team

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Ford Mustang GT

Ford Mustang GT

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ford Mustang GT

Ford Mustang GT

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ford Mustang GT

Middy’s Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

DEWALT Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Hino Trucks

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Shell V-Power Racing Team Penrite Racing Nulon Racing

Mobil 1™ Optus Racing Penrite Racing

Ford Mustang GT Ford Mustang GT

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ford Mustang GT

Ford Mustang GT

Nulon Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Truck Assist Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Truck Assist Racing Castrol Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ford Mustang GT

Red Bull Ampol Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Red Bull Ampol Racing

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Pizza Hut Racing

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus Tradie Racing

Note: Entry details subject to change after deadline for this program had closed.

14

CAR

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Ford Mustang GT

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

15

NICK PERCAT AGE 34 YEARS FROM ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

2011 BATHURST 1000 WINNER 2016 ADELAIDE 500 WINNER

@nickpercat @nickpercat

Mobil 1™ NTI Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2010 RACES 303 PODIUMS 14

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

136 4 2

THIS year marks a major change for Nick Percat, his first season in the Repco Supercars Championship at the wheel of a Ford after 288 championship race starts exclusively driving Holden Commodores.

This season is his second with Walkinshaw Andretti United after a relatively difficult 2022 in which he finished 15th in the championship.

The highlight of last year for the 2011 Bathurst winner was undoubtedly his second-place finish as part of a WAU 1-2 in the Saturday race at his home event, the VALO Adelaide 500.

16

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2014 RACES 26 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH POLES

11 4th 1

Percat made his Supercars Championship debut at the 2010 Phillip Island 500 codriving a Walkinshaw Racing Commodore and this year marks his 10th season as a full-time driver in the championship.

He spent four years (2010-2013) as an endurance co-driver with the Walkinshaw team under the Bundaberg Racing and Holden Racing Team banners before getting his first full-time season in 2014 at the wheel of a Walkinshaw-run Commodore.

From there he spent two seasons (20152016) with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport and five seasons (2017-2021) with Brad Jones

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

BEST FINISH 15 BEST QUAL 0 23rd

9th 7th

Racing, which included two race wins at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2020 and two pole positions – in 2020 in Townsville and 2021 at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Percat has made 12 Bathurst 1000 starts and, in addition to his win alongside Garth Tander in 2011, finished third in 2014 with Brit Oliver Gavin and again in 2016 alongside Cameron McConville.

He won the 2009 Australian Formula Ford Championship and finished runner-up to Craig Baird in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship in addition to spending three seasons competing in the Dunlop Series.

TODD HAZELWOOD AGE 27 YEARS FROM ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@toddhazelwood @toddhazelwoodracing

2017 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES WINNER 2014 MIKE KABLE YOUNG GUN AWARD WINNER

CoolDrive Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2017 RACES 174 PODIUMS 1

ROUNDS 76 BEST FINISH 3rd POLES 1

TODD Hazelwood has made the move for 2023 to driving the CoolDrive Racing Mustang for the Blanchard Racing Team.

Hazelwood is hardly a stranger to racing in CoolDrive’s distinct blue colours given he drove under its banner in a Commodore (then run by Brad Jones Racing) as co-driver to Tim Blanchard in the 2017 endurance races at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast.

This year marks Hazelwood’s sixth season in the Supercars Championship. He made his debut at Queensland Raceway in 2017 as a one-off wildcard entry in a Matt Stone

DEBUT 2018 RACES 17 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH POLES

7 4th 1

Racing-run Commodore.

He joined the championship full-time the following season with MSR and stayed with the team in 2019 before embarking on two seasons with Brad Jones Racing across 2020 (when he scored a breakthrough pole position in Townsville and his first podium at Sydney Motorsport Park) and 2021.

Hazelwood moved back to MSR last year as part of its two-car team alongside Jack Le Brocq.

He is a product of the Supercars pathway system having spent four seasons in the Dunlop Series with MSR between 2014 (the

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 16th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

4th 9th

year he won the Mike Kable Young Gun Award for best first-year driver) and 2017.

Hazelwood finished fifth in the 2015 series and third in 2016 (the year he also won the Privateers Cup Award) before going one step further the following season.

Hazelwood won the Dunlop Super2 Series in 2017 (including two round wins) and clinched the crown in the final round of the season with overall victory on the streets of Newcastle.

It set up his graduation into the Supercars Championship and he’s been a permanent part of the grid ever since.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

17

JACK SMITH AGE 23 YEARS FROM GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND LIVES YARRAWONGA, VICTORIA

2017 V8 TOURING CAR SERIES WINNER 2018/19 BNT V8s NEW ZEALAND CHAMPION

@_4jacksmith

SCT Racing TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2019 RACES 120 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 48 BEST FINISH 10th BEST QUAL 10th

YOUNG gun Jack Smith is in his fourth straight season in the Repco Supercars Championship this year as part of the fourcar line-up from Albury-based Brad Jones Racing.

He joins Andre Heimgartner, Bryce Fullwood and Macauley Jones in BJR’s squad of drivers as the team retains the same four pilots from 2022 into 2023.

Smith made his Supercars Championship debut at Symmons Plains in Tasmania in 2019 as a wildcard and competed in additional rounds of that year’s championship, also as a wildcard entry.

18

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2020 RACES 13 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS 5 16th 21st

He co-drove a Matt Stone Racing Commodore with Todd Hazelwood in the Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast endurance races held later that year before stepping into the championship on a full-time basis in 2020 at the wheel of a BJR-run Commodore. Smith finished 22nd in the 2020 championship, 21st in 2021 and 24th last year.

A product of the Supercars ladder system, he won the V8 Touring Car Series in a BJR Commodore in 2017, concurrently racing a newer model BJR-run VF Commodore in that year’s Dunlop Series. Smith competed

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 24th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

14th 12th

in the Dunlop Series in 2018 and 2019 and finished 10th in the final points in each of those two seasons.

Prior to his involvement in Supercars, Smith raced in the Australian Formula 4 Championship for open wheelers and in the Australian GT Trophy Series at the wheel of a MARC car.

He also finished third in the Invitational Class of the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race and won the 2018/19 BNT V8s Championship in New Zealand.

Smith celebrates his 24th birthday on Sunday at Townsville.

JAMES COURTNEY AGE 43 YEARS FROM PENRITH, NEW SOUTH WALES LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@jcourtney @jamescourtneyracing

2010 SUPERCARS CHAMPION 2014, 2015 ADELAIDE 500 WINNER

Snowy River Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2005 RACES 541 PODIUMS 65

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

238 15 10

THE ever-smiling James Courtney returns to the Repco Supercars Championship this season for his fourth straight year at the wheel of a Tickford Racing Mustang.

The 2010 Supercars Champion during his time with Dick Johnson Racing, Courtney is this year competing in his 18th season as a full-time driver in the Supercars Championship.

Courtney came to Supercars with impressive international credentials. A twotime world karting champion, he also won the British Formula Ford Championship and was a race winner in the British Formula 3 Championship before a huge accident

DEBUT 2009 RACES 36 PODIUMS 6

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

16 1 1

at Monza in Italy while testing a Jaguar Formula 1 car in 2002 changed the course of his career.

He raced in Japan and won the 2003 Japanese Formula 3 Championship and then shifted to racing in the SuperGT series.

Courtney’s Supercars Championship debut came in the 2005 endurance races as a co-driver with the Holden Racing Team.

He then joined the championship full-time, replacing Marcos Ambrose at Stone Brothers Racing for 2006.

He spent three seasons with SBR (including two Bathurst 1000 podium finishes and his first championship race win at

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

13 1 20th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

3rd 5th

Queensland Raceway in 2008) before moving on to spend two years with Dick Johnson Racing in its Jim Beam-backed Fords.

Courtney joined the Holden Racing Team in 2011 and stayed with the Walkinshawrun team right through to 2019. In that time he and the team won seven championship races, including three at the Adelaide 500.

He signed to drive for Team Sydney but only competed in Adelaide in 2020 before leaving the team.

Courtney stepped into a Boost-backed Mustang at Tickford Racing after the COVIDenforced pause of that year’s championship and has remained with the team ever since.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

19

CAM WATERS AGE 28 YEARS FROM MILDURA, VICTORIA LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

2017 SANDOWN 500 WINNER 2015 DUNLOP SERIES WINNER

@cam_waters @camwaters94

Monster Energy Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2011 RACES 238 PODIUMS 43

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

110 9 20

NOW in his eighth season in the Repco Supercars Championship, Cam Waters has proven himself to be one of men to beat in the modern era of Supercars racing and has become the main strike weapon for Tickford Racing.

The Melbourne-based Ford team is again running four cars in the championship this year with Waters joined in the driver line-up

by James Courtney, Thomas Randle and newcomer Declan Fraser.

Waters made his Supercars Championship debut as a teenager at Bathurst in 2011 sharing a Commodore with Grant Denyer after winning the Shannons

20

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2016 RACES 21 PODIUMS 8

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

9 2 3

Supercar Showdown TV series.

He spent the following years in the Dunlop Series, eventually winning the title in 2015 driving a Prodrive Racing Australia (now known as Tickford Racing) Falcon FG. Waters finished runner-up in that year’s Sandown 500 alongside Chaz Mostert and took over Mostert’s #6 Falcon for the Gold Coast, Pukekohe and Phillip Island rounds after its regular pilot was injured in a qualifying crash at Bathurst.

He graduated full-time to the Supercars Championship in 2016 at the wheel of a Monster Energy-backed Falcon and has been part of the furniture of the

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 1 7th

RACE WINS POLES

1 1

championship ever since.

Waters’ first championship pole position came in Western Australia in 2016 and he and Kiwi Richie Stanaway teamed up to win the Sandown 500 the following year in a dominant display.

Voted the ‘Drivers’ Driver’ of the 2020 season by his peers, Waters has shone at Bathurst in recent years. The Bathurst 1000 pole-sitter in 2020 and 2022, he has finished on the podium in each of the last three years in the ‘Great Race’ at the wheel of Tickford’s Monster Energy Mustang.

Waters also finished runner-up in the Supercars Championship in 2020 and 2022.

ANDRE HEIMGARTNER AGE 28 YEARS FROM AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@andreheimgartner @AHRacing

2021 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 9 WINNER – THE BEND 2017/18 NZ TOURING CARS CHAMPION

R&J Batteries Racing TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2014 RACES 231 PODIUMS 13

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

101 1 2

NEW Zealander Andre Heimgartner is a man on the move in the #8 R&J Batteries Racing entry for the Albury-based Brad Jones Racing.

This year marks Heimgartner’s eighth fulltime season in the championship and comes after a stellar 2022 with BJR. He finished 10th in the championship pointscore (the best of his Supercars Championship career) and had four podium finishes, including two on home soil at Pukekohe in New Zealand.

The 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia runner-up also had a lucky escape at The Bend when he ploughed into the back of

DEBUT 2015 RACES 21 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS 9 4th 4th

the stalled Mustang of Thomas Randle.

Both drivers emerged unscathed from the frightening accident.

Heimgartner made his Supercars Championship debut in 2014 driving a Super Black Racing wildcard entry at Bathurst alongside countryman Ant Pedersen.

He raced for the team full-time in 2015 and made the move to driving a Holden Commodore for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in 2016.

The Kiwi moved to racing a Porsche in the Carrera Cup series for 2017 but was called up to replace the injured Ash Walsh in a Brad Jones Racing Commodore at Bathurst

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 4 6th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

2nd 2nd

alongside Tim Slade.

The duo drove together again on the Gold Coast and a podium result caught the eye of Kelly Racing, who signed him up for 2018 to replace the retiring Todd Kelly at the wheel of one of its Nissan Altimas.

He spent two years driving a Nissan before the team moved to Ford Mustangs for 2020 and brought in new partners in the Grove family in 2021.

Heimgartner broke through for his first Supercars Championship race win that year at The Bend Motorsport Park in one of the team’s Mustangs and moved on to BJR for 2022.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

21

WILL BROWN AGE 25 YEARS FROM TOOWOOMBA, QUEENSLAND LIVES TOOWOOMBA, QUEENSLAND

2-TIME SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WINNER 2016 TOYOTA 86 SERIES WINNER

@willbrown38 @willbrownmotorsport

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2018 RACES 89 PODIUMS 11

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

37 4 3

A LACONIC lad from Toowoomba in Queensland, Will Brown has quickly carved himself an impressive resume in Australian motorsport. This year is his third year in the Repco Supercars Championship with Erebus Motorsport after a stunning rookie season in 2021.

In that year he scored his first Supercars Championship race win and pole position (both at Sydney Motorsport Park), was fastest in qualifying for the Bathurst 1000 and finished an impressive eighth in the championship. Brown made his Supercars Championship debut in 2018 co-driving an Erebus Commodore with Anton De Pasquale

22

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2021 RACES 7 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

3 5th 7th

in that year’s Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast races and returned in the same role for the 2019 races.

He co-drove with David Reynolds for Erebus at Bathurst in 2020 before taking over the seat in the team’s #9 entry when Reynolds left at the end of the season.

Brown’s history in the junior categories is indeed impressive. He won the Australian Formula 4 Championship and Toyota 86 Racing Series in the same year – 2016 – that he also finished runner-up in the Australian Formula Ford Series.

He moved into the Dunlop Super2 Series in 2017 with Eggleston Motorsport and won

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 7 2nd

RACE WINS POLES

3 2

the Mike Kable Young Gun Award for the best first-year drivers.

Brown spent three years learning the ropes of Supercars with the Eggleston team before making the move to drive an Image Racing, Erebus-supported Commodore in the 2020 series.

He finished runner-up to Thomas Randle in the COVID-shortened season (there were only three rounds held).

The versatile young racer also won the Invitational Class in the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour and won the inaugural TCR Australia Series in 2019 at the wheel of a HMO Customer Racing Hyundai.

ANTON DE PASQUALE AGE 27 YEARS FROM MELBOURNE, VICTORIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@antondepasquale @antondepasquale86

2021 ARMOR ALL SUPERCARS POLE AWARD WINNER 2013 AUSTRALIAN FORMULA FORD CHAMPION

Shell V-Power Racing Team 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2018 RACES 169 PODIUMS 29

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

72 8 16

THIS year marks Anton De Pasquale’s sixth season in the Repco Supercars Championship and his third driving one of Dick Johnson Racing’s Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustangs.

He’s proven blindingly fast in qualifying and already amassed 15 championship pole positions, 10 of which were claimed in the 2021 season in which he was awarded the ARMOR ALL Pole Position Award for most pole positions in that year.

He made his Supercars Championship debut at the wheel of one of Erebus Motorsport’s Commodores at the 2018 Adelaide 500 and spent three seasons with

DEBUT 2018 RACES 16 PODIUMS 4

ROUNDS BEST FINISH POLES

7 2nd 1

the Melbourne-based team.

De Pasqaule also scored his first Supercars race win with the team, at Hidden Valley in Darwin in 2020.

De Pasquale’s championship progression continues; he finished 20th in 2018, 14th in 2019, eighth in his last year with Erebus in 2020, sixth with DJR in 2021 and fourth last season.

He’s also proven to be a Sydney Motorsport Park expert in his time in Supercars, claiming five race wins there in 2021 and seven poles there across 2021 (six) and 2022 (one).

The young gun was a winner in junior

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 17th

BEST FINISH POLES

5th 1

open wheeler categories before he raced in Supercars.

He won the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2013 and headed to Europe to follow his racing dreams.

De Pasquale won the 2014 Formula Renault 1.6 Northern European Cup but ran out of sponsorship funding and was forced to return home.

He linked with Paul Morris to drive a Falcon in the 2016 Dunlop Series and returned the following year in a newer generation car to finish fourth in the series and win two rounds at Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

23

BRYCE FULLWOOD @brycefullwood AGE 25 YEARS FROM DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY @brycefullwoodracing LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

2019 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES WINNER 2019 DUNLOP SUPER 2 BATHURST 250KM RACE RUNNER-UP

Middy’s Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2018 RACES 116 PODIUMS 1

ROUNDS 47 BEST FINISH 3rd BEST QUAL 3rd

THE only current Supercars Championship driver to originally hail from Darwin in the Northern Territory, Bryce Fullwood is back with Brad Jones Racing this year for his second straight season with the Alburybased team.

This year marks Fullwood’s fourth season in the Repco Supercars Championship as a full-time driver.

He made his Supercars Championship debut in the 2018 endurance races at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast with Matt Stone Racing as co-driver with Todd Hazelwood in a Matt Stone Racing Commodore.

24

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2020 RACES 13 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

5 8th 8th

The following year, 2019 (the same year he also won the Dunlop Super2 Series), Fullwood was signed by Kelly Racing to codrive a Nissan with Kiwi Andre Heimgartner in the three endurance rounds.

That opened the door to a full-time seat in the Supercars Championship as Chaz Mostert’s teammate at Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2020.

The emerging racer scored his first podium finish that season at The Bend Motorsport Park and he continued in the team’s #2 Commodore in 2021, a year highlighted by fifth-place in the Repco Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama alongside

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 12th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

5th 3rd

the experienced Warren Luff.

Fullwood first appeared on the Supercars scene as a teenager back in 2015 competing in the Dunlop Series at the wheel of an exPaul Morris Motorsports Commodore.

He spent five seasons in the category including three (2016, 2017, 2019) racing Falcons and Nissan Altimas for MW Motorsport and one (2018) in a Falcon, and later, a Commodore run by Matt Stone Racing.

He won four rounds of the seven held in 2019 on his way to winning the Dunlop Super2 Series and finished on the podium in all bar one of them.

WILL DAVISON AGE 40 YEARS FROM MELBOURNE, VICTORIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@willdavison__ @willdavisonofficial

2009, 2016 BATHURST 1000 WINNER 2012 ADELAIDE 500 WINNER

Shell V-Power Racing Team 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2004 RACES 533 PODIUMS 79

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

238 22 28

WILL Davison is in his 18th season as a full-time driver in the Repco Supercars Championship in 2023, his third successive year driving a Ford Mustang for the Shell V-Power Racing Team.

He’s no stranger to Dick Johnson Racing given he started his full-time Supercars career with the team in 2006.

Davison’s actual Supercars Championship debut came in 2004 in a Team Dynamik Commodore at Winton and, after joining DJR as a co-driver in the 2005 endurance races, he joined full-time in 2006 and spent three years with the famous Ford team.

The opportunity to replace Mark Skaife

DEBUT 2009 RACES 30 PODIUMS 7

ROUNDS RACE WINS BEST QUAL

14 1 2nd

lured him away from Dick Johnson Racing to the Holden Racing Team for 2009, the year he won Bathurst with Garth Tander, finished runner-up in the Driver’s championship and helped HRT clinch the Team’s Championship as well.

He moved to Ford Performance Racing and spent three years with the factory Ford team (2011-2013) before two seasons at Erebus Motorsport (2014-2015) and two at TEKNO Autosports (2016-2017) that included a Bathurst 1000 win in 2016 alongside team owner Jonathon Webb.

A move to 23Red Racing for 2018 lasted until COVID struck in early 2020 when

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 1 9th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

3rd 5th

sponsor Milwaukee Tools and team owner Phil Munday pulled the plug, forcing Davison to the sidelines.

He picked up a Bathurst co-drive alongside Cam Waters in a Tickford Mustang and they finished second, vaulting Davison back into a seat in the championship with DJR in 2021 as teammate to Anton De Pasquale.

Davison finished fourth in the 2021 pointscore in his first season back with the Queensland-based squad and showed plenty of pace in 2022 to take nine pole positions and win three races on his way to finishing fifth in the championship.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

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THE STORY OF A HALL OF FAMER ‘Seto’ tells the story of Supercars Hall of Famer Glenn Seton and his amazing motorsport career as champion driver and team owner. A two-time Australian Touring Car Champion, Seton has dedicated his life to racing and opens up on the highs and lows of a lifetime behind the wheel.

This is a must-have motorsport book!

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26

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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27

MARK WINTERBOTTOM AGE 42 YEARS FROM SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

@markjwinterbottom @markjwinterbottom

2015 SUPERCARS CHAMPION 2013 BATHURST 1000 WINNER

DEWALT Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2003 RACES 608 PODIUMS 118

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

268 39 36

THE most experienced driver in the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship field, Mark Winterbottom is this year marking his 20th straight season as a full-time competitor in the championship.

So closely linked to Ford for so many years during his time with Ford Performance Racing and Prodrive/Tickford Racing, this is the fifth year for Winterbottom driving for Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt.

After four years in IRWIN-backed Commodores, this year marks a change for him with new backing from DEWALT and a brand new Chevrolet Camaro race car.

The 2015 Supercars Champion,

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2009 RACES 36 PODIUMS 10

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

16 3 4

Winterbottom made his debut in Supercars as an endurance driver with Stone Brothers Racing in its second car alongside Mark Noske at Sandown and Bathurst in 2003.

He’s been full-time in the ‘main game’ since 2004 and, after spending two seasons with Mark Larkham’s team, moved to Ford Performance Racing for the 2006 season.

His first Supercars Championship race win came that year alongside Jason Bright in the Sandown 500 and he became part of the furniture at the Melbourne-based Ford team as it morphed into Prodrive Racing Australia and then Tickford Racing.

All up Winterbottom spent 13 seasons

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 1 11th

RACE WINS BEST QUAL

1 3rd

with the team through to the end of 2018, a stint highlighted by winning Bathurst in 2013 and the championship in 2015. He won nine races in his championship-winning season, including the Sandown 500 alongside Steve Owen.

Winterbottom won the 2003 Konica V8 Supercar Series (now known as Super2) at the wheel of a Stone Brothers Racingrun Falcon before his graduation into the Supercars Championship.

Winterbottom took his 39th championship race win in Darwin at the last event, the first race win in the Repco Supercars Championship for Team 18.

MATTHEW PAYNE AGE 20 YEARS FROM AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@matthewpayne_7 @matthewpayne.racing

2021 NZ TOYOTA RACING SERIES WINNER 2022 MIKE KABLE YOUNG GUN AWARD WINNER

Penrite Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2022 RACES 16 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 6 BEST FINISH 6th BEST QUAL 5th

MATTHEW Payne continues his rapid rise up the motorsport ladder with his first full-time season in the Repco Supercars Championship in 2023.

The young New Zealander only raced a Supercar for the first time in November 2021, while this year will be just his third full season racing cars since stepping up from karting.

He graduated to circuit racing in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series, winning the three-race 2021 title and finishing third in the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Payne was also the first recipient of the Team Porsche NZ scholarship under the

DEBUT 2023 RACES 0 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

0 N/A N/A

tutelage of multiple Le Mans 24 Hours winner Earl Bamber, leading to a drive in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia in 2021.

He impressed with back-to-back poles at The Bend Motorsport Park and Townsville and put in an assured drive to victory at the latter round, finishing sixth in the standings overall.

Payne’s form saw him recruited as the foundation driver of the Grove Junior Team in mid-2021, with the goal of graduating to the Repco Supercars Championship with the squad in 2023.

There were indications he’d move to the ‘main game’ sooner than that, but Grove

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 18th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

6th 5th

Racing elected to field him in a Nissan Altima in the second-tier class in 2022.

The extra season behind the wheel of a second-tier machine paid dividends with Payne sharpening his skills.

He led the points early in the season and eventually finished third in the series and won the Mike Kable Young Gun Award for his efforts as best first year driver in Supercars racing.

To cap his graduation, Payne finally made his ‘main game’ debut at last year’s Repco Bathurst 1000, impressing alongside veteran Lee Holdsworth in finishing sixth in one of the Grove’s team Penrite Mustangs.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

29

30

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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SCOTT PYE AGE 33 YEARS FROM ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

@scottpye19 @scottpye19

2010 BRITISH FORMULA FORD CHAMPION 2017, 2018 BATHURST 1000 RUNNER-UP

Hino Trucks 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2012 RACES 327 PODIUMS 10

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

142 1 1

THE arrival of Gen3 for this year represents a fresh start for Scott Pye at Team 18 in his fourth season with the Melbourne-based team.

Pye very nearly signed off last season with the ultimate race-winning reward at his home event in Adelaide, where he qualified on the front row for the Saturday race and came agonisingly close to breaking through for Team 18’s very first Repco Supercars Championship race win.

Pye joined Charlie Schwerkolt’s Team 18 outfit in a new second entry for the 2020 season as teammate to Mark Winterbottom and scored a podium finish at Hidden Valley,

32

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2013 RACES 28 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

12 5th 5th

the team’s first since becoming a standalone squad in 2016.

He ended his first season with the squad one place ahead of teammate Winterbottom in ninth in the final championship pointscore.

Prior to his time in Supercars, Pye raced karts and then Formula Ford in 2007 before he won races in both the British Formula Ford and Formula 3 Championships.

He returned home in 2012 and burst into Supercars driving for Triple Eight in the Dunlop Series, finishing runner-up overall and winning the Mike Kable Young Gun Award.

His first year in the ‘main game’ in 2013

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 15th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

5th 9th

with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was tough, though a top 10 finish at Bathurst was a highlight and enough to get him a gig with Dick Johnson Racing the following year in 2014.

Pye became a co-driver when Team Penske arrived and scaled the squad back to a single car in 2015, though Marcos Ambrose’s decision to step back again handed Pye the full-time seat.

He headed to Mobil 1 HSV Racing in 2017, the team that became Walkinshaw Andretti United a year later, and scored his breakthrough maiden Supercars win with the team in 2018 at Albert Park.

TIM SLADE AGE 37 YEARS FROM HORNSBY, NEW SOUTH WALES LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@_timslade_ @TimSladeRacing

2008 SUPERCARS PRIVATEERS CUP WINNER 2012 BATHURST 12 HOUR RUNNER-UP

Nulon Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2009 RACES 414 PODIUMS 17

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

189 2 2

TIM Slade has joined emerging squad PremiAir Racing for the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship after spending the past two seasons racing for the Blanchard Racing Team in a single-car Mustang team.

Slade began his career in open wheelers and he finished second in the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship after also dabbling in Formula 3.

Slade progressed to the Fujitsu Series (now known as Super2) in 2007 and the following year ran his own team to claim the Privateers Cup and a race and round win at Wakefield Park.

His persistence captured the attention

DEBUT 2009 RACES 30 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

14 4th 7th

of Supercars team owner Paul Morris and, with the help of long-time backer James Rosenberg, Slade was rewarded with a full-time championship drive and he scored top 10 results alongside Morris in the Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance races.

A shift to Stone Brothers Racing in 2010 yielded further improvements, taking his first podium finish in 2011. A career best of fifth in points followed in 2012, before the Ford squad transformed into Erebus Motorsport for 2013.

He crossed the floor to Holden for the 2014 season, spending two years piloting Walkinshaw Racing Commodores then

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 13th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

6th 4th

joining Brad Jones Racing in 2016, the year he broke through and won both races at the Winton round.

He finished 2016 eighth in the championship, but the following years proved tougher and left Slade with little more than a handful of podium finishes to show for his toil.

Unable to land a full-time drive for 2020, Slade secured a co-drive with DJR Team Penske, helping Scott McLaughlin secure his third Supercars title at Bathurst.

He returned to the Supercars grid fulltime with the drive in the Blanchard Racing Team’s CoolDrive Mustang in 2021.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

33

CHAZ MOSTERT AGE 31 YEARS FROM MELBOURNE, VICTORIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@chazmozzie @chazmozzie

2014, 2021 BATHURST 1000 WINNER 2017 SUPERCARS ENDURO CUP WINNER

Mobil 1™ Optus Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2013 RACES 311 PODIUMS 83

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

135 21 23

ONE of the Repco Supercars Championship’s biggest stars has returned to his roots in 2023 as Chaz Mostert is now back behind the wheel of a Ford.

After three seasons of racing Holdens, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s off-season manufacturer switch puts Mostert back aboard a ‘blue oval’ machine for the first time since 2019.

Mostert moved to WAU in 2020 after eight years with Tickford Racing along with his engineer Adam DeBorre and the 2021 season saw them deliver a breakthrough victory at Symmons Plains plus further wins at Hidden Valley and Bathurst, where he and

34

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2013 RACES 28 PODIUMS 6

ROUNDS BEST FINISH POLES

12 2nd 1

co-driver Lee Holdsworth took a dominant victory.

Mostert finished a career-best third in that year’s championship, a result he repeated in 2022. During his formative years he won the 2010 Australian Formula Ford Championship and made his Dunlop Series debut the same year with Miles Racing. He competed in the series with them full-time in 2011 but was then snapped up by Ford Performance Racing (now Tickford Racing), finishing third overall in the 2012 series.

He began 2013 driving for MW Motorsport in the Dunlop Series before receiving a ‘main game’ call-up to join Dick Johnson Racing

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 2 5th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

2nd 2nd

and broke through for his maiden race win at Queensland Raceway.

The FPR-contracted Mostert returned ‘home’ to drive its #6 Ford in 2014, when he took a famous last-lap Bathurst win with Paul Morris.

A year later Mostert was mounting a serious title challenge when a horror qualifying crash at Bathurst left him with a broken leg and wrist, sidelining him for the rest of the year.

He returned for the start of 2016 and proved a regular front-runner for the Ford team over the next four seasons before moving to WAU in 2020.

DAVID REYNOLDS AGE 38 YEARS FROM ALBURY, NEW SOUTH WALES LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

@daffidreynolds @davidreynoldsv8supercar

2017 BATHURST 1000 WINNER 2007 PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA CHAMPION

Penrite Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2007 RACES 419 PODIUMS 40

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

190 7 16

THE rise of Grove Racing in 2022 allowed David Reynolds to remind the Repco Supercars Championship of his reputation as one of its most formidable racers.

Reynolds’ career to date is packed with success, winning the Australian Formula Ford and Carrera Cup titles en route to Supercars.

His Supercars debut came in 2007 as Cameron McConville’s co-driver at PWR Racing, and he drove a Tony D’Alberto Racing-run Holden in the 2008 Fujitsu (Super2) Series before graduating to the ‘main game’ in 2009 with Walkinshaw Racing.

DEBUT 2009 RACES 34 PODIUMS 2

ROUNDS BEST FINISH POLES

15 2nd 2

Reduced to an endurance driver role for 2010, he returned to full-time duties with Kelly Racing in 2011 then jumped across to Rod Nash Racing to drive its Ford Performance Racing-prepared Falcon in 2012.

The move delivered instant results as Reynolds finished a close second in the 2012 Bathurst 1000 and built himself into a championship contender by 2015, finishing third in the points that season.

He moved to Erebus Motorsport amid its shift from Mercedes-Benz to Holden in 2016 and won at Bathurst alongside Luke Youlden the next year.

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 2 10th

BEST FINISH POLES

3rd 1

His relationship with the team soured during a rough 2020 campaign and they agreed to part ways at the end of the season, just one year into a much-publicised 10-year deal.

His 2021 move to what was then known as Kelly Grove Racing put him in familiar surroundings, having driven for then-Holden team Kelly Racing in 2011.

He finished on the podium at Sandown and led the resurgent Grove squad during 2022, delivering a pair of ARMOR ALL Pole Positions along with seven podium finishes that helped the team secure fifth in the Teams Championship.

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JAMES GOLDING AGE 27 YEARS FROM WARRAGUL, VICTORIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@jimmygolding @JamesGoldingMotorsport

2022 S5000 AUSTRALIAN DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNER-UP 4th, 2016 DUNLOP SERIES

Nulon Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2016 RACES 107 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 53 BEST FINISH 4th BEST QUAL 3rd

THE 2023 season marks James Golding’s first full-time Repco Supercars Championship campaign since 2019, completing a three-year fight to regain a seat in the ‘main game’.

A Formula Ford open wheeler racing graduate, he finished third in the 2014 national series and made his Dunlop Series debut at the end of that year in a Commodore after catching the eye of team owner Garry Rogers.

He became a full-time driver in the series in 2015 and enjoyed a solid season in 2016 in a Garry Rogers Motorsport-run Commodore, finishing fourth in the series

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2018 RACES 6 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

3 7th 20th

with four podium finishes and two race wins at Phillip Island and Sandown.

He also made his ‘main game’ debut as James Moffat’s co-driver in the #34 GRM Volvo S60 in that year’s Enduro Cup. However his first race at Sandown ended abruptly when a punctured tyre pitched him into the wall at the Esses at the end of the back straight on the opening lap.

More enduro outings and solo wildcard starts followed in 2017 before Golding stepped up to a full-time seat with GRM in 2018, impressing with a strong drive at Bathurst that netted an eighth-place finish.

However, GRM’s exit from Supercars

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 14th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

4th 3rd

at the end of the 2019 season left Golding without a seat and at a career crossroads.

He kept his skills sharp in the openwheeler S5000 category, winning races in cars developed and run by GRM, and kept his hand in Supercars with impressive endurance co-drives with Team 18 in 2020 and 2021.

Golding was again scheduled to return to Team 18 for last year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 until a mid-season opportunity came up with PremiAir Racing, and a series of eyecatching performances across the second half of the season secured a full-time drive with the team for this year.

JACK LE BROCQ AGE 31 YEARS FROM MELBOURNE, VICTORIA LIVES BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

@jack_lebrocq @JackLeBrocq.com.au

2023 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 15 WINNER – DARWIN 2012 AUSTRALIAN FORMULA FORD CHAMPION

Truck Assist Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2015 RACES 185 PODIUMS 3

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

83 2 1

JACK Le Brocq remains with Matt Stone Racing for the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship.

Le Brocq joined the Gold Coast-based squad last year following two years at Tickford Racing and two years with TEKNO Autosports.

His first season with MSR last year was highlighted by strong qualifying performances, including the team’s first frontrow start at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

Coming up through the ranks of karts and Formula Vee, Le Brocq won the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2012. He then caught the attention of Supercars team

DEBUT 2018 RACES 17 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

7 7th 6th

owner Betty Klimenko, who drafted him into her Erebus Motorsport squad’s academy to drive Formula 3 and GT machinery.

He made his Supercars Championship debut at Sandown in 2015 sharing one of the team’s E63 AMGs alongside Ash Walsh.

By that point Le Brocq had completed nearly two Dunlop Super2 Series seasons, debuting in 2014 in an Image Racing-run Falcon and then an MW Motorsport Ford in 2015.

Le Brocq moved to Tickford Racing for 2016 and finished runner-up in the series in addition to finishing fourth at Bathurst codriving a Falcon with Cam Waters.

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 1 8th

RACE WINS POLES

1 1

In 2017 he moved back to MW Motorsport for the Super2 Series and became Nissan’s first Super2 race winner at Symmons Plains.

He also competed as a wildcard entry in a selection of Supercars Championship events and served as Todd Kelly’s endurance codriver.

Le Brocq moved into the ‘main game’ with TEKNO Autosports in 2018, finishing the season as the best of five rookies, but a difficult second year led to a return to Tickford and a breakthrough win in 2020.

His second race win in Darwin last month was a first for MSR. Le Brocq will celebrate his 31st birthday on the Friday of this round.

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CAMERON HILL AGE 26 YEARS FROM CANBERRA, ACT LIVES CANBERRA, ACT

@cameron_hill11 @cameronhill11

2021 PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA CHAMPION 2022 BATHURST 6 HOUR WINNER

Truck Assist Racing TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2022 RACES 16 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 6 BEST FINISH 8th BEST QUAL 5th

CAMERON Hill is among the ranks of Dunlop Super2 Series graduates in 2023 stepping up to the Repco Supercars Championship, the Canberra young join joining Matt Stone Racing at the wheel of a Camaro.

Hill won a host of state and national titles in karting before graduating to Formula Ford in 2014, where he romped to the Australian title a year later. He continued his strong form into the Toyota 86 Racing Series, winning more races than any other driver in the class across 2016 and 2017 while posting a pair of top-three championship finishes.

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DEBUT 2023 RACES 0 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS 0 N/A N/A

His success led to an opportunity in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and he progressed each year. Hill finished ninth in the points in his rookie season, sixth in 2019 and became champion in 2021, including a streak of six race wins.

His rise through Australian motorsport, from junior open-wheel racing to Carrera Cup, came in cars entered and prepared by his own family-run team. However, for his step up to Super2 last year, Hill landed a plum seat driving a Commodore for reigning champions Triple Eight Race Engineering.

Although his more experienced teammate Declan Fraser took out the title, Hill matched

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

BEST FINISH 15 BEST QUAL 0 22nd

8th 5th

him six-all across the year’s qualifying sessions and stood on the podium twice on his way to fifth in the final pointscore.

Hill also made his ‘main game’ debut in last year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 with PremiAir Racing sharing a Coca-Cola Commodore with Chris Pither, losing a potential top 10 finish with a late power steering problem.

He tasted Mount Panorama success earlier in 2022, winning the Bathurst 6 Hour production car race in a BMW that started from the tail of the grid, stealing the win with an electric late-race pass on Supercars regular Tim Slade.

THOMAS RANDLE AGE 27 YEARS FROM MELBOURNE, VICTORIA LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

@thomasrandle @thomasrandle55

2020 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES WINNER 2018 MIKE KABLE YOUNG GUN AWARD WINNER

Castrol Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2019 RACES 66 PODIUMS 1

ROUNDS 27 BEST FINISH 3rd BEST QUAL 2nd

RESULTS were hard to come by for Thomas Randle in his rookie Repco Supercars Championship season in 2022 but there were plenty of moments that demonstrated his potential as a star of the future.

The Melbournian won the 2014 Australian Formula Ford series with five race victories and was runner-up in the 2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship.

He gathered further open-wheel experience overseas in British Formula 3 and a range of other open wheeler categories as well as LMP3 sportscar competition, and victory in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series in 2017.

DEBUT 2022 RACES 2 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

1 15th 10th

Randle stepped into Super2 with Tickford in a Falcon in 2018 and scored his first ARMOR ALL Pole Position and a podium finish in Perth before finishing third in the series in 2019 at the wheel of one of the team’s cars.

Randle also made his ‘main game’ debut with the Ford squad in 2019, driving at The Bend Motorsport Park as a wildcard before an Enduro Cup campaign with Lee Holdsworth that included a third-place finish in the Sandown 500.

A switch to MW Motorsport for the 2020 Super2 Series paid dividends as Randle romped to the title at the wheel of one of

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 19th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

8th 8th

its Nissan Altimas, finishing either first or second in all seven races of the COVIDshortened season.

The win capped a rollercoaster 12 months for Randle: he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in late 2019, had treatment throughout 2020 and completed his last round of chemotherapy on New Year’s Day in 2021.

After co-driving at Bathurst in 2020 for Brad Jones’ team, Randle returned to Tickford Racing in 2021 with a pair of top 10 finishes in a handful of wildcard Supercars appearances before gaining a full-time drive for 2022.

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BROC FEENEY AGE 20 YEARS FROM GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@brocfeeney93 @brocfeeney93

2022 VALO ADELAIDE 500 WINNER 2021 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES WINNER

Red Bull Ampol Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2020 RACES 51 PODIUMS 11

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

20 5 3

BROC Feeney repaid Triple Eight Race Engineering’s faith by ending his rookie Repco Supercars Championship campaign with a maiden race victory at the 2022 VALO Adelaide 500.

The 20-year-old began his first season in the premier class with big shoes to fill, driving the #88 Holden vacated by seventime Supercars Champion, and now Triple Eight Team Principal Jamie Whincup.

Feeney posted his first front row start and maiden podium finishes in the second round at Symmons Plains and scored 25 top 10 finishes, helping Triple Eight secure its 11th Teams Championship win.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2022 RACES 2 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

1 6th 8th

Following in the footsteps of father Paul Feeney, who raced on two wheels in the 1970s and ‘80s, Broc began racing motorbikes at the age of three.

He moved into karts aged nine and then cars at 15, becoming the youngest race winner in Toyota 86 Racing Series history before making the leap to Super3 and winning the series in 2019.

He graduated to the Dunlop Super2 Series with Tickford Racing in 2020 and finished seventh overall in the COVID-impacted season before a switch to Triple Eight for 2021.

He won the Super2 Series title off the

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 8 3rd

RACE WINS POLES

4 3

back of four wins, along with claiming the ARMOR ALL Super2 Pole Champion Award.

Prior to his full-time graduation last year, Feeney made his ‘main game’ debut at the 2020 Bathurst 1000, sharing a Tickford Mustang with James Courtney to a top 10 finish on the day of his 18th birthday.

He took on lead driver duties one year later aboard a Triple Eight-run wildcard entry at Bathurst with 2005 Supercars Champion Russell Ingall the same weekend he clinched the Super2 Series.

Last year he returned to Bathurst and finished fifth with Whincup co-driving their Red Bull Ampol Racing Commodore.

MACAULEY JONES AGE 28 YEARS FROM ALBURY, NEW SOUTH WALES LIVES ALBURY, NEW SOUTH WALES

@macauleyjones96 @officialmacauleyjones

2017 DUNLOP SUPER2 BATHURST 250 WINNER 4th, 2013 AUSTRALIAN FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP

Pizza Hut Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2015 RACES 161 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 72 BEST FINISH 6th BEST QUAL 8th

MACAULEY Jones lines up for his fifth full-time Repco Supercars Championship season in 2023.

The son of team owner and former driver Brad, Jones moved into the ‘main game’ with a full-time drive in 2019 when he took over the reins of the Team CoolDrive Commodore entry run by BJR at the time for Tim Blanchard.

Jones rose through karting into Formula Ford and moved into the Dunlop Series with BJR midway through 2013. He started the first of four full-time seasons in the class the following year.

He finished 12th, ninth and seventh in his

DEBUT 2019 RACES 15 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

6 14th 8th

first three campaigns in the series and then suffered a series of misfortunes that cost a breakthrough race win and a shot at the title in 2018, including two suspension failures in Townsville and contact from Garry Jacobson at The Chase on the last lap fighting for the win at Bathurst.

Although remaining without a race win in the Dunlop Super2 Series itself, Jones did take out the Bathurst 250-kilometre race when it was a non-points event in 2017.

Jones spent four years as an Enduro Cup co-driver for BJR from 2015 to 2018, finishing seventh alongside Nick Percat at Bathurst in 2018 and sixth on the Gold Coast

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 0 21st

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

7th 12th

street circuit just weeks later.

His full-time Supercars career endured a false start at the Adelaide 500 in 2019 as a brake failure-induced crash in practice meant Jones missed the season-opening race.

Jones ended his rookie season 21st in the championship and improved to 19th in 2020 before finishing 23rd in 2021.

Remaining in the #96 BJR entry last year, Jones posted the best solo race finish of his Supercars career with a sixth place at Albert Park.

This year he is behind the wheel of the Pizza Hut #96 Camaro as part of BJR’s fourcar line-up.

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41

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN AGE 34 YEARS FROM AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND LIVES BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

@SVG97 @SVG97

2016, 2021, 2022 SUPERCARS CHAMPION 2020, 2022 BATHURST 1000 WINNER

Red Bull Ampol Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2007 RACES 498 PODIUMS 173

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

220 78 47

AFTER enjoying one of the greatest years of his career in 2021, Shane van Gisbergen somehow managed to top it in 2022 to become a three-time Repco Supercars Champion and a two-time Repco Bathurst 1000 winner.

A young van Gisbergen learnt his craft at home in New Zealand in motocross, midgets and karts before taking the step up into car racing in open wheelers.

He was talent-spotted by Supercars team owners Ross and Jimmy Stone and brought to Australia to make his Supercars debut at just 17 years of age in a Stone Brothers Racing-run Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon at

42

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2009 RACES 36 PODIUMS 17

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

16 10 4

Oran Park Raceway in Sydney.

He scored his first Supercars Championship race win in 2011 during a five-year stint with SBR and looked lost to the category at the end of 2012 until doing a shock deal to drive a TEKNO Autosports Holden for 2013.

He won on debut with his new team in the Sunday race in Adelaide and finished runnerup to future teammate Jamie Whincup in the 2014 Supercars Championship.

He moved to Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2016 as teammate to Whincup and Craig Lowndes and won seven races on his way to his first Supercars

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 7 4th

RACE WINS POLES

3 2

Championship win.

The Kiwi had to wait until 2020 to break through for his first Bathurst 1000 win and finished off the Gen2 Supercars era with two of the most dominant seasons in championship history across 2021 and 2022.

He romped to the 2021 title off the back of 14 wins and 23 podiums from 30 races, including a streak of seven victories to start the season.

He reset the record books in 2022 with 21 race wins across the season, including a second Bathurst 1000 triumph alongside Garth Tander at the wheel of the very same chassis they used to win Bathurst in 2020.

BRODIE KOSTECKI AGE 25 YEARS FROM PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIVES GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND

@brodiekostecki @brodiekostecki57

3rd, 2021 REPCO BATHURST 1000 5th, 2018 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES

Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2019 RACES 86 PODIUMS 15

ROUNDS RACE WINS POLES

34 2 5

BRODIE Kostecki came into the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship season looking every inch that he’d be the next first-time race winner and he removed himself from that list with a breakthrough win recently at Albert Park.

Kostecki wasted no time dispelling any doubters of his full-time graduation to the ‘main game’ with Erebus Motorsport in 2021 by finishing ninth in the Supercars Championship.

He quickly claimed his first podium with a stunning second place finish in tricky conditions at Sandown, then took another in Sydney later in the year, while a

DEBUT 2021 RACES 7 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

3 7th 8th

swashbuckling final stint earnt him a Repco Bathurst 1000 podium finish with co-driver David Russell. That momentum rolled into last year, which Kostecki kicked off with his first career pole position in Sydney. He converted the front row start to a podium finish, then added another at The Bend before narrowly missing out on back-to-back podium finishes at Bathurst.

Kostecki and his family moved to America where he cut his teeth in the uncompromising world of Late Model stock car racing on short ovals, winning at the famous Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina at age 15 against future NASCAR

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

15 10 1st

RACE WINS POLES

2 4

stars Ty Dillon and Bubba Wallace.

He returned home and competed in the Dunlop Super2 Series from 2017. He broke through for his first Super2 Series race and round win at Sandown in 2018 and finished fifth in the final standings.

Kostecki sat out the bulk of the 2019 series as he and cousin Jake focused on a three-round Enduro Cup wildcard campaign.

He joined Eggleston Motorsport for the 2020 Super2 season and won the opening round in Adelaide but didn’t see out the COVID-affected season, concentrating on his Erebus co-drive at Bathurst alongside Anton De Pasquale.

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43

DECLAN FRASER AGE 22 YEARS FROM CASTLEMAINE, VICTORIA LIVES MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

@declanfraserr @DeclanFraserRacing

2022 DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES WINNER 4th, 2019 TOYOTA 86 RACING SERIES

Tradie Racing 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP STATS

TOWNSVILLE STATS DEBUT 2022 RACES 16 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS 6 BEST FINISH 8th BEST QUAL 14th

DECLAN Fraser becomes the latest in a long line of Dunlop Super2 Series winners to graduate to the Repco Supercars Championship.

He secured his step up to the ‘main game’ for 2022 with a late deal to drive Tickford Racing’s #56 Tradie-backed Ford Mustang GT, becoming the third second-tier champ in the team’s driver line-up alongside Cam Waters and Thomas Randle.

The last driver to sort a place on the grid for this year, Fraser’s pathway to the ‘main game’ came via a plum seat with reigning champions Triple Eight in the 2022 Dunlop Super2 Series, in which he claimed four race

44

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

DEBUT 2023 RACES 0 PODIUMS 0

ROUNDS BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

0 N/A N/A

wins and a pair of round wins (including the Adelaide season finale) to secure the series win.

He also turned in an impressive debut drive at the Repco Bathurst 1000 aboard Triple Eight’s wildcard entry alongside Craig Lowndes, leading the race in the early stages before finishing eighth.

Fraser began his career in karts in 2008 before he graduated to car racing in 2017 in the competitive one-make Toyota 86 Racing Series.

His development accelerated during 2018 when he started receiving coaching from Paul Morris at the Norwell Motorplex in

RACES PODIUMS CHAMP POS

10 0 25th

BEST FINISH BEST QUAL

10th 14th

Queensland, winning a race, scoring a pole position and finishing on the podium three times on his way to 12th place in the series points, then improving to fourth overall the following year.

Fraser graduated to Super3 in 2020 in what ultimately turned out to be a severely shortened two-round series, before moving up to Super2 in 2021 in an MW Motorsport Nissan Altima.

He was forced to sit out the final two rounds due to an accident at Bathurst not of his doing after a loose wheel forced him to crash and he finished eighth in the final points.

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TOWNSVILLE HISTORY

RACING

IN THE SUN The NTI Townsville 500 is part of a rich history of Supercars and touring car racing in Queensland, as CONNOR O’BRIEN reports …

Q

UEENSLAND has been a fixture on the Repco Supercars Championship and Australian Touring Car Championship calendar for more than half a century, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the championship ventured outside of the state’s southeast.

First there was Lowood Airfield Circuit west of Brisbane which formed the sole stop on the 1961 championship schedule.

Lakeside Park and Surfers Paradise International Raceway debuted later in the ‘60s and became regular venues before being phased out as the end of millennium neared.

Thereafter was the rise of Queensland Raceway and the modern-day Surfers

46

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Paradise Street Circuit – and then Townsville. A trawl back through the archives finds that John Howard’s LNP Federal Government made a $10 million, 2007 election commitment to the Reid Park Street Circuit. That money was to develop a facility that would act as the pit building, and a centre of pre-vocational automotive and hospitality training throughout the remainder of the year.

Howard lost that election but there was no stopping the Townsville event, and by mid2008 the Labor-aligned Queensland state government had promised $14.61 million towards the venue, construction for which was estimated to cost $29.58 million in total.

Sport Minister Judy Spence further committed $2.5 million annually for the first five years of the event while unveiling the site’s blueprint.

“This map shows Townsville residents exactly where construction will be undertaken, to develop this world-class multipurpose events precinct,” Spence said at the time. “The declaration of this development area is the first big step towards transforming Reid Park into a raceway in time for the first V8 Supercar race next year.

“With the construction footprint now finalised, we can progress the detailed design of the track and facilities for release in the coming weeks.”

TOWNSVILLE HISTORY

Opposite Page: Nick Percat’s Brad Jones Racing Commodore lights up in pit lane back in 2019. Above: The Reid Park construction area as work was ongoing to create the facility that now hosts the annual event. Below: The inaugural Townsville round in 2009 as Will Davison (#22) leaves his pit bay, David Reynolds (#24) is serviced by his team and Todd Kelly (#7) makes his way down the pit lane.

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TOWNSVILLE HISTORY

The field jostles for position on the streets of Townsville in 2014. That year’s champion Jamie Whincup (#1 Red Bull Commodore) remains the most winning drivers in the history of the event.

Less than three weeks later, the dates for the inaugural event were officially announced as July 10-12, 2009.

“This is fantastic news for the people of Townsville and North Queensland to now plan their arrangements for the event,” declared then V8 Supercars Australia chairman Tony Cochrane.

“Now the huge audience in North Queensland has their first chance to see V8 Supercars live in their own region.”

A hybrid street circuit featuring a mix of public and racing-specific roads nearby the Townsville CBD, the event has not missed a beat since.

In fact, it’s one of three venues to have featured on every calendar from 2009 onwards, along with Hidden Valley and Mount Panorama.

A winter getaway for drivers and teams based in cooler climates, the event debuted in a 400km format, split across a pair of 200km races.

This year’s edition will be the fourth run as ‘a 500’, following 2014, 2021 and 2022.

Townsville also hosted a pair of SuperSprint events in 2020 and 2021 as Supercars navigated COVID-related challenges.

The Townsville 500 sees a gruelling 250km race held on each of the Saturday and Sunday, making for a pair of strategyfilled mini-enduros on a street circuit where overtaking is very possible.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

“TOWNSVILLE IS ONE OF THREE VENUES TO HAVE FEATURED ON EVERY CALENDAR FROM 2009 ONWARDS ALONG WITH HIDDEN VALLEY AND MOUNT PANORAMA.”

James Courtney picked up victory in Townsville in 2009 in the Sunday race. He shared the podium with Garth Tander and Jamie Whincup.

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TOWNSVILLE HISTORY

Above: Shell V-Power Mustang driver Anton De Pasquale finished runner-up in the final race in Townsville’s 2022 round after a last corner collision with Shane van Gisbergen. Below: van Gisbergen won both of last year’s 250-kilometre races in Townsviille.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Click here to listen today OFFICIAL PROGRAM

51

2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

THIS TIME LAST YEAR IN TOWNSVILLE A last turn tangle, slick pole lap, a category returnee and a breakthrough in Super2.

WILL DALE covers off all of the major items from the 2022 round in North Queensland …

SVG’S CLEAN SWEEP Shane van Gisbergen’s domination of the 2022 season included a perfect pair of victories on the streets of Townsville. Last year’s race format called for drivers to use a set of Dunlop Super Soft tyres at some point during each race, creating diverging strategies at the front of the field. In the Saturday race, van Gisbergen watched as Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison forge ahead in the early stages, but the Kiwi saved his soft rubber until the final stint and ran his Ford rival down with a handful of laps remaining. A similar strategy on Sunday also delivered him the win, but he wasn’t the first past the chequered flag…

LAST-TURN TANGLE It was actually Anton De Pasquale who took the chequered flag first in the Sunday race with van Gisbergen right on his rear bumper, although the Dick Johnson Racing pilot was destined to cop a post-race time penalty for an incident that happened at the final corner. De Pasquale had been closing in on the #97 and made a lunge, only to tap van Gisbergen into a half-spin. The Ford driver was quickly awarded a five-second time penalty that dropped him to second place and elevated van Gisbergen to his second victory of the weekend.

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WATERS’ SLICK POLE Cam Waters claimed his fifth ARMOR ALL Pole Position of the season in the Top 10 Shootout for the Sunday race, trouncing the field by over 0.3-seconds. With all drivers struggling to get up enough tyre temperature during one warm-up lap, Waters and engineer Sam Potter pulled a masterstroke by fitting lightly-used tyres from qualifying on the front. The extra temperature and grip delivered a boost over rivals that opted for new tyres all-round. He also overcame tricky track conditions, due to oil spilt at Turn 2 by a support category.

BIEBER’S BACK James Golding made a welcome return to the Repco Supercars Championship paddock, recruited by PremiAir Racing to replace Garry Jacobson in its Subway-backed entry. Golding had been out of a full-time drive since Garry Rogers Motorsport’s departure from the category at the end of the 2019 season, but had been a co-driver with Team 18 at the Repco Bathurst 1000 in the intervening years and was scheduled to join them again when the PremiAir opportunity came up. A steady outing in North Queensland was the precursor to a series of impressive runs through the remainder of the season.

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EREBUS STRUGGLE Last year’s Townsville round was one to forget for this year’s championship leaders. Neither Brodie Kostecki nor Will Brown managed a top 10 finish across the weekend as the team struggled to find form on Dunlop’s hard-compound tyre. The Sunday race was the low point, with Brown coming home a lapped 19th and Kostecki only just escaping the same fate courtesy of the SVG/De Pasquale last-turn tango in 16th. “I apologise to our sponsors for a bad show,” team chief Barry Ryan said afterwards.

FRASER’S FIRST WIN Hailing from Mackay, four hours south of Townsville, Declan Fraser’s maiden Dunlop Super2 Series race win came in the closest thing to a ‘home’ event. He qualified on pole for the Sunday race, which left him clear of a three-car tangle that unfolded alongside him that took out Saturday race winner Tyler Everingham, Matt Payne and Zak Best out of contention. The victory proved the first of four that led to him winning the 2022 second-tier title.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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SUPERCARS IN TOWNSVILLE

THE WINNERS A limited number of drivers can say they have won in Supercars in Townsville. In fact, eight drivers have shared the 36 race wins between them. Here’s a look at the most successful drivers on the Reid Park layout …

12 RACE WINS Jamie Whincup

First Win – 2009, Last Win – 2020

Seven-time Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup still sits atop the list of Townsville race winners having retired from full-time racing at the end of 2021. His victory in the inaugural race in North Queensland in 2009 didn’t come easy though, escaping a penalty for contact that spun Jack Perkins and overcoming a ninth-place grid position to seal the win. He went on to become a master of the Reid Park layout and win in both Fords and Holdens, winning eight of the 13 races held between 2009 and 2014. Whincup’s last wins in Townsville came in the first round of two held on back-to-back weekends in 2020.

Rapidly closing in on his team boss’ record of the most Supercars race wins in Townsville, the threetime Supercars Champion has been on fire at the venue in the recent past. He’s won seven of the last 10 races held there (covering the second round held in 2020, two rounds in 2021 and one round in 2022). Perhaps his most standout Townsville win though came in 2020 in the final race of the SuperSprint round. Starting from 12th, he managed to drive his way through the field to lead seven of the 39 laps and march on to take victory, his second win that day and fifth in Townsville.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

10 RACE WINS Shane van Gisbergen

First Win – 2016, Last Win – 2022

4 RACE WINS

Scott McLaughlin

First Win – 2017, Last Win – 2020

The Kiwi ace is now firmly part of the furniture in the NTT INDYCAR Series in the United States for Team Penske, but Townsville is a place where he did plenty of winning in Supercars. His first win in North Queensland came in the Saturday race in 2017 at the wheel of the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s FG X Falcon leading 62 of the 70 laps from pole position to take victory. He followed up with another win in 2019 at the wheel of the team’s #17 Mustang and took a win in each of the SuperSprint rounds held during the COVID-affected 2020 season.

The 2007 Supercars Champion did all of his winning in Townsville for the Holden Racing Team.

His first win came on the Saturday in 2011, a race where each car had to use both hard and soft compound Dunlop tyres. The win also moved Tander past Peter Brock in the championship record books by taking his 49th career win. He followed it up by leading home teammate James Courtney in an HRT 1-2 on the Sunday in 2013 and then won the second race in 2014 (again leading home Courtney in a 1-2 for HRT) from 11th on the grid.

3 RACE WINS Garth Tander

First Win – 2011, Last Win – 2014

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3 RACE WINS Mark Winterbottom

First Win – 2010, Last Win – 2015

The long-time Ford hero picked up his first Townsville win in the Sunday race in 2010, leading 47 laps of 71 to head home eventual champion James Courtney and third-placed Garth Tander. He had to wait until 2015 – the year he won the Supercars Championship – to add further victories in Townsville to his career tally, winning both of the 70 races. Winterbottom came home in front on Saturday (when he led Prodrive teammate David Reynolds to the line) and again Sunday (leading home James Courtney and Reynolds). It’s one of just four times that a single driver has clean swept the wins in a Townsville Supercars weekend.

The Monster Energy Tickford Mustang pilot won the Dunlop Series round in Townsville in 2015, the year he went on to win the Supercars development series. He made his first Townsville Supercars ‘main game’ start a year later though had to wait until 2021 to taste his first victory in the top tier there. He won the Saturday race in the first of two consecutive rounds held at the circuit and backed it up on the Sunday afternoon to win again by holding off Shane van Gisbergen in a tight tussle.

“We had a mega battle with him, it was really cool,” he said in the aftermath. “It was awesome to get one on him and win that race.”

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

2 RACE WINS Cam Waters

First Win – 2021, Last Win – 2021

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1 RACE WIN James Courtney Only Win – 2009

The 2010 Supercars Champion lined up as a major contender for the first Townsville race in 2009, especially after he qualified his #18 Falcon on the front row for the Saturday 250-kilometre race.

However, engine failure left him sidelined after just five laps and plotting a Sunday fightback, which resulted in Courtney leading 48 of the 72 laps and storming home to victory. The result wasn’t his first Supercars race win (that had come in 2008 in Queensland), but the Townsville win marked his first visit to the top step of a Supercars podium given the championship had changed to having a podium presentation for each race, rather than the overall round.

Will Davison’s only win so far in Townsville came back in 2013 at the wheel of Ford Performance Racing’s Pepsi Max Crew Falcon FG in the first year of the ‘Car of the Future’ regulations. He led home teammate Mark Winterbottom in a 1-2 finish, however its Davison’s post-race celebrations that are perhaps best remembered from that day. While lighting up the rear tyres of his #6 Ford to perform a victorious burn out, the now two-time Bathurst 1000 winner misjudged where he was on the track and promptly smacked the rear of his car into the concrete wall!

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

1 RACE WIN Will Davison

Only Win – 2013

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A MATTER

OF NUMBERS There’s a range of interesting statistics pertaining to this year’s NTI Townsville 500 and Repco Supercars Championship. AARON NOONAN steps you through some numbers that matter heading into the North Queensland round of the championship …

4 Amazingly, just four teams have won all 36 Supercars races that have been held in Townsville since the event debuted on the calendar in 2009. The bulk have been won by Triple Eight Race Engineering, which has claimed a whopping 22 wins. Jamie Whincup won the inaugural race driving a TeamVodafone Falcon for the team back in 2009. Tickford Racing (which also won in Townsville under the Ford Performance Racing and Prodrive Racing Australia banners) is next best with six wins from Dick Johnson Racing’s five (all achieved during its DJR Team Penske era) and the Holden Racing Team (now Walkinshaw Andretti United) with three.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

7

Seventh place is the only grid position in the top 12 yet to produce a Supercars race winner in Townsville. The most common starting position for a race winner at the event is pole position – 11 of the 36 races held in Townsville been won by the car starting on pole. Race winners have started from second a total of seven times. Three Townsville races have been won from 10th or worse on the grid - Jamie Whincup (10th in Race 1 in 2014), Garth Tander (11th in Race 2 in 2014, pictured) and Shane van Gisbergen (12th in final race in the September round in 2020).

9

A unique piece of history unfolded in the last round of the Repco Supercars Championship at the Betr Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley. The first Sunday race (Race 14 of the 2023 championship) saw Chevrolet Camaros fill the first nine finishing positions. It was just the second time in the 63-year history of the championship that this had occurred. The only other time was on Sunday March 18, 1979 at Calder Park in Melbourne, pictured, when Peter Brock led home eight other Torana A9Xs in the 50 lap second round of that year’s Australian Touring Car Championship.

9

Monster Energy Mustang ace Cam Waters and Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen have been the dominant drivers in the recent past on the Reid Park circuit in Townsville. Between they have won the last nine Townsville races in a row dating back to partway through the September round in 2020 (the second of two rounds in a row that year). Van Gisbergen has won seven of those races in that period and Waters has won two (both at the SuperSprint round in 2021).

39 4 Mark Winterbottom’s win on the Saturday at the Betr Darwin Triple Crown moved his career tally to 39 Supercars Championship race wins. He remains ninth on the all-time race winner’s list but has closed to within one race win of equalling Ford legend Glenn Seton (40 wins) for eighth place. Three of Winterbottom’s wins have come in Townsville, one in 2010 and two in his championshipwinning season of 2015, pictured.

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59

Repco Supercars Championship points leader Brodie Kostecki heads Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus teammate Will Brown by 59 points coming into the NTI Townsville 500. It’s the smallest championship lead Kostecki has held since he first took the points lead at the competition of Race 6 at Albert Park in Melbourne. Kostecki’s biggest championship lead was 109 points after Race 14 in Darwin, however a 26th place finish (after sustaining damage on the opening lap) in Race 15 has brought it back to 59 entering the Townsville event.

150 Townsville marks a very special milestone for the Dunlop Series, which celebrates its 150th round in the sun in North Queensland. The series began back in March 2000 and was originally known as the Konica V8 Lites Series.

It has since provided a training ground for drivers and teams to develop their skills as the feeder series for the Supercars Championship and now features Super2 and Super3 cars formerly raced in the ‘main game’. The series has competed in Townsville since 2009 every year bar one (2020). The inaugural round winner in 2009 was James Moffat driving a Sonic Motor Racing Falcon BF, pictured.

200 The team now known as Grove Racing is making its 200th Supercars Championship round start when it rolls onto the track in Townsville with its pair of Penrite Mustangs. Originally formed as Kelly Racing in 2009 by the Kelly family, including brothers Rick and Todd, the team ran under the Nissan Motorsport banner during its time as Nissan’s factory-backed team. A half share was sold to Stephen Grove and the team renamed Kelly Grove Racing for the 2021 season. The Kellys sold out completely at the end of that season, though the team remains based in the same workshop in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Braeside.

500 Shane van Gisbergen is set to start his 500th Supercars Championship race when the field lines up on the grid in Townsville for Sunday’s 250-kilometre race. The three-time Supercars Champion comes into the Townsville round with 498 race starts and will become just the 12th driver in the history of the championship to reach the milestone.

The Kiwi has added just one race win this year (Race 7 at Wanneroo) to his career tally from the 15 races held so far this year to move to 78 career championship race wins. By comparison he won nine of the first 15 races last year and nine of the first 15 races in 2021.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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STATS POWERED BY

SLEUTHING THE CHAMPIONSHIP’S STAR PERFORMERS The 2023 season continues Australia’s long-standing history of touring car and Supercars racing. V8 Sleuth’s AARON NOONAN has tracked the main categories of success across the history of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the Repco Supercars Championship – here’s where they all sit in the history books ...

MOST RACE WINS RANK

DRIVER

1

Jamie Whincup

3

Mark Skaife

2

4 5 6 7 8 9

10

MOST RACE WINS 2023 FULL-TIME DRIVERS

WINS

Craig Lowndes

Shane van Gisbergen Garth Tander

Scott McLaughlin Peter Brock Glenn Seton

Mark Winterbottom Allan Moffat

RANK

DRIVER

124

1

Shane van Gisbergen

78

90

3

Will Davison

22

110

78 57 56

2

4 5 6

Mark Winterbottom

39

9

Broc Feeney

10

15

Cam Waters

Anton De Pasquale

36

21

James Courtney

7 8

39

Chaz Mostert

48 40

WINS

9 8

David Reynolds

7 5

Nick Percat

4

MOST ROUND STARTS

MOST ROUND STARTS 2023 FULL-TIME DRIVERS

RANK

DRIVER STARTS

RANK

DRIVER

1

Craig Lowndes

300

1

Mark Winterbottom

268

3

Mark Winterbottom

268

=2

James Courtney

238

2

4

5

6

7

8

=9

=9

66

Garth Tander Rick Kelly

Jason Bright

Russell Ingall

Jamie Whincup

Todd Kelly

Will Davison James Courtney

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

288

265

260

254

253

243

238

238

=2

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Will Davison

Shane van Gisbergen David Reynolds

Tim Slade

Scott Pye

Nick Percat

Chaz Mostert

Cam Waters

STARTS 238

220

190

189

142

136

135

110

STATS POWERED BY

MOST RACE STARTS RANK

DRIVER

1

Craig Lowndes

3

Mark Winterbottom

2

4

5

6

7

=8

=8

10

MOST RACE STARTS 2023 FULL-TIME DRIVERS

RANK

DRIVER

675

1

Mark Winterbottom

608

608

3

Will Davison

533

580

5

555

7

541

9

STARTS

Garth Tander

Russell Ingall

Rick Kelly

Jason Bright

Jamie Whincup

Todd Kelly

James Courtney Will Davison

642

2

588

4

578

6

541

8

533

10

MOST POLE POSITIONS RANK

DRIVER

1

Jamie Whincup

3

Peter Brock

2 4 5 6 7 8 9

=10 =10

Shane van Gisbergen Craig Lowndes

Mark Skaife

Allan Moffat

Mark Winterbottom Garth Tander Will Davison

Dick Johnson

10

Tim Slade

414

Scott Pye

327

Chaz Mostert

311

Nick Percat

303

Cam Waters

238

DRIVER

92

1

Shane van Gisbergen

47

57

3

Will Davison

28

43

5

39

=6

30

9

28

=10

76

2

47

4

41

=6

36

8

28

=10

POLES

Mark Winterbottom

36

Chaz Mostert

23

Cam Waters

20

David Reynolds

16

Anton De Pasquale

16

James Courtney

10

Brodie Kostecki

5

Will Brown

3

Broc Feeney

3

MOST PODIUMS 2023 FULL-TIME DRIVERS Shane van Gisbergen

173

169

3

Chaz Mostert

83

Scott McLaughlin

106

5

Garth Tander

100

7

83

9

Craig Lowndes

9

419

1

3

8

David Reynolds

237

Jamie Whincup

=6

498

DRIVER

1

=6

Shane van Gisbergen

RANK

DRIVER

5

541

RANK

POLES

Scott McLaughlin

RANK

4

James Courtney

MOST POLE POSITIONS 2023 FULL-TIME DRIVERS

MOST PODIUM FINISHES

2

STARTS

Shane van Gisbergen Mark Winterbottom Peter Brock

Mark Skaife

Chaz Mostert

Will Davison

PODIUMS 173

2

118

4

100

6

88

8

79

10

PODIUMS

Mark Winterbottom Will Davison James Courtney

Cam Waters

David Reynolds

Anton De Pasquale Tim Slade Brodie Kostecki

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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HITTING A CENTURY -

AND A HALF The Dunlop Series celebrates a special milestone in Townsville as it chalks up its 150th round of racing action. AARON NOONAN reports …

T

HE Dunlop Series is the proving ground for young racers and the category’s 150th round this weekend in North Queensland provides a chance to stop and reflect on where it’s been and who is among the next crop of future stars.

The second-tier Supercars category was founded in 2000, with 21 cars – predominantly either Holden VS Commodores or Ford EL Falcons – on the grid for the inaugural race at Eastern Creek.

In the subsequent years, drivers to be crowned Super2 champion before graduating to the main game include Mark Winterbottom, Scott McLaughlin, Cam Waters and Broc Feeney.

Winterbottom, now the third most experienced driver in Supercars Championship history, hailed the role of what was then known as the Konica Series in his

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

career progression.

“As a former champion of the Dunlop Super2 Series, I am incredibly proud to witness its 150th round coming up at the Townsville 500,” says Winterbottom.

“It’s a testament to the series’ legacy and its role in shaping the future stars of Australian motorsport. Super2, or the Development Series as it was back then, holds a special place in my heart, as it gave me the platform to showcase my skills and make a name for myself in the Supercars paddock. I have fond memories from my championship year (2003) with Stone Brothers (right).

“It wasn’t just about the drivers, but it gave the platform for new crew, engineers and support staff to work their way up and provide exposure to teams, sponsors and fans of the main game.”

Opposite Page: Young gun Kai Allen heads the pack in Perth. Above: Kiwi Ryan Wood was joined on the podium in Perth by Aaron Love (left) and Lachie Dalton (right). Below: Wood’s #2 Pacific Fuel Solutions Commodore is part of a two-car Walkinshaw Andretti United Super2 team.

The latest young gun to show all the signs of future stardom is Walkinshaw Andretti United’s young Kiwi signing Ryan Wood.

The 19-year-old, who works during the week in the team’s Melbourne workshop, broke through to win both races in the last round in Perth, sealing the overall round victory in just his second appearance in one of the team’s Super2 Commodores.

The breakthrough performance moves Wood into sixth in the Super2 pointscore, just 114 points off the lead held by Anderson

Motorsport Mustang driver Zak Best.

Best holds a 48-point lead over Cooper Murray (Eggleston Motorsport Commodore) in the chase for the Super2 Series crown with Aaron Love (Petronas/Blanchard Racing Team Mustang) a further 27 points behind in third and Image Racing’s Jay Hanson only a further six points behind.

The Super3 Series for older ex-Supercars is a close fight too, with Image Racing’s young gun Jobe Stewart holding a 27-point advantage over Cameron McLeod’s Nissan

Altima. Stewart won the opening round in Newcastle while McLeod bounced back to win overall at Wanneroo.

Jett Johnson, grandson of Supercars legend Dick Johnson, sits third in his rookie season aboard another Altima with Kiwi Matthew McCutcheon (Eggleston Motorsport Commodore, not competing in Townsville) and Mason Kelly rounding out the top five.

The Dunlop Series cars will battle over a pair of races in Townsville, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

71

DUNLOP SERIES

ENTRY LIST ROUND 3 - SUPER 2 / SUPER 3 ENTRY LIST NO

DRIVER

TEAM SPONSOR NAME

CAR

2

Ryan Wood

Walkinshaw Andretti United

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

5

Brad Vaughan

Angaston Motors

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

6

Elly Morrow

Steeline

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

11

Zane Morse

AIM Motorsport Australia

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

17

Zak Best

Anderson Motorsport

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

18

Matt Chahda

Cavalier Homes

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

22

Mason Kelly

Kelly Racing

Nissan Altima

DS3

25

Zach Bates

Walkinshaw Andretti United

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

26

Kai Allen

Eggleston Motorsport

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

30

Aaron Seton

SS Signs

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

33

Callum Walker

Ascot Demolition

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

38

Cameron Crick

Eggelston Motorsport

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

39

Chris Smerdon

Truck Assist Racing

Holden Commodore VF

DS3

43

Lachlan Dalton

AWC Motorsport

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

49

Jay Hanson

Cowbiz

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

54

Jordyn Sinni

Eggleston Motorsport

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

67

Nash Morris

World Gym Racing

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

70

Jack Perkins

Shaw and Partners Racing

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

78

Aaron Love

Petronas Motorsport

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

88

Cooper Murray

Eggleston Motorsport

Holden Commodore ZB

DS2

89

Ryan Gilroy

AIM Motorsport Australia

Holden Commodore VF

DS3

92

Cameron McLeod

Gotzinger Smallgoods with Caravan HQ

Nissan Altima

DS3

117

Jett Johnson

NAPA Auto Parts

Nissan Altima

DS3

219

James Masterton

Pheasant Wood Circuit

Ford Mustang GT

DS2

999

Jobe Stewart

Image Racing

Holden Commodore VF

DS3

Note: Entry details subject to change after deadline for this program had closed.

DS2 indicates car competing in the Dunlop Super2 Series.

DS3 indicates car competing in the Dunlop Super3 Series.

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

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73

A CLASSIC BATTLE Good luck picking a winner in this year’s Porsche pack! As RICHARD CRAILL reports, the chase for the 2023 Carrera Cup is well and truly alive …

T

WO ROUNDS into the 2023 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship and it’s really becoming a battle of youth versus experience in the fastest one-make series in the country.

In one corner you’ve got the young-guns, Michelin Junior stars like Jackson Walls and Max Vidau who were so evenly matched at Albert Park’s season opener that they left with the joint lead of the championship.

They were trailed by young New Zealander Callum Hedge, another Kiwi superstar in the making and last year’s Townsville winner.

Three young, charismatic, super quick and high achieving young drivers already to make their mark on the racing world,

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

joined by other quick young stars like Christian Pancione, Garnet Patterson, Luke King, Bayley Hall, Thomas Maxwell, Dylan O’Keeffe and Simon Fallon.

And then the series went to Darwin, where the only thing people saw was the rear wing of Dale Wood’s Shannons-backed EBM Type 992 GT3 Cup Car. With pole, three race wins, the round win and a new lap record, the now 40-year-old Wood crushed the field in the Territory and got one back for the group that could call themselves ‘more experienced’.

Joining Wood in that division are former Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champions David Wall, Alex Davison and Fabian Coulthard, Supercars refugee Chris Pither,

Nick McBride and Bathurst podium finisher David Russell.

Walls leads the series by just five points, with Wood in hot pursuit and Hedge not far back in third.

It’s a tasty mix of youth and experience and helps explain why this year’s Carrera Cup championship is so competitive, both in the Equity One Pro class and in SP Tools Pro Am, where four drivers have won the five races contested so far this year.

Watch for a furious street fight this weekend in North Queensland, the series returning to Townsville just two rounds into the 2023 campaign - with no clear form guide established and no one contender having made their mark so far.

PORSCHE PAYNTER DIXON CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA

ENTRY LIST

ROUND 3 - PORSCHE PAYNTER DIXON CARRERA CUP AUSTRALIA NO DRIVER SPONSOR / TEAM

CLASS

2

Luke King

Wall Racing / MOUTAI

Pro

5

Thomas Maxwell

TekworkX Motorsport

Pro

3

7

8

9

11

13

14

17

20

22

23

28

32 38

42

72

76

77

88

99

101

222

777

992

999

Fabian Coulthard Tim Miles

Nick McBride

Marc Cini

Jackson Walls

Sam Shahin Matthew Belford

Callum Hedge

Adrian Flack

Dean Cook

Daniel Stutterd

Bayley Hall

Courtney Prince David Wall

Chris Pither

Max Vidau

Christian Pancione Rodney Jane

Dylan O’Keeffe

David Russell

Ryder Quinn

Alex Davison

Simon Fallon

Dale Wood

Angelo Mouzouris

Porsche Centre Melbourne / BWT

Pro

Miles Advisory Partners

Pro-Am

Hallmarc/ Team MPC

Pro-Am

The Bend Motorsport Park

Pro-Am

Hallmarc/ Team MPC Objective Racing

ID Land / Team MPC

Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM

Pro

Pro

Pro-Am

Pro

Agas National

Pro-Am

TekworkX Motorsport

Pro-Am

Dexion / RAM Motorsport Hall Finance / Insurance Solutions

Pro-Am

Pro

Porsche Centre Melbourne / BWT

Pro

Wall Racing

Pro

Coca-Cola Racing powered by EMA

Pro

TekworkX Motorsport / Tyrepower VCM Performance / HP Tuners

Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts Dexion / RAM Motorsport

Pro

Pro

Pro-Am

Pro

Earl Bamber Motorsport

Pro

Local Legends

Pro

Scott Taylor Motorsport

Pro

Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts / Bremtech

Pro

Ranbuild Racing

Pro

Sonic Motor Racing Services / Bob Jane T Marts / Pitbox

Pro

Note: All drivers compete in identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991 Gen I) cars.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

75

WITH STARS IN THEIR EYES The Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series kicks off for 2023 in Townsville.

AARON NOONAN previews the action …

F

IRST introduced to Australian motorsport in 2016, the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series has become the latest success story as a grassroots category providing a proven breeding ground for future stars.

The first series winner in 2016, Will Brown, finds himself thesedays fighting for the Repco Supercars Championship and he’s joined on this year’s Supercars grid by fellow TGRA 86 Series graduates in Broc Feeney, Cameron Hill and Declan Fraser, who all cut their teeth in the category.

Such has been the popularity of the TGRA 86 Series that Toyota Australia has introduced a new second-tier entry-level scholarship series this year after receiving overwhelming interest from teams and drivers wishing to compete in the category.

Drivers who finished in the top 20 in the 2022 series points are automatically eligible

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NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

for the opening round in Townsville and the first three rounds of the Scholarship Series have formed pre-qualifying events for new or returning drivers or those that finished outside the top 20 last season.

“When we started the TGRA 86 Series back in 2016, our vision was to provide a series that offered the opportunity for young up and coming drivers to hone their race craft, alongside some of the best in the business,” says Toyota Australia Chief Marketing Officer Vin Naidoo. “It was designed as a professional, safe, one-make series that placed an emphasis on helping aspiring professional drivers develop their skills, alongside professional drivers and mentors, as well as providing an affordable series for passionate weekend warriors who just want to race for the thrill of it.”

This year’s field includes a range of talent looking to grab the mantle of series

champion with 11 of last year’s top 20 series finishers returning for 2023. And two Supercars teams – Grove Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United – have opted in join the series with one car each, proof that the big end of Aussie motorsport is watching the TGRA 86 Series very closely.

A field of 34 cars will be on track in Townsville with 32 series regulars and two guest drivers. Bathurst 6 Hour winner (and Truck Assist Racing Supercars endurance driver) Jayden Ojeda and rally ace Lewis Bates will join the field, with further guest drivers to make appearances in the following rounds of the series.

The NTI Townsville 500 marks the first of five rounds of the TGRA 86 Series this year with the remainder to be held at Repco Supercars Championship rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park, The Bend, Sandown and Bathurst.

2023 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING AUSTRALIA 86 SERIES

ENTRY LIST

ROUND 1 - TOYOTA GAZOO RACING AUSTRALIA 86 SERIES NO DRIVER SPONSOR / TEAM 2

Matthew Hillyer

Morris

5

Jordan Shalala

Tyler Greenbury Racing

4

8

10

14

15

17

20

21 22

23 25 27

31

35

36

37

42

45

50 53

55

57 71

79

Jack Westbury

Jordan Freestone

James Holdsworth

Clay Richards

James Wilkins

Mitchell McGarry

Reuben Goodall

Rylan Gray Oscar Targett

Lachlan Bloxsom Bradi Owen Ryan Tomsett

Brock Stinson

Ben Gomersall

Cody Burcher

Campbell Logan

Tom Davies

Hayden Hume

Alice Buckley Max Geoghegan

Michael Sherwell

Ryan Hadden Craig Thornton

Ryan Casha

White

TekworkX Motorsport

Black

Holdsworth Motorsport

Shannons Insurance / Penrite Oil

Kaizen Racing / Flowtek Hydraulic & Mechanical

Mitchell McGarry Racing / Professionals Australia Sieders Racing Team

JMG Racing / On The Pace Grove Racing

Bloxsom Team Navy

Mineco / Bradi Owen Racing

Ryan Tomsett Racing / Bondi Carpets / Baseline Stinson Family Racing UNIT Racing

Awcon Racing

AWC / Logan Group

BF Racing / Liquor Legends Total Parts Plus

Alice Buckley Motorsport / ASP Pilling / Bendworx Just Bathroomware / Tumbi Tyres

118

210

333

Jarrod Hughes Zoe Woods

Rossi Johnson

White / Red

White Blue

White Blue

Green / White

White

Red / Black

Black

White

White

Green / Blue

Black / Yellow

White / Yellow / Green White

Blue

Attachment Warehouse Racing

Fluro Yellow

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia

White / Red

Team CARMA

Marcus LaDelle

Grey

White

Jayden Wanzek

99

Green / Black

Thornsport / Thorntek

Zuce Tech / Alientech / Simply Cool

90

Cooper Barnes

White

Black / Pink

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia

97

Black

Nova Air & Electrical

Jayden Ojeda

Lewis Bates

Red

Jack Westbury Racing

86

87

COLOUR

Designer Living Kitchens 99motorsport

Jarrod Hughes Motorsport / ACDelco / JGI TekworkX Motorsport

TekworkX Motorsport

White / Red

Black

Black

Black / Gold

Red

White

Grey

Note: All drivers compete in idential Toyota 86 cars.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

77

POCKET ROCKETS

RETURN TO TOWNSVILLE They’ve been away for a while, but the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series drivers and teams are heading back to North Queensland …

A

PACK of angry ants or pint-sized racers, call them what you will, but the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series is a must-see part of the support category action at the NTI Townsville 500.

The motorcycle-engined race cars always deliver close racing; however, it has been some time since the category has made the trip to North Queensland. The last time the Aussie Racing Cars headed to Townsville was way back in 2017, so this year marks a welcome return.

The fight for victory among these ‘pocket rockets’ has been entertaining again this year with close racing and tight title fights in the various categories always guaranteed.

78

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Round one supported the Repco Supercars Championship at the Thrifty Newcastle 500, round two at Queensland Raceway supported the Australian Superbike Championship round and the next two rounds at Symmons Plains and Hidden Valley respectively have supported Supercars.

South Australian Joel Heinrich, the 2018 Aussie Racing Cars Super Series winner, leads the title chase with two rounds to go, nine points clear of Reece Chapman with 2022 champion Joshua Anderson another two points back in third place.

Anthony Di Mauro and Kent Quinn round out the top five in the series pointscore.

Last time out saw Cody Brewczynski

top the weekend points in round four of the series in Darwin. The Shell Rimula Topgun Race Team driver now sits 11th in the points in the keenly contested series.

This year’s Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series is being held over six rounds. This weekend is the fifth and penultimate round of the series with the final round to be at Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand on November 3-5 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the circuit.

Highlands circuit owner Tony Quinn makes a special return to racing in Townsville at the wheel of an Aussie Racing Car too, after being seriously injured in a Porsche Carrera Cup crash here last year.

BATTERY WORLD AUSSIE RACING CARS SUPER SERIES

ENTRY LIST

ROUND 5 - BATTERY WORLD AUSSIE RACING CARS SUPER SERIES NO DRIVER SPONSOR / TEAM CAR 1 3 4 6 7 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 27 28 33 40 47 48 52 56 57 63 64 72 78 82 87 88 91 95 96 101 187 666

Joshua Anderson Steve Jakic Brendon Tucker Chad Chapman Andrew Lorgelly Scott Gore Matt Gooding Joel Heinrich Denis Butler Cody Brewczynski Sheridan Phillips Scott Risky Kyle Ensbey Scott O’Keefe Scott Dornan Reece Chapman Nathan Locke Kent Quinn Desmond Collier Carey Joy Troy Jones Keith Bensley Charlotte Poynting Zac Schonberger Brandon Madden Adam Uebergang Craig Woods Craig Thompson Grant Thompson Cody Mckay Leslie Corish Michael Bartsch Anthony DiMauro Nathan Williams Jeff Williams Anthony Quinn Andrew Corish Josh Thomas

CoolDrive / Perenso Racing Black Diamond Building and Construction Variety Motorsport Motorsport 25 / Chivas Racing Muscle Motor Trimmers Asap Marketing Pty Ltd PCA / MGR Racing Osborn’s Transport Butler Fabrication/Team Grand Racing Shell Rimula Topgun Race Team Phillips & Co Automotive TFH Hire Services KE Motorsport MSS Group/ O’Keefe Motorsports Action Line Marking CoolDrive Racing / Motorsport 25 Locke Racing Team Norganic Proteins Pty Ltd THF Hire Services Joytech / JoyTrack 24 7 / Akron Group Motorsport 25 / Pro Cool Racing Asap Marketing Pty Ltd Banlaw Fluid Asset Intelligence Schonberger Racing Riskie Racing - Harvey’s Towing Service Arcadia Village Motel Western Sydney Motorsport Western Sydney Motorsport Western Sydney Motorsport Cody Mckay Motorsports Corish Motorsports Bartsch Earthmoving Koan Solutions - Crete & Works Co Nathan Williams Racing Fight MND Norganic Proteins Pty Ltd Corish Motorsports TFH Hire Services

CLASS

Mustang Championship Euro GT Rookies Camaro Gold Cup Nissan Altima Gold Cup Euro GT Masters Cup Mustang Gold, Rookies Camaro Gold Cup Mustang Championship Camaro Gold Cup Mustang Championship Camaro Gold Cup Camaro Rookies Mustang Championship Mustang Masters Cup Camaro Rookies, Gold Cup Mustang Championship Euro GT Rookies Mustang Masters Cup Euro GT Rookies, Masters Camaro Masters Cup Camaro Championship, Masters Toyota Aurion Masters, Rookies Mustang Championship Camaro Championship Camaro Rookies Camaro Championship Mustang Championship Mustang Gold Cup Mustang Masters Cup Camaro Championship Camaro Gold, Rookies Camaro Rookies, Masters Camaro Championship Mustang Rookies Mustang Gold Cup Mustang Gold Camaro Rookies Mustang Rookies OFFICIAL PROGRAM

79

2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

EVENT OFFICIALS OFFICIALS OF THE EVENT National Sporting Authority Motorsport Australia Promoter V8 Supercars Australia Pty Ltd Organiser V8 Supercars Australia Pty Ltd Organising Committee Matthew Ramsden, Phil Shaw, Kimberly Hughes, Nigel Faull

SUPERCARS OFFICIALS VCS and DS2/3 Stewards Matt Selley, Bradley Tubb, Trevor Neumann VCS Race Director James Taylor VCS Deputy Race Director David Mori, James Delzoppo DS2/3 Race Director David Mori DS2/3 Deputy Race Director James Delzoppo Clerk of the Course Nigel Faull Secretary of the Event Kimberly Hughes Medical Delegate Dr Carl Le Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess DS2/3 Category Technical Manager Scott Campbell Starter Paul Martin Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird Race Control Operations James Delzoppo

Timing Co-ordinator Recovery Co-ordinator Safety Car Driver Safety Car Communicator Media Manager

Ian Leech Alistair Walker Jason Routley Berenice Stratton Paul Glover

SUPPORT EVENT OFFICIALS Support Category Stewards Deputy Clerk of the Course Emergency Coordinator Chief of Communications Communicators Chief Timekeeper Course Car Marshal Support Safety Car Driver Support Safety Car Observer Chief Starter Assistant Starter Chief Scrutineer Deputy Chief Scrutineer Chief Marshal Chief Flag Marshal Deputy Chief Flag Marshal Chief of Recovery Chief Fire Marshal Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Chief Pit Lane & Grid Marshal Deputy Chief Pit Lane Marshal Deputy Chief Grid Marshal

80

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Geoffrey Nicol, Matthew Halpin Glenn Pincott Kaye Callander TBC Catherine McHugh Peter Durkin, Oliver Sellars TBC Paul Howlett Brad Stratton Berenice Stratton Erik James Zac Dawes Athol Wilcox Scott Swarbrick Wayne Oliver Cosmin Ghebosu Leigh Evans Brad Moras Chanelle Fryer Bruce Nissen Adrian Bond Anthea Ma Trevor Allen

Chief Paddock Marshal - Infield Deputy Chief Paddock Marshal - Infield Chief Paddock Marshal - Outfield Deputy Chief Paddock Marshal - Outfield Chief Supply Chief Medical Officer Medical Coordinator Medical Centre Manager Medical Administration Manager

Greg Waller Shane Young June Bunker-Marratt Warren Skimmings Ian Lamb Dr Karyn Lun Peter Castledine Natalie Borg Rhonda Castledine

2023 NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

VOLUNTEERS Trevor Allan Joe Allen Linda Anderson Renee Anderson Mike Arthur Lewis Baldwin Ian Balkin Shane Bawden Brian Baxter Melanie Beets Shane Beikoff Graham Bell David Bellettini Aaron Bennett Tracey Bennett Damien Berger Peter Besic Julie Betts Christina Billing Kaaren Binns Jenny Bishop Geoffrey Blaine Linda Blows Luke Bohlsen Vinette Boland Adrian Bond Joanne Boon Natalie Borg Liam Brand Kalliope Brown Connor Browning Shane (Mully) Bunker June Bunker-Marratt Michelle Burgess Jay Burling Jayden Calder Kaye Callander Donna Campbell Richard Campbell Wayne Campbell Michael Cannon Steve Caplice Graham Carnes Leah Carr Peter Castledine Rhonda Castledine Peter Chandler Melissa Christiansen Sarah-Anne Clark Paul Cliffe Michael Cochrane Terry Coleman Michael Collins John Commins Ross Contarino Justin Cooper Melanie Cossor Tony Cousins David Cowie Pat Curtis Stewart Davey Jason Davidson Kelsey Davidson Samuel Davidson Brett Davis Neil Davis Zac Dawes Ashlynn Dawson Kaitlyn Debney

Karen Debney Reece Debney James Delzoppo Simon Devlin Stephen Dorrenboom Michael Downs Jeff Dowson Amanda Dudley Vanessa Dunbar Maureen Durkin Peter Durkin Mike Dutton Ray Dyson Dennis Eagle Ken Eardman Graham Eden Bihindu Edirisinghe Leslie Elliott Ray Elliott Zoeanne Elliott Kim Ensinger Leigh Evans Mikayla Evans Brian Fackrell Nigel Faull James Fludder Kiera Fludder Errol Flynn Peter Ford John Forde Steven Forrest Les Francis Ricky Friedman Chanelle Fryer Mark Furey Ken Gaffel Tom Gardner Cameron Gaskell Breannah Ghebosu Cosmin Ghebosu Brian Gibson Jasmine S M Gibson Ron Gibson Tegan-lee Gilbert Ross Girvan Sandy Golding Trevor Goodwin Simon Gore Greg Graham Dewayne Grant Kevin Green Stuart Green Tamara Green Ashley Groves William Hackett Kylie Haines Matthew Halpin Maurice Hann Joshua Hansford George Hardas Geoff Harris Des Hartwig Scott Haynes Paul Hayward Shaz Hembrow Finlay Henderson Tegan Henderson Desi Hepburn Jack Herrod

Ken Hey Peter Hodgkison Paul Howlett Daniel Huggett Kimberly Hughes Joel Humphreys Kate Hutchinson Martha Ireland Melissa Irwin Krystian Jackson Erik James Matt Jarrett Catherine Johnson Shane Johnson Stephen Johnson Mathew Jones Kelly Joubert Keith Keating Teresa Kent Buddy King Colleen Kneipp Bruce Knight Danijel Kovac Nikamantha Krishnan Tammie Kumor-Anderson Peter Lamond Greg Lang Pam Lang Lesley Lawrence Cristian Lenske Michelle Lenske Clayton Lewis Carolyn Lillie Chris Linfoot Jason Loadsman Richard Longford Graham Lovell Karyn Lun Jo Lynch Shaun Lynch Therese Lynch Timothy Lynch Anthea Ma Gary Mackay Wayne Mackay Steven Magnussen Stephen Mallory Sheila Marchisella Brent May Jenn McCartney Pat McGaw Phillip McHardy Catherine McHugh Katie McIver Peter McKinnon Ian McKirdy Peter Miller Samantha Mitchell William Mitchell Ben Moody Brad Moras David Mori Ray Morris Nelson Mount Gregory Muller Casey Muscat Stephen Navaratnam Vicki Nebbia Troy Nethercott

Trevor Neumann Kim Nicholls Jess Nicholson Geoffrey Nicol Bruce Nissen Sam Norton-Bern Brian O’ Rourke Michelle O’Connell Patrick Oconnor Kyle Oliver Wayne Oliver Trish Olliver Wayne Olliver Deb Orchiston Seho Park Ashley Parrish Anastacia Paul Joseph Paul Fay Payne Stacey Paynter Stephen Peach Brian Perry Rachelle Petersen Robert Petersen Delani Phillips Glenn Pincott Michael Platt Lachlan Potter Angeleigh Pritchard Rhonda Purcell Debbie Rapp Lindsay Rapp Gary Reddacliff Nicole Redderhof Errol Reeves Leslie Reeves John Reid Mark Reimers Gabrielle Rhall Roberta Ridolfi Wayne Rieck Madison Riley-Shaw Patricia Robertson Shaun Robertson Simon Robinson Phil Robson Tony Rodda Andrew Rogers Benjamin Rowe Sarah Rowe Peter Ryland Charles Sandham Alies Schellingerhout Jess Scott Jim Scott Eleanor Scully Paul Scully Oliver Sellars Matt Selley Sharon Sharp Cameron Shaw Warren Skimmings Murray Slana Kel Smith Matthew Smith Peter Southwell Reeannan Stanley Peter Stapley Bryce Steer

Ronald Stewart Dave Stillwell Stephen Stone Berenice Stratton Brad Stratton David Stuart Scott Swarbrick Brad Symons James Taylor Michael Taylor Soon Teoh Robert Thiry Barb Thompson Katherine Thomson Robyn Thomson Norm Truscott Bradley Tubb Sean Turk Robert Turner George Uren Travis Van Der Vliet John Vantiel Roz Vecchio Donn Vidler Ryan Viney Helen Voysey Trevor Voysey Tylah Wager Neil Wallbridge Greg Waller Anthony Walsh Adrian Warren Corey Watts Noah Weber Micheal Weekes Greg Whan Bill Whitburn Ken Whitby Abner White Linda White Athol Wilcox Carmel Wilcox Scott Wilkie Douglas Williams Emily-Kate Williams Garry Williams Stuart Williams Tyler Williamson Rosie Wilson Felicity Wood Allan Young Don Young Michelle young Shane Young Darryl Zeller

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

81

WOO LCO CK S T

STU RT ST

C H AR TE R S

MORRIS ST

ST

FL IN DE RS

T3 HINO CORNER

P ACCREDITED & OFFICIALS

G GATE 3

PORSCHE CARRERA CUP AND AUSSIE RACING CARS SC

T2

REID PARK STREET CIRCUIT

R D

TO W ER S

T4

J

DUNLOP SERIES & TRGA86 SC

HAIRPIN VILLA PIT EXIT VILLAS

HV

HAIRPIN CLUB

PEV

HPC

PADDOCK CLUB

MOUNTAIN VILLA

MV

PC

BP PLUS TRACKSIDE LOUNGE

TSL

SPORTS LOUNGE

PAVILION x PIPER-HEIDSIECK

PPH

SL

PIT GARAGE SUITES

PGS

T5

SE CO N D

AV E

P VIP, TEAMS & PRE-PAID

HELI SALES

G VIP GATE

i

COATES CORNER T6

OFFICIALS CREDENTIALS

ACCREDITATION SERVICES

C

A

PARKING

BAR

PIZZA HUT BEND T1

P

INFORMATION SERVICES

i

FOOD

TOP BIG

PC PEV SL

T CER CONAREA VIP

HELIPAD

H

G

SC

J

FMX

TSL

PPH

T7

C

& PRE-PA ID

Y NTR GE KIN PAR

A

NTI CORNER T13

MV

T9

REPCO CHICANE

T ST FIRS

G GATE 2

T11 DUNLOP HAIRPIN

T10

P ACCESSIBLE PARKING

ST RY DA UN BO

E AV

*This map Is indicative only. Not to scale. Correct at time of printing. Please note - Super screen locations are subject to change.

VIP, TEAM S

OFFICIALS SIGN ON

T12

T8

PGS

G GATE 1

TO STADIUM & PALMER ST

ANE IT L TE P A IM ULT BP HT AIG R T S AIN M I NT

PGS

i

FERRIS WHEEL

AUTO SHOW

JETPACK DISPLAY

MINISTRY OF SOUND

POLICE

PRECINCT BOUNDARY

PARENTS ROOM

STAGE

SUPERKIDS ZONE

HELIPAD

GRANDSTAND

TICKET BOX

SUPERCARS PADDOCK GATES

REPCO PIT STOP CHALLENGE

PADDOCK ENTRY

SUPPORT CATEGORIES

TO TAXI, BUS AND RIDESHARE VIA LITTLE FLETCHER BRIDGE

MEDIA CENTRE

BUS SERVICE

RIDE SHARE

TAXI RANK

MERCHANDISE

TRACKSIDE VIEWING

BIG SCREEN

ACCESSIBLE TOILET ACCESSIBLE PLATFORM

FIRST AID

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

TOILET

HV HP C

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500 SAU NDERS ST

FLO WE RS ST

82 AY W IL RA

CHAMPIONSHIP MAJOR PARTNER

BROADCAST PARTNERS

CHAMPIONSHIP PARTNERS

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

OFFICIAL CHARITY

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

83

ROUND

01

10 - 12 MARCH

Thrifty Newcastle 500 Newcastle Street Circuit, NSW ROUND

02

30 MARCH - 2 APRIL

Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, VIC ROUND

03

28 - 30 APRIL

Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint

2023CALENDAR

CARCO.com.au Raceway, Neerabup, WA ROUND

04

19 - 21 MAY

NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains Raceway, TAS ROUND

05

16 - 18 JUNE

Betr Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway, NT ROUND

06

7 - 9 JULY

NTI Townsville 500 Reid Park, QLD ROUND

07

28 - 30 JULY

Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW ROUND

08

18 - 20 AUGUST

OTR SuperSprint

The Bend Motorsport Park, SA ROUND

09

15 - 17 SEPTEMBER

Penrite Oil Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway, VIC ROUND

10

5 - 8 OCTOBER

Repco Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama, NSW ROUND

11

27 - 29 OCTOBER

Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, QLD ROUND

12

23 - 26 NOVEMBER

VALO Adelaide 500

Adelaide Street Circuit, SA 84

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

Event formats and dates are subject to change. Correct at the time of release 23/11/22.

Go to Supercars.com for the latest version.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TOWNSVILLE EVENTS FESTIVALS CONCERTS MARKETS SPORTS EXHIBITIONS WORKSHOPS KIDS ACTIVITIES

What’s On Townsville

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

85

86

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500

OFFICIAL PROGRAM

87

‘Gentleman Jim’ tells the story of Australasian legend Jim Richards’ amazing career. The New Zealand native moved to Australia in the mid-1970s and has won in everything on four wheels.

From Mustangs to Porsches, BMWs to Volvos and Bathurst Toranas to NASCARs, he’s done it all.

This is one book that you can’t miss!

88

NTI TOWNSVILLE 500