Auto Action #1895

TRIPLE

32nd 32nd

OSCAR TAKES STUNNING WIN IN ‘BEST RACE OF THE YEAR’

THERE WERE LOTS OF BLEARY-EYED AUSSIE F1 FANS GLUED TO TELEVISION SCREENS TO SEE OUR OWN OSCAR PIASTRI AND MCLAREN DELIVER ARGUABLY ONE OF THE BEST GRAND PRIX WINS IN RECENT YEARS AGAINST A TOUGH AND SEASONED CHARLES LECLERC. AUTO ACTION’S LOCAL GP WHIZ REESE MAUTONE WAS GLUED TO THE SCREEN TO ABSORB THE ACTION …

THE AZERBAIJAN Grand Prix was destined to be a turning point for young Oscar Piastri, with the Constructors championship and team orders situation at McLaren leaving the Australian with two choices coming into the pivotal weekend; to roll over and let his team-mate by for the remainder of the season, or to prove why he’s no one’s second option –the latter turned out to be the answer after a stunning drive.

Piastri’s skilful racecraft and aggressive control of a hungry Charles Leclerc makes the McLaren pit wall’s future decision-making process all the more difficult, with their levelheaded #81 thriving without the aid of his team-mate, who fell short in qualifying after an over-zealous marshall lit up a yellow flag (light) when white was the requirement.

“For me, I think that ranks as probably the best win of my career,” Piastri said.

“Trying to soak up that pressure for so long in that race, that was incredibly tough. In the first stint, when Charles was just pulling away pretty comfortably, I thought we were going to be second at best.

“I saw an opportunity, or half an opportunity, after the pit stop and knew I had to try and take it. I knew that getting to the lead was going to be one thing, but I knew I had my work cut out for me after that to try and stay there because I didn’t feel like we were the quickest in that first stint.

“It was very hard work. Having clean air did help quite a bit. But yeah I think, for me, it has to be one of the best races I’ve done.” His performance in qualifying paved the road to victory, with a slightly messy but quick lap securing his fifth career front-row start for the main event.

When the lights went out, the 23-yearold stuck to the Ferrari’s gearbox before gradually losing touch as his Medium tyres degraded and pitting on Lap 15. Rejoining with Leclerc in his sights, both on fresh Hard tyres, 30 of the most intense laps of the season soon played out.

Piastri’s unexpected late-braking dive down the inside of Turn 1 was the turning point in the Australian’s race, catching Leclerc off guard with Oscar subsequently declaring clean air the factor that “won me the race.”

“My engineer came on the radio and said ‘let’s not do that again’, basically. And I completely ignored him the next lap and sent it down the inside …

“At that point I felt like trying to stay back and wait for Charles to ‘deg’ was never going to happen. If I didn’t take that opportunity then I was never going to have another one, I think.

“Credit to Charles – he was incredibly fair.

“I think maybe he thought I was going to sail on into the run-off but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually made the corner.

“It was a high-risk, high-commitment move but that’s what I needed to do to try and win the race because I wasn’t really going to be that keen to finish second. So I had to try.”

From that moment onwards, it was a game of cat and mouse, with Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz joining the scrap in the dying stages of the race.

While some may have thought that Oscar

was keeping the Ferrari close – within DRS range – deliberately, to help keep the red car ahead of a potential Perez challenge (remember Singapore last year?) it wasn’t the case. Oscar was going as fast as he could … Several times, Leclerc was close enough to attempt an overtake into Turn 1 but was blocked by Oscar’s perfect positioning through to Turn 2, never dropping out of DRS until his tyres let him down with a few laps to go.

Finally able to breathe as the gap then grew from under one second to four, a Virtual Safety Car neutralised the final two laps due to Perez and Sainz’s huge collision, locking in Piastri’s second Formula 1 victory as he pumped his fist in a rare but brief display of emotion.

Piastri’s dramatic victory promotes McLaren to P1 in the Constructors’ championship, now leading Red Bull by 20 points – a huge shift from last place in 2023,

and a first for the Woking-based team since 2014.

The 25 points also mean Piastri is the top points-scorer across the last seven races, with 135 points since Austria.

“Considering where we started when I joined the team last year – you know, we were literally last – and now we are leading the World Championship. So it’s full credit to the team for the turnaround we’ve managed to have in my 18 months here – firstly, in terms of improving the car, but also helping me to improve as well.

Results like this definitely weren’t possible 12 months ago, for myself. So it’s a massive team effort. And yeah, excited to see what the future holds.”

In the famous words of his manager Mark Webber: “Not bad for a number two driver ...” F1 moves to Singapore this weekend for the next chapter in what is becoming an epic season.

What do you reckon Charles Leclerc is saying to Oscar Piastri after what was a stunning contest between the two? Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

TOYOTA IN SUPERCARS – AFTER 20 YEARS, IT’S HAPPENING!

IT’S THE SUPERCARS STORY OF THE DECADE!

IN MASSIVE news for the sport, Toyota has confirmed it will join the Supercar grid in 2026, committing to a minimum five-year program, running at least four V8-powered Gen3 GR Toyota Supras.

The bombshell news was revealed under embargo to media yesterday at a press conference on the Gold Coast.

After 20 years of yes/no speculation over a potential Toyota presence in Supercars, the announcement was made as Toyota Australia gathered for a major dealer conference on the Gold Coast, with Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, confirming that Toyota’s participation was “a dream come true that would provide both a showcase for its GR performance cars and an extended career opportunity for talented drivers and the design and engineering crews that support them”.

It was confirmed by Hanley that four Toyota GR Supras will compete from 2026.

Two cars will be run by Walkinshaw Andretti United, which will fulfil the role of ‘homologation’ team, with current drivers Chaz Mostert and youngster Ryan Wood undertaking the development of the car.

The GRSupra-Gen3 car will be powered by Toyota’s 5-litre, 2URGSE all-aluminium, quad-cam

V8 engine that has featured in a range of performance production cars, suitably ‘paritised’ alongside the current Ford/GM engines in Supercars.

This is also the engine that powered the TRD Toyota Hilux to a Dakar win in 2019.

On that front, it is worth noting that former F1 engineer and Holden Race Team Managing Director (HRT morphed into Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2018) Steve Hallam currently works with Toyota Racing Developments in the US, under the title of Manager, Vehicle Support and Team Engineering.

It can be assumed that TRD will play a significant role in finalising the Supercars-spec 2UR-GSE Toyota V8 power unit which may require some adjustment to meet the Supercars parity requirements.

Work has been underway for some time at Toyota’s local design facility, at Altona in Melbourne, to design the bodywork of the car, with a 40% scale clay model already in existence. An announcement is expected to confirm that the second two-car Toyota team will be Team 18.

Team 18 is owned by Charlie Schwerkolt, whose day-to-day business – Waverley Forklifts – is a major national forklift hire business, specialising in Toyota forklifts.

Not only will Schwerkolt’s team switch to Toyota in 2026, but it’s likely to carry Toyota sponsorship

through the lead-up, in 2025 (the team has in the past already carried Toyota signage).

“At Toyota, we have been toying with the idea of competing in Supercars for more than 20 years and now, with the right car, the right team, and a very strong partnership with the Repco Supercars Championship, the time is definitely right,” A very proud and excited

Sean Hanley said.

“Our ‘GR’ brand and performance cars were built on the knowledge that we gain from participating in top-level motorsport and our entry into the Supercars Championship will cement that connection and give us the opportunity to showcase Toyota Gazoo Racing excitement to a wide audience of passionate fans.

“It will also provide an opportunity for a continuous career pathway for drivers and teams that we first established when we launched the one-make Toyota 86 Series nine years ago as an affordable grassroots circuit-racing category run as a support series at select Supercars Championship events around the country.

“With our entry-level Scholarship Series, and what is now branded the TGRA GR Cup continuing as a support category for Supercars, our joining the Supercars Championship was a natural extension of our support for Australian motorsport at all levels.

“And with our strong and evergrowing partnerships with Walkinshaw Andretti United and Supercars, we are in it, to win it,” he said.  While keen to end its relationship with Ford on a positive note, Ryan Walkinshaw is naturally ecstatic with the development:

“To announce our future with Toyota Australia, as it enters the Supercars Championship from 2026, is a fantastic honour and privilege for everyone at Walkinshaw Andretti United.

“Toyota’s commitment to our team and to the sport is a historic moment, and one that shouldn’t be underestimated.

“While the future is certainly exciting, our immediate focus is on the remainder of 2024 and the 2025 seasons, winning races, and sending off our relationship with Ford the right way.”

Toyota’s last presence in Australia’s premier touring car championship was between 1985 and 1993, when it contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, taking several class wins with Toyota Corollas.

It’s commitment to Supercars is, by comparison, enormous and will shake up the Supercars scene in tsunami-style … It will be a significant positive as R-A-C-E looks to renegotiate Supercars’ TV deal, with Toyota well-known for backing its sporting sponsorships (commercially) to the hilt.

Bruce Williams

TOYOTA’S SUPERCARS ENTRANCE IS ‘THE TOP OF THE TREE’

THE SIGNING of Toyota is surely a feather in Shane Howard’s cap as the current CEO of Supercars is the first in a long line of bosses who have successfully courted the world’s largest car manufacturer.

At yesterday’s launch of the new program on the Gold Coast, Howard agreed that this was exciting news for Supercars and puts it back on the world stage.

“It’s right at the top of the tree,” he said regarding the magnitude. “We’ve been trying to entice Toyota to join our championship circuit for 20 years. To get the moment when that’s actually delivered is one of the most exciting opportunities that we’ve ever been presented with.

“I think Gen3, we had a few issues when we rolled it out, and we’ve changed so much now. But if you look at the overarching philosophy, it was to have a chassis and a platform that OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) could use to adapt

their current model cars and provide a racing version of what they sell in the showroom with Mustang and Camaro.

“The look and feel of the cars is sensational, and I think it has worked. It’s always timing with these opportunities. As Sean (Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley) said, they’ve invested significantly in their GR86 program.

“At Bathurst, he spoke about how it was a dream of his that one of those young drivers coming out of that category would race in a Supercar and win Bathurst. Now, they can do it in a Toyota. They’re developing great young drivers and seeing them go off and jump into Ford and GM products. His passion was that he wanted them in a Toyota Supercar, and it kicked off from there.”

Howard said the elevated parity testing program will make it easier for Toyota to slot into the series without either advantage or disadvantage.

“With the Windshear wind tunnel

program and then the AVL program in Detroit that we’re still working through, the knowledge and information that we have obtained from that has set us up very, very strongly to ensure that we have applied best practices and created equal opportunity,” the Supercars CEO said.

“I think what that does now with Toyota coming in is that there’ll be a very defined parity window in which they have the boundaries to operate.

“As they further develop the car regarding aero and the engine, they’ll have clear parameters of what they need to achieve under our parity formula.”

The arrival of Toyota in the series is big news that will be felt in mainstream Australia and motorsport globally. It is just the kind of tick the series has been looking for since Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises took over the sport a couple of years back.

“It opens up an enormous opportunity. Toyota is the biggest OEM globally,

and they’ve got a very solid racing pedigree worldwide. Joining that will generate enormous interest through their supporter base, their fan base, and their dealer principals.

“I think you’re going to have three very, very strong manufacturers on our grid and it just enhances the competition. All OEMs want to be fighting against the best, and there’s no one at Ford or GM who is not going, ‘This is a good idea’. They’re going to go, ‘we want to fight against them’.”

The GR Supra will use Toyota’s 2URGSE all-aluminium, quad-cam V8 that has featured in a range of performance production cars, as well as the 2019 Dakar-winning HiLux, as its baseline engine.

Toyota is committed to racing in the Supercars Championship for five years, and it said it will field four cars in the 2026 Supercars Championship and has nominated Walkinshaw Andretti United as its homologation team.

Andrew Clarke

SUPERCARS CONFIDENT IN PARITY PROCESS WITH NEW TOYOTA SUPRA

SUPERCARS IS confident that its uprated parity determination process, after a busy past year in wind tunnels and on transient dyno, has created a clear baseline for its cars as it prepares for Toyota’s entry into the sport.

The Gen3 racers hit the track at the start of its first season with clear issues around the parity of the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, but intense aero testing at the Windshear facility in Concord, North Carolina, has provided both aero parity for its current cars and a clear map moving forward.

Work is ongoing with the engines and the transient dyno testing at AVL in Detroit. Still, Supercars is not far from locking that away too, notwithstanding the current reliability issues for Ford.

Speaking at the Toyota Supercars launch, Supercars technical boss Tim Edwards said all the work has been done to enable a smooth introduction to the sport for Toyota.

“It actually gives us the exact blueprint of what we’ve got to recreate,” he says of the two-step parity process. “We’ve been working with Dynamic, our aerodynamics partner, who worked with us at Windshear all year to get this right.

“They’ve helped with the styling of this car because they’ve been able to do the CFD study compared to the CFD of the other two cars. Now, yes, we’ve got to go back and actually put it in the wind tunnel as the final part of the test, but we’re going to be very close because Dynamic have been part of the journey to design this surfacing of this car.

“Because we’ve got that data and the same thing with AVL, we’ve now got accurate torque data, etcetera, from that to also match this Toyota engine up with the incumbents.

“And yes, we’ll have to go back and tick the box by going back to AVL to crossreference everything, but it’s given us great information that we’ve never had in the past to, fingers crossed, literally hit the nail on the head with a car that’s got the same aero and the same engine as the incumbents.”

He says the 40% scale model of the car shown at yesterday’s launch is an accurate representation of what is being planned and not just a pipe dream drawn up in a design studio.

“Look, there’s some work going on, and we’ve got three different versions of the front of the car. If you took a snapshot of the glass house of the car the doors, the windscreen, the roof, all that is very close, if not exactly what we’ll see. But the front, we’ve got a lot of different versions going on there.

“Obviously, that’s been Supercars input, it’s been Dynamics input, it’s been in the design studio because obviously, from a Toyota point of view, they’re worried about making sure it’s got the right design cues.

“Then when Supercars and Dynamic get involved, we’re making sure that it actually has the right downforce and drag.”

Supercars and Toyota have completed all the work to date, but now, with Walkinshaw Andretti United getting involved as Toyota’s chosen

homologation team (HT), it will get involved, too, as the front of the car is refined.

“That’s the biggest area that needs to be bottomed out because it’s the bit that licks the air first. When it comes to the wing, we know we’ve got a common wing element on these cars anyway, so that’s just a case of the exact position of it, forward, backwards, upwards, down, all those sorts of things.

“It’s the front that will still get some more work, and it’ll we’ve got the program so far and we had to do that behind closed doors. Now that Toyota has appointed Walkinshaw, there’ll be a point very soon when the whole thing will be handed over to them to take it from there.

“We’ve been working on this all year. Toyota literally selected them only recently. We’ve had to work it through with Toyota because the initial study was, ‘Well, have they got an engine?’ So, their first step was to go into a white paper and figure out exactly what was available because the program hadn’t been ticked off.

“We just had to push forward on our own to try and develop something just so that the program had been started. But ultimately, it’s no longer our responsibility; we just did the initial study and got the program to a certain point to make sure that they did have a suitable car and they did have a suitable engine and we also wanted to make sure that from an aerodynamic point of view we weren’t starting with something that potentially could never achieve similar

downforce and drag numbers as the others.

“Once we’ve ticked all that off, which we have with Dynamics, it’s to the point now that it gets handed over to the HT because, ultimately, that’s not our responsibility.”

He said subtle tweaks were required to fit the silky-smooth Supra body onto the Gen3 chassis, but nothing major like the Gen2 ‘Frankenstein’ Mustang. Having seen the design study, we can confirm that the GR Supra Supercar remains true to the road car.

Edwards says this car was always in the back of the Gen3 development team’s minds, so right from the start of the process, it was always the Mustang, Camaro, and then Supra… plus others.

On the engine front, Toyota had a range of V8s in its arsenal to choose from, but it has steered away from the NASCAR engines used in the Cup Series and has opted for the hi-tech all-aluminium unit used in its Dakar-winning Hilux.

“This engine’s been raced in the past, but at the moment, we’ve got two engine concepts that we’ve been working on,” he said when questioned on cubic capacity and the like. “It’s got variable cam timing on the inlet cams, so there are a lot of similarities to the Ford, I suppose.

“Capacity is one of the things that we’re working on at the moment, and as I say, we’ve got the program so far, but ultimately, it now gets handed over to the HT to take it further. There’s a chance it’ll be similar in capacity to the other two.”

Andrew Clarke

SUPERCARS’ SEISMIC SHIFT: TOYOTA’S ARRIVAL SHAKES IT UP

TOYOTA’S ARRIVAL in Supercars will change the sport forever, according to Supercars Chairman Barclay Nettlefold, who has now been part of a team that has accomplished the impossible.

Nettlefold led the Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprise (RACE) consortium that bought Supercars three years ago. After the troubled introduction of Gen3 last year, which it inherited, it has now got the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world to commit to racing Supercars after more than two decades of approaches.

“I think it’s seismic in what’s happened today for the sport and Supercars and RACE,” he says. “I think the trust and commitment from Toyota are a testament to the sport where it’s currently at and that finally, we’ve got the Gen3 product that we need.

“It’s going to enhance their profile, and it’s just going to be part of a bigger ecosystem that will fit into the sport. The largest manufacturer in the country

and the world is fully committed to our sport.

“This just reinforces what we’ve been investing in the Gen3 product. The racing’s been world-class this year, the best I’ve seen in any motorsport, and we’re working on now to make 24 or 26 Supercars really strong.”

Nettlefold says he envisages a world now where Supercars may consider bring the two dormant Teams Racing Charters back into play, expanding the grid to 26 days at every round.

“We own two, so we’ve got the right to, let’s wait and see.

“I think the teams are undervalued. The teams we’ve got as going concerns, they’re all profitable, and that’s not common in sport in Australia.

If you look at soccer or basketball, not all the teams are profitable. Yet the B2B on our sport and the activation and the sponsorships that are coming through now, we’re very comfortable that it will continue to grow, and it’s only good to

put more value in the TRCs and teams.

“I think they’ve got to start thinking less about the value of the TRC and more about the value of a team as a whole.

“You just can’t look at it at a basic multiple (when determining team value); I think you look at it as a sustainable sporting business that you just can’t buy. It’s really supply-demand. When there’s demand, you know they should be quite valuable.”

Nettlefold’s time at the helm of the sport has seen it evolve and continue to invest in the product. Sorting out Gen3 has been an issue, and encouraging the teams to accept more than needed for more than 12 rounds without relying on Supercars for funding has been challenging.

But now, with Toyota on board and the potential growth associated with that, his team can head into the TV rights negotiations with a little more power. Andrew Clarke

FORD ON LOSING WAU

FORD PERFORMANCE global director Mark Rushbrook is looking forward to competing against a new rival in Supercars, despite Walkinshaw Andretti United moving on.

Within two years since WAU made the big deflection from Holden to Ford, it has been revealed the team once known as Holden Racing Team will bring Toyota to Supercars in 2026.

During WAU’s Ford stint, Chaz Mostert has led the “Blue Oval” bridge. Last year Mostert was the only Mustang driver in the top five of the championship, while he currently sits second again as the leading Ford in 2024.

With DJR being Ford’s homologation team, WAU has opted to do the same for Toyota, which will field four Supras from 2026 and beyond.

As a result, the WAU and Ford union will only last for three seasons.

Although Rushbrook is “disappointed” to lose its fastest Supercars team, he is looking forward to racing against a new rival.

“While we are disappointed to lose such a strong competitor in Walkinshaw Andretti United, we welcome the additional competition that comes with the addition of a third manufacturer to the Supercars Championship,” Rushbrook said.

“Ford Performance always welcomes competition, and we race against Toyota in many series across the world including Dakar, NASCAR and sports car racing.

“We look forward to competing against them in the Supercars Championship from 2026.”

Thomas Miles

PODIUM FILLIP BUT PREMIAIR REMAINING GROUNDED

LUDO LACROIX, Nulon PremiAir Racing’s technical boss, is not letting last Sunday’s maiden podium lull him into a false sense of achievement. The Frenchman who has previously held similar roles at Triple Eight Race Engineering and DJR Team Penske, says he knows where the team is at and where it is headed, and that the podium doesn’t change what they are doing as a team.

He said during Monday’s ride day that he feels the team is a top 10 team at the moment, and that competing for the podium at Sandown was a little flattering.

“We are probably a bit more on the radar this year than in the past,” Lacroix says.

“There’s always a vibration around results, but we don’t currently belong on the podium. We belong around the seven or eight and that sometimes if you do everything good on a day and some others have got a couple of bad vibrations, then we pop up.

“That is what happened yesterday. It happened because we decided as a group of engineers to work only on the race car set-up on Friday, and to try to have a good understanding of what we would need to go and compete well on Sunday.

“I think that doubled to the fact that, in the warm-up, we found a couple of things on the track that was different to Saturday that we could adjust for. Sunday was a bit of a fresher track, and we found a couple of lines to say that’s what it is going to be like.

“Then we went in, basically had a good start and no mistakes and the #31 went very well and the #23, to be fair, came from the dead back into contention for top 10 if we’d had a better stop than we did on the last one. That cost us.”

With all that said, he is happy with the progress of the team – he just doesn’t believe you can rush it if you want to get it right.

“The basics are everything, and there is nothing without process. You can have a couple of good results here and there but have no hope of being in the top 10 at the end of the year.

“That’s called luck. You get lucky on a couple of events out of 12 or 13, but the rest of the of the year you’re crying. And on top of that, you don’t know why you got there when you did.

“That’s why our business (and I’ve done it for a long time now) is all about process, understanding and being measured. Anybody who wants to rush it, may get a couple of good results, but they won’t get there.”

Lacroix joined PremiAir Racing for the start of 2024 and he has been working with team manager Stephen Robertson, with whom he has previously worked, to get the right people into the right positions.

Ex Triple Eight engineer Romy Mayer

joined the team last year, and she has been blossoming under Lacroix’s guidance, and others have been brought in to boost the ranks.

The podium on the weekend for James Golding and David Russell was her first as the lead engineer on a car.

Lacroix says this is just part of what is going on.

“There is always evolution – you cannot stay static. You will keep developing, and we must get better. You should not judge your result by the result itself; you should judge the result by the process to get there.

“It was always going to be a challenge, and it still is, but it’s a people business. Good people make good results.”

The podium he says is a reward for a massive effort.

“It’s one tick of a box and it pleases all the

guys – some of them have worked six or seven years in the championship and haven’t had their car on the podium. We work hard like everyone does in pit lane, but success comes from being clever in working and turning the right stone, making the right decisions in a calm, composed and patient manner, and being a team.

“Then, all of a sudden, the reward is there. Yes, it was coming and it’s nice to tick the box for them. We can say we have done that, but now we need to get two cars in that top 10 window supporting each other, learning from each other and pushing each other if we want more. We need to give a challenge to Jimmy –he’s got raw talent and this weekend he had a good help with Dave.

“If we can do that with two cars, then we are podium contenders and then we can think about what is next.”

Andrew Clarke

Peter, Romy and Ludo – key elements within PremiAir’s growth. Below: Sunday night at Sandown – podium is great says Lacroix, but regular process will lead to more ...

SANDOWN WINNER BACK ON TARGET

WILL BROWN’S win in the Sandown 500 with Scott Pye has reversed the recent trend that has seen Chaz Mostert closing down his championship lead.

Brown put 108 more points in the bank than Mostert after his pole-to-flag victory in the year’s first two-driver endurance race, resetting the championship race with three rounds remaining.

On Monday morning after the race, Brown preferred to talk about winning the second biggest race of the year than what it meant for the championship.

What appeared from the outside to be a simple battle of Triple Eight teammates was, he claimed much more complex than that.

“I didn’t feel like we had the pace we wanted in the wet, to be honest,” he said. “So that was a little bit nervewracking over the weekend. We’re always sitting fifth, sixth or seventh in those sessions and I felt like Chaz and a couple of those guys had a little bit more pace in the wet – but I knew in the drying conditions we were quite strong.

“And that Shootout lap ... I was nervous going fifth. I didn’t know if it was good or bad, but obviously it worked out and to get from sixth to pole was awesome. To back up last year and get two poles in a row here at Sandown, I was pumped about that and then I knew we just had to have a clean run to try and win it.”

Aside from the contact in Turn 1 with his teammate, Brown did have a clean race:

“It was a super clean race apart from that. I walked it away off the line really nicely and got a bit of a gap and that’s a big thing because people are always going to try and run up on you on the first lap if they think you have a fast car.

“I wanted to get a bit of a gap on Cam and some of those guys and be able to manage that gap. And that was really cool.

“It was also great to see my old teammate Brodie Kostecki behind me, and the first thing I thought was ‘I’m not going to let him get too close because I know he’ll have a crack.’ It’s cool to see him running well.

“Overall, it was just a really good day. It was nearly going so perfectly I thought something’s got to go wrong here, but it was OK.”

His main competition for the day was his team-mate’s #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing car and, aside from a short fill that allowed them the jump in the middle of the race, they proved so evenly matched they went into Turn 1 side-by-side after a pit stop and, after a little wobble, they hit each other –which could have been catastrophic for the team.

Now Brown is a Sandown 500 winner he’s eying a Bathurst win and then he’ll worry about the championship.

“I’ve always wanted to win an endurance race, and I want to win

Bathurst, but Sandown means a lot and especially, like I’ve said, because I don’t know how many Sandown 500s are left. I would have been pretty disappointed with second to be honest, I just wanted to get the win.

“Chaz has been doing a fantastic job to claw back some points, and I think it

was good to show that there’s a reason we’re leading the championship, and it was good to get that win and show them that.

“But it’s not going to be easy. Chaz is fast around Bathurst; Broc’s fast; I’m not thinking that we’ve got this put away. We’ve got to try win Bathurst and extend the lead, not go there and be conservative because of the championship.”

Will says he’s in as good a position as he has ever been to win Bathurst, with Triple Eight great at minimising the mistakes – which is what is needed to win a race over 1000km. Andrew Clarke

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

TRANSIENT DYNO REVEALS LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN ENGINES

SUPERCARS RECENT transient dyno testing the US has revealed ‘swings and roundabouts’ in the differences in the Ford and Chev engines, but nothing that would significantly account for any realworld differences.

After some physical issues with the Ford engine were solved at the start of this year, the feeling was that there were minimal differences in the engines, which is what the expensive engine tests are believed to have confirmed in Detroit.

With representatives from Ford and Chev at the test, the final round of changes of tuning the Ford engine to more closely match the parameters of the Chev is underway. The Ford’s more complex architecture is easier to tune than the Chev to get a more exact parity, and changes may be implemented for Bathurst.

There is unlikely to be any physical changes to the engines for parity and performance, but there will be changes for next year to improve durability and reliability. Ken McNamara from KRE Race Engines, who builds the Chev engines, said they are always looking at ways to improve the engines, and he expects some change for next season but none of those changes have been driven by the transient dyno testing.

Traditional dynos measure the engines in a static state, while the transient dyno simulates racing and measures the output under many different loads, putting thousands of simulated race kilometres into the engines without putting a car in the track.

According to McNamara when you listen to the tests you can hear the engines going up and down the gears just as it would when racing, and you can simulate, for instance, an entire Bathurst 1000. He says this means you get all the information you need on the engines at different loads and throttle openings without wearing out cars… as well as being able to get it all done quickly.

McNamara has used transient dyno

testing previously and is a big fan, but he is happy the expense didn’t come out of his pocket.

Supercars tech boss, Tim Edwards, would not comment directly on the results, but smiled when he was asked if he was happy with the results.

Most of the teams, had fresh engines in the car for Sandown and most of those engines will also run at Bathurst.

Three engines were changed at Sandown and will return to DJR and

KRE for exploration. The most visible failure was in the #26 Penrite Mustang piloted by Richie Stanaway and Dale Wood which broke a crank early in the Sandown 500 and threatening to throw Stanaway off the track at more than 200km/h.

Aaron Love’s engine was changed after his crash on Friday and David Reynolds got a new power unit after the Tradie Commodore was losing power on the long Sandown straights on Friday.

STOP PRESS

FORDS ENGINE DISASTER

Ford has major engine reliability concerns heading into Bathurst with a series of engine failures over the Sandown 500 weekend and subsequent ride day creating plenty of nerves for team owners.

Andrew Clarke reports.

FOUR FORD teams have suffered engine failures during last Monday’s ride day at Sandown, with the #2 Truck Assist car ending its run in a sand trap when its engine seized, giving a lucky passenger real bang for buck.

It is not confirmed, but it is believed three of the engines have suffered a similar crankshaft failure to the incident that ground Richie Stanaway to a halt early in the Sandown 500, while the fourth dropped a cylinder early in the day.

The engines are built by the DJR owned Motorsport Powertrains who took over the engine program at the end of last season. Sources have revealed that possible changes to the harmonic balancers may be at the core of the issue given the crank supplier is the same as last when there were no failures, but that until the engines are returned to the workshop for a full investigation, all possible reasons for the dramas are speculative only.

Drive days for the teams place a huge load on the engines with the cars taking between 50 and 100 people each on one flying lap, meaning plenty of running in and out of pitlane and stationary time.

It is believed the Ford teams on Monday were advised not to use the pitlane speed limiter to avoid extra load on the engines.

One pitlane cynic on the weekend suggested that if the teams were so concerned about running costs for the cars and their inability to fund 13 rounds, they may want to stop the drive days even though they are a source of revenue.

Some of the teams package a hot lap into their membership program, with the cost of a membership containing a hot lap starting at around $1500. Teams also use hot laps as part of their sponsorship pitches.

A Ford spokesperson confirmed the issues to Auto Action: “We know the failures can be attributed to a supplied part, and our team is working to understand the issue so we can be prepared for the Bathurst 1000.

“Damaged engines will be torn down and inspected to discover the magnitude of the issue, and how to repair it.”

Motorsport Powertrains was contacted for comment but said it didn’t have enough information as we closed for press to understand the issue and wouldn’t comment until it had all the data.

Cars from Dick Johnson Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Grove Racing and Blanchard Racing Team suffered the failures, with only Tickford Racing escaping the dramas.

TCR AND TRANS AM TRYING TO JOIN SUPERCARS PROGRAM

COULD THE FRONT-WHEEL-DRIVE TURBO TERRIERS PLAY IN FRONT OF A NEW CROWD AND BRING DIFFERENT CORPORATE SUPPORT TO THE SUPERCARS PROGRAM? ANDREW CLARKE INVESTIGATES ...

IN WHAT is being viewed as a shock move by industry insiders, it appears likely that the Australian Racing Group (ARG)-owned TCR series could join the Supercars undercard in 2025, with its Trans Am series also a slight chance to join in the fun as well.

The ARG categories have joined the loggerhead of categories trying to run with Supercars, leaving the nation’s premier category with a good headache as it tries to determine the right mix for its race weekends.

The Supercars race weekends this year featured Super2 at six rounds with two levels of Porsche Carrera Cup, Toyota GR86, Touring Car Masters, V8 Utes, Aussie Racing Cars and Sports Sedans also regular support categories.

ARG looks to finally have gained a compliant audience after years of trying to get TCR onto the calendar, but it appears Trans Am is being looked upon less favourably at Supercars.

The change in heart at Supercars is being triggered by key personal changes over the past few years, with the TCR now seen as expanding its reach rather than threatening its market dominance by pulling in different levels of corporate support and maybe even expanding the fan base.

Given this possible partnership was what ARG originally envisioned when Garry and

Barry Rogers bought into Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises Ltd (RACE) which owns Supercars, but was met with deaf ears, it is an abrupt about turn by all parties to make it even possible, but our sources reveal the approaches so far have been viewed favourably, although it is far from being a done deal.

ARG has ramped up its approach to Supercars on the back of the SpeedSeries being handed over to the SRO Group which has a focus on longer semi-endurance GT3 and GT4 racing. The SpeedSeries previously featured TCR and Trans Am, and perhaps naively, all assumed the ARG categories would move over to the SRO-run series.

Motorsport Australia has confirmed its withdrawal from running the series after losing in the region of $400,000 on its series during 2023.

We believe ARG feels it would be pushed to unfavourable time slots for its race to accommodate the long GT events, and that without suitable TV or fans at the track, its competitors would rather it pursue Supercars where it thinks it will get a better deal while also contributing to the Supercars bottomline.

Competitors and category managers have also expressed concerns about the costs for categories to participate on the SRO program, with significant entry fees being discussed.

We can confirm that ARG has made a formal approach to Supercars, with a Supercars spokesman saying the categories are now under consideration for several rounds in 2024, but said it was far from a done deal.

The need for an about-turn for Supercars with regards to TCR attitude has been talked about among industry insiders, but there was always an ‘us versus them’ situation, and that Supercars would never want to give the battling TCR tourers any oxygen … Let along expose TCR to its own audience.

That stance is now softening and the stars are aligning just as the Rogers, father and son, had hoped when they originally got involved with RACE.

Trans Am cars already have exposure to Supercars audience via their participation at the Vailo Adelaide 500. A number of Supercars drivers also run the series and occasional races, with some calling for Trans Am to be treated as a third-tier category for Supercars, which doesn’t seem to excite Supercars but could happen as a de facto arrangement.

In an even bigger surprise, the likely outcome of TCR joining the Supercars program could also see the return of a TCR World Tour round at The Bend as part of the Supercars endurance event next September. Two rounds of the TCR World Tour were run

in Australia last year at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst, but Australia was not put on the schedule for the seven round series this year.

The owners of The Bend, the Shahin family, are keen to continue to showcase the venue with ‘international style events’ and the addition of an international event to the Supercars enduro would attract the sort of attention they are seeking.

With the Supercars series now pretty much locked in for 13 rounds next year and revisions to the race formats now almost confirmed, the next step is to lock down the support categories.

We expect an announcement on the calendar before Bathurst, but not have the makeup of the undercard for a month or two after that.

POSSIBLE 2025 TCR CALENDAR

FEBRUARY – Sydney Motorsport Park (Supercars)

MARCH – Race Tasmania (Stand Alone ARG Event)

APRIL – Bathurst 6 Hour Support (Stand Alone ARG Event)

JUNE – Perth (Supercars)

JULY – Townsville (Supercars)

SEPTEMBER – The Bend (Supercars with the TCR World Tour)

The Auto Action RevLimiter podcast

The team that’s not trying to make friends or look after sponsors!

It’s hard and it’s fast and sometimes it’s a bit rough, but we call it how we see it and pull no punches.

Plenty of analysis and lots of opinion from some of the most experienced motorsport media people in the business - Bruce Williams, Paul Gover and Andrew Clarke.

NEW EPISODES OUT EVERY WEDNESDAY

TCR – some events on the Supercars show?

THE XIBERRAS DILEMMA

PETER XIBERRAS, THE OWNER OF PREMIAIR RACING, IS IN A BIT OF A QUANDARY, BUT HE IS ALSO UNIQUE IN HAVING PLENTY OF TIME TO EXPLORE HIS OPTIONS FOR NEXT SEASON. AND WHO KNOWS – MAYBE HAVING THE RUG PULLED FROM BENEATH HIS FEET COULD WORK OUT WELL FOR THE TOP FUEL RACER WHO IS NOW IN HIS THIRD YEAR AS SUPERCARS TEAM OWNER ... AND NOW WITH THE POWER OF A PODIUM UNDER HIS BELT ...

WE ARE pretty sure he’ll be making at least one driver change for next year, but he could just as easily change both given he has all the options in front of him now to make the a decision with the sort of clarity that only time provides.

Xiberras wants to move forwards. He has always been clear that he is in Supercars to build a race and championship winning team, and that means the choice of driver is critical, especially if he opts to blood some young talent. He is sick of feeling like he is just making up the numbers.

His dilemma is now around replacing just one or both drivers, and whether he opts for experience or youth, or a combination of both.

A drive with PremiAir could be seen as a golden opportunity, with Xiberras steadily working to improve his operation, the latest change being the recruitment of commercial genius Peter Jamieson, who was a key part in the commercial success of Triple Eight Race Engineering a decade ago.

Here is the lay of the land for PremiAir Racing.

Option 1 – Experience

XIBERRAS IS looking for a replacement for Tim Slade in the #23 car, and in the past few weeks we believe his phone has been

ringing with experienced prospects for 2025 on the other end of the line.

He was keen on Brodie Kostecki who was first shopped to him in October last year, and then Anton De Pasquale when it was clear the #11 DJR driver was looking to move in 2025, but missed out on both drivers.

Mark Winterbottom and Richie Stanaway are full-time racers in 2024 looking to race on after losing their drives for next, while Scott Pye and Todd Hazelwood are hunting for a return after being co-drivers in 2024.

There are pros and cons to each option.

Winterbottom is one of the most popular drivers in the series and he would bring a level of consistency and understanding as a Bathurst winner and a series champion, but he is looking for a minimum two-year deal which could deter Xiberras who has plans to try a snare another star driver at the end of next year.

PremiAir this year has been a bit up and down, and Frosty’s track record could be attractive to the engineering crew.

Stanaway has plenty of experience but more of the unknown given he is yet to really return on his talent in his main game drives. His recently confirmed departure from Grove Racing at the end of this season has brought out supporters lobbying in his favour, including the like of Shane van

Gisbergen, Roland Dane and a couple of current drivers.

His stand-offish approach to media and low profile will not help his cause, but the chance to unlock something special might appeal too.

The argument for Pye and Hazelwood is a little less definitive without compelling supporters or a body of results that are too hard to ignore. Hazelwood’s age is a possible plus though, with plenty of racing years in front of him.

Option 2 – Youth

There is plenty of talent knocking down the door for a full-time gig, from Jaylyn Robotham and Jordan Boys (who feature on page 28) and their ilk in the co-driver ranks – add in Tyler Everingham, Jayden Ojeda and even Declan Fraser who only has the one year in the main game, but are no longer chasing Super2 – and a smattering of Super2 pilots like Zach Bates, Cameron McLeod, Aaron Cameron and Brad Vaughan.

The risk here is the tearing up of equipment and the inconsistency of youth, and whether James Golding can find the sort of consistency that has him at the front of the field at each race meeting.

McLeod is running an arm’s length PremiAir entry in the Super2 series, but

Xiberras is known to be thinking he is a year away from being ready for the cut and thrust of the main game, which must surely apply to his other Super2 rivals.

We see this as the least likely option at the moment.

Option 3 – Experience and Youth

If he takes on a driver like Winterbottom, he may be able to blood someone like McLeod or Bates with less risk. Frosty could mentor the young gun while providing consistency and confidence in the set-up and tuning of the cars.

This is an option being considered, but Xiberras will also be considering if a Winterbottom or Stanaway could help Golding as well. Golding’s performance at Sandown was no doubt perfect timing for the 28-year-old, but it is clear the team wants two drivers pushing each other over all the 13 rounds next year – that is what all the senior players at PremiAir believe will elevate the team from a top 10 contender to a regular podium contender.

Whichever way Xiberras goes, he now has no need to be rush his decision and will be taking in everything he can from Sandown and Bathurst, while listening to all the different interested parties lobbying for ‘their’ driver. Andrew Clarke

Tim Slade (left) is paired with rookie Cam McLeod for Sandown and Bathurst.

THE SANDOWN 500 turned ‘time-certain’ this year because of the extra time required to manage the new Full Course Yellow (FCY) rule which was introduced at the start of this season. The new rules impacted the racing, and strategy calls for the race.

FCY TURNS SANDOWN 500 TIME-CERTAIN ‘DIABOLICAL EXECUTION’ COSTS WAU

As it was applied at Sandown, all the Safety Car interventions were extended to allow the teams to avoid double stacking, and then extra time was required to find the race leader. There were seven Safety Car interventions in the race that consumed an average of three laps each,

The final two FCY and subsequent Safety Cars of the race impacted nine of the final 13 laps of the race, with the FCY seemingly not counted in the official Safety Car laps. With so much lost time, the Sandown 500 became the Sandown 478 with a ‘161 laps or 1 lap after 17:43’ set aside for the race, which didn’t feature live-to-air TV – which has traditionally been the reason for time certainty to allow for the 6 pm news.

Many of the drivers and teams spoke up in favour of the rule, but many agreed it needed some tweaking to get it right.

Triple Eight and others played it to perfection to avoid the double stack, although Broc Feeney admitted to Auto Action that he was nervous rolling around for the extra lap, but that the system worked as promised.

His team leader and co-driver for the race, Jamie Whincup, said he thought the system worked perfectly.

“It’s probably the best thing that’s

happened since the HANS device, to be able to slow the cars down instantly to control the race, to make sure there’s no more danger out there.” Whincup said on supercars.com.

“It allowed the racing to [be] pure. There wasn’t [sic] half the cars stacking, there wasn’t artificial results up there. It was whoever was the quickest three cars got on the podium, which is what you want to see as a racing purist.”

The move towards the FCY, as Whincup said, is safety driven with the need for officials to be on the track while cars were often racing to pitlane at full speed, and the congestion created by double-stacking in the pitlane in the tight Sandown pitlane.

But one regular pitlane pundit, who wants to remain anonymous, said the rule has got to be revised because it ruined the race:

“It’s not the FCY, it’s that they guaranteed time for people to not double stack. It removed jeopardy and it reduced variation in the strategy.”

While there was plenty of support there were also concerns at how much time would be consumed at Bathurst if there are two Safety Cars laps for every intervention to stop double stacking with lap times at Bathurst nearly double those of Sandown.

Whether Motorsport Australia will tweak the application of the rule to reduce that time wasting is not clear.

Motorsport Australia was approached for comment but did not respond in time for our deadline.

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI United’s (WAU) hopes of chasing a first title in over 15 years took a massive hit at the Sandown 500.

With WAU slightly off and leading hope Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth only registering seventh after a costly spin, Triple Eight made them pay by scoring a crushing 1-2.

With championship leader Will Brown teaming up with Scott Pye to take the victory, the difference between the #87 and Mostert has exploded from 81 points to 189.

Following Holdsworth’s “silly mistake” the #25 ran an alternate strategy and gained 13 spots with Mostert on fresh tyres.

Ryan Wood and Fabian Coulthard had shown speed earlier in the weekend and ran as high as sixth, but a botched pit stop with tyre change saw them limited to 15th.

WAU Team Principal Carl Faux lamented “too many mistakes.”

“Having both cars in the Top 10 Shootout is something to be happy about but we made too many mistakes in the race,” he said.

“Seventh place was more than we deserved. We just weren’t good enough. The pace is there but the execution was diabolical in every area. It’s a bitter pill to swallow and we must learn from it.”

Mostert was relieved to walk away with seventh and is determined to hit back at Bathurst.

“We will take P7 after today. Not much fell our way, so to be there at the end of it, it could have been a lot worse,” he said.

“It was one of those weekends –between the weather and a few other challenges it had it all really. “We’ve got plenty to look through before we get to Bathurst in a few weeks time, I can’t wait to be honest.

“Today has really lit the fire in my belly for Bathurst.”

Thomas Miles

As illustrated at Sandown, Safety Car interventions now take even longer ... Image: IAN SMITH

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

STOP / GO

THE BEND LAUNCHES APEX LEAGUE

THE BEND Motorsport Park has launched its own racing competition called APEX League, beginning on November 28. Based in Tailem Bend, South Australia will be exclusive to GT Sportscar Drivers with amateur drivers the target audience. Split into three classes – APEX Trophy, APEX Cup and APEX Challenge, a full season is planned for 2025, based on a single-day racing format and maximum track time, featuring an open 90-minute Practice, a 25-minute qualifying, and two 25-minute races. Machinery will consist of GT3, GT2 and MARC II, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, ex-Carrera Cup cars, Ferrari World Challenge and MARC I vehicles, and Production based Sportscars and GT4 machinery.

LARSON TO HAVE SECOND CRACK AT THE DOUBLE

US RACING star Kyle Larson, who is Aussie Sprintcar-bound in December, has announced he’ll have a second crack at the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 IndyCar/NASCAR double in 2025. After remarkably making the Firestone Fast 6 at Indianapolis to qualify fifth before taking 18th in the race, rain delays then meant he didn’t turn a lap a few hours later after arriving in time to Charlotte. “I appreciate the second opportunity with McLaren because we have unfinished business,”he said. “I really want to complete all 1100 miles, and I think we have the opportunity to battle for the win in both events.”

WORK CONTINUES AT QR

THE BUSY team at the Tony Quinn-owned Queensland Raceway is on the move again, this time with works underway to build brand-new enclosed garages, with the old carports having been torn down. The extended garage space is part of a plethora of works at the QR Paperclip, including the announcement of a dedicated dirt track. Quinn is hoping to revamp the Brisbane venue and put it back on the Supercars trail. Other facility works include a walkway over the pits, covered spectator seating with shade sails, and the plan to use the western boundary for camping sites when the V8s return.

TRIPLE EIGHT cruised to a commanding 1-2 in the Sandown 500 with Will Brown leading Broc Feeney –but they almost threw it away.

The team-mates had been at close quarters all day and things got too close for comfort when Feeney rejoined from the pits on Lap 129.

The #88 used the overcut to good effect to snatch track position from the #87 after the penultimate round of stops.

However, Feeney threw away the lead by locking a front and running wide at Turn 1 on cold tyres.

This opened the door for Brown, who tried to sneak through and rode the outside kerb.

But both Red Bulls found themselves at the same piece of track as Feeney tried to rejoin the circuit and they locked horns.

Despite making heavy contact, the pair carried on and finished in that order with Brown holding onto the win after the race-deciding moment.

Although Jamie Whincup was Feeney’s co-driver, as team principal, it was way too close for comfort.

“The touch down at Turn 1 was a little bit on the limit for me,” he said.

“We will definitely chat about that.”

Feeney explained a mistake on cold tyres that created the scare.

“I locked a front on a cold tyre – young bloke, cold tyres, went in a bit hot, and

as I came back on the track, Will was there,” he said.

“It was way too close but it’s as hard one. I shouldn’t have locked a front, shouldn’t have gone in as deep but maybe Will would have got me then.

“It’s a tough one. For sure it’s not ideal, we don’t want to be touching each other.

“I think we’ve raced super clean all year – we haven’t run into each other at all – so hopefully we put that one behind us and don’t run into each other again.

“Trust me, we’re doing all we can to not rub each other but unfortunately it happened.”

Brown admitted he was surprised there was no damage.

“I saw Broc come out of the pits and he went in hard on cold tyres and ran a bit wide and I also did the same,” Brown recalled. “But you don’t know how fast you are getting past that person – I thought I was trying to get past a fair way back to the left and we both came back and we tagged.

“We both didn’t mean to do it because it was a decent enough hit.

“I thought I might have had a little bit of damage from it, like a flat right rear.

“It was an unfortunate accident with the way the circumstances came on the exit there.

“We are both young and racing for a Sandown 500 and championship. Definitely wasn’t intentional.”

Thomas Miles

GOLDING’S BIG JOURNEY TO THE PODIUM WHEN TRIPLE EIGHT NEARLY THREW AWAY THE 1-2

IT TOOK eight years and 139 starts since his Sandown 2016 debut, but fittingly, at the same circuit, James Golding finally stood on a Supercars podium.

Golding, with the help of expert co-driver David Russell, gave PremiAir Nulon Racing a stunning third place at the Sandown 500 after keeping Matt Payne at bay in the closing stages.

It was a massive breakthrough for both Golding and PremiAir, which had chased desperately for silverware, but come just short.

“It is just an awesome feeling,” Golding said.

“It is something as a driver you have been building towards your whole career.

“It means a lot to everyone. Pete and Carmen Xiberras have put their hearts and soul into this.

“It is one of those things – we knew we could do it, but there were times where you thought maybe it won’t happen. Comes down to everyone pressing on and not giving up.

“I cannot thank Pete and Carmen enough for giving me this opportunity after sitting out for two and a half years, which is pretty unheard of.”

Both PremiAir and Golding have taken each step of the journey together.

Then in its first year the team dumped Garry Jacobson in favour of Golding, who was then competing in S5000.

At that stage Golding had only raced Supercars for GRM, but that was cut short on the eve of the 2020 season.

Golding revealed he could have battled for another year in a one-car GRM squad, but elected not to, which led him to PremiAir where eventually scored a long awaited podium after finishing fourth four times.

“I also have to thank Garry Rogers for giving me the

opportunity as a young tacker in Formula Ford and working as a mechanic before going into Super2 then Supercars,” Golding said.

“It was pretty devastating when they pulled out of Supercars.

“I had a chat with Garry and he offered to run one car for the next year (2020) and I said ‘we needed to make substantial changes and have a second car to be competitive’ so we decided to end it there.

“I did keep driving for him in S5000 which was good to keep sharp and stayed as a co-driver.

“I hoped to pinch Frosty’s seat and that didn’t work, but just kept driving – you never know what is around the corner.

“Over the last six months I knew I was getting close and just had to push even harder so this is just the first step of hopefully a lot more.”

Thomas Miles

Whincup – concerned.

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

SUPER COOPER

CRAIG LOWNDES was impressed with how Cooper Murray kept Cameron Waters at bay to record a new record result for a wildcard at Sandown.

Starting down in 18th, Murray and Lowndes hoped to push the Supercheap Auto wildcard into the top 10, but they got a lot more than they bargained for.

The pair were ecstatic to walk away with fifth, the best every result for a wildcard, equalling Zak Best’s fifth place at The Bend in 2022.

Having crept towards the top 10 by staying out of an eventful first half of the race, the #888 made strong ground either side of its fourth stop and proved tough to dislodge from there.

Suddenly rookie Murray found himself racing against the big boys like Waters and Mostert.

Despite a trip through the Turn 3

mud, Murray kept the Ford stars at bay to secure a stunning top five.

Lowndes revealed the result was way above expectations.

“We are ecstatic,” he told Auto Action

“Our aim and goal was to get into the top 10 and excelled. We got there in the first quarter of the race.

“Cooper did a great job in the end and especially with those long stints.

“This weekend proved we can get great results. It is the highest wildcard finish now and now we have to try and beat it at Bathurst, which will be a tall order (but) it just shows the program is working.”

On Murray, Lowndes believes the Erebus bound youngster is growing every time he steps into the Camaro.

“He still has some learning to do with the cold tyre, restart side of things but still did a fantastic job,” he said.

“We thought Cameron would try and muscle his way past, but Cooper stood

up and got his elbows out and you could not wish for anything more.

“I am really impressed with his attitude. Coming out of the Darwin round with more confidence into this weekend.

“He is more relaxed every time he goes in the car which gives us a great position to go to Bathurst.”

For Murray, a top five left the Supercheap driver feeling like a number one.

“That feels like a win, to be honest,” he said.

“It was an amazing day with the whole Supercheap Auto Racing wildcard crew, Craig did an amazing job and gave me a really good spot.

But then, after the restart towards the end, it was a bit sketchy as well, having Cam Waters behind me, giving me a little nudge, but I was more than prepared for it and got it home.”

Thomas Miles

VAUGHAN’S BIG WEEKEND

THE 2024 Sandown 500 will be a weekend

Brad Vaughan will never forget as it included his Supercars debut and maiden Super2 win. Vaughan received the opportunity to race in the main game by being called up as the rookie co-driver for the Matt Chahda Motorsport Camaro.

Despite a disrupted build up and 15s time penalty for exceeding the 80km/h speed limit, the new entry did not disgrace itself at all and managed to avoid a lot of the chaos.

After 154 action-packed laps, Chahda and Vaughan finished a respectable 19th, on the lead lap, having started 25th and ran as high as 15th.

Rookie Vaughan found himself in the thick of the action racing against the biggest stars of the sport in the longest race he has ever competed in.

The 20-year-old was thrilled the wildcard did not look out of place against the main game regulars.

“We seemed really competitive,” Vaughan told Auto Action

“We had a 15s penalty which hurt us a little bit, but it was not like we were wobbling around at the back.

We were genuinely competitive and kept up

with the main name drivers which was great.

“We finished on the lead lap in P19 so cannot complain.

“Bathurst will be another step up again so hopefully we can get a top 15.”

Vaughan admitted he was surprised by how he handled his long stint and learnt a lot following his more experienced rivals.

“I have surprised myself with the fitness side of it,” he said.

“To do 90 laps in the car straight against most of the main game drivers was amazing.

“I felt competitive and did not feel out of place.

“I picked up a lot on how the main game Supercars drivers race, which is very different.

That was a great different experience I took in.”

It was the cherry on top on what was already a special day after Vaughan finally took a maiden Super2 win in his 20th race.

Since winning the Super3 title in 2022, the Tickford driver has shown flashes of speed, but for differing reasons was yet to put it all together in the race with three podiums.

Vaughan always had the belief he could do it, which is why he was never going to let a hungry Cooper Murray get past in the tense closing stages of Sunday’s Dunlop Series race.

“I have finally got the Super2 win off the back which is a big relief,” he said.

“We have been so close to a win for so long now.

“I looked under the Safety Car behind me and saw I had Cooper Murray, Zak Bates, Kai Allen behind me – all the heavy hitters.

“I won by over a second in the end and led every lap of the race ... was brilliant

“So to pull away from them shows what we can do.”

Vaughan will be aiming for greater heights at Mount Panorama. Thomas Miles

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

Image: MARK HORSBURGH

STOP / GO

LILLIE MAKES TCM RETURN

FOR THE first time in three years, Victorian Dean Lillie made a guest return to the Touring Car Masters field, filling in for Steven Johnson in the title winning #33 BRUT Hancock Racing Mustang. His last appearance was in a Holden LX Torana SL/R A9X in 2021, taking a victory. Returning to Sandown in a machine that struggled for grip in the hands of John Bowe at SMP, Lille qualified fifth for a P11 in the Trophy Race opener. He went on to record a sixth and a seventh, before narrowly missing the podium in the finale, with the lighter machines having the best of the conditions.

BOWE LOCKED IN FOR RX8 COMEBACK

AUSSIE RACING legend John Bowe will make a return appearance at the RX8 Cup Series at SMP on September 27-29. His last appearance, in 2022, saw him qualify on the front row, being no stranger to Mazda machinery having raced for the factory Mazda Racing Team in an RX7 in the early B12H days.

“I’m really looking forward to jumping back in the RX8 Cup Series,” Bowe said. “My good friend Ric Shaw runs a brilliant series and invited me to drive again. Last time I raced the mighty Mazda I had some great battles. I really enjoyed the category and the racing immensely.”

TARMAC WEST DELIVERS A PERTH SPECIAL

THE LANCE East Exotics Tarmac West finished up in Perth with a great competitor turnout and a typically rich car display, with Langley Park becoming a carlover’s dream with over 400 pieces on show. With six city stages across the final day with 35.55 competitive kilometres, thousands of spectators saw Brett Morse and Rodney Ng take a maiden win in the main T200 win, and the T165 going to Aaron Williams and co-driver Geoff Duckworth.

“We love what we do and take enormous pride and satisfaction in knowing that we’ve run a safe and enjoyable rally, and this year it’s been outstanding,”

Event Director Ross Tapper said.

BOUNCING BACK

AFTER SOME tough rounds, Image Racing was back in force at Sandown with both rookies Jobe Stewart and Jarrod Hughes at the front of the field.

Whilst Hughes wowed by taking an impressive maiden pole, Stewart quietly compiled his best weekend in Super2 yet but just missed out on a breakthrough round win.

The 2023 Super3 champion could not do much more however, scoring the same amount of points as round winner Zach Bates with 258, but the honours went to the WAU driver.

Although he missed out on the round win, Stewart was simply happy to be back at the front of the field after two tough rounds where he finished in the top 10 once.

“It is just great to know we are back at the front again because the last few rounds have been pretty terrible,” Stewart told Auto Action.

“After two bad rounds you start to doubt ... is it the car or myself? So to come back and a put everything into place and know you still have the package to be up the front is a massive weight off our shoulders.

“We had a reset and both cars were on the pace were awesome.

“We just went back to our older style set-up and what we know best.

“At Perth and Townsville we tried a few things that did not quite work so we went back what we did at the start of the year and it worked.”

Stewart not only came close to a maiden round success, he fell just short of a first Super2 victory.

The #99 ZB Commodore flew out of the blocks from fourth on the grid and caught the bumper of leader Jack Perkins.

Stewart had one look at Dandenong Road and managed to get up alongside his former team-

mate, but could not hang on around the outside of Turn 11.

Stewart thought he could beat the veteran, who first raced Super2 when he rookie was just two years old.

“I definitely thought I could get him,” Stewart said.

“I think we started with a bit high tyre pressures which is why I was so fast at the start.

“Tried to get past as quickly as I could and had a little crack when I was at my fastest and didn’t quite get it.

“After that he was able to hold on and did a decent job defending. It is just so tough to follow right behind someone the whole race.

“A bit disappointing I couldn’t get the win but still great result being second.”

It is also a timely return to form for Stewart, who is now fifth in the championship, with discussions around 2025 starting and Image Racing yet to finalise its plans.

“For sure, it certainly helps for the future getting results,” he said.

“I have not decided anything for next year. I have been talking to Barry Ryan a bit, but nothing is confirmed.

“Any opportunity would be good, but I am very happy being with Erebus Academy support.”

Thomas Miles

TEAMS HELPED PERKINS RACE

JACK PERKINS and the retro Blanchard Racing Team Mustang were not supposed to be part of the Dunlop Series fun at Sandown.

After a dream start at the return round for both team and driver at Townsville, which resulted in victory, Perkins and BRT were initially forrbidden to bring the 1979 Peter Janson/Larry Perkins retro livery to the endurance round.

At the time, Perkins claimed this was due to Rule 6.2.6 – “any Driver who is Competing in an Endurance Event will not be eligible to Compete at the same Event in the Dunlop Series unless that Driver has Competed in a minimum of

three (3) of the previous Dunlop Series Rounds in the same year, or in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of Supercars.”

However, this was overturned two days out and BRT’s John Blanchard said they got all the teams to agree and allow them to race.

“He was not allowed compete by the rules and letter of the law,” he said.

“But in the end Supercars said if you get every other competitor to agree in writing then we will reconsider.

“It took a couple of weeks to get hold of everybody but when we got it in writing we sent it through and Supercars reviewed it and allowed it to run.

“We only found out on the Tuesday so it was a bit of scramble to book flights and hotels for a few of our interstate crew.

“We pretty much had the car ready and just had to do the final prep.” It proved to be a dream scenario for BRT as Perkins took pole and a victory on the Saturday at Sandown, a back to back success after Townsville.

“Good morale boost for the whole team because it is a small, tightknit group that all helps each other,” Blanchard said.

“It is not only good for the crew, but also Jack. It is great to see him get some wins on the board.”

Thomas Miles

Image: DMAC Photography

Jobe Stewart – back on the pace at Sandown ...

HYUNDAI OFF TO THE RACES

RALLY SUCCESS IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THE KOREANS

By Paul Gover

HYUNDAI IS headed to Le Mans.

Its car will be badged as a Genesis – the upmarket division of the South Korean carmaker – and it will be in action next year. After several months of speculation, confirmation has finally come from company headquarters in Seoul.

But …

There are still plenty of questions, including how the upcoming Le Mans program will affect Hyundai’s involvement in the World Rally Championship.

Hyundai has only just renewed its rally spearhead and championship leading driver, Thierry Neuville – with a one-year deal for season 2025.

The move points clearly to the Hyundai team withdrawing from the WRC at the end of next year, ahead of planned revisions to the technical regulations which could outlaw the Rally1 Hybrid cars which the team currently fields against Toyota and Ford.

Hyundai is on track to clinch both the drivers’ and teams’ titles in this year’s WRC, helped by a series of under-performing efforts by Toyota, which would be a good time to begin winding down its rally program. It will still continue with its Rally2 customer programs, which include Hayden Paddon in New Zealand and a bunch of Australian crews, even if it is out of the top level.

The latest move is also unlikely to affect Hyundai’s relatively low-key involvement in TCR racing, thanks to success in Australia and the USA with customer racing teams.

The new sports car program will see Genesis going up against a huge battle group of major upscale carmakers including Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Porsche and the back-to back Le Mans winners, Ferrari.

Genesis is intending to build an LMDh - Le Mans Daytona hybrid - car and will race both

in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA sports car series in the USA.

As yet there are no details on the Genesis power-plant, or team, or drivers, although Genesis is likely to partner with Oreca as its chassis partner.

However, the rally team operates from Alzenau in Germany, which is close to the Toyota Motorsport base in Cologne.

A number of key staff members are exToyota employees who have experience of Le Mans sports car work.

Despite the lack of information, the intention is clear.

“Genesis, the premium brand of the Hyundai Motor Group, will add endurance racing to the disciplines of its motorsport activities,” the manufacturer said in an official statement.

“The LMDh program will add a new pillar to Hyundai Motorsport’s portfolio. Since its establishment in 2012, Hyundai Motorsport has been competing in WRC and TCR with Hyundai.”

CAREER BEST YEAR FOR THE “THIRSTY ONE”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN’S fourth IndyCar season

saw him complete a career best year in North America when things wrapped up at the Nashville Superspeedway.

His fifth place saw him rise to third in the rankings, equal with last season, but he leaves 2024 as a more complete and consistent performer … and, as a twotime winner on ovals.

As one of the famed Penske ‘Thirsty Three’ alongside Indy 500 and Astor Cup winners Will Power and Josef Newgarden, Scotty Mac is holding his own and more, having finished above both two-years running.

He not only equalled 2022 with three wins, one on the Alabama road course, and the other two on the Iowa and Milwaukee ovals, but scored five podiums (six if you include the St Petersburg disqualification – or four if you discount the Thermal Club round) but only missed the top-10 on four occasions.

He also scored a record pole at the Indy 500, to go with his four others for the year (the most for any driver).

The #3 Chevrolet pilot said during the year that he could “finally call himself an IndyCar driver” after winning his first oval race and, in fact, he had five topfives on ovals this year, and a lowest finish of eighth.

Consistency wins Astor Cup’s, and that’s a trait that he’s finding fast.

“I’m really happy with the execution of everyone on the DEX Imaging Chevy,” the Kiwi star said. “Obviously, Team Chevy got us the goods all season. It was a pretty fun race to finish it off. We got the Biggest Mover Award so that’s always a good thing, but we had a heck of a race there. “Finished third in the championship, so that’s a great thing two years in a row.”

For a driver that’s used to winning, and knows how to win titles, there is a very hot poker in the fire for 2025. TW Neal

Hyundai .... headed to Le Mans!

BUZADZIC HAILS ‘BEST CAR’ AFTER MAIDEN WIN

DANNY BUZADZIC hails the A9X Torana he steered to a maiden Duggan Family Hotels Touring Car Masters championship win as the “best ever.”

At the end of another storming TCM round at Sandown, the fight for Race 3 victory went down to the wire as Buzadzic tried to hold off championship leader Adam Garwood in an all-Holden battle.

Although the VB Commodore caught the A9X Torana, the rapid top speed of the Allan Grice tribute liveried machine, plus Buzadzic’s smart defensive lines, meant the championship leader could not get past.

Garwood tried to snatch it at the death by trying to produce a photo finish, but did not have the legs to win the drag race.

As a result, Buzadzic claimed a seventh Touring Car Masters victory, but first not in a Trophy Race and he was delighted, with the decision to prioritise straight line speed paying off.

“That was the first one and I am so happy!” he told Auto Action with a smile.

“I think the car was the best it has ever been. We came and tested here in the Vic V8s and it showed all the hard work paid off. The car was faultless and I could drive that car home now.

“We actually geared the car for the two long straights, so the game plan was to be okay in the slow sections, but burn away down the straights.”

Garwood made a bold move around the outside at the opening corner to snatch the lead at the start, but could not quite pull it off.

The championship leader said it was all part of the fun as he enjoyed great battles against cousins Buzadzic and Marcus Zukanovic and even Jim Pollincina.

“I went right on the limit and a little bit past it at Turn 1 at the start. No harm, no fun, so happy days,” Garwood recalled.

“He (Danny) drove a perfect race pretty much. I pressured him into a few mistakes, but it didn’t work out.

“He, Marcus and Jim drove awesome and they produced some good battles for the class and category. Everyone should be very happy about it.”

Thomas Miles

SRO TAKES OVER SPEEDSERIES

THE SPEEDSERIES will be no more in 2025 as the national circuit racing championship is replaced by an SRO Motorsports Australian-run championship.

The new SRO Motorsports Australia championship will be a six-round affair starting at Phillip Island and finishing at New Zealand’s Hampton Downs.

It means the national series has undergone a third promoter in as many years. In 2023 the SpeedSeries was under Australian Racing Group’s control before Motorsport Australia took over this year.

Now, in 2025, a new arrangement sees SRO Australia in power and create a new national racing series with Motorsport Australia’s support.

The commercial partnerships and potential broadcast arrangements are to be announced in the coming months.

This year SRO has become a big player in Australian motorsport by being the category manager of both GT World Challenge Australia and GT4 Australia, which have enjoyed

significant growth this season.

SRO Motorsports Group has three decades of global motorsport experience and currently stages more than 100 races across four continents, including Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

It recently staged its first stand-alone Australia-based event called the GT Festival at Phillip Island where both GT categories, plus Australian Production Cars took centre stage.

Next year it will host six national level events at Phillip Island, Sydney Motorsport Park, Queensland Raceway, The Bend Motorsport Park and Hampton Downs, while the third round in June is TBC.

The announcement marks the end of an era with the platform that has been in use for almost two decades.

SRO Motorsports Australia CEO Ben McMellan believes it can only grow what was the Shannons Nationals and SpeedSeries.

“We are extremely pleased to bring SRO’s globally recognised international capabilities for national circuit racing

PROVISIONAL 2025 SRO MOTORSPORTS AUSTRALIA CALENDAR

OFFICIAL MEDIA / TEST DAY, MARCH 25: PHILLIP ISLAND GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT

ROUND 1 , April 4-6: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

ROUND 2, May 2-4: Sydney Motorsport Park

ROUND 3, June: TBC

ROUND 4, August 1-3: Queensland Raceway

ROUND 5 , September 5-7: The Bend (Shell V-Power Motorsport Park)

ROUND 6 , October 31-November 2: Hampton Downs (New Zealand)

to the Australian marketplace,” said McMellan.

“Motorsport Australia has done a fantastic job in building the Shannons SpeedSeries into the successful product it is today, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to build on this with the new racing series.

“It will be great to have Motorsport Australia remaining involved for future events as it offers plenty of good experience and good people, so I’d like to thank Sunil and the whole team for their support and look forward to working closely with them moving forward.

“We are coming off the back of a highly successful GT Festival at Phillip Island, which is the template for how we see our future events taking place.

“Our goal is to offer premium motorsport events featuring top level brands and star drivers, while putting a significant focus on developing off track activations to complement the entertaining on-track racing.”

Thomas Miles

Image: JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHER

TCM TO FIGHT FOR CASH AT THE BEND

WITH THE PENULTIMATE ROUND OF THE 2024 TOURING CAR MASTERS SERIES AT SANDOWN RUN AND WON, THE CATEGORY HAS ANNOUNCED SOME SERIOUS PRIZE MONEY WILL BE ON OFFER FOR THE FINAL ROUND AT THE BEND ...

THE FINALE was originally planned for SMP as part of the Motorsport Australia SpeedSeries, but the cancellation of the TCR International round earlier in the year forced a change of venue to The Bend in South Australia over the weekend of November 22-24.

Russell Hancock, car owner and a spokesman for the TCM Owners group confirmed the initiative.

“Yes, we’re looking ahead now to the final round at The Bend. It is a new event for the category, and between the TCM Owners Group members, we’ve decided to put up $10,000 in prize money up for round six at The Bend.

“This Sandown round has been really excellent and, to be honest, it’s been an excellent year for TCM, so as a bit of a reward for the competitors, we thought we would put up some prize money for the final round.”

“The prize money will be split amongst the class winners, with $3,000 for each of the of the category winners. Pro Masters, Pro Am and Pro Sport winners will all receive $3,000 and we will put up $1,000 for Pole Position.”

“The initiative has been well received by the competitors and they are looking forward to trying to take the cash away.”

“We’ve seen the category really return to some positivity this year. The on-track action has been great with many different race winners” Hancock concluded.

With a proposal on the table at Supercars for 2025, the wish list includes an increase of rounds for TCM on the Supercars Series, and Russell confirmed that the category is working towards having a prize money sponsor for each round in the 2025 series.

Long-time TCM car owner and fellow

member of the TCM investor group, Brett Peters, is very positive about the rebuild and the future for TCM going forward.

“This year TCM has shown very positive regrowth and the category’s put on the best racing that I can remember.

“The category is in a good place, we have had lots of different winners, so it shows we’re doing all the right things on the track. It’s all positive.” Peters confirmed.

Looking to the future, the category wants to continue to build on the success of the 2024 season and looks to stability with regards rules and regulations as an important part of the long term rebuild of the category.

Peters confirmed the future direction of TCM.

“Despite all the rubbish we hear from outside the category, we have complete

stability with the rules and regulations with no plans to change anything into the future.

“Sure, there has been some tightening up on compliance with the rules.

“We have a great relationship with our Motorsport Australia technical team who are working with the group and it’s just a matter of tiding things up a bit and removing some grey areas.

“I’m hearing some really positive stuff from lots of people, both inside the category, and people looking to get involved in the future. There are some cars that have been parked for a while being prepared to race again and some new cars that should be ready to race next year.

“To be on the Supercar program and getting the television that we get, it’s got to be one best bang for buck categories in the country.

“We’ve just finished the Sandown round and it’s been another successful show. Lots of interesting racing and some new winners for the category, which is exciting.

“This year’s been great because we haven’t seen that domination we have seen in the past. At every round, we have seen different types of cars and drivers who have been competitive.

“And I think that’s the beauty of the category that because there’s so much variation in the brands and models of cars, some cars work better at some tracks than others. And that’s what makes TCM racing exciting! That’ll never change.

“And as far as the cost to run in TCM goes, I’ll challenge anyone who’s interested to ring me, and I’ll tell them exactly what it costs.” Peters said.

Bruce Williams

The Best Value in Auto Racing Safety

RaceQuip brand has built a reputation for manufacturing and distributing high quality auto racing safety equipment at affordable prices and continues to build on that reputation

Sandown – another successful TCM show ... And next a dash for cash! Image: REBECCA HIND- REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

WALL PLOTTING SPORTS SEDAN RETURN

DAVID WALL is thinking about adding a new chapter to his family’s special connection to the Precision National Sports Sedans Series with a return in 2025.

The former Supercars star has begun preparing the Chevrolet Coverette GTS his father Des took to the 2009 Australian Sports Sedans title for a possible return to the track in 2025.

The last time the Corvette raced was

eight years ago back in 2016 when David competed in the Sandown season opener and claimed three podiums.

Currently the Corvette is sitting in the Wall Racing workshop and David Wall outlined he has just started the process of seeing if it will be possible to race the Chev-powered 6L beast again.

With the obvious family ties to Sports Sedans with the coveted Des Wall Trophy held each year at Sydney

Motorsport Park, a comeback has always weighed on the 41-year-old’s mind.

“Racing next year definitely is the hope,” Wall told Auto Action

“If I can get a deal together once the calendar comes out for the series I could try and run to the car.

“I have been trying to race the car again since I raced it in 2016. I miss driving it and also being involved in the Sports Sedans Series.

“We are just starting the process in the background now.

“Obviously the car has been maintained ever since I last raced it in 2016 but race cars are meant to be driven and not parked in a workshop somewhere.

“Things when you are not using them can harden and crust up ...

“All the bodywork is off to make a few improvements, mechanicals are underway, so it is just freshening up a lot of the things that have been sitting there like brake caliper, wheels and all the things you do not trust when they have not been racing for a while

“Instead of rushing we are starting the process nice and early in preparation.”

At this early point Wall admits he is unsure whether he will be in a position to race the full season, but made it clear he wants to race for the Des Wall Trophy again.

“There is a lot of water to go under the bridge (but) if I could make all that happen I definitely want to race again next year,” he said.

“Not sure if it would be a full campaign or not I am not sure, but definitely want to race for the trophy for my Dad next year.

“The number one thing is have some fun and then number two try and see if we can get my hands on my Dad’s trophy.”

The 2025 Precision National Sports Sedan Series calendar is yet to be revealed, but the 2024 season concludes at The Bathurst International on November 8-10. Thomas Miles

HISTORIC SANDOWN ON THE HORIZON

IT’S BEEN a fantastic year so far the Victorian Historic Racing Register’s (VHRR) meetings in Victoria, with Phillip Island’s Island Classic and the Winton Festival of Speed both providing great crowds, incredible machinery, and some entertaining racing with the horsepower of yesteryear.

And now, entries for the 32nd Equity-One Historic Sandown event, conducted by the VHRR, have officially opened.

This year’s event will be conducted on the Sandown International Raceway’s 3.1km National Circuit over three days, between Friday November 8 and Sunday November 10.

Invited categories include the ground shaking Formula 5000s, Historic Touring Cars, 5 Litre Touring Cars, HQ Holdens, Historic Formula Fords, as well as a wide range of historic Brabham, Elfin, Lotus, Chevron and Lola sports and racing cars, battling it out in typical open wheel tradition just half and hour from Melbourne’s CBD. For tin-top fans, highlights will include separate Super sprint events featuring 5 Litre Touring Cars, including historic HRT and DJR Holdens and Fords, Jaguars, Minis, Nissans and Chryslers, as well as an expected packed grid of the popular Tribute touring cars.

For more information on entries please contact the VHRR’s Event Secretary David Floyd on 0402 257 541.

It wouldn’t be an historic VHRR event with

some superb off-track viewings, which this year includes celebrations acknowledging Ford Mustang’s 60th and Ford Capris 55th anniversary, with a vast range of Mustang and Capri models on display.

Mustang owners will also have a chance to lap the famous Sandown race track when time is available between the racing action.

In addition to the Ford displays, the VHRR encourages historic race car owners who are not competing – and proud classic car

enthusiasts – to display their cars trackside and at Red Hill, at the Dandenong Road end of the circuit.

For more information regarding display cars please contact Steve Anderson on 0413 583 718.

Visitors to the Equity-One Historic Sandown event have the opportunity to watch all the action from the track’s covered grandstand, and wander through the pit garages and chat to the drivers and crew

attending the weekend’s racing, and, to shop from the wide selection of food and great motorsport merchandise available for sale.

So if anything, score yourself a cool vintage “Hey Charger” pin, a great Torana poster, or perhaps a classic book for your motorsport collection…and get a hotdog while you’re at it!

Event tickets are now available through the VHRR online ticket site. TW Neal

GILL DOES AUSSIES PROUD IN JWRC

AUSSIE PAIR TAYLOR GILL AND CO-DRIVER DAN BRKIC HAVE COMPLETED THEIR FIRST YEAR IN THE JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, FALLING AT THE LAST HURDLE IN GREECE IN THEIR STOIC BID FOR THE TITLE. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS … THEY ENTERED the final round of the five-event season in second place with the title in their sights at the Acropolis Rally Greece, but like so many others in the WRC, WRC2, WRC3, AND JWRC fields, succumbed to some of world rally’s most trying conditions.

Showing just how tough the rally was, only three Rally1 machines finished in the top-10, and the Aussie pair are no exception to the wrath of the rally gods with tyre and mechanical woes playing a role.

However, it was a fantastic season for the pair who, back in 2023, became the Australian Rally Championship’s youngest ever Production Cup winners.

After getting their 2024 WRC ticket through the FIA Rally Star program, their season entailed WRC rounds in Sweden, Croatia, Sardinia, Finland, and Greece.

After guiding their Ford Fiesta Rally 3 to a podium in Croatia, they went on to record an historic and dream win at the penultimate Rally Finland, which put them in the frame for the double-points finale. They were also the only team in the JWRC field to finish every event, but with an eighth place finish in the Mediterranean, the double points on offer saw them slip from second to fourth, as Gill’s good friend and Romet Jurgenson took the title, remarkably avoiding any trouble.

With that, five guaranteed drives in the 2025 WRC2 went by the wayside, with the decision on their JWRC future to be made in the coming months.

After a strong start on the Friday had them only 25 seconds from the lead, a puncture in the final stage dropped to fifth heading into

Saturday, where they ran 116 kms with no service break facing them.

Showing the typical guts that personified their year, they recovered back into the podium places by SS9 until a rock damaged their rear control arm, dropping to 10th by the final SS12 outing.

They battled hard in Sunday’s final three runs, but would finish 22:27.5s from the leader.

“We went into the weekend with a goal of staying consistent and making sure we made as few mistakes as possible,” Gill said.

“Unfortunately the puncture set us back. Then, on Saturday, our issue appeared, and the time loss was gradual.

“The rough roads damaged the rear of the car, and we simply had to nurse it through. Initially, the rear control arm was bent, however, it eventually broke completely as we made it to the end of the day.

“It was a tough pill to swallow, but we understand these problems can come from nowhere.”

He also paid tribute to Jurgenson, a driver he’s become quite close with with both living in Finland, where Gill also works as a mechanic.

“He’s a terrific friend and he’s had a great season this year. I wish him

and Siim Oja (his co-driver) the best of luck when they move up next season.

“Regardless of the final outcome, we’re very proud of our efforts this season and can hold our heads high knowing we gave ourselves the best possible chance at championship victory.

Co-driver Dan Brkic also summed up the season with a deserved pride.

“It’s easy to get ahead of ourselves, but we must remember that Rally Sweden at the start of the season was our first rally in the WRC,” Brkic said.

“To begin there and progress the way we have is a credit to Taylor, the FIA Rally Star program and our entire support team.

“At the start of the season, we didn’t know where we would stack up, but to know we can now mix it with the best juniors in the world fills us with confidence as we move forward.”

Gill ended by commenting on their 2025 hopes.

“The team will be evaluating the season and choosing drivers to continue with the program in 2025. We are hoping that we have shown enough promise for it to be us as part of the team next season.”

Australia’s Junior World Rally contenders have excelled – minor mechanical issues keeping the crown at bay. They hope to be back for more ...

PYE BACK IN LOVE WITH SUPERCARS

AFTER A decade in the full time Supercars carousel, Scott Pye felt a touch jaded with the sport, but now refreshed and a Sandown 500 winner at Triple Eight, his perspective has changed.

Pye took his second Supercars win in 341 races and first since 2018 by teaming up with Will Brown to take a thrilling victory over Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup.

It was a perfect return to being a codriver for the South Australian, having stepped away from a full time career spawned in 2013 after losing his seat at Team 18.

Although the move to Triple Eight could have been something of a homecoming given Pye’s previous non Supercars season was competing in Super2 for the juggernaut, he has not viewed it that way.

Pye admitted returning to the might of Triple Eight was the “reset” he needed to fall in love with Supercars again.

“I feel like it is a reset,” he said.

“Just where I was at the end of last year and the last few seasons almost made me resent going to the track.

“I wanted to get back into a position where I had an opportunity for success. There are no guarantees, but this team is so impressive.

“Coming here has just refreshed my love for the game and it is nice to be back.

“It has been a breathe of fresh air.”

Pye admitted the trophy-rich environment at Triple Eight has opened his eyes to many new things and he struggled to watch the closing laps.

It has been an amazing weekend and something I am very grateful for

Spending time with a team like red bull Ampol racing you never stop learning Even in the race. The middle stint was tricky and Jamie’s pace was really good and I probably burnt the tyre off passing Cam (Waters).

“The car was just a very special thing and it was an amazing opportunity to drive something so good.

“I was the most annoying person in the garage because I was so nervous, pacing around and talking to everyone.

“It is so hard to watch because you want to do so well.”

times

Thomas Miles

WHEN TO BUY AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX TICKETS

THE ANTICIPATED dates for when tickets to the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix go on sale have been announced. The first date tickets will go up for grabs will be Monday, October 7, exclusively for fans, who are part of the Ticketmaster Ballot Presale.

The following day, Tuesday, October 8 will be when the general public will be able to chase tickets for the F1.

Demand is expected to be extremely high after another record-breaking attendance in 2024, where Grandstand and Park Pass tickets for Sunday selling out in a matter of hours.

Anticipation will be even bigger in 2025 as for the first time since 2019, the Formula 1 season will kick off at its traditional home Albert Park on March 13-16.

It will be a special setting for Australia’s newest F1 driver, Jack Doohan, to make his F1 debut with Alpine.

There will be more papaya in the stands

then ever before as Oscar Piastri carries on his winning ways with McLaren having just scored his second Grand Prix victory at Baku.

If Piastri carries on his stunning rise,

he could be the best shot at seeing an Australian finally winning their home F1 Grand Prix.

There could be a 21st century first three Aussies on the grid if Daniel Ricciardo is

retained at Racing Bulls.

Not only will the spotlight be on the Australians as Albert Park will also host the historic occasion of Lewis Hamilton making his Ferrari debut.

Tickets are promised to start at $45 $45 for a Thursday Park Pass (GA), while Grandstand tickets start at $125. Kids under 14 will be able to attend Thursday for free or all four days for just $25 with a paying adult.

“After another record-breaking event in 2024, we’ve been working behind the scenes to deliver an even bigger and better Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix when we open the season at Albert Park next year,” said to Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO, Travis Auld.

“We are counting the days to the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2025, particularly the debut of Jack Doohan at his home race, Lewis Hamilton in the red of Ferrari, and Oscar Piastri vying for a podium in front of Aussie fans.”

Pye hopes to let the good

roll at Bathurst where he has stood on the podium twice, but never the top step.

RICCIARDO “RESTRICTED” BY “CRAZY” DEGRADATION ISSUES IN BAKU

RUNNING IN “no man’s land” for the entirety of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo will head to Singapore with serious tyre degradation concerns after “crazy” lap time swings left him with a P13 finish in Baku.

Starting on the back foot after his fifth Q1 elimination of the season, Ricciardo’s launch off the line saw him expectedly losing out to Lando Norris as he commenced a difficult 50-lap stint on scrubbed hard compound tyres.

One of just a few overtakes the Australian made, Ricciardo passed his wounded teammate on Lap 4 to move into P13.

From there, Ricciardo was a spectator to the inter-team battle between Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman, watching as the German sent his rookie teammate back into Ricciardo’s grasp.

Launching a DRS-assisted attack down the 2.2km main straight, Ricciardo wasn’t quite close enough, an unfortunate missed opportunity as Max Verstappen interrupted their battle after rejoining from the pitlane on quicker tyres.

“I think we knew it was going to be a long afternoon when I had graining before the guys on mediums had graining,” Ricciardo said.

“To be fair, I think Ollie (Bearman) had it a bit earlier, because he came back to us, so there were a few laps in which we caught him.

“I was right behind him thinking, ‘OK, I’ll pass him easily’, but as soon as I caught him I got the graining and I think his’ probably cleared.”

It was a similar story when George Russell also flew by the Australian with his fresh tyres, while Pierre Gasly made the move stick on his own merit.

Ricciardo’s race ended there, with the

Australian stuck in no man’s land on increasingly ageing tyres, trying to figure out their behaviour as he battled serious graining peaks and troughs on the C3, right up until his Lap 50 pitstop during the Virtual Safety Car.

“I felt like we dropped so far back, I was in, definitely, no man’s land,” he said.

“You know, as you alluded to, we tried to do what we could and after the race, Pierre [Hamelin] apologised, he goes ‘look, I was telling you a lot of things, we were just trying to help’ and I said ‘no, no, no, it was good, you were helping’, and we were all just kind of scratching our heads why we had so much graining.

“You know, we expected some graining but losing two, three seconds a lap, it was not what we expected so yeah, I guess everyone was just trying to chime in and help us clear it.

“It was so weird ‘cause yeah, we dropped so much and then all of a sudden it started to clear, and you know, I think my lap times swing was four seconds or something, it was crazy from when it was really bad to when it cleared and I never would have expected it came back the way it did.

“Then there was a handful of laps where I was, yeah, I felt like doing everything I could to get the time out of it, I knew we had to make up a lot of ground but yeah.

“I was using as much of the track as I could, I felt like I was pretty much brushing as many walls as possible to try an eek every bit I could out of it but it was just so tricky to know what the tyre was going to do.

“One lap to the next, it was definitely tricky, then yeah, obviously there was a Safety Car at the end but we were way out of the race by that point.”

Ricciardo had no help from his teammate’s data either, with Yuki Tsunoda

forced to retire on Lap 15 after having opening lap contact with Lance Stroll who punched a hole in the #22’s sidepod as he attempted to dive down the inside of Turn 3.

“Yeah, look, it’s hard,” Ricciardo said.

“Honestly, what was probably most frustrating now today is Yuki [Tsunoda] had the damage and he couldn’t race and you know… I mean, I’m very curious to know how his race would have gone and maybe he had no graining, maybe he had the same so I’m not even saying as a comparison driver-to-driver, but from a team point of view to know.

“Like, for now, all we know is, ok, I had a lot of graining, so we can assume it would

have been the same on Yuki’s car but we don’t know.

“From that point of view, we’re restricted on learning and moving forward from that because we don’t have the other reference being Yuki.

“I just saw he pulled over with damage so I don’t know exactly what happened, but obviously a shame.

“Obviously, you want him to finish but also to gather what we couldn’t.

“A bit of, in a way, a bit of a tough race but that’s that,” Ricciardo concluded.

“We’ve got Singapore in a few days so I’m glad we go back to another track soon, don’t have to dwell on this one for too long.” Thomas Miles

SENSATIONAL SEASON OPENER

IF THE NSW Wingless Sprint Club Championship opener at Sydney International Speedway is of any indication, the 2024-25 season is set to be one of the most competitive in the state’s history.

Following Andrew Sayre coming out on top following a titanic feature-race battle amongst the top 10 runners from beginning to end.

For Sayre, who was steering the NSW # 16 One6 Industries supported car that is owned by Ash and Daniel Sayre, he didn’t have the best of runs during the opening half of the 25-lap feature race.

However, he came home in the second half in sensational fashion to work his way to the front on lap 17 and was never headed from then on all the way through to the fall of the chequered flag.

Defending NSW Club Champion and last night’s feature race pole sitter John Egan was looking strong out in front for a winning start to his 2024-25 season campaign, following an opening lap battle with fellow front row starter Brayden Shute, and paced the field up until lap 16, before he was swallowed up by Sayre and two other drivers and dropped back to fourth. With plenty of determination, he fought his way back into podium contention and raced home to finish in second.

The final spot on the podium was filled by Shute, who was right up there amongst the front runners throughout the feature race and drove a good hard and clean race and was rewarded with third place, which was a performance he was really happy with.

In what was a hard-fought race, Andrew Serry finished just off the podium in fourth, but he was right amongst the front runners all race, especially during the second half of the race.

Paul Freeman rounded out the top five finishers by coming home in fifth after being up as high as third in the closing stages.

The most experienced driver amongst the top five finishers had one of his best runs in a Wingless Sprint and he will no doubt be a podium threat as the season goes on.

Similar to Freeman, youngster Corey Sammut enjoyed a career-best run in Wingless Sprint with a sixth place.

The hard-luck stories of the feature race were led by front runners Mark Blyton and Joel Buttel.

Both Blyton and Buttel, who were the highest point scorers out of the heat races and started the feature race from positions three and four due to the top four point scorers’ inversion, suffered race-ending issues, which saw Blyton retire on lap 21 after a fuel leak and Buttel on lap 14 following power steering failure.

Other feature-race retirements included the Boulding brothers Jaidyn and Darcy, Adam Hotchkis and rookie Adam Walsh.

In the heat race action earlier in the night, the wins were shared between Blyton (x 2), Buttel, Freeman, Shute and Egan.

The NSW Club Championship will continue with the second round in a fortnight’s time (Saturday night, September 28) at Sydney International Speedway.

Daniel Powell

TOYOTA BRINGS WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI UNITED “BACK TO WE SHOULD BE”

RYAN WALKINSHAW believes becoming the official homologation team for Toyota’s Supercars assault is bringing the team “back” to where it belongs.

Toyota has rocked the Supercars world by announcing it will finally race in Australia’s premier racing series in 2026 with four V8-powered Gen3 GR Toyota Supras.

Joining Triple Eight (Chevrolet) and DJR (Ford) as homologation teams will be WAU, responsible for bringing the Supra to the grid.

The bombshell announcement means WAU’s time racing with the Ford badge will be limited to just three years after making a high-profile deflection from long-time partner Holden.

WAU has a proud history racing with close ties to a manufacturer, starting life as the Holden Racing Team in 1990, which led to one of the most dominant periods of the sport from 1996-2002.

However, the team lost factory backing at the end of the 2016 season and especially since becoming Walkinshaw Andretti United two years later, has held ambitions on being a flagship homologation team once again.

WAU boss Walkinshaw believes the Toyota announcement gives the team the status it deserves.

“I think what it does is just get us back to where we believe we should be and should have been for a long period of time,” he told AUTO ACTION’s Bruce Williams at the Gold Coast announcement.

“Since losing the Holden Racing Team contract back in 2016, we’ve been adamant that we want and can be a leading homologation team again.

“Our performance over the last five years in particular, since becoming Walkinshaw Andretti United, has put us in a position where we’re an attractive team to partner with for any manufacturer.

“Then when the opportunity came when Toyota approached us and asked if we’d be interested to represent them in supercars for 2026, obviously it was something that we grabbed with both hands. “Who wouldn’t want to work with a company like Toyota?

“It makes sense as well, even though Walkinshaw Andretti United is a partnership between myself, Michael Andretti and Zak Brown, from a Walkinshaw perspective, already being a trusted partner of Toyota, evidently in these situations, they’re going to come and speak to someone that they already have a relationship and trust and know does good work for them.

“So it was a very easy, simple fit and

very quick discussion.”

WAU and Toyota have an existing relationship through running Matt Hillyer in the one make TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia GR Cup support series where the Academy driver took a timely clean sweep at Sandown last weekend.

But the pressure and weight of being the homologation team for the most popular car brand in Australia is something not lost on Walkinshaw.

“I’ve been talking to several people about it this afternoon (and) it’s probably one of the largest, if not the largest, announcement in this sport for a number of decades, maybe since the creation of the Holden racing team back in 1990,” he said.

“So for us to be in a position where we’re announcing the entry of Australia’s largest automotive manufacturer in a brand that has got such an enormous rich heritage in motorsport globally in almost every single category you can imagine, for them to enter Supercars and to compete and to do it in the way that they’re trying to do it, it’s a very, very special moment for the sport.

“It’s an enormous privilege for my team to be part of that and a very, very exciting announcement for the sport and for the motorsport community in Australia and for all of our fans.

“It’s a very, very significant day today.” Thomas Miles

WEBBER LABELS BAKU AS ONE OF PIASTRI’S ‘BEST EVER’

MARK WEBBER has described the Baku brilliance of protege Oscar Piastri as “one of his best.”

Being the manager of the rising McLaren star, Webber is well placed to make such a remark having played a key part in his journey to the pinnacle of the sport.

The former Red Bull star is no stranger to stunning drives, especially ones that are “not bad for a number two driver”.

Piastri was masterful on the Hard tyres and snatched the lead from experienced Ferrari star Charles Leclerc with a millimetre perfect and opportunistic dive-bomb at the opening corner on Lap 20.

Although Leclerc threatened, Piastri repelled each challenge lap after lap to secure a sensational second F1 Grand Prix win by 10s after 31 close to perfect laps.

“The whole year he’s been very consistent, very quick in all conditions and I think, yeah that was one of the best drives I’ve ever seen him pull off,” Webber told Sky Sports F1.

“Under a lot of pressure, very defensive

decisive in the move itself and up against a world class driver – Charles (Leclerc) around here is absolutely magical so to beat him around here is a pretty big deal.

“But to do as he did, you know, learning, sitting behind Charles in the first stint, actually ran out of a bit of range at the end

of the first stint. And then they sent him a bit longer than they’d have liked, left him a bit exposed to Sergio (Perez).

“(He) just did Sergio and then he knuckled down to get the job done.

“To pull off a Grand Prix like that around a place like this, disciplined, getting the move

done, and then leading from the front was pretty world class to say the least.”

The win became on a notable weekend given it started with McLaren pledging its priority to teammate Lando Norris when needed as the Brit chases a struggling Max Verstappen.

But the reality is Piastri has been outdriving the Brit and has been the leading points scorer over the last seven races.

“People forget… he didn’t have the upgrade in Miami and then since Miami he’s been one of the biggest points scorer if not the biggest point scorer. People are very quick to look at it, oh it’s not quite – it’s a perception thing, he’s done an extraordinary job, as has Lando (Norris) and the whole team at McLaren,” Webber said as Norris joined the Sky F1 colleagues and shifted the coverage.

For Webber, it was particularly special to see Piastri win in front of his own eyes after missing the Hungarian Grand Prix due to Formula E commitments.

Thomas Miles

RISING UP THE LADDER

HAVING ALREADY made the step up from F2 to F3, Australia’s Christian Mansell is “over the moon” with his current career trajectory.

Mansell’s stocks soared like his rise up the championship order in 2024, having secured fifth in the FIA Formula 3 Championship after a hard-fought podium in the thrilling finale at Monza.

Just a fortnight later, the Novocastrian found himself making an unexpected F2 debut at Baku, for Trident, as replacement for Roman Stanek, and claimed first-up points.

It was the cherry on top of a special 2024 for Mansell, who was elated to snatch fifth in F3 for ART having finished 12th with Campos in his rookie campaign.

“I am over the moon,” Mansell told Auto Action

“It was such a great result for myself and ART. I am super proud of the team but also myself for not only being a title contender until the last round but getting fifth in the championship.

“Validating the talent you feel that you have is always a nice feeling.

“If I was to have my time over again, realistically I would not change anything.”

That is a big statement coming for a driver, who stood on the podium five times, but did not quite get a maiden win.

Mansell started from pole in Spain and also led in Monaco, logging a best result of second.

The Aussie transformed himself from battling to get occasional points in 2023 to challenging for podiums and wins in 2024.

Mansell paid big credit to French squad ART, which he moved to from Campos during the off season.

The Aussie highlighted the team’s unrelenting faith, with the positive environment providing him with a massive boost.

“There are very, very good at pushing you in the right direction,” Mansell said.

“They are full of really positive feedback and are always in your corner. Even if you have not done the best job, they are right there to pick you back up.

“That is such a key part for a junior driver, especially for the younger ones coming through to stay in the right direction, because it is so easy to get down in the dumps in motorsport.”

Not only has Mansell made an impression on the track, he has already made a lasting legacy off it.

Being the first ever Type 1 diabetes driver in F3, the FIA has had to rewrite the rulebook to allow Mansell to use the Dexcom Glucose monitoring device in his car.

When he made his debut he required race-by-race approval

to have the mobile phone in the car, but now an “acceptable solution” is in place so the driver’s blood sugar levels are constantly monitored in case a risk develops.

Mansell feels as much pride about this as any trophy.

“I use the Dexcom Glucose monitoring device and it is very much an imperative to my performance and I would be pretty buggered without it,” he said.

“It is a pretty surreal feeling that I have been able rewrite the rules for diabetics like myself and hopefully more coming through the sport.

“You don’t realise you could have so much of an impact. I cannot tell you how many messages I have got from people who have texted me they are starting karting now because they never thought they could before they saw me.

“It is such a privilege to be a part of such a big project and it has paved the way for many years to come.”

Whilst Mansell is only confirmed to race the remainder of the F2 season with Trident, it would “mean the world” if he could be on the grid at Albert Park again in the second tier championship.

Thomas Miles

PISZCYK HOPING AUSSIE TITLE CAN OPEN DOORS

AFTER MISSING out on an international seat in 2024, James Piszcyk had a point to prove in the renewed Australian F4 Championship and did exactly that.

Piszcyk and AGI Sport were close to unbeatable, winning the first nine races of the season before wrapping up the title at the most recent round at Sepang.

Although the winning streak came to an end in Malaysia, Piszcyk was still pleased to get a podium before recovering from a drive-through in Race 2 as Evans GP dominated on its familiar test track.

Last year the AGI Sport youngster took two wins in British F4 Championship and also competed in UAE, but could not find a global seat in 2024.

With a dominant Australian F4 Championship title under his belt, Piszcyk hopes he can get back on the international radar.

“Our mindset going in was just winning,” he told Auto Action

“We knew there was going to be a bit of competition throughout the championship and we just had a

phenomenal start.

“I wanted to show everyone who I really am and how dominant I can be.

“It is fantastic to have a title and hopefully that can attract a few people.”

Having start in such dominant fashion in the season opener at The Bend before taking the success to SMP, Piszcyk credited the union he formed with his AGI Sport team.

Piszcyk admitted he was aiming to stay in Europe at the start of 2024 and is determined to return as he plots his next move for 2025.

“We were definitely trying to stay in Europe but as motorsport is, it was just trying to find the budget,” he said.

“We just have to keep getting our name out there which was the whole idea of this championship.

“The next big thing to do is what we want to do next year.

“At this point we are pretty open with our options and just finding the right path for the end goal which is staying in single seaters.”

Thomas Miles

Image: DUTCH PHOTO AGENCY

MY SEASON STARTS TO HEAT UP

THERE ARE seven flyaway races left on this year’s F1 calendar starting with Singapore, which is always an amazing atmosphere. It’s a race that a lot of Aussies travel to which is cool as it is still a decent journey away from home.

The night race element is something that I also love as the track looks pretty special under the lights.

Last year, I enjoyed my first Grand Prix there climbing 10 places in the race and got the experience of taking on the heat and humidity that Singapore brings.

It certainly is a test when you’re sat in the cockpit. You can lose several kilos of fluid over the race and it is so important to get physical preparation right in advance of the event and also as far back as pre-season.

With Azerbaijan and Singapore

Head

FORMULA 1 WORLD

back-to-back, there is no time for much meaningful training when you factor in travel and acclimatisation. Therefore, all the hard work is done further back with races like this in mind.

I think the first race at Marina Bay was when I was a sevenyear-old and I can remember thinking how cool it looked as the very-first F1 night race so it’s a special feeling to now be racing at it in Formula 1.

I’ll have a special helmet design for this one which I’m looking

forward to revealing and hope it goes down well. I’ve been happy with my special designs this season and I’m glad that the ones for Melbourne, Miami and Monaco have all been pretty popular.

After Singapore, we have a bit of a break before the tripleheader across Austin, Mexico City and Sao Paulo so that will be a good opportunity to prepare for the run-in.

Last year after Singapore, we were straight off to Japan and had Qatar not long after so there

is quite a bit of difference to the scheduling compared to 2023.

I don’t have too much planned for the break but that’s the beauty of the gaps in the calendar that can give you a breather and allow you to recharge. The length of the calendar means that you have to get the rest when you can. I’ll be having a few games of padel and getting out on the bike to keep things ticking over.

It was a successful part of the season for me over in Europe with some good results at races like Monaco, Austria, Budapest, Spa and Monza and I’ll be working hard to keep that good run of form going and replicate that as we move to the flyaway races.

The car feels great, and the team have done an awesome job back at MTC. It’s a great feeling knowing that you have a car

capable of competing at different types of circuits, which I think we have proven.

I am working hard on and off track to keep improving and adding to my craft and I am looking forward to the last part of the season.

Thanks as ever for all the support which I am always really grateful for.

Take care.

Note: Oscar’s column was written prior to last weekend’s brilliant Azerbaijan race!

OSCAR IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Oscar Piastri’s

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

BATES RUNS SECOND IN JAPAN

DEFENDING AUSTRALIAN Rally Champions and current 2024 season leaders Harry Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor, took a trip to Japan to compete for Toyota at the Rally Hokkaido in the country’s north.

Invited as part of the push to develop a closer international partnership between Toyota Gazoo Racing and the manufacturer’s Australian arm –supported by Neal Bates Motorsport – Harry Bates, a WRC NZ points getter in 2022, guided his GR Yaris Rally2 to second after two days in the Central Tokachi area of Hokkaido.

The pair began the rally in style with a Stage 1 win before a pop-off valve issue hampered their efforts at the midway point, but still cemented second overall by day’s end.

They came back for Day 2 where they started off with the opener, winning the day overall with four stage wins to finish the event 49.1 seconds off local Skoda driver Arai Hiroki, as well as finishing as the highest TGR Rally2 machine, 41.1 seconds clear of the third placed TGR driver, Nutahara Fumio.

“I’m extremely happy with second plac –, it’s like a dream to come over here for my first Rally in Japan and get a podium, so I was very happy with that,” Bates said.

“Thank you so much to TGR Australia for making this happen, and also the cooperation with TGR-WRJ – they gave us so much support this weekend; their mechanics were unbelievable, and really, really good at working on my car.”

TW Neal

WHARTON GOES ON IMOLA AND AUSTRIA TEAR

FORMER FERRARI Academy Junior James Wharton has resumed the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in fine form at back-to-back rounds at Imola and the Red Bull Ring.

In a year that’s also seen Wharton make his FIA Formula 3 debut at Silverstone and win several races in satellite series across Europe, he left the Italy/Austria rounds in fourth position in the FRECA with room to move with two rounds left.

The initial weekend at Imola saw him leave with two podiums, finishing third in both races, saying ahead of Austria that:

“I’m quite happy with the pace I’ve shown. My season is really starting to come together, especially in the recent months where I’ve achieved consistent results. Now, I feel ready for the Red Bull Ring, where we aim to be

WEEL AND PRICE

among the front runners again.”

And among the front runners he was, starting off the weekend with a scintillating qualifying session which saw him take his third pole for the season with a 1:27.008 in his F3 #13 Prema T318 Tatuus.

Chasing his second win of the season after breaking his FRECA duck in Mugello back in July, he put in the perfect outing from pole in a lights-to-flag win in the categories 75th ever race.

In a race that started under light rain, the field was forced to strap on wet Pirelli tyres to begin with, with the track eventually drying 10 minutes in. Wharton also had to contend with two yellow flags to take the win by just 0.833 seconds from charging Frenchman Evan Giltaire.

Showing the defensive driving capabilities

EARN

that he displayed to win the UAE F4 Championship in 2023, Wharton drew the ART Grand Prix driver into a Turn 3 error that secured him the win.

“I had to work a bit in the first laps to get the tyres up to temperature,” Wharton said of the race. “At the same time, I managed to keep the lead even when the Safety Cars came out. In the end, it wasn’t easy to maintain the advantage with Giltaire closing in, but it was a great victory.”

After adding more points with a fifth place finish in the finale, Wharton ended the round just six points shy of the third placed Italian Brando Badoer, and is in reach of fellow FDA member Tuukka Taponen in second ahead of the next round at the Circuit de BarcelonaCatalunya on September 28-29.

TW Neal

THIRD AT BAJA

THE TEAM Australia Trophy Truck that competes in the gruelling SCORE International series on the CaliforniaMexican Peninsula has continued its recent run of survival with a close-run third place at the epic 5th Baja 400.

Tony Price and Paul Weel, alongside American offroader Brent Bauman, won the last Baja outing in June for the Baja 500, which was a huge breakthrough after plenty of mechanical heartbreak littered their efforts since 2022.

With regular co-drivers Kellon Walch and Preston Schmid, the #46 Mason Motorsport Trophy Truck faced a 683.9 km course over three days, and they couldn’t have had a better start.

Like he did at the Baja 500, two-time Dakar winner and 2018 FIM World Rally Champion Toby Price put the Truck on Pole - his third time doing so for Team Australia - with a time of 5min 49.543 seconds.

400

In the end, they finished in third place behind the Bryce Menzies and Alan Ampudia trucks with a total time of 7:58:24.13, just under four minutes shy of the leader.

Despite a few issues with the front diff that hampered their pace, Price said they are building nicely for the centre piece Baja 1000 on November 12-17.

“We had a really good morning, picked up a nice cruisey pace and tried to make dust. Once we got out to the coast we pushed a bit more realising that the wind wasn’t in our favour as it was holding the dust around,” he said.

“A couple of issues started by then with the front diff and a couple other minor issues that hampered the end result. Other than that, we had a great battle with Bryce Menzies all morning pushing a fast pace. Paul and Brent did an amazing job on their end, our consistency is building, now onto the 100.”

TW Neal

Another result – third in the Baja 400.

James Wharton is clocking up the late season results.

WHEN ‘PL AN B’ IS QUITE OK

WHO’D BE AN AUTO ACTION COLUMNIST WITH A SUNDAY NIGHT DEADLINE ...

I HAD something pretty much in mind after the Sandown 500. Or rather the Sandown 478.

I was going to go on about how, for the second time in two years, the second-biggest Supercar race of the year had its climax ruined by an unnecessary ‘time-certain’ finish, which turned a potential cliffhanger into a three-lap anti-climax.

How could Australia’s professional motorsport category/business just not set a start-time to allow for more than average Safety Car interventions for a 6pm curfew?

So what if, with a cleaner race, it finished at 5.30 – there’s a load of talking heads and analysts to dissect what happened … They need to do better.

On the upside I was going to conclude that it was quite a watchable race, with plenty going on, but without too much surprise at a Triple Eight 1-2. After all, that’s happened before, hasn’t it.

But the podium for James Golding and David Russell and Peter Xiberras’ PremiAir team was a genuine highlight.

Xiberras has come into the sport with a unique background – as a successful Top Fuel drag racer – a competitor, as well as successful businessman. He can see things from a competitor’s perspective.

He hasn’t been afraid to make changes, big changes, along the way. Just look at the drivers who have gone; technical crew he’s attracted, including the significantly experienced Ludo Lacroix, along with Golding’s engineer, the accomplished Romy Mayer.

He has given Golding time to mature and that’s now paying dividends. With Tim Slade reportedly coming to the end of his time with the team, all of a sudden that second PremiAir seat for 2025 is looking like a hot option – and Xiberras isn’t hurrying to make a decision.

If you believe what you hear, both Brodie Kostecki and Anton de Pasquale recently turned down offers from Xiberras in order to join DJR and Team 18 respectively. I was going to suggest there’s a fair chance they might live to regret that!

But that all went out the window about 9.30pm on Sunday night when, after the switch to Hard tyres a couple of laps earlier, Oscar Piastri scythed the McLaren inside Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on lap 20 to lead the race in Azerbaijan.

What a move. What a race. What a win. What a star Australia now has to follow. Who knows, it might get F1 ahead of footy on the TV news!

Just how much of a statement it was became clearer after the race when Oscar, calm as ever, confirmed he wasn’t ‘playing’ with Leclerc (ie deliberately keeping him in DRS range to help keep a fast Perez at bay). Nope, he was going just as fast as he could.

The Ferrari was better on the Mediums they started on, but that switched around after the change – just in time by McLaren – to Pirelli’s Hards. And Oscar knew he had to have a go at Leclerc early:

“I knew if I didn’t get past at the start of the stint I was never going to get past. I went for a pretty big lunge but I managed it and then hung on for dear life for the next laps. Once he dropped out of DRS it was a little bit more relaxing … but there’s no relaxing lap around here …”

In the end, Leclerc managed to stay within DRS range, a second, for most of the rest of the race, occasionally almost getting alongside as they plummeted towards Turn 1 – but on each occasion, Piastri defended; correctly and firmly.

It was only with four or five laps to go that Leclerc ran out of steam, or rather grip, and found himself dropping into the clutches of Perez and the fastapproaching Sainz. And didn’t that end spectacularly …

Other young drivers scream in delight, or swear in frustration (not looking at you, Yuki!), but Oscar is the same calm dude throughout. After the biggest win of his life, it was the same slowdown lap as ever on the radio:

“Yes! … Well done everybody. That was probably the most stressful afternoon of my life … so, well done. That was a big move ... so thank you everyone for the car.

What a day that was …”

Even the Lando Fan Club, the Sky TV crew, were convinced:

“He is no longer the next big star coming into F1 – the star is here,” effused Karun Chandok, among the more balanced of the Sky talking heads. “Perfect, perfect drive …”

Yes, it was.

One way or the other, I’ve enjoyed a few ‘I was there’ moments along the way. One (a long time ago) was the great fortune to watch on as the great Ayrton Senna raced for the first time outside of Brazil, embarking on his spectacular two-year international karting ‘apprenticeship’ before setting the car racing world alight. Sunday night – albeit on TV rather than live – was another one, in this case shared with all Australia’s F1 fans.

It was the concrete confirmation, as if further proof was required, that Australia really has a potential world champion on its hands.

The calmness disguises a ruthless, composed, analytical racer. This was the biggest pressure test of his career to date and Oscar Piastri passed with honours.

It’s going to be a great ride.

with Chris Lambden CL ON CALL

It was this close for 30 laps of the Azerbaijan street circuit ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

PUBLISHER Bruce Williams

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Andrew Clarke

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Caroline Garde

NATIONAL EDITOR Thomas Miles

HISTORICS EDITOR Mark Bisset

FORMULA 1 Luis Vasconcelos

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Reese Mautone, David Batchelor, Edwina Williams, Siena Roperti, Gary Hill, Geoffrey Harris, John Lemm, Martin Agatyn, Paul Gover, Chris Lambden, Pete Trapnell, Ray Oliver, Steven Devries, Timothy W Neal, Toby Cooper, Craig O’Brien, Dan McCarthy, Paris Charles

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Angryman Photography, David Batchelor, autopics.com.au, David McIntee - DMAC

Photography, Geoff Colson - Colson

PhotographyMark Horsburgh - Edge Photography, Matthew Bissett-MJB

Photography, Mick Oliver- MTR Images, Peter Norton - Epic Sports Photography, Phil Wisewould Photography, Randall Kilner, Ray Oliver, Ray Ritter, Rebecca Hind - Revved Photography, Riccardo Benvenuti, Richard Hathaway, Ross Gibb Photography, Roy Meuronen

Photography

INTERNATIONAL Motorsport Images

COMMERCIAL AND ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Bruce Williams bruce@autoaction.com.au 0418 349 555

Editorial contributions may be sent to Auto Action. No responsibility will be accepted for their safety. If you require the return of any sent item or items, please attach a separate, stamped and fully addressed envelope.

AUTO ACTION IS PUBLISHED BY AUTO ACTION MEDIA PTY LTD

ABN number 89 674 370 542 Office address Suite 4/156 Drummond Street Oakleigh Victoria 3166 Phone: 03 9563 2107

The trademark Auto Action is the sole property of Auto Action Media Pty Ltd

The website www.autoaction.com.au and associated social media platforms are wholly owned by Auto Action Media Pty Ltd.

All rights reserved

No part of this magazine’s content may be reproduced, retransmitted or rebroadcast without the express written permission of the Publisher and Auto Action Media Pty Ltd.

Printed by ive Group

Distributed by ARE Direct

Retail Distribution Australia

AUTO ACTION WEBSITE

For more of the latest motorsport news, reviews and features, PLUS additional breaking news

Go to autoaction.com.au or scan below

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Email: editor@autoaction.com.au

Postal: Suite 4/156 Drummond Street. Oakleigh Victoria 3166

Tony Quinn has some big plans to improve QLD Raceway for the fans and the people that use his facility. Big works have started and improved lighting is on the agenda – we think that the return of Supercars to QLD Raceway will happen next year. Thanks for raising the question Harry.

PLEASE SHINE LIGHTS ON WHAT’S AHEAD AT QUEENSLAND TRACKS

IF THE Supercars are really coming back to Queensland Raceway, are there any thoughts or plans for night races there?

And what about the support categories if the Supercars are really coming to QR?

If memory serves us correctly, there were plans for extending QR. Is that still the case?

We have a rough idea of what ought to be done, but where are things at?

Now what about the track that has recently been built 40km out from Townsville?

What’s the timeline for the control tower and toilet blocks to be completed there?

What’s the timeline for this track to start holding race meetings?

Are there going to be camping and caravan sites near or within the grounds?

Are there any plans for lights at this track?

Have there been thoughts about shuttle buses operating between the Townsville CBD or train station and the track?

Harry and Tanya Smith Leichhardt, Queensland

SILLY SEASON CAN TURN OUT BRILLIANT RATHER THAN PLAIN STUPID

THE ‘SILLY season’ has that name for a reason, but it can be rewarding as well.

From memory Garth Tander was involved in ‘silly season’ and won Bathurst as co-driver to Shane van Gisbergen.

Richie Stanaway was dropped from a main drive but came back to prove his worth, winning Bathurst with SVG last year.

I’m pretty sure there are others out there who have achieved the same over the years.

It’s understandable that a driver who has been blind-sided can be unhappy at the time, but it can be the change necessary to win the enduros.

Look at ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom this year. He received the worst possible

WEBSTER’S WARBLE

Our most regular correspondent sees a comparatively simple way to fill the circuit racing vacuum in the warmer months.

POTENTIAL ALREADY HERE FOR A GREAT SUMMER SERIES

THERE HAVE been reports recently that the Super3 category may face the axe because of a lack of entries and that it has been struggling for sponsorship because of the growth of Super2.

SOCIAL DISCOURSE

AFTER ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND BEST WEEKENDS OF MOTORSPORT, AUTO ACTION’S SOCIAL CHANNELS WERE POPPING…

PERFECT PIASTRI

Matthew Deer

Not bad for a current number 2 driver hey Zak Brown?

Shayne Taylor

news to be dropped from the main game, but if he’s not a full-time driver next year he probably has a better chance of winning Bathurst if he’s given a back-up drive, maybe with one of the more competitive teams.

It’s not the end of the world for ‘Frosty’. He’s got heaps to offer.

Nomadic Phil Back home in SA

ENTIRE SUPERCARS ‘SHOW’ NEEDS TO BE ON FREE-TO-AIR

AUTO ACTION team, I’ve read with interest the suggestions from you guys and girls for the future of Supercars over the last couple of issues and totally agree with them all.

Chris Lambden’s call for a rethink is spot on.

I just wanted to add one more suggestion, that being free-to-air TV coverage.

The ‘show’ needs to be on free-toair TV. Not just a highlights package at 2am, but the full show with plenty of driver on-board comment in the moment.

It was fantastic viewing when Mr Johnson and Mr Brock, among many others, showed their passion and emotion live on TV.

I know it’s not as simple as that, with all the money coming from pay TV deals, but surely the teams and those in charge can find ways of making it work so everyone wins. Keep up the great work AA. I still love to read the news when my copy of the magazine lobs in the mailbox every fortnight.

Dave Sturgeon

Publisher’s note: Thanks, Dave for your kind words and input. Just can’t see that we can have the best of both worlds - the money from pay TV in the sport for the rights to telecast the ‘show’ and then a free-to-air channel being allowed (by pay TV) to screen the whole championship. Not even sure that any free-to-air channel would want to telecast the whole series nowadays, and certainly none of them would be prepared to pay the money that Fox does for the rights.

Although S5000 is not running now, it should be Australia’s main open-wheeler category. So why not revive S5000 and have it and Super3 as a summer series?

S5000 could be given a new name, say Formula Supercars, and it could be run as ‘Australia’s IndyCar’.

Renaming S5000 and running it as a spring-summer series could give it a lot more marketing appeal to Australian motorsport fans and for corporate sponsorship.

A Formula Supercars championship could run from late October until March and it could have longer races as it would be the main category.

S5000 has been powered by the Ford Coyote V8, but why not allow more V8 engines to be used from manufacturers like Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota.

This would make the competition a lot more interesting and potentially more attractive for more corporate sponsorship.

If a Formula Supercars championship was held as a spring-summer series it could help attract international drivers from Europe and North America to take part and add spice. The series could be run on most of Australia’s permanent circuits and maybe there could be a round or two in New Zealand.

Why not have a big annual round at Bathurst for Formula Supercars? Say a Bathurst 500, which could be Australia›s answer to the Indy 500.

In a new Formula Supercars championship, why not have Super3 as a major support event?

If the Super3 championship was held as a spring-summer series and as a major support event to Formula Supercars, this could make them more attractive for corporate sponsorship and have more Super3 teams and drivers taking part because it wouldn’t clash with the Supercars and Super2 championships.

This would give more young Australian and New Zealand drivers who have Supercars aspirations the opportunity to gain valuable Supercars experience.

As more Australian motorsport fans have regained interest in NASCAR, why not also have a NASCAR Australia championship as a major support event to a Formula Supercars series?

A NASCAR Australia championship could consist of previous year’s American NASCARs and this too could help attract more Australian motorsport fans to rounds of a Formula Supercars championship.

Malcolm Webster Boronia, Victoria

Oscar has ruffled a few feathers at McLaren with his masterful display in both qualifying and the race. Without the Sainz/Perez crash Norris would have been a distant 6th. OP is only 32 points behind Norris now.

MCLAREN TEAM ORDERS

Matthew Deer

Not his ideal position but Oscar has many years ahead of him to win his championships so playing the team game will gain his more credibility in the short term.

Andrew Smith

Looks like Oscar is taking stride in the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts beating Nando consistently now!

SVG GOES BOWLING AT THE GLEN

Jonathan Sampson

It was interesting to try and watch the Sandown Supercars in between the Xfinity and NASCAR races over the weekend. The Supercars event was nowhere near as exciting, commentated to death and over regulated. I am now a full time fan of NASCAR after more than 40 years of watching Australian tin top racing ... sad!

DRIVERS DISAPPOINTED ABOUT NO CO-DRIVER STARTS

John Bowe

Totally agree with Garth. Way way too many rules. Who makes them anyway? A hidden person?

MANSELL TO F2

Stephen McLaine

I remember when I first met him as a young boy, maybe 8 or 10, he told me he was going to race F1 one day. Spent some time with him and his Dad way back then, lovely family. Awesome to see him doing so well.

Michael Orr

Excellent to see an Aussie on pole in his first F2 race Qualifying P10 is a bloody good effort. There’s a bit of luck there too which makes for an exciting series.

RD FOR PRESIDENT

LOVE HIM, or the other, Roland Dane is a person who Gets Things Done.

The proof is in the race record of Triple Eight Race Engineering, his personal kingdom in Supercars for more than 15 years.

He created The Goat, Mr Jamie Whincup, and mentored a whole generation of engineers and pitlane experts.

If you want proof, just look at T8 South – as Grove Racing is now nicknamed – and the Triple Eight graduates in key spots, starting with Whincup’s one-time engineer David Cauchi.

There are other members of the T8 alumni around various teams, including Romy Mayer at PremiAir. But RD is more than just a winning team boss and teacher. He is also a hugely successful businessman who made his money without dipping into motorsport.

with Paul Gover THE PG PERSPECTIVE

Did you know he was once the biggest private importer of secondhand Japanese cars to the UK?

Or that he owned the Panther car company?

Or that he was a hotel and restaurant owner in Asia?

Or the biggest private agent for new Rolls-Royces in Asia?

Or that he now serves as chairman of PWR, which has become a billion-dollar Australian success story? I thought not. Those are the real reasons why he should be steering Supercars.

Of course, it’s also down to his motorsport smarts and the lessons he has learned from a lifetime of racing.

RD can be an utter, utter bastard. But he is also a genuinely good bloke.

So the bottom line is simple –Roland Dane only wants to win.

Some people will argue that installing RD at the top of Supercars would be like giving a rat the keys to the cookie cupboard.

Or installing Donald Trump as President. Again.

There is a lot of bad feeling in

the Supercars’ pitlane because of his success and his singleminded focus on winning for Triple Eight.

But are those worries real?

Would it be better to have him inside the tent and looking out, than outside the tent throwing rocks?

If nothing else, Dane would get things happening.

A 2025 calendar? Tick.

Cutting the costs for teams? Tick. Providing more and better entertainment for fans? Tick.

Pushing negotiations for a new broadcast deal? Tick.

He is ruthless. He is focussed. And he also understands the value of entertainment.

So drivers would be allowed to drive, and bump, and have some real personality.

On the commercial side of motorsport, he knows how to

service partners and sponsors, and keep them happy over the long haul.

The proof is the long-term deals with Red Bull and Ampol and the rest.

Most likely, Supercars is not ready for Roland Dane.

And RD might not be interested, as he focusses on his world travelling plans to enjoy life and get closer to his family.

But Supercars needs Dane, or someone very like him, to navigate the path to the future.

Tony Cochrane did the job – and did it brilliantly – in the early days of the V8 Supercars era.

He, too, was a wild man and a terrible opponent, but a wonderful friend and a hugely successful businessman.

So we know what Supercars needs – but can or will it happen?

Hmmm . . .

Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

KRACK: “CHANGES COMING TO FIT NEWEY IN”

ASTON MARTIN’S Team Principal Mike Krack has admitted that the team’s technical structure will be changed to accommodate the arrival of Adrian Newey next April.

With the new Managing Technical Partner set to effectively lead the techinal department as well and pick and choose what areas of the car he’ll be fully in charge of, Aston Martin will have to re-assign the tasks for everyone else at the top of that structure – from Enrico Cardille, who was announced last July as Chief Technical Officer, to Technical Director Dan Fallows.

On arrival in Azerbaijan, Krack openly admitted that the news Newey will be joining the team in about six and a half months “is very exciting for all of us. I’m still smiling and it is difficult to stop smiling. I think it’s fantastic news for us as a team. The enthusiasm was enormous when the news broke.”

The Team Principal admitted that, “it was a very badly kept secret at the end of the day, but when the news was communicated internally, it was just mega to see 800 people just cheering. And then, when Adrian came on the stage, it was even more so. That was really, really nice … very impressive.”

Given Aston Martin looked to have a complete technical structure before Newey’s hiring, there are questions about what will happen to other top engineers’ responsibilities within the team and Krack explained that “I think we will have plenty

of time before him joining in March. We will have a close look at it, but any team that can have someone like that, will have to discuss its structure and how to adjust it to make the best use of it. This is what we’re going to do. We’re not in a rush, we have plenty of time.

“We have some plans that we will need to discuss with him, but I think we will find a good solution.”

Given Newey has, in recent years, decided

to give overall direction to his department on the general concept of the cars and then focus on his own in the areas he believes will be the biggest performance differentiators, Krack is open to changes, explaining that “you have to look at which areas you want to cover, how much overlap do you want to have in the structure and who is accountable for what?”

The Luxembourgian added “that is an

FERRARI CONFIRMS SERRA AND INTERNAL

UNWILLING TO wait for Aston Martin to confirm the hiring of Adrian Newey to make its own announcement, Ferrari issued a statement last week to let us know how the Scuderia’s new Technical Structure will be organized from now on.

The team had already discarded the possibility of hiring Newey, as Frédéric Vasseur was unwilling to give the genial British engineer all he demanded – in terms

of salary, time spent with the team, hiring of a group of engineers he wanted to bring with him from Red Bull, and so on.

The Frenchman had long secured the services of former Mercedes man Loic Serra, who was originally hired as Head of Design, to work under Technical Director Enrique Cardille. But with the Italian moving to Aston Martin – apparently at Newey’s request –Serra now finds himself in the position of

Technical Director of the chassis department, while Enrique Gualteri mantains his position of Technical Director for the Power Units department.

Ferrari has hired quite a bit of young talent to work under Serra – the Frenchman officially joining the team next October – but opted against making any announcements as the least its rivals know about who’s doing what in Maranello, the less likely they are to

exercise that we have to go through, but you have to do that each time in each department with each new recruit.

“You need to define what are the roles and the responsibilities and what is this new employee accountable for. It’ s the same with the senior leadership, the technical leadership. I think if you cover all the areas and you allocate them properly, there will be no such problems.”

PROMOTIONS

try and lure them away, with much bigger salaries, for their own teams.

Under Serra, the new Technical Director, the department will be led, in the factory, by a quartet of Heads of Department, while Diego Ioverno will add full responsibility for the Chassis Operations on track to his current role of Sporting Director.

From now on, the Chassis Project Engineering area will be headed by Fabio Montecchi; the Vehicle Performance department will be led Marco Adurno; Diego Tondi is the new Head of Aerodynamics, headed up by Diego Tondi; and Matteo Togninalli is promoted to Head of Track Engineering.

Largely unknown to the Formula 1 fans, the four Italian engineers have been working for Ferrari for quite a while. Montecchi has been Chief Project Engineer since 2021 and has been with the team since 2007; Adurno, who joined from Red Bull in 2019, now gets the job title corresponding to the work he’s already been doing for the last three years, with a salary boost as well.

Tondi gets promoted from Head of Aerodynamic Development, a role he’s held for the last four seasons and, like Montecchi, has been a Ferrari man since 2007; and Togninalli was promoted from Chief Race Engineer, a role he’s held since the end of 2015, continuing his progression within Ferrari since he joined the Scuderia at the start of 2008.

Job security anyone? Some of the senior Aston Martin personnel on hand for the announcement might find their roles ‘redefined’ after Adrian Newey’s arrival. Left to right: Martin Whitmarsh, Group CEO, Aston Martin Performance Technologies; Dan Fallows, Technical Director, Aston Martin F1 Team; Andy Cowell, Group CEO, Aston Martin F1 Team; Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team; Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team; Adrian Newey; Lawrence Stroll, Owner, Aston Martin F1 Team; Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team; Tom McCullough, Performance Director, Aston Martin F1 Team; and Andy Stevenson, Sporting Director, Aston Martin F1 Team. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Loic Serra is a former Mercedes man, so has history working with Lewis Hamilton – the pair will re-unite at Ferrari.

BOTTAS HINTS AUDI CONTRACT IMMINENT

VALTTERI BOTTAS has given a strong indication that his new contract with Sauber/ Audi is on its way to being finalised, at the same time as there was fresh hope in Brazil that last year’s Formula 3 champion and current Formula 2 front runner, Gabriel

Bortoleto, was close to securing the seat next to Nico Hulkenberg in 2025.

The Finn revealed that “Mattia (Binotto) and I we’re still talking, progressing and I’m still positive” but tried to keep the matter between the team and himself, saying that, “I really

shouldn’t say much.”

Nevertheless, the veteran then explained that “there are always many things to discuss – both parties need to be happy, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”

With Binotto stating in Monza that the main

decision to take was between opting for an experienced driver, to help with the transition into the Audi era or a young driver as an investment for the future,

Bottas believes he’s the first choice for the team should the decision be to go for experience, saying that “I think it’s pretty straightforward. I know that my strenght is the experience and what I can bring to the team, so that’s what speaks for me.”

Then, asked if he was still 99 per cent certain he’d be in Formula 1 next year the Finn quickly answered “yes”, and then added that “for me it’s pretty clear what I want and hopefully we’ll get there soon.”

Then, in the biggest hint he believes a new contract with the team is coming, Bottas explained that he’s not in contact with teams from other series any more, also revealing that “I would have targetted IndyCar if I wasn’t staying in Formula 1, to try and win the championship there in a number of years.”

Confronted with the fact he has the best CV of any driver available in the field, with 10 Grand Prix wins, 20 pole positions and twice runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the World Championship and is being evluated against someone who hasn’t even done one Grand Prix, the Sauber driver admitted that “this sport is unfair, I’ve seen that many times,” before concluding that “I’ve been in a difficult situation due to the performance of the car, but Mattia knows what he can get from me. That’s a good thing for me and hopefully I’ll be here next year and the car will be a bit better, so I can show a bit more.”

HONDA AND ALPINE IN MINOR COST CAP BREACH

HONDA AND Alpine have been found to be in Procedural Breaches of the 2023 Formula 1 Cost Cap, the FIA announced last Wednesday.

However, given the two Power Unit manufacturers did not exceed the Cost Cap level, neither of them will be penalised by the Federation, but will have to reach an agreement with the sport’s regulator before signing an Accepted Breach Agreement.

The FIA statement explainend that, regarding the Power Unit manufacturers, all four of them – Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine and Hondam – had been ”found in compliance for 2023” but also noted that there were “Procedural Breaches identified for Alpine Racing SAS and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).”

The Federation explained that, “the CCA (Cost Cap Administration) confirms that although Alpine Racing SAS and HRC have both been found to be in Procedural Breach, neither have exceeded the Cost Cap level. Both Alpine Racing SAS and HRC have acted at all times in good faith and are currently cooperating with the CCA to finalise the matter.”

That’s why the statement concluded that “considering the nature of the breach, the complexities of the new Financial Regulations for PU Manufacturers and the challenges associated with their first year of implementation it is the CCA’s intention to propose to these two PU Manufacturers to settle their respective breaches by means of an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA).”

Procedural Breaches are either those where expenses were filed incorrectly by the teams or the Power Unit Regulators –very much like Aston Martin did in the first year when the Cost Cap was implemented, back in 2021 – or as was the case with Williams, filed after the mandatory deadline of March 31.

In both cases, the worst that can happen is a fine, so there will be no sporting consequences coming from this for either Honda or Alpine.

As was also the case in the 2022 Formula 1 season, all 10 teams were found to have been completely in conformity with the Cost Cap regulations last year, a clear sign that everyone learned from the mistakes made by Red Bull in 2021 which led to a

deduction of 10 percent of their alloted wind tunnel time and CFD capacity for 12 months, as well as a reasonably sized fine.

It’s worth noting that the Cost Cap regulations are set for a major overhaul from the start of 2026, as the FIA believes teams and manufacturers are still finding ways to hide some of their expenditure in the nearly 40 exceptions to the Cost Cap.

The general consensus between the teams is that the Cost Cap will be raised to US$250 million by 2026 but will only exclude the drivers’ salaries – every single expense will now be included in their accounts and that includes every cent suppliers spend for them, regardless of how much they charge for their services.

Still can’t come to terms with him not in Ferrari red ... Sauber team boss Mattia Binotto (right), with team founder Peter Sauber. Valtteri believes he’s Mattia’s choice for 2025.

MIAMI-MONTREAL DOUBLE HEADER A POSSIBILITY

THE DOOR is finally starting to open to a request from Formula 1 teams (and most of the staff that attends all the Grand Prix), as the promoters of the Miami Grand Prix have finally admitted it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for them to move their race four weeks forward and create a doubleheader with the Canadian Grand Prix. As things have stood in the last three years, having both the Miami and the Canadian Grand Prix as stand-alone races has forced everybody in the sport to do two trans-Atlantic trips just one month apart – the same happens with the vast amount of cargo that is required by the

teams, Formula 1 and the FIA to get a Grand Prix weekend going.

The need to compress more flyaway races at the start of the year, as well as the fact it’s better to race in Europe early in May than late in September, has motivated Stefano Domenicali to push the Miami Grand Prix promoters to drop their demand to host their race in the first week of May and accept running it four weeks later, at the start of June. That’s because Montreal’s weather means it’s not advisable to hold the Grand Prix in the second week of May, as temperatures hardly ever go above 15ºC and there’s

quite a bit of rain too. So moving Miami is the perfect solution that will save a lot of travelling and reduce the sport’s carbon print further from 2026 onwards.

Like many of his colleagues, Miami Grand Prix promoter Tyler Epp was in Monza and talked to a few journalists of his choice, to initially turn off any talks of moving his race date.

Epp said that “we like our slot on the calendar,” adding that the early May date suits the city’s interests because, at that time of the year, the city “doesn’t have much movement.” He also mentioned that other big events, like the Superbowl

and the tennis open ocupy the city early in the year, but eventually admitted that the Grand Prix calendar is, essentiually “a Formula 1 question, and we don’t get to dictate that.”

Insisting he’d like to keep Miami’s spot in the calendar, Epp admitted that other factors have to come into consideration, explaining that “we are in line with Formula 1 and the rest of the industry with sustainability. I think they have some things in the works, but our date is pretty firm for us,” before finally conceding that “if things were to change in a couple of years, “I wouldn’t necessarily mind.”

IS F1 REALLY HEADING TO RWANDA?

SUGGESTIONS ABOUT Formula 1 returning to Africa have been common since Liberty Media bought the sport’s commercial rights from CVC Capital Partners but have seriously increased since Stefano Domenicali was appointed CEO of the Formula 1 group.

The Italian, like his predecessor Chase Carey, tried hard to put together a deal that would revive the South African Grand Prix, at Kyalami, where Formula 1 held its last race in that continent back in 1993. However, lack of commitment from the South African government, together with the fact the circuit needs quite a bit of investment to get up to the current Grand Prix standards, complicated things. Finally, the fact the circuit is privately owned and the proprietor doesn’t want to invest in upgrading the facilities (insisting it’s the government and the race promoter who have to put the money up), has meant the discussions with the South Africans have stalled more than a year ago.

While projects in Morocco and Egypt have been mentioned occasionally, Domenicali now believes there’s a more realistic project being put together in

Rwanda and openly talked about it during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.

The Italian said that,“Rwanda are serious about this project. They have presented a good plan and actually we have a meeting with them at the end of this month”, adding that if the race goes ahead “it will be held on a permanent track.”

Once again Domenicali stated that,“we want to go to Africa, but we need to have the right investment and the right strategic plan,” concluding that “we need to have the right moment and we need to make sure that also in that country, in that region, in that continent, there is the right welcoming because, of course,

they have other priorities. We need to be always very careful in making the right choices.”

A big campaigner for the return of Formula 1 to Africa, Lewis Hamilton, is quite excited by the prospect of finally racing in that continent before his Grand Prix career comes to an end.

The Mercedes driver said that “Rwanda is one of my favorite places I’ve been to. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the background and spoken to people in Rwanda and South Africa. That’s a long project, but it’s amazing that they’re so keen to get it.

“We can’t be adding races in other locations and continue to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world takes from –no-one gives anything to Africa.”

On top of that, the British driver believes that “having a Grand Prix there would really highlight how great the place is and bring in tourism ... so why are we not on that continent? The current excuse is maybe there’s not a track that is ready, but there is at least one track that’s ready,” making it clear that, from his point of view, Kyalami could also host a Grand Prix any time.

Moving the Miami race forward by four weeks is an obvious change. This year’s race (first corner, below) was in an solo, expensive time slot.

The last time F1 raced in Africa – South Africa in fact – was 1993. Alain Prost in the sensational FW15C Williams-Renault (below) beat Ayrton Senna’s McLaren-Ford by over a minute. The rest of the field was lapped ...

NEWEY’S FINAL CHALLENGE

THE ANNOUNCEMENT that Adrian Newey will be joining Aston Martin at the end of the (European) Spring of 2025 caught no one by surprise, but his future title description and the fact he has become a shareholder of the company is good evidence that the genial engineer has finally got from a Formula 1 team the absolute power over all things technical and probably even more than that. It was Frank Williams and Patrick Head’s refusal to make Newey a shareholder of their team that pushed him to accept Ron Dennis’ offer midway through the 1996 season. It was unwanted interference from the management and his frustration with the fragility of the Mercedes engines at that time that led him to take the unlikely challenge of leaving such an established team as McLaren and joining Red Bull Racing, seen at the time as more of a marketing exercise than a racing team.

with Luis Vasconcelos

This time it was the internal war that was brewing at Red Bull early in the season, together with Christian Horner’s successive statements that Newey no longer had much to do with this car’s design and development, that led to him deciding it was time to go. For a couple of months it looked like retirement was on his mind but while Frédéric Vasseur and Ferrari’s generous offer was not enough to motivate him to carry on, it’s clear that Lawrence Stroll was willing to give Newey everything he wanted and more in all areas – money, complete

freedom and absolute power inside the technical department, as well as a significant amount of shares in the team ... And that’s what made the British engineer accept what will be the final challenge of his amazing career in Formula 1.

A quiet but pleasant man, Adrian Newey has a complex personality and his shyness hides a tremendously strong competitiveness in everything he does.

Although he’s very well aware of his own strengths and his place in the sport’s history, the most successful engineer in Grand Prix

racing needs to feel everyone around him has full faith in him. Newey needs to feel wanted; needs to feel he’s taken care of; needs to be a bit spoiled by those around him.

Understanding that, Christian Horner would take him out for dinner almost every single night during Grand Prix weekends for the first years after Newey joined Red Bull Racing – it was almost a certainty that if you’d go past some fancy restaurant in the city where Formula 1 was racing, the two man and respective wives would be sitting together, with no other company, for dinner.

Stroll clearly worked hard to give Newey that feeling he’s not only very much wanted by Aston Martin Racing, he’s also the most important person in the company.

It was probably not a coincidence the Canadian ended up staying in the same hotels Newey was in, or bumped into him at the gym on many occasions.

Stroll is a highly inteligent man who knows how to get the best in the business to join him and has put together, for 2026, the tremendous combination of having Adrian Newey running Aston Martin’s technical department, Honda supplying the Power Units and Aramco bankrolling most of the program and supplying the all important new fuels, that look set to become an important performance differentiator once the new generation of Power Units goes racing.

That could be enough to entice a Max Verstappen to jump ship and join Aston Martin for 2026, as the Dutchman and his entourage know very well how great Newey is at finding ways no-one else has seen to extract performance from his cars and are well aware of the great job Honda is capable of doing.

That would be the final piece of the puzzle and could well be the start of a new era in Formula 1.

Adrian Newey, with the man who has given him everything he wants – Lawrence Stroll ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

THE CO-DRIVERS FIGHT FOR THE SPOTLIGHT

THE AVERAGE AGE OF CO-DRIVERS IN THE ENDURANCE RACES THIS YEAR IS 32 AND THE CUT-POINT FOR HALF THE FIELD IS 26 YEARS OF AGE. JAYLYN ROBOTHAM AND JORDAN BOYS ARE IN THE YOUNG HALF,AND FIGHTING TO GET ON THE RADAR. ANDREW CLARKE SPOKE WITH THE PAIR IN THE LEAD-UP TO THE SANDOWN 500.

SUPERCARS RACING in its present guise is not very adventurous. Looking at the top end of pitlane at endurance time, there is a splattering of exes filling out their time with the hope of a Bathurst win – either a first or a last – while the future of the sport languishes down the other end.

Teams that have run academy-like Super2 and Super3 programs tend not to use the drivers in their squads. There are exceptions to the rule, of course. Triple Eight went bold with its choice of Broc Feeney for a main game drive a couple of years back, but then slots in aged warriors – admittedly one that is a multiple winner of Bathurst and a seven-time Supercars Champion – alongside him and Will Brown for the enduros.

with Tickford. Brad Vaughan drives for Tickford in Super2, and he’s had to run in the wildcard entry with Matt Chahda.

good look at what the good drivers were doing last year, and I feel like we’ve ended up with a good group.

“Jordan’s very quiet and business-like. He gets a job done and it’s one thing I will say about all our co-drivers, they are very focused and fit nicely into the group. Jaylyn? We’re new to him and he’s new to us, and so there’s a little bit of understanding to grow, and planning going on. He’s doing a really good job.”

He could have taken pay drivers, but he says he remembers what it was like when he was young, even it was a long time ago ...

Dick Johnson Racing has Kai Allen in one co-driver slot, but then runs Tony D’Alberto, at twice his age, in the other.

At Brad Jones Racing they have Albury local Jordan Boys (three wins in Super2 and now 26) who is back for his fourth endurance program with the team, and Jaylyn Robotham (one win in Super2 and third endurance campaign but his first with BJR, aged 21). And aside from Declan Fraser, who is trying to

Jordan’s very quiet and business like, he gets a job done and it’s one thing I will say about all our co-drivers ... “ ”

There are other young drivers aged 26 or under that are looking to forge a way in the sport. Aaron Cameron, Cameron Crick, Cameron McLeod and Brad Vaughan are all using Sandown and Bathurst as a job interview,

recover a career, that is it for the young drivers.

Only four drivers in the top 10 of the Super2 Championship have endurance drives, which makes a mockery of the importance placed on the series for Super Licence points.

Jones could have looked for some money to fill endplates or the like on his cars, but he decided that he’d rather just chose the best available and not have it tied to anything else.

“It’s not really hard,” Jones says of the decision not to run pay drivers. “These are the two biggest races we do of the year and so, for us, we’re looking for speed. We had a really

“That’s not what this is about for us,” he says of pay drivers. “We want to get a result, and we want really good guys in the car and that meant deciding what we we're looking for and going and getting it. For us, it’s about speed.”

He feels that you’ve got to keep an eye on the young guys coming through – not that he’s planning to replace any of his four regular drivers but you never know what may happen. He thinks all his co-drivers could step up to the main game but, as he says, that is a big step as Jaxon Evans is discovering.

“The level that the main guys are at is very, very high and for anyone to step into that is difficult. Because, when they get in, they’re going to find it very hard going, and they’ve gotta be strong enough to weather that and then be able to grow and there is no time to adjust.

"Look at Jaxon and his pedigree, and honestly, at Bathurst last year he was arguably the best co-driver, or one of them, for sure.”

Boys and Rowbotham have formed a strong connection since linking up at the start of the year with BJR. Both are quietly spoken

Left: Jaylyn Robotham (left) and Jordan Boys – talented youngsters, but where to next? Above: Macauley Jones has been a BJR regular for some years, with Boys co-driving this year for the third time. Below: Boys shone in Super2 – look who's behind him at Bathurst – but opportunity beyond that is limited. Images: PACE IMAGES, MOTORSPORT IMAGES, MARK HORSBURGH, ANDREW CLARKE

Robotham co-drove with BJR regular Bryce Fullwood to a top 10 finish at Sandown last weekend.

A lot of the times you get three, four years in and your sponsors are kind of looking at you going, ‘well, where’s this going ... “ ”

country boys who were good juniors with typical racing paths, karts to something bigger – Excels in the case of Robotham and Formula Ford for Boys – and then up the tree to Super2.

But then the endless chase for the hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a six event series with an average media profile at best, pushed them in other directions.

Robotham has headed to Thailand and Boys to S5000 and Trans Am (TA2) where he gets to race against the likes of James Moffat, James Golding and Todd Hazelwood as well as 21-year-old Nathan Herne who should be somewhere on the endurance grid.

But it is about opportunity. For Boys, living in Albury has no doubt helped him a little with BJR, but he stills feels it is a battle to get on the

radar as a young driver rather than a cash cow.

“For me, the hard part is that you get to that second to third year mark in Super2 and they sort-of go ‘if you keep spending the money, we’ll keep an eye’,” Boys said of the endless cycle. “I feel like if you can’t burst onto the scene and do it really properly for a couple of years and achieve it straight away, you’re done, which for me is you start in Super2 but you’re doing it with probably under budgeted equipment ... so how do you do that?

“Because you don’t get there straight away, I feel like you get shelved a little bit as soon as you stop spending the money. I look at someone like Zak Best this year and the fact that he’s missed a co-drive – as soon as he stopped spending the money with them, they just kind of look away a little bit.

“That’s the hard part for me in as much as there’s not a whole lot of opportunity to do some part-time racing and some co-driving. I get it that not everyone gets to be a main game driver, but there’s not a whole lot below that, so it’s up to the family and sponsors and stuff to keep you going, which is not really a career.”

Robotham echoes those thoughts, and that Super2 now feels like a race to the top via budget rather than opportunity.

“If you don’t keep spending in Super2 the opportunities start to go away from you,” he agrees. “And some people out there have a lot of budget and can afford to race at 110% and they’re not scared to fence it; whereas if you’re on a little bit of a budget you don’t want to damage the car.

“I’ve done Super2, and that was the plan going in. Some people can get in there and do really well in their first year, but it’s just the amount of money they’re willing to spend with certain teams and all that stuff.”

For a competitive Super2 season we are hearing numbers like $600,000 or more. That’s a lot of money compared with something like Trans Am which in reality is not that far removed from a Gen3 Supercar in terms of how the car behaves.

The challenge is providing value for money for sponsors in Super2. Some races are short because of incidents but, even without that, Boys struggles with the value proposition, which is why he turned to Trans Am.

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s a whole lot actually giving value for more than a couple of hundred thousand bucks in Super2 regardless of the racing laps – it’s just hard to give value for much more than that. That’s where I feel like the price point should be – if you can’t give value for half of what the cost is

it’s probably a little bit of a broken system.

“I’ve certainly had sponsors say before about the limited racing laps, but for me the main part is the attention that the series gets both on social media and TV in general is probably not good enough to support that kind of budget. The main game teams, like everyone, seem to be commercially working it better in the last couple years than they were before, but it’s still an uphill battle.

“A half a million bucks for a marketing budget for any company is pretty steep and Super2 for me doesn’t give a return on that. I can’t say that it gets that much more attention than the Trans Am that I’m doing now that’s literally half the budget.”

In sports with less money needed to compete, athletes are spotted and mentored. There are a bunch of 18 and 19 years-olds playing AFL football. But motor racing is different. A footy kit with the best boots and the like and a season’s registration may cost $500; a half decent non-custom race suit alone will cost more than that. Even a karting suit and boots will go past the football kit, and a karting season will blow that budget comfortably.

“Coming through the Super3 and stuff, you get all these teams that are interested in you, but it comes with a price. If they took talent from karting, for instance, there’d be so many more people around. They’re looking for talent, but at the same time they need someone behind the driver or the family to bring all this budget.

“In Super2, especially with these new-gen cars, that price has gone ridiculously high. In our last year in 2022, we didn’t get many racing laps at all. It was all Safety Car and red flags, so that’s why we put a stop to it.”

Boys talks about the need to talk more about yourself, or a 'squeaky wheel' as he says, to

Jaylyn Robotham, with team owner Brad Jones, in the Sandown pits. Above: Jordan Boys chats with Macauley Jones.

CO-DRIVER DEMOGRAPHICS

keep at the forefront. But as quietly spoken country lads, that is outside of their nature, and they didn’t feel like a pushy manager would have helped much, even if they could have afforded one.

“You look back at it and go, I wish I was more of a squeaky wheel and you might have got some more help. But I also look back at it and there were areas where I was given some opportunity that I didn’t perform well enough. I’m not bitter about it, but I couldn’t see any reason why I was overlooked.

“A driver of my level is what the lower end Supercars teams are looking at, and the budgets and stuff that they expect and need is daunting. Even at co-driving levels, that some asked for, it just feels like the sport is not commercially viable.

“Like when you’ve got drivers in the bottom couple of teams and they’ve got to bring over a million bucks to the table or upwards of $100,000 for a co-drive, that’s the part that doesn’t make sense for me. It’s not as much as we all should be doing a couple years in Super2 and then get given a crack at main game, but when we do get the opportunities, we’re expected to go to back to the well and start bringing double the budget of what you’ve just been doing for Super2.”

Brad Jones Racing is actually paying both drivers, which is a bonus for them, even if they are not in outright race-contending cars, just eyeing good top 10 results.

“I’ve had a few people support me but no one really pumping my tyres up. Some people have had good support and got picked up young and that’s allowed them to get more exposure and all that stuff, yet with me not doing Super2 or anything in Australia it’s kind of harder to stay relevant

and be able to get these opportunities with co-drives.”

Boys has found a happy ‘home’ for his Supercars activity, but he also feels that has become a limiting factor because people now see him as BJR, after both were initially aligned with Erebus and its aligned Image Racing team run by Terry Wyhoon.

“I think more teams should use their junior system to put co-drivers in place and that kind of thing would make it to where the junior system would actually work. I guess, for me, I can’t see a world with the way the costs of racing are that your Super2 drives ever going to be funded for you in that sort of system.

“This is not where the economy is, is it? But if you could step into an opportunity and go; if I could get to the mid-year and I’ve done a reasonable job, then I’ll get a crack at co-driving and you’ve got a good succession plan, it’s then obviously a lot easier to go back to your partners that are involved in the racing and get it to where they can stay interested.

“A lot of the times you get three, four years in and your sponsors are kind of looking at you and saying, ‘well, where’s this going?’”

Both drivers, despite obvious talent, look like they’ll run around for a few years as co-drivers, and maybe even get to the point where it becomes a career. But it is an endless cycle. Do you go again with the same team or shop around? The window of opportunity is narrow and most of the co-drives are locked in by the end of October, and the main game steers months before.

“I think, for the most part, if you’re trying to get a main game drive you’ve probably got to have been onto it two months ago. And then, if co-drives either just before Bathurst or by

the time you get to Bathurst weekend you get a bit of an idea of how it is and where it’s going to land.

“Either the team talks to you about going again or, within the weeks after Bathurst, you’ll find that most drives are pretty sorted. Normally Brad asks you on the Sunday afternoon if you’d like to do it again or not depending on what sort of job you’ve done ... you know whether you’ve got the arse or not pretty quickly with him!

“It’s the most stressful part for sure – it’s the uncertainty of what’s next? For me, this year, I looked at it and I thought 'I’ll do two or three Trans Am rounds to keep myself fresh and then I’ll go and do enduros' and then it quickly changed to doing the whole Trans Am thing and you’re trying to find budget to do the whole lot.

“I’ve been fortunate in as much as the team that I drive for in Trans Am are not there to make money out of the sport. They’re there to give opportunity and as soon as we were in the championship hunt they, were keen to continue and keen to support it.

“But finding those sorts of budgets to continue your racing is the most stressful part. If you could just roll up to Sandown and Bathurst and be competitive it’d be a whole lot easier. But I don’t think it’s at a point now where the co-drivers can do that.

"What you could do probably 15 years ago where guys literally were just turning up for those two races after not driving a race car all year ... you’d be left in the dust doing that.”

Robotham has looked offshore to keep his hand in, and he’s earning a living from it too, while Boys still works for the family business so he can pay the mortgage.

“I started racing in Asia in 2019 and then last year I did a full season and this year I had the opportunity to move over to Thailand,” Robotham says. “It’s kind-of a very unique route, but I’m at a point now where over there I’m making a little bit of money and it keeps me race-fit and all that stuff.

“The competition may not be high, but I did a couple rounds of GT Asia and half the pros are factory drivers, so they’re in the car every weekend and that level is very high.

"It’s probably similar to Supercars. Their drivers are in the car basically every weekend. In that aspect it’s good but there’s certainly some categories in Asia that don’t match up to Supercars.

“So, just trying to find something to do in the meantime, where you’re keeping sharp and testing yourself against the best. That’s why we’ve done the GT3 over there. I’ll continue to try to do that again next year."

Both drivers are comfortable with where they are at, but clearly believe they have more to offer if the right opportunity arose. Boys would love to race more, but he’s a realist with budgets and the like. But if they remain as co-drivers for the endurance series only, they’d like better chances to win the races, but it seems the ageing veterans are keen to hang onto those gigs.

In the meantime, they’ll just head out and do the best they can with what they’ve got ... and hope. Who knows, maybe there’ll even be a main-game drive somewhere – after all, Jaxon Evans was in their position at this time last year.

Robotham at the wheel of a Ford Mustang in Thailand – the opportunity to earn a few dollars and get seat time. Right top: Co-driver chat – Boys and Dean Fiore ... Right: Robotham is an Excel graduate.

Jordan Boys has successfully turned to both S5000 (above) and Trans Am (here heading Nathan Hearn in Tassie) for race miles and experience – both cost half the budget cost of Super2 ... and both are 'discouraged' as pathways by Supercars ...

CAMPBELL LOGAN

LOGAN’S RUSH

WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI UNITED’S ACADEMY SUPER2 RACER CAMPBELL LOGAN IS A REFRESHING PERSONALITY WITH AN ATTITUDE THAT EXCEEDS HIS AGE AND, COURTESY OF A GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM AND A CAREFULLY CONSIDERED APPROACH, HE’S ON A FAST PATH TO GOOD FUTURE …

by TIMOTHY W NEAL

IF THERE’S anything worth doing, it’s worth doing right – that’s the term that springs to mind after talking about racing with Campbell Logan. From Karting, to Excels, to Toyota 86s, and now Super2, Logan’s journey to the national scene is one that upholds the qualities of being willing to listen and learn.

Hailing from Hobart, Tasmania, the bright and intelligent 20-year-old has climbed up to the penultimate rung of the Supercars ladder by not only showing the necessary speed, but also through a series of consistent and considered choices.

Ranging from his honest approach and methods of self-appraisal, the selection of machinery, and a stout determination to improve through a devout version of his own ‘mindfulness,’ Logan represents a refreshing picture of the sharp-minded youth that currently inhabits Australia’s modern

being a ‘main game’ champion.

Speaking to Auto Action the day prior to the Sandown 500, preparing to compete in the exRyan Wood #2 WAU Commodore ZB, Logan spoke with us about where he is at in life after deferring his studies, his pathway to the WAU garage, his influences, and his personal approach to racing and the importance of making the right choices.

“Currently I couldn’t be in a better position. I’m where I need to be, but it’s important that I start getting the results in order to climb the ladder to Supercars,” Logan began.

“Super2 is a massive step-up from anything I’ve done, not just financially, but in terms of driving at a required competitive level. It’s a bigger step up than I thought it would be but I’m happy with my progression.

“It’s been a lot of hard work from myself and the WAU team, but it’s all about learning as much as I can, because it’s a dense learning curve with these cars and this category.

“It was a big decision to defer my engineering studies at the back-end of last

Ever since his father (a former rally co-driver and TARGA competitor) sat him down at the

Not only does Logan show promise on the track, he’s also enrolled in a Mechanical Engineering university course at the University of Tasmania; a course he has

was adamant about it. She said ‘university will always be there, but there’s one chance of making this career happen’. My plan is to return in a part-time capacity next year.”

Excels, where they also taught him to drive manuals from scratch.

the Vic State titles when COVID then derailed his plans to compete nationally.

“My dad’s first response to karting was ‘absolutely not’ – because of his navigating background he knew how much motorsport

“We bought the Excel that Brodie Kostecki and Nash Morris built together which, due to its cost, we got some social media backlash about, but it provided a great start to being able to go to Norwell with that car. And that’s how we’ve approached things – it was the idea that if I was going to go for it we had to do it properly to start with. I’m grateful to this day – a lot of the vital learnings and teachings I learned from Paul (Morris) and the guys out there … it was invaluable.”

After moving to the 86 series the same year, his first national race was at the 2021 Bathurst 1000, and he’d then go on to finish sixth in 2022 as the top rookie and second in 2023 driving the machine he brought from Luke King, which was previously owned by AA’s

own chief, Bruce Williams, as a title winner and, In those two seasons, Logan was guided by some very influential figures. He also led the title into the last round of the 2023 title, but a crash in practice derailed his hopes.

“I learnt a lot from that weekend and, as much as it sucked at the time, in reflection, that’s a very important weekend for me and for my learning.

“But to start my 86 journey I had a key few people in my corner. When I started racing Excels I got to know Greg Crick, and he linked me up with an engineer by the name of Brett

I wanted to show the team that I was focused on minor details that end up having a bigger result than what you may think ... “ ”

costs and he didn’t want to get involved to start with, but I kept pushing and pushing, and then finally got a go.

“I was nearly six foot tall at 13 so it was a problem initially. I had to race in the Junior Heavy class but there wasn’t a choice for that in Tassie, so we went to the mainland.”

Another key individual for Logan in Karting was Chris Schofield, who’d coached the likes of Broc Feeney, Thomas Randle, Will Brown, and Zane Goddard.

“I was lucky to work with him from early on. He’s a big supporter of mine still, which is really cool. The main thing with my father was that he designed it for me so that if we were going to do things seriously, I would learn good habits from the beginning, so we didn’t have to waste years trying to get rid of bad

Francis, who had run Will Brown and at the time was working with Zach Bates. That was a vital connection. He was with me from beginning to end in the 86s.

“Also, because it was expensive running out of Tasmania to compete nationally, we were lucky to have Neil Bates, who prepared and transported our 86 … Dad knew him from the rally scene, so we were fortunate on that front.”

“To this day, I can still call him for advice … he’s one of the people I feel lucky to have in my corner and to have a relationship with.”

It was also partly through the Bates connection that Logan could pave the pathway into getting familiar with the WAU camp after being pitted next to Rick Bates, who was running Zach Bates in the 2022

Arteva Funding, who himself reached out to WAU CEO Bruce Stewart to see if there was any opportunity to do an evaluation day, with then Super2 driver Ryan Wood likely to stepup to the main game.

Also at that evaluation day was Ryan Casher, who topped Logan for the 2023 86 title, and Cody Burcher who finished third. And by his own admittance, he didn’t feel he put his best foot forward on the track. That led him to penning a letter which he felt was vital in showing the team that he was a “thinking driver”.

“I didn’t do an outstanding job that day, so I wrote a pretty intense and detailed review of my evaluation day. I went out of my way to do that because I really thought I could’ve done better.

“I wanted to show them: A – why I thought I could’ve done better, and; B – how I’d go about achieving that if I was to have another go.

“I wanted to show the team that I was focused on minor details that end up having a bigger result than what you may think, and that I was detail oriented. That was a characteristic of mine that I don’t feel I could’ve shown properly in just one day.

“I think there’s more to an evaluation day than driving a fast lap time, and because I wasn’t satisfied, I wanted to show them I was a thinking driver, and not a flash-in-the-pan.”

That drive to get the best out of himself and think deeply about the small details, comes from Logan’s own version of what he calls ‘mindfulness.’

“I practice the idea of mindfulness, it’s being able to visualise and realise what makes me tick and how to reach a satisfactory performance level as a result.

“Everyone’s different but, for me, if I sit down

how my mind works, but it’s what works best for me.

“Being a bit of an academic helps me in that way. It’s a strength for me. You can always overthink things but I’ve gotten myself out of tricky situations where I might be off the pace. But, through deep analysis, to see what’s really going on and then applying technique … it’s helped me get out of the rut and back to the front in those situations.”

And of his current experience in the WAU garage?

“It’s an invaluable experience and it’s hard to fathom for myself. It’s my first time being with a team really, so to be in the workshop and spend time with the engineers …Bruce (Stewart) always talked about it being a family, and it really is. It’s very tight-knit and there’s a lot of knowledge, which everyone shares freely.”

So far in 2024, Logan has steadily been gathering steam, despite several times coming off on the wrong side of the usual on-track Super2 madness.

Heading to Sandown with his best performance of qualifying fifth in Townsville, and a fourth place race finish under his belt, the improvement has been there to witness. As a young driver with an intelligent approach and the right people guiding him, Logan’s future in Australia’s motorsport landscape will be a fascinating watch.

Campbell has come through a familiar pathway – karting (top), Excels (top left) and Toyota 86s (above). Now it’s Super2 (below). Sandown saw a pair of solid top 10 finishes in the WAU-run car.

ACTION MART

STAR-STUDDED FIELD REVVED FOR ADELAIDE SPRINTCAR SHOWPIECE

A MASSIVE 40-driver field will go for glory in the inaugural NAPA Speedway event in the City of Adelaide, which brings a new form of motorsport to the iconic VAILO Adelaide 500.

Many of the biggest Sprintcar names from both Australia and around the world will be part of the pop-up event held on the Thursday and Friday nights of the Supercars finale. It will be a special opportunity for the sport, with Sprintcars racing at the worldrenowned Supercars street race for the first time and bringing it to a new audience.

Joining the Sprintcars are Wingless Sprints and Street Stocks to ensure the event is as big as the anything seen from Sydney to Warrnambool.

Some of the first names confirmed were none other than James McFadden and Jock Goodyer, who have done it all in Australia and are currently representing the nation by winning in America.

Current Australian champion Lachlan McHugh will be racing with the iconic #A1 on his wing, while the famous Dumesny name will be front and centre with Marcus and Matt on show.

A large number of South Australians will be aiming for glory on home soil including Matt Egel, Daniel Pestka, Ryan Jones, Glen Sutherland, Luke Dillon, Chad Ely, Brendan Quinn and Scott Enderl.

The international stars coming to Adelaide are Thomas ‘T-Mez’ Meseraull, Chase

Randall, Kerry Madsen, Michael Pickens and Parker Price-Miller.

Kiwi Pickens will be coming across the ditch to race and represent Tullboro along with Queensland-based racer Brent Kratzmann.

Tullboro team owner Brodie Tulloch cannot wait to be part of the big event:

“The Sprintcars in the City is a massive shot in the arm for Australian Sprintcar racing, and I’m thrilled to have two of the Tullboro team stable cars in the field with Pickens and Kratzmann as the drivers,” he said.

“Michael (Pickens) is a world-class speedway talent and it’s great to have a driver of his calibre being a part of this massive motorsport event representing his home country of New Zealand. Brent (Kratzmann) is one of Queensland’s best, so the Tullboro team stable cars are certainly going to be well represented.”

Unanderra-based Bohud Racing Team will be represented by Michael Stewart in the #14 and they are also thrilled to be part of the show.

“Sprintcars and Supercars running together in the one event for the very first time is going to be a massive boost for the sport of Sprintcar racing, and I’m just very grateful that the Bohud Racing team will be a part of this history-making occasion,” he expressed.

“The Sprintcars in the City event promises

2024 NAPA

to be an action-packed event, where the sport of Sprintcar racing gets the opportunity to showcase what an amazing spectacle it is to a wider audience, being on the Adelaide 500 card, and all of the

exposure it will bring to our team and our valued supporters.”

The 2024 VAILO Adelaide 500 ends the Supercars season on a high on November 14-17. Thomas Miles

GOODYER’S FIRST U.S SPRINTCAR VICTORY ONE TO SAVOUR

JOCK GOODYER’S decision to leave Skagit Speedway in Washington after Day 1 of the High Limits Sage Fruit Skagit Nationals for a “fresh start” has paid Victory Lane dividends back south in California.

The Australian National Sprintcar champion headed back to Placerville, which was the scene of his third High Limit appearance where, last time out, he didn’t get out of the B Feature against a world class field.

Taking on both nights of the NorCal Posse Shootout 360 Sprintcar event, Goodyer walked away with his first US win in the Kevin Kozlowski-owned #57 machine (wrenched by the famous Paul Silva), pocketing US$8,000 in the process.

“So pumped to get this one! We decided to leave Skagit and come down and race at

Placerville to get comfortable and a fresh start!” Goodyer said.

“Can’t thank Paul, Kevin, Trevor and Doug enough for driving 17 hours, fixing the car, and changing motors. Made all the hard work worth it. We now turn our eyes towards the Outlaws, starting Friday!”

In making the 35-lap Winged Sprints feature, the Tasmanian charger finished second in the Time Trail, fifth in the Heat, and second in the Dash to feature in the front rows of the A-Main.

After taking the lead on the lap two from Fresno’s Caeden Steele, Goodyer then had to contend with multiple restarts, keeping the

at bay each time to claim the Ron Stahl checkered flag for his debut win on American soil.

Timothy W Neal

Queensland star Michael Stewart –one of two Bohud Racing entries.

DUEL IN THE NORTH

UP TO 25 cars were nominated to contest the two-night show for the Defend the Top End and NT Titles for the Sprintcars.

Notably, current A1 Lachie McHugh made his debut at Northline this year, while previous Chariots of Thunder Champion Matt Egel, Tasmanian Tate Frost and South Australia’s Glen Sutherland were also in attendance, plus a host of others to battle over two split rounds of Heats and the 25lap feature race.

Proceedings began with a series of Hot Laps and it was Egel lighting up the sheets with a best time of 12.555s.

Moving into Time Trials, Sutherland topped the list with a mighty lap of 12.388s. Sutherland carried this form over to Heat 1A to record the first heat race win for the night ahead of Egel and Jordyn Charge in third spot.

Unfortunately Benny Atkinson Jnr contacted the Turn 3 wall and rolled, taking him out, whilst Trent Pigdon, Tim Van Ginneken and Hayden Brown were also non-finishers.

Brown’s problem was to plaque him for the rest of the night which turned out to be an inline fuel line issue.

WA flyer Kaiden Manders battled from

ON THE CHARGE

THE BIGGEST race of the Northern Territory speedway season, the Chariots of Thunder, kicked off on Thursday, September 13 and Jordyn Charge (above) remained in charge, winning a thriller.

Continuing his strong form from the start of the season, Charge kicked off his campaign on a winning note.

The #NT11 snatched the opening night and held off Matt Egel in a tense finish in the 30-lap affair.

Egel led early from pole and controlled the first 14 laps before Charge lived up to his name.

The local star made a big move on lap 15 and it paid off, snatching the lead, whilst Egel fell to third.

This was due to Brock Hallett carrying on his redemption drive from a slow start where he fell from fourth to seventh.

But Hallett steadily picked off his rivals across the next 15 laps to sit a solid second.

second position in Heat 1B and eventually passed SA’s Ryan Jones on lap nine to take the lead and march on to the win with QLD’s Dylan Menz in second and Jones coming home in third place.

In form Jordyn Charge pushed to the lead on lap two of Heat 2A and romped away for the victory to lead home WA’s Daniel Harding and Egel in third place.

Heat 2B was a fair bit more dramatic with VIC’s Dennis Jones caught in a tangle on the main straight and sent ROF for his troubles.

Dylan Menz from QLD then rotated the machine in Turn 2 on the restart and then Tim Farrell (QLD) tangled with WA’s Aaron Chircop in Turn 2 – how either didn’t roll was a miracle.

NSW’s Mick Saller went on to win the race ahead of NT local Zack Grimshaw and WA’s Kaiden Manders in third.

Cream always rises to the top – and Jordyn Charge had shown that four times already at Northline Speedway this season.

Charge was to add a fifth Feature Race win to his tally to take out the 25 lap race ahead of Egel and Mick Saller.

It was a perfect tune up to NT Titles night and Chariots of Thunder.

The Wingless Sprints were also on show and Victorian Blake Walsh was looking to go back-to back in the Duel in the North title.

WA’s Jason Davis led the field home in Heat 1A whilst Walsh battled valiantly from deep in the field to come home in second place and William Prest in third place.

Heat 1B saw SA’s Daniel Evans battle spiritedly with NT’s Matt Sealy for a majority of the race but held on to win whilst VIC’s Tim Van Ginnekan journeyed home in third place.

Blake Walsh was back to his dominant best in Heat 2A with an all the way win from flag-to-flag whilst William Prest was in second place and Brad Warren in third.

Jarrod Goldoni was in hot form in Heat 2B to sprint away ahead of the pack whilst Raymond Walliss tangled with Brontee Cavanagh and retired.

Tim Van Ginnekan came in second and Daniel Evans in third place.

It was Blake Walsh who dominated the field in the Feature Race with a flag to flag win with Daniel Evans taking out third place and Jamie McInnes in third.

Scott Kernahan/SK MotorPics

However, Hallett’s hopes of challenging for victory came to a sudden end just five laps from the finish.

The contending #Q5 was caught up in a multi car smash up on the exit of Turn 4.

With so many cars tangled up, the reds were waved.

A group of three back-markers including Kate Quinlan and Scott Enderl got tangled up and Hallett was left with nowhere to go, crunching with a hard head-on impact.

A first attempt at resuming racing did not last long with Tate Frost rolling in his own separate accident.

The second crack at the six-lap sprint was successful however and Charge immediately opened a gap.

But Egel made a late assault and even got alongside Charge as they took the final bend.

However, Charge had enough exit speed up high to get the job done and hold on by a single tenth.

It was the perfect way to kick off the massive $130,000 three-night affair at Darwin’s Northline Speedway.

Thomas Miles

Image: JAKE DUNN/NORTHLINE MEDIA

Lochie McHugh is already looking fast with the #1 on his wing.

Image: RICHARD HATHAWAY PHOTOGRAPHY

NATIONALS WRAP

EVANS GP SPOILS

PISZCYK’S VICTORY LAP

AGI SPORT’S James Piszcyk won the returning F4 Australian Championship crown, but Evans GP denied him a perfect season.

Having won each of the first nine races, Piszcyk headed to the Malaysian finale with the ambition of completing the incredible feat of winning every single race of the season.

However, new challengers in the form of Australia-based Evans GP had other ideas as the team enjoyed a perfect Australian F4 debut.

Tiago Rodrigues, Kai Dayanani and Cooper Webster led the charge and all took a win each. But it was former S5000 racer Webster, who won the round as he was the only driver to stand on the podium in all three races.

Despite finding himself in the unfamiliar position of not standing on the top step, a third place in Race 1 was more than enough for Piszcyk to wrap up the title.

Evans GP announced itself through Rodrigues, who took pole with a 2:10.101s by four-tenths over Costa Toparis and Piszcyk.

But in the faster second session, the new team took it up a level with Daryanani leading a 1-2-3 ahead of Rodrigues and Webster.

When racing began, Rodrigues blazed from pole leaving Webster and Piszcyk in a tense fight for second best.

As Rodrigues cruised to a 7s triumph, just half a second covered Webster and Piszcyk at the chequered flag and the #37 ensured it was an Evans GP 1-2.

Costa Toparis remained in touch and completed the top four.

Experienced racer Webster then had his moment in the sun in Race 2.

After winning the 2023 Indian F4 Championship and taking second in 2023 GB4, Webster has not raced in 2024 and made the most of his return.

Due to teamamte Rodrigues suffering a technical issue on the grid and forcing him to start to the pit lane, Webster was left to go for glory for Evans GP and did so.

Although Toparis fought hard, Webster took a breakthrough win by 1.966s with Daryanini safely finishing third.

Things went from bad to worse for

Rodrigues – when racing started, a drive through penalty for team personnel being on the grid past the 15s board meant he was stuck in last.

With Daryanani on pole, he had a chance to complete the perfect weekend for Evans GP and did just that.

The Indian was in complete control and cruised to a 5.5s triumph over Toparis, who held off Webster to hold onto second.

Rodrigues put in an impressive drive from last to fourth and fell just a second short of the podium, while Piszcyk could only manage sixth.

A lap one clash between Sebastien Amadio and Inigo Anton saw the latter retire.

Thomas Miles

OVERCOMING GREAT TARMAC RALLY

THE GREAT Tarmac Rally pushed drivers through the Victorian High Country across two days and 14 stages.

A total of 74 teams took on all 14 stages from the tight and twisting Reefton Spur, to the fast flowing Eildon-Jamieson Road.

Strong winds and severe weather had impacted the stages through Cumberland and Reefton, with many trees down and the road scattered with debris, but a mammoth effort by organisers and local services saw over 20kms of road swept clean to keep the show on the road.

Matt Close and Cameron Reeves stamped their authority on outright contention, taking out the event by a staggering two minutes over the hard charging Jeremy Dennison and Casey Rumble, with defending champ Paul Dowie and John Allen a further 40 seconds behind.

Jason and Fiona Wright were in a tight battle with Dennison for second place before retiring on SS11 with oil pressure issues.

Crichton Lewis and Anthony Carr showed their return to tarmac rallying was justified, pedalling their Subaru to fourth outright, while the big surprise was the debut of the exquisitely engineered Escort of Johnathon Moir and Rian Calder rounding out the top five outright a mere four minutes behind Close.

Close and Reeves in their Audi TTRS Sport also took AWD Modern 2008+ over the Lewis Subaru.

Dennison in the BMW BMW M140i had to settle for Modern Super Rally honours as the Dowie/Allen Porsche GT3RS claimed Modern 2WD 2008+.

It was an all Mitsubishi Lancer podium in Early Modern AWD 1986-2007 led by Neil Cuthbert/Sue Cuthbert, while the 2WD version was won by a Mazda RX7 steered by Chris Exner and Dean Lillie.

Classic Super Rally saw the battle between Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker in their Group C Commodore against husband and wife Jon and Gina Siddins Datsun 240Z.

However both were blindsided by the debut of the Mk2 Escort of Johnathon Moir and Rian Calder, as the amazingly engineered yet untested Escort took out the opening stages.

Classic saw the ever reliable father and son team of Michael and Lachlan Nordsvan dominate from the outset in their Mazda RX7, taking out every stage.

Holden took a win in Rally Challenge thanks to Joel and John Argentino as Matthew Gibbens and Tim Jurd driving a Lotus Exige dominated Rally Sport.

The final round of the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship will be held at Mt Baw Baw on October 26-27th.

WINTERFIELD EXCELS

WINTER MAY be over, but Luke Winterfield (above) reigned supreme in the third round of the South Eastern Automobile Club Autocross Series in Mount Gambier.

Due to the saturated track, the 22-entry field was dominated by 4WD competitors with Sam Thomas, Adam Jesse and Winterfield leading the way.

The trio claimed six of the seven heats that were held in the Autocross event.

Thomas raced out of the blocks, taking the first three heats in his Subaru WRX.

He used his rally experience to win the first by 4s, second by 7s and third by 5s.

However, the hope of getting four consecutive heats ended due to a fuel system problem.

Winterfield also showed early pace by collecting two seconds and a third before finding more grip on the drying layout.

The Subaru WRX driver then went on a special run by collecting fastest times in the following three runs.

His 1:46.37,s 1:46.36s and 1:45.82s were enough to take top honours and put him on the path to overall glory.

The big disruptor was Jayden Edwards, who fought hard in the 2WD Commodore.

He used his speedway experience to wrestle his Holden on road tyres to score two thirds and a second using the first three gears.

All of his hard work was rewarded in the final run when Edwards took the victory by seven-hundredths of a second over Winterfield.

Jesse made a comeback in another Subaru and overcame some early “sloppy runs” to secure fourth place.

After “working” on his Ford Falcon, Dion Becker was a consistent runner, not dropping out of the top six throughout the event.

Another Falcon driver, Gary Brown, improved throughout the day, while others to enjoy the mixed grip levels on offer were Barry Edwards, Kyle Johnson, Jason Sims, Henry Sims and Sean Telford.

After a big day, Winterfield prevailed by just three points over Edwards, while Becker was third, a further 16 points adrift.

Class winners were Winterfield (WT) Edwards (E) Brown (B) Kyle Johnson (D)Curtis Boyd (C) and Harrison Bliss (W).

The SE Voice

Image: TURN 8 PHOTOGRAPHY

Image: ANGRYMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Webster leads Piszcyk ...

KARTING WATCH

DICKER DELIGHT, HISTORY FOR MCNEILL

SAM DICKER is now a two-time Australian KZ2 champion after a stunning drive in the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship finale, while younger Isaac McNeill made history at Oakleigh on the September 77/8 weekend.

The fifth and final round of the 2024 season wrapped up at Oscar Piastri’s former home – Oakleigh Kart Club.

Despite arriving in Melbourne five points behind season-long leader Joshua Fife, Dicker put himself on the path to glory by getting pole and the first two heats.

The finale proved to be a thriller as Dicker led from pole, but Fife hunted him down to take the lead.

However, he had enough points to clinch the title and allowed fellow WA driver Nik Mitic through to get third in the standings.

Queensland’s McNeill created history by becoming the first driver to win both Junior championships in the AKC era. He kicked things off by securing the premier Junior category, KA2, and then produced something special in KA3 Junior. McNeill pushed hard in the finale to overhaul points leader Jack Szewczuk and also beat home Samuel March to do the double.

Whilst McNeill was busy collecting wins, Ayce Buckley scored a maiden AKC

podium in KA3 Junior, while Sam March was up front throughout.

Max Walton was another to taste the ultimate glory twice on the one day winning both the KA3 Senior and X30. In KA3 Senior he beat Amos Orr and Jace Matthews as Mika Lemasurier held onto the title on a tense weekend.

It was a perfect boost before he set off to Europe to compete for the BirelART factory in the World Championship event

in the United Kingdom last weekend. Walton then took wins in X30 after some good fights against Pip Casabene and champion Brad Jenner.

Harrison Hoey followed in the footsteps of Dicker by securing back to back Australian Kart Championship crowns in the TaG 125 Championship.

He entered the final 23 points clear of Jason Dowson, who had to win to stay alive.

The title rivals found themselves side-by-

side at the fastest corner on the track and leader Hoey speared off into the gravel.

Whilst Dowson scored an important win, Hoey was lucky to survive two off track scares and impressively recovered to third and cemented the crown.

Archie Bristow will be a name to watch after he completed a near-perfect Cadet 12 campaign after surviving challenges from Cooper Folley and Oscar Singh.

In one sprint, Oliver Williamson overcame Jarvis Hindle by the barest of margins after they crossed the line side-by-side with less than a tenth the difference.

The 2024 SP Tools Australian Kart Championship season was celebrated with a dinner at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Thomas Miles

AUSSIE RACERS CLOSE

WEATHER MADE things just that more difficult at Phillip Island as some big names battled in the penultimate round of the Aussie Racing Car series.

Heading to the Island, Kody Garland enjoyed a three-point lead over Joel Heinrich and Cody Brewczynski, but the tables have turned slightly.

Garland suffered an engine failure in Race 3, which saw him lose the championship lead to Heinrich, while Brewczynski got caught up in an incident.

Things started well for the #41 as it claimed pole position with a 1:44.940s lap over arch-rival Heinrich.

But the reigning champion hit back when racing began by snatching the lead on lap seven and controlling it from there.

Importantly, Brewczynski rounded out the podium after a fierce fight with Mason Harvey, while a squabble for sixth between Scott Andriske, Kent Quinn, Nathan Williams, Reece Chapman and Jordan Freestone also attracted plenty of attention.

Heinrich went back to back with a commanding drive in Race 2 that was shortened to eight laps.

There was drama from the moment lights went out as David Makin struggled to get off the start line and a number of cars then tangled up ahead. Notably, Brewczynski was one of the cars caught up in the drama and lost significant ground.

Up front, Heinrich cruised ahead of Garland, who suffered his first bout of mechanical issues and dropped to fourth with Harvey and Chapman jumping onto the podium.

Heinrich completed a hat-trick of wins with a storming drive in the reverse

grid affair.

The reigning champion flew from the sixth row and overcame Brewczynski. Brewczynski hit the lead on lap three and soon the top three that featured Heinrich and Garland was restored.

Heinrich had the ultimate pace and swooped past Brewczynski to take the race.

However, smoke suddenly started appearing from Garland’s rear end and the Mustang lost more ground.

Garland crawled to a halt on the exit of Turn 2 and with Corish also stopped

at Turn 4, the Safety Car was required to bring the race to an early finish.

The rain arrived by the time the fourth and final race lined up to further spice things up.

Despite a short turnaround, Garland’s team pulled off an engine change to ensure he could gain some critical points and it paid off.

As drivers battled in the slippery conditions, Garland soared up to fifth and did not stop there, even snatching second from Heinrich.

But ahead of them was Brewczynski, who was in a league of his own and completed a wet weather masterclass to take a 8s victory.

Garland took second ahead of Heinrich with Madden and Harvey completing the top five.

Johnston Craill Racing Enterprises scored a win on return as Asher Johnston took the Master Cup honours as Harvey was the lead rookie.

With Brewczynski and Garland taking points from Heinrich in the final race, it ensures a thrilling three-way fight at the finale on the Gold Coast on October 25-27.

Thomas Miles

McNeill (left) and Dicker (above) celebrate their victories. Images: PACE IMAGES

NATIONALS WRAP

KING OF THE HILLS…TAKE THREE

FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, TOYOTA’S LEWIS BATES AND CO-DRIVER ANTHONY McLOUGHLIN HAVE PREVAILED IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS TO TAKE SOME JOY IN A DIFFICULT AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

THE ADELAIDE Hills Rally represented the penultimate round of the season, and, after years of manufacturing rally dominance in Australia, the GR Yaris machines kept it up with a one-two in SA, with championship leaders Harry Bates and Coral Taylor also building their title lead with a second place finish.

But it was the other side of the Bates ledger – who has had his rally troubles in 2024 – with a first Heat and round win of the season to rightfully steal the limelight, taking nine of the 18 stages in achieving the three-peat.

And when the challenge did come hard from the sister GR Yaris Rally2, the #3 machine turned it on with an impressive three-stage run of wins to effectively seal it by SS14 by the Sunday service break, as well as the following stage upon resumption.

“Super stoked with this whole weekend to be honest with you. Anthony (McLoughlin) and I felt at one with the car the whole weekend and we had some pretty good pace,” Bates said at the Old Bulls Creek finishing line.

“I think that’s something that both Anthony and I can be really proud of. I think we managed our pace really well and pushed when we had to – I think overall we had the pace on the weekend.

“Well done to Harry and Coral, they had a tough weekend, but an awesome weekend for the team.”

The battle for second and third place was one that had championship

implications, with Skoda driver Scott Pedder needing to atone for his final day struggles in Gippsland the round the prior.

But for the second round straight, he found trouble on the final day after a strong Heat 1, crashing in the SS10 Meadows stage (second of the day), leaving the team with a bent right rear, forcing a brief retirement.

That opened the door for fellow Skoda runners Eddie Maguire and navigator Zak Brakey to slip through for third outright to maintain second in the title race, which is now strongly tilted towards last year’s champions with only Tassie to go.

In the Production Cup stakes, the honours fell to 2023 champions Bodie

Reading and Mark Young, as title leaders Molly Taylor and Andy Sarandis will again watch from the sidelines in Tassie to see if their four completed rounds prior to SA will be enough to net them the title.

In a lower turnout after the season-high Gippsland field, 23 ARC competitors arrived at the shire roads in the scenic Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula regions for 169 competitive kilometres, as well as 14 Motorsport Australia South Australian Rally Championship (SARC) competitors.

To open Heat 1, Pedder’s Skoda looked the goods with wins across SS1 and SS2, but would narrowly lose the lead to Lewis Bates prior to the midday break after taking the closing two stages.

The rampant Toyota would take four of the next eight to keep a 14.6 second lead into Sunday over Pedder, whilst Eddie Maguire held sway over Harry Bates after a late Parc Ferme infringement dropped the Yaris AP4 to 4th.

Sunday’s remaining stages again saw the Pedders Brakes and Suspension Skoda out of the blocks in a hurry with a slick opener to lead the rally outright, which only lasted one stage before becoming unstuck.

The championship leader then started to make his move over the next few in the beautiful Fleurieu region, as the Bates brothers then traded blows throughout, with Lewis taking the day by 5.7 seconds, whilst Harry also collected the Power Stage bonus points.

Whilst Reading and his Subaru took the ARC Production over Josh Wiedman and Nick Reid, Peter Dimmock and Paul Bennett claimed the 2WD Classic Cup. And in the second ever outing for the new Subaru WRX Challenge, Timothy Hiles and Morgan Ward took the honours whilst ,after Molly Spalding and Matthew Dillion were forced to retire after sustaining mechanical damage from an impact on SS13, Jaidyn and Lucy Gluskie were able to nab the Junior Cup win.

The 2024 Australian Rally Championship heads to the Apple Isle for the final round with the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania in Burnie, Tasmania, on November 22-24.

Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin flew to their third straight Adelaide win. Below: That winning feeling ... Above top: Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakely took the third podium spot. Above: Scott Pedder was a likely challenger, but a brief ‘off’ ended the challenge.

BRANDLE HITS GOLD

MEL AND Liam Brandle (above) charged to victory in the Gold City 450, which could be a significant round of the 2024 BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship.

A super Saturday saw the South Australian Prolite duo complete the eight laps in four hours, 32 minutes and 42.3 seconds.

Brandle was 1m36.05s clear of runner-up and SXS Pro winner Glen Ackroyd/Michael Price, while James and Michael Mogford completed the podium.

Brandle’s push for victory started by taking out the first sector by a minute, which cemented their dominance.

Although Ackroyd gained a minute back on the second section, the #2 still stayed in the overall lead ahead of the third and final section.

Brandle rose to the challenge, being the

only driver to complete the final segment under an hour and seven minutes to cement an impressive victory.

With championship leaders Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt suffering mechanical dramas on Sunday, missing the final two sections and only registering 21st, the battle to be at the top has tightened.

These factors gave Brandle even more reason to celebrate the success.

“Over the moon, we just can’t believe it,” Brandle said following the win.

“We got seeded back there at the start of those last couple of laps and we just had to go out there and do our own thing, run our own race, and we got there in the end.

“We don’t really try and push for an outright win. Don’t get me wrong, when the helmet goes on, we do our best, but to do it ... we’re over the moon.

“Consistency, that track out there was

definitely what people call a drivers track. I reckon I spent more time sideways out there than I did going forward. There’s a lot of concentration, a lot of hard work that goes in to doing that.”

Ackroyd made solid ground throughout the weekend, highlighted by a Sector 2 victory to secure second and SXS Pro victory ahead of class rivals Mogford.

After finishing second in Section 1, the Mogford pairing charged home in the final two sections to snatch a podium finish.

The remainder of the top 10 was impacted by an attritional Sunday full of DNFs.

The most notable one was Robinson and Hutt, who had their run ended in Section 2 due to converter issues.

Roydn Bailey and Simon Herrmann started strongly in Pro Buggy, but they also suffered a premature retirement in Section 2 when they hit a tree – thankfully the pair

walked away uninjured.

As a result the top five was completed by Laurence Svenson/Janelle Svenson and Pro Buggy winners Glenn Brinkman/Jaclyn Hughes.

The seventh placed finishers Michael Shipton and Paul Chorlton also took out Performance 2WD, while Klaus McGhie and Jason Muchenberg claimed Extreme 2WD.

It was no-contest in Production 4WD as Norman Parker and Tyson Park led all weekend.

Declan Cummins and Maxcine Cooney claimed SportsLite, while Ross Newman and Jessica Jackson secured the SXS Sport category.

It sets the scene for the final round of the season at the Kalgoorlie Desert Race on October 24-27.

Thomas Miles

KAPLAN AND BANKS CONQUER SAFARI

AFTER FOUR long days Adam Kaplan and Corey Banks emerged victorious in the arduous Sunraysia Safari Cross Country Rally. Kicking off in Wentworth, competitors on two and four wheels take on the NSW countryside in the sixth running of the brutal event.

After damaging an RX7 last year, Kaplan arrived with a new beast, Rivo T1, built for Dakar and his hard work paid off.

Kaplan and co-driver Aleshia Penny overcame Andrew Travis in what was a titanic battle until the latter suffered mechanical dramas on the final day.

Despite the likes of Ben Langford and 17-year-old Archie Connor sprinting home, Banks held on by four minutes.

The rally kicked off with three 300km stages and there was drama almost instantly.

Tony Quinn’s hopes of taking back to back wins ended within just 10km when he clipped a post and it was game over.

This allowed Kaplan to charge ahead as he took the first two stages to put himself on the path to glory.

However, Travis in the elevated Holden VF Commodore Ute nailed the third stage to slash the deficit to less than two minutes at the end of the opening day.

Dean Herridge in his Subaru showed some strong speed in his debut run to be third.

In Moto there was no-one catching Toby Hederics on the opening day.

Hederics flew on his KTM 500 EXC to be a massive 15 minutes clear of Ben Langford. When the action resumed on day two there was a battle royale brewing in Auto.

Travis only needed one stage to slash Kaplan’s lead, resulting in the pair starting Stage 5 level before the Commodore snatched the lead by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, Herridge made some “silly mistakes and lost a couple of minutes as George made some big ground with a stage win to be fourth.

Some of the bike contenders had navigation error including Hederics and Banks, allowing Ben Langford to gain some time.

But there was a further blow coming for

Hederics, who suffered engine dramas on the second leg and was out of action.

This blew the Moto fight wide open and allowed Langford to take the lead ahead of Banks.

Although Hederics was ruled out of further fighting for overall victory, he got to enjoy the remainder of the event on the Zero Moto Safety bike.

Banks made a “pretty bad mistake” on the opening Day 3 stage which allowed Langford to open a small gap as a group of six other rivals got lost in Stage 9.

This allowed young 17-year-old Archie Connor to make his move and snatch third.

In Auto, Herridge was in top form and took a

breakthrough stage win to five him the upper hand in his battle with Dean George.

But all eyes were on the fight for overall victory as Travis led Kaplan by just 2s heading into the final day where things were turned on their head.

Kaplan got lost on the first corner of the day and lost two minutes in the “dumbest thing ever.”

However, there were bigger issues for Travis, who blew a head gasket.

This ensured the plucky Subaru of Herridge took second, 20 minutes behind Kaplan, while Webster just beat Dunn by 10s in a nail-biter for third.

Langford gained significant ground at the start of the final day where Connor sealed an impressive third.

In the end Langford could not do enough to reel in Banks, who held on.

Thomas Miles

Image: TERRY HILL

Winners – Adan Kaplan (above) and Corey Banks (right). Images: BRUCE KEYS

NATIONALS WRAP

TIGHT BATTLES

THE THIRD round of the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship at Ipswich was a competitive affair with tight battles for the lead in the sunshine.

The fight for the Queensland Touring Car Championship honours was a two-horse race between Robert Bellinger and Peter Bray.

Bellinger was the lone BMW E46 M3 among a sea of Commodores with Bray giving him the biggest run for his money. Bray took the opener before Bellinger returned serve in the next two races, only for his Holden rival to critically win the penultimate race.

This meant the round went down to a winner-takes-all final race with the pair level on points and Bellinger was victorious by 4s.

As always little separated the Track Attack Excels with Jackson Cooper and Joshua Richards sharing the spoils and Race 4 was the closest affair with four -tenths the difference.

Cooper took the round by 12 points despite Richards winning more races.

Consistency was key for Ian Cowley, who won the Replica Tourers round even though not winning a race.

Steve Hay’s VK bookended the weekends with wins, but suffered two DNFs, while Rex Scoles had a fast start before fading away.

John Robinson pressed his case with back to back wins, but did not finish the final race.

As a result their inconsistencies allowed Cowley, who finished second twice and did not leave the top five beat them all by just a handful of points.

The Hot Tach Cup was so close Mark Bretherton and Jason Pocock both collected 82 points.

Although Pocock took two of the first three races, Bretherton improved across the weekend and claimed the penultimate affair.

Whilst Barry Mather won the finale, a second place for Hyundai Getz driver Bretherton ensured he matched Pocock.

The Production Utes was the most one sided affair of the weekend with Brendan Exner taking all five races.

It was a similar story in Australian Trans Am as John Prefontaine’s Mustang was dominant, leading home Alwyn Bishop on each occasion.

Two Tims were rapid in the Superkarts with Weier leading the way ahead of Philp.

Philp started on the front foot winning the first race, but could not reach the same heights for the remainder of the round.

After Ewen Burg took Race 2, Weier made his charge and back to back wins shot him to the top.

Thomas Miles

LAKESIDE RACEWAY still holds a special place in Queensland racing with Trans Am and the state’s Touring Car Championship headlining the Grass Roots Racing card.

Just as at Queensland Raceway, John Prefontaine was on fire in his Ford Mustang.

The #21 Wood Brothers Racing tribute machine was the class of the field.

Prefontaine led a Mustang 1-2 over Sean English with Ian Palmer’s Pontiac Firebird completing the podium.

Race 2 was more of a nail biter with English able to keep up with Prefontaine throughout the eight-lap affair with only a second the difference.

Alwyn Bishop in the Plymouth Duster trumped Palmer to snatch third by just two-tenths.

The status quo remained the same in the next race, while the fight for second was a thriller in Race 4 where English kept Bishop at bay by just half a second.

But the remainder of the weekend was all about Prefontaine as he powered to another clean sweep.

Gary Lange, Robert Bellinger and Peter Bray resumed their rivalry from QR in the

Queensland Touring Car Championship.

The BMWs led the way in the opening race where Lange held off Bellinger with Bray forced to settle for third.

The status quo remained the same in Race 2 before Bellinger snatched a thriller as less than 2s covered the top three.

But they were all trumped by Cameron Haak, who snuck ahead of Bellinger by just 0.0294s in a photo finish with Bray a distant third.

However, the Commodores took over as there was high drama in Race 5 where Bellinger retired after just four laps.

This left a sea of Holdens to fight for top spot and Haak did it again with Bray, Hudson James and Terry Skene leading a Commodore top four.

A one-make Super Mini class put on some good racing from the outset as Brayden Larkin was pushed by Anthony Elliott across the first two races.

However, Larkin enjoyed a calmer drive to a hat-trick of triumphs when Elliott retired on lap five of 14 in Race 3 where Andrew Mills was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap.

The fourth sprint was an attritional affair with only half the field reaching the chequered flag.

Blake and Joshua Mills gave it a red-hot crack, but fell just a handful of seconds behind Larkin, who completed his clean sweep in dominant style in the finale.

Plenty of old favourites such as Toranas. GTHOs, Cortina’s and Volvos were part of the Group N category.

The XU1 of Peter Baguley emerged on top by 2s over Grahame Wrobel in the opener before Simon Phillips recovered from a DNF to take a stunning victory.

However, he was back on the sidelines early in Race 3 which allowed Baguley to lead home Wrobel.

The pair fought it out for the remainder of the weekend as Phillips was not seen again.

It was a dose of nostalgia for the fans as a Torana and Mustang raced hard around the sweeping bends of Lakeside.

On both occasions Baguley’s XU1 was on top, but not by much with the finale decided by just six tenths.

Thomas Miles

BIG BANGER GOES BANG LIGHTING UP LAKESIDE

THE AASA State race series meeting at Morgan Park carried on the busy period of racing in Queensland.

The Replica Tourers Trophy Series was one of the standout categories and Stephen Hay ensured the front of the field had a similar look to the mid 1980s.

Hay’s Peter Brock HDT “Big Banger” tribute monstered the field just like 1984, winning all four races.

A Holden Commodore that arrived almost 20 years on driven by Jason Grimmond was best of the rest on each occasion.

The longest races on show were enjoyed by a strong Queensland Production Cars field with three hour-long affairs. It soon became apparent Beric Lynton

was at one with his BMW M3, winning all three races by the best part of a minute.

Trent Whyte and Scott Green took turns in second.

The Production Utes and Hot Hatch Cup series ran side by side and were

opposition.

was a similar story in

won by Brendan Exner and Barry Mather respectively as they crushed the

It

Superkarts as Ewen Burg took all five eight-lap heats. Thomas Miles

John Prefontaine heads Sean English in the QLD Touring Car event. Image: MTR IMAGES

Steven Hay’s VH was on fire ... Image: MTR IMAGES

Jackson Cooper heads the Excels ... Image: MTR IMAGES

SUPERCARS SUPPORTS

TEN-HIGH FOR JONES AT SANDOWN

HARRI JONES (below) continued his march towards claiming a second Porsche Carrera Cup Australia title against a 26 car field, adding another two wins and the outright round win (fifth of his career) at the Sandown 500, the milestone 150th round since the onemake series began in 2003.

A former Mobil 1 Supercup competitor, Jones, also chalked up his seventh straight win in Race 1 of the Round 5 affair – tied second for an all-time category streak –before wrapping it up with another in the finale and the 10th of this season (15th career win), to extend his championship lead over Jackson Walls.

Walls didn’t go away empty-handed however, claiming the 29 lap Race 2 enduro

as well as extending his Michelin Junior lead over International Aussie racer Bayley Hall.

And in the Pro-Am stakes, Adrian Flack also pushed his title lead out with the round victory via wins in Race 1 and 3.

But with a 180 point lead over Walls heading to the Bathurst 1000 round, the weekend belonged to the Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport #12 machine’s pilot, who also took the lap record in the finale with a sizzling 1:08.953s.

“To come home with the lap record at Sandown was pretty special – I love this place,” Jones commented.

“I can’t wait for Bathurst now. I’ve driven in some pretty special places but it’s my favourite track in the world.

“We had a good round there last year and we know the car is fast. I want to beat the lap record there again too.”

Jones was ominously fast in the lead up to qualifying, and capitalised with the Race 1 pole spot with a 1:08.730s over Dylan O’Keefe, Walls, and Bayley, all of which would largely prove the main podium protagonists across the weekend.

In sodden conditions, it was O’Keefe who got the jump for the first five laps in Race 1, with Jones taking over on lap six and pulling away, whilst Hall would harass O’Keefe to no avail for second spot with the opener reading Jones, O’Keefe, Hall, with Jones talking his win streak to seven.

A tyre gamble punctuated the start of the

Race 2 enduro, with most choosing wets, whilst it was Walls’ turn to claim the early track position by lap three.

Once again, Jones ran down O’Keefe, but the gap at the front grew as that battle ensued. That left O’Keefe to battle for the final podium spot at the back-end of the race, with David Russell catching him out of the last corner in a typical Sandown thriller style.

In the first dry outing of the weekend, Jones finally got his front-row jump on the slicks, and would take the win by 3.7 seconds over Walls and Hall.

The sixth round now heads to Mount Panorama on October 10-13, with 181 points available.

TW Neal

HILLYER’S 86 SANDOWN SWEEPER

WAU’s MATT Hillyer (right) has stepped into the championship lead of the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia GR Cup with an impressive Sandown outing to take his winning streak to six: no mean feat in a competitive category.

In a weekend where the pits were full of TGRA 86 alumni in the Supercar categories, the 2023 Formula Ford Australia champion took a strong three-race sweep to indicate he’ll be ending up in the V8 sheds come 2025.

The WAU academy driver didn’t have it his own way, having to fend off challengers throughout, as well as surviving several flags in the final two outings to achieve his triple top-step.

After topping both practices, the #2 Morris/ WAU driver also claimed pole with a 1:33.942, topping Queenslander Ben Gomersal by just 0.020 in a tight one.

A wet Saturday saw the opening two stanzas, where Hillyer would take his streak of wins to five by day’s end.

After taking the first corner down the straight,

he wouldn’t be headed in tough conditions, whilst Gomersal was briefly run down by Lincoln Taylor before a Turn 1 moment dropped him out of the running.

That left a three-way fight for the final twosteps which gave the chasing pack some interest, but it was Taylor and Brock Stinson who would surpass Gomersal to fill the Race 1 podium.

More favourable conditions greeted the 33-car field for Race 2, with two Safety Cars punctuating the outing.

After Alice Buckley rode the kerbs to make contact with Max Geoghegan, that led to Jett Murray finding the rear of Hugo Simpson, with racing resuming on lap four as Hillyer led Taylor and Stinson.

With Taylor then finding the beach at Turn 9,

a two-lap dash following the second yellow saw Hillyer fend off a diving Stinson, whilst Gomersal held off Bradi Owen for the final podium.

The completion of the third TGRA 86 round once again saw Hillyer show his defensive skills, with he and Stinson entertaining with a wheel-to-wheel stoush through the first four corners.

Stinson couldn’t hang on, and an error out of Turn 4 saw him drop off the challenge altogether, whilst Buckley would again be in the thick of the action after going across the grass at Turns 7, 8 and 9 to find the side of Zane Rinaldi.

Hillyer had to survive a one-lap-dash, with Owen the main challenger, who then lost out to Chris Pither, who in turn, held off Stinson, with the final reading Hillyer, Pither, Stinson. The fourth round will be contested at Mount Panorama when teams support the Bathurst 1000 round on October 10-13.

TW Neal

Images: REBECCA HIND / REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

SUPERCARS SUPPORTS

NOTHING IN IT

SANDOWN PRODUCED one of the closest Dunlop Series rounds ever with both the points for both Super2 and Super3 tied, whilst new winners were also celebrated.

After the count-backs, Zach Bates prevailed over Jobe Stewart in Super2 while, for the first time, Tony Auddino stood on the top step in Super3.

This kind of unpredictability was not expected after championship leader Kai Allen started the weekend ominously, sweeping both the practice sessions.

But with the arrival of rain on Saturday, the fight for pole became anything, but simple and the experience of Jack Perkins prevailed.

Perkins was not originally meant to be driving the 1979 Peter Janson/Larry Perkins retro-liveried Blanchard Racing Team Mustang around the ‘Home of Horsepower’ but Supercars overturned their call.

The second-generation racer was the only one to record a 1m19s lap and took pole by the biggest margin of the year, over Bates.

However, it was the Super3 leaders that raised the most eyebrows with Cody Burcher and Thomas Maxwell recording outstanding results of third and sixth outright respectively in their Nissan Altimas.

Perkins flew from pole and enjoyed a clean run into Turn 1, but there was a lot going on behind.

Bates got swamped on the front row and lost second to Stewart, but the WAU driver got his elbows out through Turns 2 and 3 to stay third.

This forced the Super3 battlers Burcher and Maxwell to fight it out and the latter got forced off at the final corner after apparent contact from Cameron McLeod in behind.

Allen, who started down in seventh, was also on the move and quickly progressed into the top five.

Although Perkins got a strong start, young Stewart was not prepared to gift him

the win and amped up the pressure on the veteran.

After a few laps sitting under the wing, the Image Racing rookie had a crack on the fourth tour into Dandenong Road.

Contact was made, forcing the BRT retro Mustang onto the kerb and the rivals ran side-by-side all the way down to Turn 11 where the Blue Lake boy, chasing a maiden win, could not quite hang on the outside.

A total of 11 laps of green flag racing was possible before the Safety Car was required to collect a beached Callum Walker.

Walker got out of shape going over the rise and fired head-on into the fence after bouncing over the Turn 8 kerb in a similar incident to Aaron Love.

Racing resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock and the top two immediately pulled a second on the field.

Perkins was able to pull away from Stewart, who was soon on the defensive against Bates and Allen.

But just when their battle was getting juicy, the race ended under Safety Car after Gillis followed Walker into the Dandenong Road fence.

In Super3, Burcher was able to stay out of the most trouble and finished well ahead of Maxwell.

Come Sunday morning drivers faced the challenge of changing conditions in

qualifying and a rising star shone bright.

Image Racing rookie Jarrod Hughes had his time in the spotlight, taking a maiden pole in impressive fashion.

The 19-year-old was in a league of his own, being the only driver to record a 1m08s time in the 20-minute session.

His 1:08.8738 was a tenth clear of wildcard racers Vaughan and Murray, while Stewart ensured there were two Image Racing Commodores in the top four.

“Unbelievable,” Hughes beamed.

“I lost my voice because I was screaming like crazy after I found out.”

Sadly Hughes’ smile disappeared as soon as the lights went out as he struggled to get going, while Vaughan had a dream getaway.

The Tickford youngster blazed clear while Hughes fell to sixth with Murray securing second.

At the end of the first lap Max Vidau and Cam McLeod took each other for a tour

through the Turn 12 infield and the end result was Cleary taking avoiding action and finding the outside tyres ... plus another Safety Car.

The Image Racing drivers ganged up on Allen at the restart with Stewart sliding past before Hughes had a dive at Turn 9.

Despite a three-wide moment, Allen was able to defend fifth.

Super3 became a race no-one wanted to win with Burcher being forced into the wall at Turn 4 and Maxwell suffering a flat tyre after wheel-to-wheel contact with Goodall.

All of the drama left veteran Auddino in charge and he kept it clean to take a memorable race and round win.

After Gillis speared off at Dandenong Road, Aaron Shields was not as lucky and got stuck in the sand, bringing out yet another Safety Car.

A 15-minute run to the flag was in prospect and Murray initially stacked the pressure on Vaughan.

But the Tickford youngster was desperate to get a maiden Super2 triumph and not only resisted each challenge, but also drove away from the Eggleston Motorsport driver.

The win for the round was still going down to the wire as Perkins won an almighty battle with Sinni for sixth, while Bates crucially kept Stewart behind to stay third and hold on to the round win.

Although he did not have his best weekend, Allen limited the damage by finishing the round fourth, while fellow Mount Gambier driver Stewart scored a career best second.

All roads now lead to Bathurst.

Thomas Miles

DUNLOP SERIES POINTS AFTER ROUND 4

1: Kai Allen 1032 points

2: Zach Bates 906

3: Aaron Cameron 888

4: Max Vidau 747

5: Jobe Stewart 720

Bates took out one of the closest Super 2 weekends on a count-back. Top: Jack Perkins –allowed a late entry – heads Jobe Stewart in an enthralling duel. Above: Brad Vaughan took a superb win in Sunday’s finale. Images: DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

THREE-WAY TUSSLE

THE DUGGAN Family Hotels Touring Car Masters once again produced a thrilling spectacle at Sandown where four points split the the leading three drivers.

Leading the way were Adam Garwood in the VB Commodore, the XD Falcon of Marcus Zukanovic and the A9X Torana of Danny Buzadzic – the round win could have gone to either of them in the final race. Each of them had their moments and in the end Garwood and Zukanovic were tied on 188 points with the championship leader taking another round win to his expanding 2024 trophy cabinet.

An expanded 18-car field raced at the Home of Horsepower, but there was a late change on the eve of the event.

Steven Johnson was listed to make a return in the Hancock Racing #33 Mustang, but unfortunately was struck down by illness once again.

As a result Dean Lillie got a call on Wednesday night and made a return to TCM for the first time in three years and battled hard.

Ryan Hansford was looking to make inroads in his championship campaign and started the weekend on fire by finally taking a first pole for 2024.

The Multispares Racing Torana edged out Garwood by the barest of margins, 0.0579s, while Joel Heinrich was third and Buzadzic could only manage sixth.

The rain arrived on Saturday morning for the Trophy Race but, despite the docile conditions, the drivers impressively stayed out of trouble for the majority of the risky 11-lap journey.

It turned into a procession for Lance Hughes as the Kiwi used his local knowledge to walk on water and take one of the most dominant wins seen recently in TCM.

Hughes blazed into the distance off the front row and was never seen again, winning by 28s.

Scott Cameron also got a fast start, but

was hit by a 5s penalty for jumping the start, but this did not stop him from fighting like hell.

He was in the middle of a big battle for second-best behind Hughes.

It was held by Craig Tilley until the Valiant got bullied at Turn 1 and dropped to ninth.

Zukanovic won the battle to snare second ahead of Karanfilovski and Cameron, who retained fourth.

Impressively considering the conditions, Allan Argento was the only DNF and that was due to mechanical issues.

Thanks to the usual Melbourne weather, the entire field took on the opening race with wet tyres on a drying track.

Hansford had a slow rolling start and slumped to fifth as Garwood charged into the lead.

But this time he was not allowed to charge into the distance having Heinrich and Zukanovic for company.

The Multispares Racing driver eventually had to pull into the pits with a damaged front right guard.

As the race carried on, drivers feared the state of their tyres on the now fully dry track, but this was soon not a concern due to Argento and Dave Hender being stranded at Turns 2 and 7 respectively.

The Safety Car created a two-lap dash and Heinrich had a big lead in the final tour of Dandenong Road, but lost it.

After his wild spin, suddenly Pollicina, Buzadzic and Jamie Tilley were now fighting for third and it went down to the final corner where the former stayed out of trouble and trumped them all by 0.03s.

After Zukanovic was second best in Race 1, he went one better to claim a breakthrough win in Race 2.

Off the line Zukanovic powered into the lead thanks to a push from his cousin while behind Karanfilovski spun Hughes.

Heinrich dropped out of contention early as Garwood passed Pollicina to third before the race came to a shortened end when Karanfilovski got it wrong at Dandenong Road.

It all came down to the final race where the leading trio put on a grand show.

Buzadzic gained track position with a storming start getting past pole sitter Zukanovic to swoop around the outside and into the lead.

The race was again disrupted by a long Safety Car due to a possible brake failure sending Hughes straight into the side of an unlucky Pollicina – the pair were lucky not to roll.

When the race resumed it was game on as Zukanovic blazed past Garwood, who tried to sail around the outside of them all.

Despite going off it was enough to take second.

Garwood then turned his attention to

to the bitter end.

Buzadzic positioned his Torana brilliantly to deny any move from Garwood, who was forced to have a look at the last corner.

The Commodore pulled out of the Torana’s slipstream, but fell a tenth short as photofinish expert Buzadzic claimed his first ever TCM championship race win.

Heinrich and Hansford had a fierce fight for fifth which resulted in the Whiteline Racing Camaro going off.

With his title rivals battling behind, Garwood again strengthened his grip on the TCM title with one round to go, at The Bend on November 22-24.

Thomas Miles

Touring Car Masters was supported by

TOURING CAR MASTERS STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5

Pos Driver Points

1 Adam Garwood 889 points

2 Jamie Tilley 807

3 Ryan Hansford 770

4 Joel Heinrich 755

5 Danny Buzadzic 738

Buzadzic to create a stunning grandstand finish for the lead in a fight that went all the way

Danny Buzadzic took out his first TCM win, while (below) Adam Garwood took out the closest TCM weekend for some time. Below right: Kiwi Lance Hughes took a big Trophy Race win but his weekend ended with a nasty Turn 1 shunt on Sunday. Images: JAMES SMITH PHOTOGRAPHER

TEAMMATE TUSSLE SUPERCARS

THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY SANDOWN 500 LIVED UP TO EXPECTATIONS, WITH DRAMA FROM START TO FINISH AND, WHILST IT WAS A FAMILIAR RESULT, THERE WERE NEW NAMES ON THE PODIUM. THOMAS MILES LOOKS AT A MEMORABLE

IT WAS a weekend of celebrations at Sandown, which staged the 50th running of its endurance classic six decades after the first ever in 1964.

Being an anniversary race, it was fitting the most successful team in the event’s history that claimed its latest success, but put on a show in doing so.

Will Brown and Scott Pye wrote their names into history by taking maiden Sandown 500 wins, having fended off Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup by just four-tenths in a gruelling and dramatic 154-lap timeshortened contest.

The winner was no certainty until the very end with Brown and Feeney bumper to bumper – however, the championship leader claimed a crucial win.

Whilst Triple Eight was jubilant, the biggest celebrations were at PremiAir Nulon Racing, which celebrated a maiden podium after James Golding and David Russell put in a

MELBOURNE WEEKEND …

sensational rise from 14th to third.

With 63,418 fans fixated on the action that produced rain, hail, mud, crashes, battles and strategy, the 2024 Sandown 500 will go down as one of the best of recent memory.

ARM WRESTLE

AMID ALL the drama, the battle for Sandown 500 victory was a two-car contest between the Triple Eight Camaros.

Whilst it was a familiar sight on the top step, the battle for the lead was extremely memorable as it almost went over the edge. Brown/Pye and Feeney/Whincup continued Triple Eight’s legacy of Sandown success being the class of the field all weekend.

Brown led away from pole as Feeney consolidated fifth in the opening stages before smart triple Eight strategy gained track position for the #88.

In a move the team masterfully pulled at

each occasion, it pitted the team-mates on separate laps to avoid the double stack, whilst adjusting fuel loads ensured they could seize track position from their rivals. This consolidated an effective Triple Eight 1-2 from Lap 51 onwards.

The #87 was in charge for most of the day, but not by much and things got a bit too close for comfort during the final round of stops with 30 to go.

Feeney pitted a lap later than Brown and the overcut worked as he emerged in the effective lead, only to bowl a wide at Turn 1 by running wide on cold tyres.

As Feeney bounced over the kerb to rejoin, Brown was also on the racing line and the two Bulls locked horns.

Feeney made solid left-front to right-rear contact as he tried to rejoin, creating a little bobble, but somehow the team-mates carried on unaffected.

It proved to be the deciding moment as

Brown emerged with the lead and held on after a nail-biting five-lap sprint.

“What a race! Scott did a great job. Those last laps were nerve-wracking. I thought ‘don’t put a foot wrong’ because I knew Broc would pounce. I am so stoked to get a win at Sandown,” Brown beamed in victory lane.

“I saw him rejoin and I ran wide and coming back on we both tagged, so I just hoped we did not have any damage. But it was mega ... he pushed me the whole day.”

“The one good thing was the team let us race. I knew Will would have him, but Broc was so fast so I was pacing in the garage. I am so happy for Will, he deserves this,” Pye said after his second career win and first since 2018.

SOAKED SANDOWN

WHILST FRIDAY might have been tame as teams enjoyed a clean day to get through their run plans, in and out showers and even

Images: MARK HORSBURGH, DMAC PHOTOGRAPHY, REBECCA HIND/REVVED PHOTOGRAPHY

a hail storm ensured there was no such joy on Saturday.

Sandown was saturated for morning practice and many more struggled to stay on the tarmac in the first test for the softer Dunlop wet tyres at Sandown.

As expected, the conditions brought the best out of Richie Stanaway and he topped Practice 4 and came second in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Erebus deployed the unusual strategy of keeping Brodie Kostecki in the garage for almost the entirety of Practice 5, getting only two laps across the 40 minutes.

The first driver to find the fence was the experienced Moffat, who spun at Turn 3 and slowly slid into the outside wall.

Moffat revealed he could not get the tyre temperature up – Tickford was lucky to escape with “nothing major.”

“I am a bit annoyed at myself for that one,” Moffat said.

“Probably just expected the tyres to come up a bit quicker than they did and the tyre temperature caught me out.

“Fortunately there are just a couple of scuffs on the left hand side, so nothing major. With the 300 different track surfaces it is definitely very sketchy when it is raining hard out there.

“It is hard enough in the dry but when you have water it is even more challenging.”

At the end of the final session, things got tricky with the crossover from wets to slicks far from clear.

The conditions ended up catching out an unfortunate Will Davison, who got crossed up after hitting a wet patch on the approach to Turn 2 and slid head-on into the tyres.

In typical Melbourne fashion the sun started to appear prior to qualifying, only for the track to get soaked further by a

As a result drivers had to tiptoe on slicks on a wet-dry track and it caught out rookie Love.

Love lost it by taking too much of the kerb in the right hander of the Dandenong Road complex and finding a puddle.

This sent the #3 Mustang spinning out of control head on into the outside fence before coming to rest in the gravel. It left a busy night for BRT as it performed an engine change.

With the red flag arriving at the halfway mark and the track condition still improving, the contest to get into the 10 was as fierce as ever.

After some constant changes on the leaderboard, Feeney recovered from an early off to finally land the killer blow with three minutes remaining.

His 1:12.8980 was 0.0404s over Mostert and Payne, while Wood impressed to be fourth.

Late laps from Stanaway and Heimgartner secured their tickets to the Shootout, which left Percat on the bubble and he was squeezed out by De Pasquale by 0.03s after the chequered flag.

This meant the MSR driver joined the likes of Winterbottom (who battled blistering) Golding, Reynolds, Murray, Le Brocq and Randle in the drop zone.

ON THE LIMIT

SATURDAY HAD one more challenge left, being one of the best and dramatic Shootouts in recent memory as drivers tackled a still drying track.

De Pasquale was the first out and appeared to throw it away even before his lap began, getting crossed up coming out of the final corner to start the lap.

Despite the scare, the DJR driver pushed on to produce what proved to be a tough marker to beat.

In the end he clawed an impressive seven spots and secured third on the grid to give DJR some delight from the jaws of disaster.

“I nearly spun starting the lap, which would have been pretty embarrassing, but most people did similar so I don’t feel as bad!” De Pasquale said.

But this proved to be just the start of the drama.

The likes of Heimgartner, Stanaway and Kostecki all could not match De Pasquale before Brown nailed the final sector to go a tenth clear with a 1:10.2549s.

Waters should have been that benchmark being well up as he approached the final chicane, but missed the apex of the right-left hander and lost two-tenths. He ended up second just 0.065s down and

Above (top to bottom): Stanaway again raised eyebrows – quickest in the wet. In the race, his (fresh) engine mysteriously expired; Waters pits – the Tickford star was just a fraction off the pace.

Above right: Jimmy Golding and ‘Super Codriver’ David Russell’s podium for PremiAir was a highlight.

Right: The Cooper Murray/Craig Lowndes wildcard finished an impressive fifth – making four T8-built cars in the top five ... Lower right: Ryan Wood was a top-10 qualifier, but, with Fabian Coulthard co-driving, the duo had a hectic Sunday, finishing 15th.

SUPERCARS

even though Waters lost pole, he was “pretty happy surviving the lucky dip.”

The challenge was fully showcased by rookie Wood, who somehow survived a wild wide through the Esses.

The Kiwi was going for it, but “pushed a bit too much” and lost control over the rise, riding the kerb and finding the inside grass.

Somehow in a cloud of tyre smoke Wood stayed away from the barriers before finding the gravel.

While he avoided a huge crash, he left a lot of grass on the road, which may have impacted the remaining runners with the best Payne, Mostert or Feeney could manage was fifth, with the WAU driver particularly dejected.

It gave Brown back-to-back Sandown 500 poles, but only the second of his championship-leading season, which was a relief.

“I knew it would just be about who did not stuff up, so I was trying not to,” Brown said.

“It is really cool to get pole. “I feel like this year has been really competitive, so it has been really hard to get.

“I think I had more poles last year than this year and feel the pressure is on a bit more now so it was great to get a pole and be up the front.”

TAKING CHARGE

WHAT BECAME a wild Sandown 500 had a rather calm start as the main drivers eased into proceedings.

Brown nailed the start from pole and charged into the lead, while, not for the first time, the Monster Mustang struggled from the front row.

Waters slumped to fourth behind the #87, De Pasquale and Kostecki.

The DJR driver soon found himself slipping down the order, initially after getting muscled out of the way at Turn 4 by Kostecki – “who thought Anton saw me but that’s racing” –and then getting caught out by a Feeney dive at Turn 9.

In the blink of an eye, De Pasquale fell from second to ninth and never recovered, eventually ending up 14th.

The first curveball of the day arrived on Lap 23 when Stanaway’s engine suddenly expired.

A lap after being passed by team-mate Payne in what appeared to be orchestrated by the team, Stanaway suffered a scary moment at the fastest part of the track when his engine went pop.

The Kiwi did well to avoid the barrier, but the first Safety Car was scrambled on Lap 23.

“It is really disappointing,” Stanaway said. It was a fresh motor for this weekend, so it was a bit unexpected.

“I just got a strange exhaust note at Turn 1 and then it started letting go down the back straight.”

Even when the Safety Car arrived, there was more drama as Will Davison, David Reynolds and Tim Slade all made nose-totail contact as they suddenly slowed to the mandatory 80km/h at the end of the main straight.

“I was watching my dash trying to count myself down and when I looked up Will was slowing down faster than me so I crashed into him and then Slade crashed into me because I think everyone was caught off guard. At least we are safe crashing into each other these days!” Reynolds joked.

CO DRIVER CHAOS

THIS PROVED to be a sign of things to come as the Stanaway Safety Car triggered plenty of co-driver chaos.

A later stop allowed Whincup to jump from fifth to third ahead of Hazelwood, who went on the attack

Turn 4 was the target of choice and although Hazelwood was able to squeeze past

and make the move stick down the back straight, he paid a big price.

Following door-to-door contact with Whincup through the left hander, Hazelwood had to deal with the misfortune of suffering a flat tyre at the fastest point of the track.

Just as the #1 approached the rise, the front right went flat, sucking the car towards the outside wall.

Hazelwood just escaped with only a lost mirror, but did well to wrestle the car (and avoid a flashback!) to resume at the tail of the lead lap.

Three laps later Holdsworth was the next front-runner to find trouble.

The #25 Mustang was looking dangerous in fourth being the fastest car on track until Holdsworth cracked.

The veteran uncharacteristically ran wide coming out of Turn 1 and lost control,

The 2024 Sandown 500 field sets off on the warm-up lap. Right: The Payne/Tander Falcon was the sole interloper in a Camaro top five. Top left: Dave Reynolds has Chaz Mostert for company. Top right: The Jones/Boys BJR car was looking a bit second-hand ...

“That was horrible,” Holdsworth said. “I just feel terrible for the team. It was a shocking mistake.”

At the same corner, Cameron McLeod then rotated Jordan Boys and forced the #96 on a heavy collision course into the inside guardrail and out of action. Rookie McLeod received a drive through for his actions.

“I was getting hustled off a lot and he had hit me off the last two corners by bombing me hard and having me off at the exit. I didn’t mean to hit him off, but I wasn’t going to be easy on him either,” McLeod said.

This brought the Safety Car back out, and Cameron Crick had the embarrassment of spinning on his own at Turn 4.

Dylan O’Keeffe and Kai Allen were the next to come to

A slowly delaminating right-rear put Allen on the back foot at Turn 12 with O’Keeffe and Dean Fiore bottled up behind. Nose-to-tail contact caused a chain reaction, forcing the #17 to spin into the rear of the #10.

“Dylan made a mistake so I passed him at Dandenong Road and coming out of there we made right side contact,” Allen said. “I felt something seriously wrong with the right rear and had a puncture. Tried to stay out of everyone’s way so it was just unfortunate.”

On Lap 89 Evans was one of the first main drivers to be back in the hot seat, but he also got it wrong and beached the #50 in the Turn 9 sand.

The following Safety Car was perfectly timed for the leaders to get the main stars back in for the run home.

Amid all the action, one co-driver who stayed out of trouble was Russell, whose stint saw the #31 rise from 10th to fourth and laid the foundations to the team’s special podium.

EREBUS HEARTBREAK

DESPITE HAZELWOOD’S scary moment and a 15s penalty for a pit lane infringement, Kostecki found himself in the thick of the fight inside the top 10 in the final stretch.

But Kostecki was denied the chance of fighting any further when a mechanical (electrical) gremlin saw the #1 shut off down the back straight.

“The car was really speedy (but) it started having electrical dramas with 20 laps ago and just shut off down the back straight,” Kostecki recalled.

This pinned all the hopes on Le Brocq and Ojeda, who pulled off a similar rescue effort.

Although the #9 started down in 19th, smart strategy and bold moves by Ojeda pushed them to sixth and Le Brocq found himself fourth in the closing stages.

After the race finally resumed from the Kostecki stoppage with 10 minutes left, Payne launched a counterattack to snap fourth from Le Brocq.

The Kiwi dived at Turn 4 and a hip and shoulder sent the #9 into the tyres.

Suddenly Erebus had the misfortune of having at least a double top 10 amount to nothing.

Le Brocq said he got “turfed into the fence” but the incident was cleared by the stewards.

During the late Safety Car, some teams toyed with the idea of staying out on old tyres to gain track position, but in the end all retreated to the pits for fresh rubber.

GRANDSTAND FINISH

THE TWO Safety Cars created a nail-biting five-lap dash to the flag with everything on the line.

Brown and Feeney raced away from the pack, ensuring it would be another Triple Eight triumph.

After cracking late in the race 12 months ago, Brown was determined not to make the same mistake and did not give Feeney an opportunity to snatch the win.

The Triple Eight Camaros took the flag in a perfect formation finish, ahead of the impressive Golding, who resisted similar pressure from Payne to give PremiAir a dream maiden podium, while Murray recovered from a wild tour through the Turn 3 infield to hold onto an outstanding fifth with Lowndes.

With Mostert ending up seventh, the Sandown 500 could be a turning point in the championship tussle with Brown’s lead ballooning from 81 to 189 points.

After a smashing Sandown, excitement is now at fever pitch for the big one at Bathurst on October 10-13 – bring it on!

The Erebus crew push the stricken Kostecki car (electrical) back to their garage. Above: The podium. A familar look to the top two spots – but third was a popular result ...

SANDOWN 500 RESULTS RACE RESULTS Brought to you by

RALLY GODS SMILE ON NEUVILLE

THE WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS PERENNIAL BRIDESMAID, THIERRY NEUVILLE, HAS DONE HIS MAIDEN TITLE HOPES NO HARM BY TAKING OUT A PUNISHING EDITION OF THE ACROPOLIS RALLY GREECE. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

ON THE tough rock strewn roads baked under the Mediterranean sun, Belgium’s Thierry Neuville overcame early engine troubles as his rivals faltered sporadically throughout, emerging as the frontrunner of a resilient Hyundai 1-2-3 to take a giant stride toward the title.

The three Hyundai’s were also the only Rally1 machines to finish in the top-ten, highlighting the top-flight carnage at the “Rally of the Gods”.

As it now stands, with the dubious 2024 WRC points system tilted strongly in his favour with three events remaining, Neuville is well poised to break his drought, especially with a Rally1 i20N that keeps on keeping on.

Alongside compatriot co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, the Hyundai pair have finished third in the title race three years running, whilst Neuville himself has had the distinction of being a five-time runner-up.

“We’ve never been in a better position. We have been in the championship fight until the end of the season before now, but we have never been this close with such a big lead,” the Belgian said.

“I have been taking less risks than I did in the past because I can still keep up with the others and with the best. We have new engineers, a restructured the technical department, and a new team principal. The new methodology of work gives us a good car, and with a good car, everything is easier.”

After cementing an overnight lead on Day 2, Neuville drove with considered caution on the Sunday to bank the points, finishing 1:46.8s ahead of part-timer Hyundai Spaniard Daniel Sordo, who captured his second podium of the year in just three outings.

And, despite his Pirelli rubber succumbing to the conditions several times, Neuville’s teammate (and once again chief title rival) Ott Tanak, climbed into third at the expense of Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who dramatically

In dropping the points that the Frenchman would have received for second place, it effectively ends his remarkable and unplanned title push as a Toyota part-timer in trying to capture a ninth championship … something he has openly said he doesn’t care about owing to the points system … an opinion he was again monetarily fined for by the WRC in Greece.

The result has also made it incredibly hard for Toyota to claim its fourth straight (and third straight Rally1) WRC Manufacturers crown, with the German-based Korean i20N squad now taking a 35 point advantage.

For the 51st year since the Rally Greece began, this season offered 300km of competitive distance over with 15 stages.

After Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta paced the shakedown, Day 1 north of Athens opened with Ogier setting the early benchmark before the road started to claim its victims.

Despite four of the five title chasers all encountering some issue, Tanak would lead

the six stage opener by 21.8 seconds over Sordo and Neuville (who also lost a cylinder early) to show Hyundai’s triple hand as the carnage unfolded throughout.

First to fall was M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, who retired from second on SS4 with a broken steering arm; then his teammate Gregoire Munster with a wheel change on SS6, whilst Toyota would then take a triple hit.

First it was Elfyn Evans with turbo problems, then Katsuta with rear suspension damage when he muddled a pace-note in SS3, before Ogier also fell to turbocharger issues to drop to fourth by day’s end.

Saturday offered the next 116.23km on even rougher roads south of Lamia, and it was moving day for Neuville, who would move into the lead by day’s end by 53.7s over a troubled Sordo, and Ogier, who fought back with three stage wins.

Tanak’s hopes of victory were dashed with two wheel changes in the space of 10km in the opening stage, whilst a briefly leading Sordo then blew a tyre and subsequently

his rear body kit on a rock in SS9 to give Neuville the lead by over 30 seconds. Evans’ rally also went from bad to worse with a roll and a retirement on SS11.

The concluding Sunday covered 54.05km, with the biggest happening being Ogier’s championship-altering roll-over in the Power Stage to set Hyundai up with the sweep. But he also finished the stage after flipping his Yaris back onto its wheels, safeguarding his 15 points earned on Saturday to end the rally third in the title race behind Tanak, who took third overall as a result of the crash.

In the WRC2, Toyota’s Sami Pajari took the outright and finished fourth overall as a result of the Rally1 carnage, finishing level on time with Skoda’s Robert Virves, with Pajari taking it on an SS1 count-back, whilst third went to Yohan Rossel, with Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Fau Zaldivar, Josh McErlean and Roberto Dapra all rounding out the top-ten.

The next round sees teams bound for South America on September 26-29, with the punishing Rally Chile Bio Bio offering up the last all Gravel round and a mix of high altitude and forest roads.

WRC STANDINGS AFTER 10 ROUNDS

rolled his GR Yaris at speed in the final stage whilst negotiating a fast gravel chicane.

Neuville headed a Hyundai podium lock-out. Above left: Ogier with one wheel still on the ground ... Right: WRC2 win and fourth outright – superb effort from Toyota’s Sami Pajari. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

MARQUEZ STORMS TO SUCCESS

WINNING IS a habit for Marc Marquez once again as he went back-to-back in a tense wet-dry San Marino Motorcycle Grand Prix where Jorge Martin floundered.

Marquez showed his skills in changing conditions by charging from ninth to first in just eight laps, leaving Francesco Bagnaia to settle for second.

However, the Italian still gained significant ground on championship leader Martin, who paid dearly for misjudging the conditions.

With rain arriving Martin sacrificed second to change to a ‘wet’ bike, but the gamble did not pay off as the track dried, forcing the #89 to return to the pits yet again, losing a lap.

At the end of a frustrating day Martin could only manage 15th, seeing Bagnaia slash the deficit from 26 to seven points.

Australia’s Jack Miller fought his way into the top three for a period, but dropped late in the race to eighth.

Bagnaia was determined to fire back and regain some ground after being second best to Martin in the Sprint.

The Pramac rider was at his best on Saturday, controlling the 13-lap affair and beating Bagnaia by 1.5s with the #1 never in the picture.

It was an all Ducati top five with Franco Morbidelli on the podium ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez, while Pedro Acosta was sixth and Miller eighth.

It was a Sprint to forget for VR46 Racing with Fabio Di Giannantonio crashing at Turn 14 and Marco Bezzecchi falling at Turn 2.

UNDER GLOOMY skies, Bagnaia and Morbedelli got strong launches to lead the field, but by the time they got to Rio, Martin snatched second from his teammate.

Marc Marquez was a man on a mission and made some aggressive moves to be charging towards the top five, while Miller looked settled in seventh.

At the start of the second lap Martin tried to make a move on Bagnaia for the lead, but had to back out to avoid contact.

A clash could not be avoided when Acosta aimed to have a look at Morbidelli for third and the Tech3 rider lost a winglet.

A third attempt on lap three at the end of the back straight proved to be successful for Acosta, only for the rookie to sacrifice the position on the following corner.

It was a clear sign the youngster was battling with limited aero and he ended up firing off at Turn 13.

The first signs of rain were there for all to see by lap seven when Morbedelli crashed out of the top five and his team-mate slashed Bagnaia’s lead.

The #89 was the first to roll the dice and pit for a bike change to a wet setup on the following lap.

Incredibly he was the only rider of the lead bunch to box and dropped to 15th with the rain suddenly stopping as Binder, Bastianini, the Marquez brothers, Miller, Quartararo and Bezzecchi had suddenly caught Bagnaia.

The rider who was finding the most grip in the mixed conditions was Marc Marquez, who in the blink of an eye shot from fifth to first.

He completed his charge to the top with a bold and daring move on the #1 at the final corner, where Miller also produced a special dive to snatch third from his teammate.

It was a vital move as Binder battled to stay in the top five, while the Australian built a small gap to cement third.

In the space of only three laps, the track had dried and Martin realised his costly call and returned to the pits to change bikes yet again.

By the time the Pramac team had finished getting the dry bike ready, the #89 lost 15th to Rins, but more importantly dropped a lap down.

Martin put his hand up for the costly mistake.

“I was thinking more about the race than the championship, so I thought it was better to stop,” Martin explained.

“Next time I will wait behind Pecco and do the same.”

Miller could not quite keep up with the leading pair and lost third on lap 12 when

Bastianini breezed by at Quercia. At the same corner three laps later Alex Marquez also demoted Miller, while teammate Binder then knocked the #43 out of the top five.

The fight for the lead also fizzled out with Marc Marquez putting the hammer down in the final 10 laps and easing more than a second into the distance.

There was still action in the minors however, with Binder getting by Alex Marquez for fourth, while both Bezzecchi and Quartararo passed Miller and Martin reclaimed 15th.

The VR46 rider also made a late lunge on Alex Marquez to secure a hard fought top five on home turf.

MotoGP goes racing at Misano again on September 20-22 as it replaces the cancelled Indian Grand Prix.

Thomas Miles

MOTOGP STANDINGS

AFTER ROUND 13

1: Jorge Martin 312 points

2: Francesco Bagnaia 305

3: Marc Marquez 259 4: Enea Bastianini 250

5: Brad Binder 161

The mixed conditions let Marc Marquez shine. When it got damp – briefly – he dominated. Below: Martin threw away a big championship lead with a bad call to switch bikes. Left: Miller was also in the game when it was damp, but dropped back when it dried out. Images: GOLD AND GOOSE

INTERNATIONAL PALOU ENTERS REALM OF INDY GREATS

WITH IT ALL UP FOR GRABS IN THE 2024 INDYCAR FINALE AT THE NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY, CHIP GANASSI’S SPANIARD ALEX PALOU CAPTURED HIS THIRD CROWN IN FOUR YEARS, AS COLTON HERTA TOOK THE WIN, AND AUSTRALIA’S WILL POWER SUFFERED EARLY MISFORTUNE. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

WITH 33 points separating Palou and Power heading into the season finale, the qualifying results saw the Aussie with a huge real estate advantage, before an early seatbelt disaster unraveled the Penske drivers’ push.

Palou would finish in 11th, only his fourth time outside the top-10 this season, but it was enough to seal the Astor Cup by 31 points from race winner Colton Herta, with the Andretti Global driver securing his highest ever finish in seven seasons.

Palou’s third title (2021, 2023, 2024) not only gave him back-to-back Astors, but it gave Chip Ganassi his fourth in five years, the team’s 16th overall, and leaves them just one behind equalling Penske’s 17.

Personally, Palou became the 13th driver to take three or more titles, but is the youngest to do so at 27-years of age.

And for a driver that has experienced a great deal of off-track pressure owing to his failed move to Arrow McLaren between 2022/23, resulting in a crushed Formula 1 dream, it’s a humble and rare rags-to-riches tale of modern motorsport for a driver that made it without big money getting him there.

“I think it’s surreal to have won three IndyCar championships. Never in my best dreams did I think I’d be in this position,” a shocked Palou said.

“When I saw Power going to pit lane, at first I thought, ‘Oh, what strategy are they going to do?’

“Unfortunately, that’s not the way it was. Obviously, you don’t want your biggest competitor to go down that way in the season finale. It was very dangerous what happened to him.”

“We just had to keep on going. I have to thank everyone working on the #10 car. Super proud. It’s been an amazing year, and I’m happy we got the championship back home.”

For Will Power, who was aiming at a third title of his own, the 43-year old veteran struck a rare issue, telling his pit box on lap 13 that his seatbelt had become dislodged.

After immediately pitting, he fell five laps behind.

“I was driving down the front stretch there, and I just felt a pop on the lap belt,” a forlorn Power said.

“That’s a very abnormal thing. I don’t know what went wrong. Very strange failure. I’ve never had that before. You have engine failures, gearbox failures … I had a belt failure.

“Disappointing, but big congrats to Alex. A tough guy to beat. Ganassi did a great job. It’s been fun racing those guys this year.”

Power’s 24th also saw his teammate, Scott McLaughlin rise above him to third in the

championship, equalling his highest finish, finishing fifth on the day.

The final results were Herta by 1.810 seconds over Mexican Arrows driver Pato O’Ward, with Penske’s Josef Newgarden close behind in third, with Nashville poleman Kyle Kirkwood (who led a racehigh 67 laps) splitting the Penske Chevies.

The difference between Herta and O’Ward in the run home was a tale of two strategies, with the Mexican opting for the rare use of the softer Firestones on an oval (just the second time in history that the softs have been employed on an oval), pitting for them

on Lap 161 of 206.

Herta’s switch onto the harder primary Firestones gave him the tyres to chase O’Ward down after his last pit entry on lap 180 and, with a 19 lap advantage on lower deg rubber and the leader slowed by traffic, Herta drove under him on the 202nd revolution and never lost the lead.

It was his ninth career victory and the second of this season.

As for the champion’s race, he qualified 15th but started 24th due to an unauthorised engine change penalty back in Milwaukee, but he wasted no time at

the green, climbing to 14th by the time Power came unstuck.

CGR boss Chip Ganassi, was full of praise for Palou, saying that he now inhabits “rarified air.”

“He never broke a sweat,” said Ganassi.

“I don’t know too many guys who have three championships – not that many – but he’s in pretty rarified air right now. His name has certainly got to be in the conversation of great drivers.

“I had no idea it would be this much fun, or that he would be this successful.”

The 2025 IndyCar season will begin its new year on March 2 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.

INDYCAR FINAL STANDINGS Palou 544 Points Herta 513

McLaughlin 505 Power 498

O’Ward 460

The champ – for the third time –Alex Palou. Below left: The race win went to Colton Herta. Right: “The bloody seat belt came undone!” Bizarre luck for Will Power ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

BUESCHER AND SVG DUEL IT OUT IN NY PENSKE PUSH AT THE BIG PEACH

THE SECOND Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoff series witnessed an action-packed outing at Watkins Glen International, with victor Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen locked in a thrilling overtime duel.

In a bumper-to-bumper finish, Trackhouse’s Kiwi star and took the lead on the restart with a sensational threewide move from the second row, but the RFK Racing Mustang mowed down SVG’s Chevrolet after the two made contact at the Bus Stop, before sliding under him in the esses for a 0.979-second win.

SVG, who was a factor in the road course affair all day, pushed hard and almost lost his rear several times after the initial error at the Bus Stop.

“Driver error,” van Gisbergen said of his slip, “I knew Chris was really going to send it and push me if he could get there, and as I turned back, I was a bit loose and clipped the inside wall. Just driver error, and I’m gutted.”

For the Texan – a non-playoff contender – it was also his first win on a road course, and he was happy to upset the apple cart in the Big Apple.

“Oh man, it was such a good Ford Mustang – speed was so great and the long-run speed was phenomenal,” he said.

“I thought we lost it there on the last one, but man, to stay right there with him ... It was a spot (the Bus Stop) he was better than us, but he just missed it, so I tried to

cross over and just raced hard. What an awesome finish … We came here to be spoilers, and we did that.”

With Carson Hocevar taking a seasonhigh third over Ross Chastain and teammate Zane Smith, that left Chase Briscoe as the highest-placed Playoff contender in sixth, whilst Penske’s Austin Cindric was the only post-season qualifier in the top-10 in P10.

The majority of the Playoff 16 contenders saw drama from the opening lap to the final

lap, with 12 of the 16 all facing issues.

Initial points leader Ryan Blaney was written off on lap one in a collision that also involved Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell, with Hamlin also tangling with Kyle Larson and Keselowski in the esses later in the race.

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick also found regular incidents, as did Chase Elliott and William Byron, as all the drama also stymied Hendrick Motorsports collecting a sixth straight win at the historic

PENSKE’S JOEY Logano booked his ticket into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, taking out the series opener at the Atlanta Motor Speedway last week in an overtime thriller.

Thanks to a helping push from team-mate and 2023 champ Ryan Blaney, the Mustang squad is well placed to push for a third straight title.

In a race that featured trouble for several of the Playoff 16, Logano snatched it from the threat of Daniel Suarez by just 0.212 seconds, with Blaney taking third, fellow Playoff drivers Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick coming in behind them, with nine of the top 10 drivers being in the post-season picture, split only by Kyle Busch in seventh, who topped Chase Elliot, William Byron, and

Austin Cindric (who led for a race-high 92 of 266 laps).

The 2022 champion led it by a single length when the final caution was called from the mid-pack wreck, the 11th time this season a race was decided in overtime.

“They just give me really fast cars on Superspeedways, and we always find ourselves towards the front of them … we

3.9 km track, with Larson the highest placed in 12th.

All the chaos put the order of the 16 into disarray, leaving Bell as the points leader (below the qualified Logano) over Cindric, and putting Hamlin out of the 12 into 13th, six points below his teammate Ty Gibbs on the cutoff line. Heading into the round of 16 finale at the Bristol Motor Speedway, Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton, are all in the gun for the cut.

TW Neal

just end up wrecking more times than not,” Logano said, who only led for nine laps total.

“To be able to finally capitalise on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in Condo 805 for a long time as a child racing Legend Cars, waking up and dreaming of just racing on this race track.

“Pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one.”

The win left Logano fifth in the overall Playoff standings, but he is assured of progression. It was his second win of ’24, and the 34th of his career, whilst his team-mate Blaney took over the series lead with his podium, five points clear of Bell.

Suarez’s Chevrolet looked plenty hooked up to take another thriller but, unlike Logano, his assistance from behind via Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain, got lost in the draft on the restart.

For the first 55 laps it was a rare incident free affair, but that followed trouble for Playoff contenders Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe with some big wall contact, after Larson got loose, leaving Briscoe 20 points below the cutoff line, whilst Larson hovered in 10th, five points above it.

Harrison Burton was another Playoff driver to get caught up in the cutoff pressure after being in the last lap wreck, which left Brad Keselowski (two points off Ty Gibbs in 12th), Burton, Martin Truex Jr, and Briscoe, all needing a good result from Round 2 at the Glen.

TW Neal

SVG (16) and Buescher (17) fought it out late in the race, with Buescher taking advantage of a single SVG error to snare the win. Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

Logano took a rare Superspeedway win, at Atlanta, and is through to the Round of 12 ... Image: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

PORSCHE GET BIG IN JAPAN

THE PENULTIMATE ROUND

OF THE FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN JAPAN SAW THE PORSCHE-

PENSKE HYPERCAR LEADERS

PREVAIL AS TOYOTA FALTERED, WHILST OTHER FIRST AND SECOND YEAR MANUFACTURERS SCORED SOME LMDH BREAKTHROUGHS. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

THE 2024 6 Hours of Fuji was a tale of two halves that ultimately belonged to the #6 Porsche 963 garage, with a dominant win placing the Penske-led German manufacturer in the box-seat to claim its first WEC title since 2017.

Whilst the Laurens Vanthoor/Andre Lotterer/Kevin Estre LMDh ruleset machinery kept making monumental strides with a second win after it claimed the season opener in Qatar, another story to come out of Japan is the rise of some other LMDh squads, whilst Toyota was a glaringly vacant from its hometown podium for just the second time in its history, and Ferrari were nowhere near the pace in a faltering title push.

And, in a first for BMW, one of its M Hybrid V8 LMDh machines finally delivered on its promising pace by taking a maiden podium, albeit 16.601 seconds off the leader.

The #15 WRT-operated BMW piloted by Dries Vanthoor/Marco Wittmann/Raffaele Marciello, also produced just the second time in WEC history that two brothers (Dries and Laurens Vanthoor) have shared a podium.

And in a second first, the French Alpine squad scored its first podium, in third, after former F1 driver and current Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher won a fantastic closing lap battle against the Herta customer Porsche, 25.720 seconds off the BMW in the #36 A424, saying after that he “really missed the smell of champagne.”

That podium was also the first all-LMDh ruleset podium in Hypercar class’ young and formative history, whilst Cadillac also added to the manufacturer first, with one of its V-Series.R LMDh’s taking pole for the first time.

It was a disastrous weekend for the LMH Toyota and Ferrari teams, with both of their championship contenders falling by the wayside, with the second-placed #50 499P Ferrari only briefly being in the fight in the third hour only to finish ninth, whilst the third placed #7 GR010 Toyota had a disastrous crash with one hour to run to register a retirement after Kobayashi hit Australia’s Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche. With its other GR010 in 10th – after running third but taking a drive through penalty in the final 15 minutes for not respecting the blue flags – it was a weekend to forget in front of 68,500 fans, as the Japanese giants further watched their driver and manufacturer title hopes dwindle ahead of Bahrain.

Porsche’s lead driver, Frenchman Keven Estre, summed up Porsche’s good fortunes nicely against its nearest title rivals:

The #6

“You cannot count on misfortune from the others,” said Estre.

“I think Ferrari was on the back foot this weekend; they were not as fast as they probably could have been, and Toyota ... I think they tried a lot of stuff.

“They went on a very aggressive, very different strategy with two-and-a-half hours to go with de Vries staying in for a double stint – very short stints, short fuel, which took an advantage on us.

“But then with the Safety Car, I think they lost a lot of track position because of that and they couldn’t come back. Then you’re in a pack and you take more risks.

“It’s good. We put them in this corner. We put ourselves in a position to always be in front and for them to try something to beat

us. Today they tried and it beat them. I think this was the key. They’ve been unlucky because I think we did a good job to bring them into this position.”

One of the key moments of the race came with the caution in the fourth hour, courtesy of a Lamborghini SC63 becoming stranded at the final turn.

With almost the entire field pitting under a Virtual Safety Car (VSC), it threw all the separate strategies out the window, and left the leading pack in something of a strategy reset, being on equal footing.

Following that VSC and the free stops, a full course yellow was then immediately called, which eventually led to a fascinating 90 minute dash to the flag, which the #6 confidently headed up.

Taking a first ever win in the new LMGT3 class was the #54 AF Corse 296 GT3 Ferrari driven by Davide Rigon/Francesco Castellacci/Thomas Flohr.

But it was the second place getters in the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler/Aliaksandr Malkyhin/Joel Sturm that stole the show, claiming the category’s first ever title with one round to go, and leaving the door open for Porsche to claim a unique WEC double.

The final round – which delivers ‘points and a half’ for the Hypercar field – is the 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 2, with the #6 Porsche holding a 35 point lead over the #50 Ferrari, whilst the #7 Toyota is only two points behind them.

Porsche shows the way as the field hits Turn 1. Below left: BMW took its first podium, in second place. Below right: Alpine may be struggling in F1 but Mick Schumacher helped deliver the organisation’s first podium; Champagne for the PenskePorsche crew ... Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

VERSCHOOR’S BAKU BREAK

WITH THE FIA FORMULA 3 SEASON DONE AND DUSTED, THE JUNIOR FORMULA FOCUS NARROWS DOWN TO ITS PREMIER CATEGORY, WITH TRIDENT’S RICHARD VERSCHOOR TOPPING THE TITLE CONTENDERS AT THE FORMULA 2 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX. TIMOTHY W NEAL REPORTS …

WITH ONLY two rounds remaining in 2024, Dutchman Richard Verschoor – a veritable F2 veteran at 23-years of age in his fourth season at a fourth team – took his second ever Feature Race win, on the streets of Baku.

The Feature was heavily shortened to just 15 laps of the prescribed 29 after a hefty startline crash caused a lengthy Red Flag that lasted 45 minutes, also resulting in a reduced points race with just 16 cars on track for the restart.

“Super happy, this one is finally mine. It was a super good race, Victor (Martins) to be honest was the quickest car on track,” Verschoor said, who was perhaps also aided by a Safety Car finish.

“But I’m really happy I did some qualifyinglevel laps in the end which kept me in the lead. So very happy ... and onto the next.”

Heading into the 12th round of the second-tier open wheel series, it was Frenchman Isack Hadjar who held a 10.5 point championship lead over Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who was coming off a win at Monza and looking to upset the leader.

And after a consistent middling points weekend in fourth and fifth, the Invicta Racing youngster did just that after Hadjar initially found the wall in Qualifying to leave him with an uphill climb, with the title race swinging to a 4.5 point advantage in the Brazilian’s favour.

The weekend was also capped off by AIX Racing’s Paraguayan/German driver Joshua Durksen taking his first ever F2 win, coming from fourth in the Sprint, a talented 20-year old who bypassed FIA Formula 3 to get his seat.

“It’s just crazy. I mean, I’m still not processing everything because at the

start of the season, I was not expecting to already have three podiums during the year,” Durksen said.

“I know the jump from FRECA to F2 is really big. The drivers we have here are of course really top class So I knew it was going to be really difficult to be fighting for the wins. I am just extremely happy that I could manage to get it now in my rookie season.”

It was also a maiden F2 round for Australia’s own Christian Mansell, who replaced Czechia driver Roman Stanek in

the seat at Trident for the remainder of the season. He’s Australia’s first F2 representative since now-F1 driver Jack Doohan’s 2023 season.

Mansell, who ended his second F3 season in fifth place with five podiums, managed to start on pole in the reverse grid Sprint, finishing eighth after battling tyre wear, and finished a notable 10th in the Feature to get double-points on debut.

After Enzo Fittipaldi topped practice, it was Verschoor who claimed his second pole of the year with a 1:54.857s lap, just 0.017s quicker than the Formula 1 Mercedes-bound Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

But for the reverse grid opener it was Aussie Mansell on pole after being only 0.788 seconds off in his first F2 Qualifying effort.

The Newcastle-born driver led early in the Sprint, holding off Jak Crawford and Gabriele Mini early, whilst Duerksen made his move into third early.

Mansell couldn’t get out of the DRS range when it was activated, and a lock-up at Turn 6 eventually sealed his fate, with Duerksen also taking advantage.

The Czech driver then took the lead, by lap 13, at the first turn, before checking out on the pursuers for 3.444-second win over Crawford and Mini, whilst Bortoleto fourth place closed the championship gap to just 6.5 points.

Starting from pole in the Feature, Verschoor got off nicely before the red flag came after Josep Maria Marti, Oliver Goethe, and Kush Maini, all came to grief, after a horrid startline shunt, with all three surviving unscathed.

A rolling start saw proceedings get back under way in a time-certain race, with Verschoor again getting the best of Antonelli and Martins, with the latter then using the slipstream to jump into second.

Martins then took the lead, before taking his mandatory pit stop with the pursuers reacting in turn.

A slow stop saw Verschoor get the jump in the pits, who built a lead that Martins slowly ate back into. However, just as he neared DRS use, Mini hit the Turn 15 wall, neutralising the race with Martins and Antonelli on the podium.

After a lengthy break, Formula 2 heads for Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit for the category’s first ever visit on November 30December 1.

F2 STANDINGS AFTER 12 ROUNDS

Bortoleto 169.5

Hadjar 165

Maloney 135

Aron 133

Crawford 116

Mayhem in the background as the F2 Feature starts, with Verschoor getting the jump.

Below: Christian Mansell (23) chases Sprint winner Durksen. Bottom: The Feature race podium, with ‘veteran’ Verschoor the winner. Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

NOT BAD FOR A NUMBER TWO!

Report: LUIS VASCONCELAS

Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES

OSCAR PIASTRI’S impressive drive to his second Grand Prix victory was the best way to put an end to a week that was dominated by McLaren’s public declaration to make the Australian the support driver for Lando Norris’ World Championship ambitions.

Very much like the time when his manager, Mark Webber, won the 2010 British Grand Prix after Red Bull took away the only new front wing available for that weekend, to put it on Sebastian Vettel’s car – who had damaged his own – Piastri responded on the track to the team’s decision, with a great drive to secure victory in Baku.

But having very good control of his emotions, the young driver from Melbourne refrained from repeating the “not bad for a number two” quip from his fellow Australian, preferring instead to focus on the tremendous battle he had with Charles Leclerc and to praise “the big move” that put him in front of the Ferrari driver at the start of lap 20.

The prospect of having to prioritise Lando Norris’ title chances in Baku had essentially disappeared at the end of Q1, when an FIA blunder brought out a yellow flag warning that was not necessary. Forced to lift and abandon the lap, Norris was instantly out of qualifying, so when Piastri hauled himself onto the front row of the grid, it was clear the two McLarens were not going to be in the same race and that the Australian was free to fight for his second win.

A better start from Leclerc put Piastri a bit on the defence but the McLaren driver pushed hard, got pretty close to making a move at

Turn 1 on lap four but ended up using his tyres too much in the early laps. So degradation kicked in and the gap between the two grew to 5.9s by lap 14.

It looked like game over in terms of the race win, but the Australian didn’t give up and pushed hard as soon as he stopped for tyres the following lap.

With Leclerc having a poor in-lap and then nurturing his set of Hard tyres for the following two laps (trying to repeat the strategy that won him the race in Monza), suddenly Piastri was on the Ferrari’s tail and from pretty far back, at the start of lap 20, he made the lunge that won him the race with an outstanding move into Turn 1.

The Australian admitted that “when I went for it, I thought it would be 50:50 for making the corner, but I had to go for it.”

He then explained that “I tried at the start of the race to get in front, but once I dropped out of DRS, I just didn’t have the pace. After the stop, I saw we were pretty close again, and I felt like we had a little bit of extra grip, and I had to go for it because I knew that if I didn’t get past him at the start of the stint, I was

never going to get past, so I went for a pretty big lunge … but managed to pull it off!”

The move also impressed Team Principal Andrea Stella, who is clearly extremely happy with his young charge:

“When I saw it live, my instinct was ‘he’s gonna go long’ – so I want to emphasise the precision in the execution, as he actually hit the inside apex kerb in Turn 1. I was surprised.”

He then admitted that “Oscar is always surprising us with talent, with his ability and I would say, today, he gave also a demonstration of his mental strength.”

Warming up to the subject, the Italian added that “he drove like a driver that has a lot of experience, that has been under this kind of pressure before, that can look with one eye at the mirror, with the other eye at where is the braking point – and Oscar did it again with great level of precision and pretty controlled. Even when he was talking on the radio seemed very, very much under control. So, a phenomenal driver and a brilliant drive today!”

Piastri himself admitted that “that definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career and ranks as probably the best win of

my career, I would say. Trying to soak up that pressure for so long in that race … that was incredibly tough.

“In the first stint, I thought we were going to be second, at best. I saw an opportunity after the pit stop and knew I had to try and take it. I knew that getting to the lead was going to be one thing, but I knew I had my work cut out for me after that to try and stay there because I didn’t feel like we were the quickest in that first stint. It was very hard work. But I think having clean air did help quite a bit.”

NORRIS MAKES HIS POINT

SUCH WAS the McLaren’s pace in free air that Lando Norris recovered from a lowly P15 on the grid to overtake championship rival Max Verstappen and secure a surprising fourth place courtesy of the late clash between Sainz and Pérez. With the point for the fastest lap in the bag, the British driver cut the gap to his rival by three points, but was delighted by the way the team and himself had turned things around after “a very unfair situation” in qualifying, as he described the unnecessary yellow flag situation.

Norris openly admitted that “I don’t think we could have asked for a lot more today. Good start, good strategy but I would have loved to get past Alex (Albon) a bit earlier. He made my life tough – I couldn’t pass – so I don’t think I could have asked for a lot more.”

He then added that “it’s definitely better than we were all expecting before today. Fourth is a great result – to be ahead of Max just on merit, on pace, on strategy again, was a good result. The car was flying because it was so good. It almost made me more annoyed about yesterday and how silly that yellow flag was.”

Perez led the Red Bull challenge, here leading Sainz on the opening lap. Above: Yes! Oscar Piastri’s most impressive race to date ... Top right: Piastri grins as Leclerc confesses he didn’t think the Aussie would risk that Turn 1 dive ... Wrong!

Having been asked to slow Pérez through the very quick middle sector immediately after the Mexican pitted for new tyres, to make sure Piastri didn’t get undercut, Norris was quick to point out he had been very helpful to his team mate:

“I wasn’t’ holding Checo up”, he said with a smile, “I was just trying to cool my tyres…” Then, on a more serious note, Norris admitted that “I did what the team asked me, what was better for the team and, if that helped Oscar win the race, then I’m happy I did it.”

And that’s something he’ll surely point out to Andrea Stella and to Oscar Piastri before the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, next weekend.

LACK OF RUNNING

HURT LECLERC

HAVING DOMINATED qualifying and the first 15 laps of the race, Charles Leclerc was obviously disappointed to lose the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Having crashed out early in FP1 and then losing 20 minutes of running in FP2 due to a faulty part, the Monegasque didn’t have a clue how the Hard tyres were going to work in the race and paid a price for it.

Being always brutally self-critical, the Ferrari driver blamed himself for this defeat, saying “we’ve lost the race based on two misjudgements. The first one was not fighting Oscar – and that was a mistake from my side, because I thought his tyres wouldn’t last, like in the first stint. I thought ‘OK, now it’s just a matter of staying calm, trying to keep those tyres and overtake him again later on.’ But it was a lot more difficult than that as, in the straights, I couldn’t get as close as I wanted. To be honest, we lost the race when I didn’t quite defend as well as I should have at the end of the straight. Sometimes you do mistakes and I’ll learn from it.

Then, the second one was that we expected the undercut today to be a very difficult thing to do, just because we thought that the warm-up on the Hard would be extremely difficult. But Oscar was able to warm them up quickly and that’s something we’ll have to understand.”

Carlos Sainz looked set to join his team mate on the podium and was actually challenging him with two laps to go when he tangled with

Pérez, who had been trying to get past the Monegasque for a couple of laps. With the two drivers in the wall the race ended under a VSC and the final result mean that, for the first time since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, McLaren is now leading the Constructor’s championship.

ALONSO

BEATS IMPRESSIVE WILLIAMS DUO

WITH NO speed to fight with Piastri, the two Ferrari drivers and Pérez, George Russell salvaged another podium for Mercedes, courtesy of the lap 50 clash ahead of him –but this was the third straight race in which the Silver Arrows were unable to get in the battle at the front.

Hamilton, who qualified seventh but started from the pits with a brand-new Power Unit, inherited P9 in the end, but both drivers were pretty disappointed with the W15’s lack of speed in Baku.

With two front runners in the wall and

Rookie Colapinto continues to impress – here leading team-mate Albon, who did get past to lead a Williams team 7-8 result.

Left: After a qualifying disaster, Norris charged forward to sixth – which became fourth when Sainz and Perez collided with two laps to go. Below left: Ollie Bearman scored points again – this time in the Haas. Above: After a quiet race, Russell lucked into a podium after the Perez/Sainz shunt.

Hamilton out of position, Fernando Alonso scored eight important points for Aston Martin – the team’s best result since the Canadian Grand Prix – after a race-long battle with the impressive Williams duo. The Spaniard put all his considerable experience to good use and was never seriously challenged and Williams’ decision to start Albon on the Hard tyre didn’t really pay off.

Still, the Thai scored his best result of the season with seventh place. But high praise is also due for rookie Franco Colapinto, who even outqualified his team-mate and matched him for most of the race to score four valuable points that have now put Williams ahead of Alpine in the championship.

Oliver Bearman became the first driver to score points for two different teams in his first two Grand sPrix, as he finished 10th for Haas. The young Brit matched the highly rated Hulkenberg the whole weekend and beat him fair and square with a great move just two laps from the end of the race.

RED BULL FIGHTS BACK – SORT OF…

RED BULL lost the championship lead for the first time since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix; saw Pérez lose a potential podium finish with less than two laps to go; and Verstappen beaten by all his direct rivals to finish in fifth place, …but the Mexican’s pace in qualifying and the race offered the Austrian team a glimmer of hope they may have cracked the code to make the RB20 a more competitive car.

Yes, Baku is a track where Pérez normally excels but for him to beat Verstappen by 0.2s in qualifying and be 20 seconds ahead of the Dutchman after 48 laps, it’s clear there was something unusual going on with the World Champion. Having tried a tweaked floor and diffuser from the start of the weekend, Red Bull made a last-minute change to the Dutchman’s RB20 before qualifying and that backfired tremendously. Keeping the settings that had worked in FP3, Pérez was fourth quickest in qualifying, with Verstappen down in P6 and the gap between the two grew during the race.

A frustrated Verstappen explained at the end of the Grand Prix that “we just paid the price with the change that we made into qualifying. That made it just really difficult to drive. The car was jumping around a lot, the wheels were coming off the ground in the low-speed corners … and when you don’t have contact patch with the tarmac, it’s very difficult!”

Trying to put a positive spin on a bad weekend, Verstappen countered that things could have also been much better for Norris, saying, “I think they could have done a better job as well, right?”

And, looking ahead to the next few races, Verstappen was confident that “we learned a lot, the car did feel a bit better than what we had before, but when we tried to make it even better, unfortunately we made it worse.”

Given that the 2023 Singaporean Grand Prix was the only one of the year where Red Bull didn’t have the fastest car, next weekend’s race will be the ultimate test for the team and the direction it has decided to follow with the development of the RB20.

Of course no two circuits are equal (you need more clearance over the kerbs in the Marina Bay circuit than in the Baku streets), but if the pace shown by Pérez in Azerbaijan is anything to go by, then the battle for both titles is on. And with Ferrari not too far away, we could be in for the most thrilling season finale since we got to Abu Dhabi back in 2012, with four drivers still in contention for the title.

1994: AJ SEEKS A CHECK ON BATHURST ‘CHEATS’ ...

ON THE eve of the closest ever Tooheys 1000, Peter Jackson Falcon driver Alan Jones issued a warning about cheating within the touring car ranks.

Chasing his first victory at the Mountain, the outspoken former F1 world champ claimed that advanced racing technology was making it easier to bypass the rules.

“Touring car racing is now a high-tech game, and the technology leaves itself wide open for different interpretations,” Jones said.

There was talk some teams may have been bypassing the rev limiter (at the Bathurst media day).

“Obviously, we don’t want to see anyone having an unfair advantage in Australia’s biggest touring car race,” said AJ.

Jones pointed to three key areas he believed should come under closer scrutiny: traction control, rev limiters and cylinder heads.

“Some people would have you believe there have been instances where things like traction control have been used in practice,” he said.

“At Bathurst last year there were a lot of rumours and innuendo about modified cylinder heads.

“If the scrutineering is water tight, it will

1974

A REVAMPED Ford Falcon pushed Allan Moffat to a convincing Sandown 250 victory, having led from start to finish.

Moffat’s blue BRUT #33 Falcon GT was in a league of its own and won by over two laps from runners-up John Leffler and Bob Morris.

The Holden Dealer Team battled mechanical remains all day with both Colin Bond retiring on lap 103 and Peter Brock crawling to 10th with a gear shifter issue.

John McCormack carried on his domination of the Australian Sports Sedans Championship with a fifth title.

He confirmed it by winning the final round of what was called the Grace Brothers Tony Lee Series after a good battle with Jim McKeown at Oran Park.

prevent those type of allegations.

Jones call came at a time when CAMS and the Touring Car Entrants Group (TEGA) were instituting a more thorough scrutineering procedure.

Jigs had been developed to measure critical elements, including firewall position and ride height.

The latter had been a contentious point among certain teams, with some individuals talking privately of alleged modifications to floor-pans to reduce ride height.

Some of the leading cars were inspected at their home base by CAMS scrutineers, before going through the regular checking process at Bathurst this week.

For Jones, the problem was clear cut:

“The stakes are high at Bathurst, both from a sporting and commercial point of view, and there should be strict control to ensure everyone starts with a legal car.”

AUTO ACTION (wrongly) predicted a Holden Commodore would win Bathurst, driven by either Peter Brock or Mark Skaife.

That was the result of AA’s exclusive pre-Bathurst race winner’s poll.

1984

PETER BROCK debuted the “Big Banger” VK Commodore with great success, getting his ninth and final Sandown enduro win.

This one arrived in an eventful 1984 classic, the first held over 500km, with the HDT Commodores suffering loose doors and deflating tyres.

Legends of the sport queued up to offer their opinion – and their selection.

We talked to people who had been there and done it at Bathurst, either as drivers, team bosses or both.

2004

V8 SUPERCARS team owner Kees Weel was threatened his leading team would quit after taking legal action against TEGA.

And while they all agree that year’s race was incredibly open and acknowledge that luck will always play a part, their considered opinions point to either an HRT or Winfield team win.

2014

AT THE age of 14, future Supercar driver Jake Kostecki was already making headlines.

Both Dick Johnson and Allan Grice led early, but mechanical dramas forced them into retirement, while pole sitter George Fury had overheating issues in the Bluebird.

Elsewhere Calder Park had been extended with the addition of what is now the first three turns and in Europe McLaren title rivals Alain Prost and Niki Lauda took the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix respectively.

The famous Austrian was at the time in discussions to appear at that year’s Australian Grand Prix at Calder, the last before F1 arrived in Australia.

Weel appealed the TEGA Tribunal’s decision to uphold the $300,000 liquidated damages finding in the Queensland Supreme Court and stated “if we don’t do anything we may as well pack our toolboxes up and bugger off out of the category.”

China hosted F1 for the first time where Rubens Barrichello carried on Ferrari’s reign on the grid after Michael Schumacher spun in qualifying and had a puncture.

Back then, Auto Action was a $4.95 weekly purchase ... and this issue also featured a teasing cover image with David Besnard seated in an Indycar – he would contest the Lexmark Indy 300 ...

Kostecki was set to become the youngest V8 touring car driver ever by trying to compete in the Kuhmo series at Phillip Island.

However, CAMS canned the idea on the Friday of the event not prepared to offer a special dispensation licence to enable him to compete ...

The Supercars silly season was taking shape with Michael Caruso locked in at Nissan, but openings were arriving at DJR/Penske, Volvo, Team 18 and LDM. There was a big shift in the F1 title race as an electrical wiring loom issue saw Nico Rosberg retire from the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix on the formation lap.

To rub salt into the wounds, Lewis Hamilton cruised to a 13s win over Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

WHEN COMPROMISE ISN’T AN OPTION BE RYCO READY

OFFICIAL FILTRATION PARTNER OF SUPERCARS

Ryco is proud to be the Official Filtration Partner of the Repco Supercars Championship.

Along with being engineered, developed, and tested at its Melbourne Laboratory, Ryco’s range of GEN3 Control Parts deliver outstanding filtration and extended engine life without compromising flow or performance.

So, when your everyday passenger, 4x4 or commercial vehicle needs the same protection as a Supercar, be Ryco Ready.

SCAN TO FIND FILTER FOR YOUR VEHICLE.

ALL IN FOR THE BIGGEST EVER

With the best motorsport action and spectacular entertainment, we'll see you in Adelaide.

14-17 NOV 2024