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A SERIES OF ON-TRACK SCUFFLES BETWEEN MAX VERSTAPPEN AND LANDO NORRIS HAVE BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES OF 2021 AND RAISED CONCERNS OVER THE RACING STANDARDS GUIDELINES USED TO GOVERN F1 DRIVING STANDARDS. LUIS VASCONCELAS AND ANDREW CLARKE REPORT …
THE FIA is set to revise its controversial racing guidelines following a meeting with Formula 1 drivers in Mexico in the wake of McLaren being denied a right of review over the five second penalty handed out to Norris in Austin which dropped him behind Verstappen in the results.
Verstappen’s tactics in Austin have highlighted a flaw in the guidelines which only talks about the car leading at the apex with no view to control or racing fairness.
McLaren sought a Right of Review over the penalty. The stewards’ original decision was based on their view that “Car #4 was overtaking car #1 on the outside.” That was a factual error, from McLaren’s point of view. In fact, Norris was one full car length ahead of Verstappen as they got into the braking area for Turn 12, having completed the move on the straight, but the Dutchman divebombed down the inside to be slightly ahead at apex level, but at the cost of going off the track himself.
McLaren’s argument was exactly that, its representative saying that “the statement that ‘Car 4 was overtaking Car 1 on the outside but
was not level with Car 1 at the apex’ was in error because McLaren had evidence that Car 4 had already overtaken and was ahead of Car 1 at the braking zone. From the team’s point of view, “this error is significant and relevant and is new and was unavailable to McLaren at the time of the decision.”
McLaren’s right to review the decision was crushed before it even got to first base, on a procedural definition. McLaren didn’t lose any time in reacting, stating that “we disagree with the interpretation that an FIA document, which makes a competitor aware of an objective, measurable and provable error in the decision made by the stewards, cannot be an admissible ‘element’ which meets all four criteria set by the ISC, as specified in Article 14.3.”
Subsequently (on Saturday in Mexico) the drivers met for what was described as a “direct but respectful” discussion, mainly between Verstappen and Norris, about the current interpretation of the F1 Racing Guidelines. As a result, it us understood that the FIA will present to the drivers – as soon as possible –a set of ‘re-worded’ guidelines.
With further incidents in Mexico, the issues refuse to go away and will likely continue until the guidelines are seen as robustly defending racing, rather than encouraging dubious racing techniques.
Verstappen has regularly exploited the guidelines that say the driver leading at the apex of a corner is entitled to the corner, regardless of whether they are in control of the car and capable of clearing the corner.
His title fight with Lewis Hamilton in 2021 saw many penalties handed to the Dutchman but, since then, he has become more adept at driving to his interpretation of the guidelines.
During the meeting, the drivers outlined their positions on Verstappen’s actions. Some sided strongly with Norris’s point of view, expressed post-race in Austin and again on the Mexico media day, that he was “no longer the attacking car, [Verstappen] was” after he had already passed the championship leader.
Others are believed to have felt Verstappen’s tactics were hard but fair and within the current rules.
In a statement provided to the media, the FIA said, “there was a general commitment
to continue to update the driving standards guidelines”.
The statement added: “Bearing in mind the drivers requested the drivers’ racing guidelines and agreed to their introduction along with the GPDA, each time they are updated it is in consultation with the drivers.
“It is generally accepted that they should continue to evolve, not because of isolated incidents such as Austin, but driven by the desire to bring consistency to determinations and decisions from the stewards”.
The last significant evolution of the guidelines, first introduced at the drivers’ request in 2022, is understood to have occurred after the 2023 Singapore GP. In the Mexico meeting, while there were specific disagreements, the overall tone was collaborative.
Sunday’s race, which saw Verstappen and Norris in two more ‘off-track’ clashes – with the Dutchman this time copping 20 seconds-worth of penalties – will only add to the urgency to find a logical update to the Racing Guidelines – sooner rather than later …
Opinion: Pages 19, 23
TOYOTA IS believed to be months away from making a decision on its second team for 2026, sticking to its mid-2025 timeline as it starts the assessment process of the available teams on the grid. The potential for the opening rounds of next year turning into a salivating battle to join Walkinshaw Andretti United in the revolution is enticing and will throw a curve ball into those races.
On-track performance will clearly be at the forefront of Toyota’s minds as its hunts out its second team to supply the ‘minimum’ of four cars promised, but other criteria will come into play.
Several teams in the Supercars paddock on the Gold Coast were talking about their knowledge of a spreadsheet that is being used to measure the teams against the ‘secret’ criteria critical to Toyota going into 2026.
A Toyota spokesperson confirmed the timeline for the selection process, but would not discuss the process or the criteria by which the assessment will be made.
With its matrix hidden from view, the teams chasing the Toyota deal will not be able to fine-tune their operations to maximise their chances, which is no doubt the way Toyota wants it to operate.
It is believed the criteria extends beyond sporting measures and will look at the business model as well as the engineering capability and the ability to regularly run at the front of the field. There may also be an aspect of Toyota personality in how they go racing.
Many have speculated that Team 18 is in the box seat for the deal due to team owner Charlie Schwerkolt’s connections to Toyota through existing sponsorships and his forklift business, but we are led to believe those
factors will have no impact on the decision and that Team 18 is no different to the other teams wanting to switch.
Team 18, we believe, is not even the front runner at the moment.
It has also been mis-stated that the Toyota team will likely come from the GM ranks given WAU has already made the switch as Toyota’s Homologation Team, shrinking the Ford ranks from five teams to four.
A Ford spokesman said he is confident the remaining teams in his armoury will still be
running for the blue oval in 2026.
Dick Johnson Racing will remain its homologation team; Tickford has commercial arrangements in place off the track that tie it to Ford; Grove Racing is believed to harbour desires of becoming a homologation team for a fourth manufacturer, while Blanchard Racing Team is seen as unlikely as it works to climb off the bottom of the Teams’ Championship. Similarly, a GM spokesperson said he remained hopeful that his six current teams would remain with Camaros, and that he
TOYOTA HAS RE-CONFIRMED TO AUTO ACTION ITS TIMELINE FOR CHOOSING ITS SECOND TEAM IN SUPERCARS, BUT WOULD NOT CONFIRM THE EXISTENCE OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS OR THE CRITERIA. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS ... Image: MARK HORSBURGH
“loved all his teams like they were his children” and didn’t want to lose any to Toyota, but was also resigned to the fact that it could happen. Triple Eight remains as the homologation team, and it is felt that Erebus is unlikely to change even if Toyota could look past its controversy riddled season … but the rest of the Chev teams are seen as fair game with Brad Jones Racing’s four cars seen as an attractive option.
Only time will tell if Toyota feels the same way.
WITH ONE round left, one thing is certain –Triple Eight will win a record 11th Supercars Drivers’ title, but who that will be is still up in the air.
Only Will Brown and Broc Feeney are in contention for the Supercars title with 300 points on the line at the VAILO Adelaide 500 finale.
Brown holds the high ground with 180 points up his sleeve over Feeney, meaning the #88 must finish in front in the Saturday opener to keep the title hunt alive.
As a result, Feeney has already labelled his championship dream as a “long shot” and is just simply aiming to add to his Adelaide 500 victory tally.
“It’s a long shot for us to win the championship going into Adelaide, but at the end of the day we’re still in the hunt,” Feeney admitted.
“I think we’ll go to Adelaide and just have some fun and try to win some races, so I think the pressure is a bit more off now.
“I’ll go there and do my best but, at the
same time, I want to learn as much as I can at the last event of the year because next year it’s going to be super important, so it was great to have a solid round here at the Gold Coast.
“Hopefully we have a solid round at
Adelaide and try to get a couple of trophies.”
As a result, Brown is in the box seat to be a Supercars champion in just his fourth Supercars season and very first with Triple Eight.
However, as he saw last year, the risk is
high on the streets of Adelaide.
“It’s definitely a great points haul going into Adelaide,” Brown said.
“Broc and I are obviously the last two drivers in contention for the championship, and I’m really excited for the last two races of the year.
“I have a fairly good lead but you never know what’s going to happen, so my aim is to put my best foot forward there and try to win a few races.”
No matter what happens, Triple Eight has already made history.
Both Triple Eight and Dick Johnson Racing entered 2024 sharing the record for the most driver championship crowns with 10 each.
But with both the WAU and Tickford spearheads, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters, out of contention, Triple Eight is guaranteed to hold the record all on its own. All eyes will be on the teammates to see who will lift the historic trophy in Adelaide.
Thomas Miles
PARITY HAS reared its ugly ahead again in the wake of the Chevrolet drubbing of Ford at Bathurst, while both Ford and Supercars have rejected a call from pitlane to cross-test engines in different chassis.
Cam Waters publicly led the charge on the Gold Coast, talking about the speed advantage on the two long straights at Bathurst that he felt left him powerless to race with the fast cars from Erebus and Triple Eight which claimed all the steps on the podium.
“First of all, I take my hat off to Supercars for spending the money and doing all the things,” Waters said after winning the Saturday race last weekend.
“This year has been a lot better, for sure. And it’s due to their hard work.
“But at the end of the day, you look at the timing report, and that tells you if it’s right or not. And obviously, it’s not.
“We’re really competitive at street tracks and the slower speed circuits, I think it’s probably because there are less straights that we have to go fast down.”
When pressed on the cause of the issue, he added: “I’ve got no idea. I hold it flat, I pull gears, and I lose time down the straights. The longer the straight, the more time I lose.”
Tim Edwards reiterated previous statements around sporting parity versus technical parity, the latter of which is under the purview of Supercars. Edwards told Auto Action that the set-up of the car can have an impact on the straightline speed of cars and that the data revealed by sectors splits and the like will not take the sporting aspects of a set-up into account.
No Ford team we spoke with was willing to go on the record with their concerns, but all claimed they felt at a disadvantage at Bathurst.
“I can’t believe they sold the prototypes –they could have kept them for testing,” was
a thought echoed not just by Ford teams, but also Chev teams who are sick of people claiming they are only winning because of a technical advantage.
Triple Eight and Erebus have skewed the data by winning 32 of the 50 Gen3 races to date, but the next winningest team is Tickford with seven wins and four of the five Ford teams have won races. This year though, with parity much more aligned, has seen Triple Eight jump to another level, winning 41 percent of all the races as its two drivers fight out the title.
With parity sure to become a discussion again with the arrival of Toyota, all in pit lane are looking for better ways to get to the end goal.
All accepted parity is better this year and the process is vastly improved, but they think there can still be improvements.
Here are the proposals we heard over the weekend:
OEMS
QUITE A few in pitlane were astounded that Supercars sold the Ford and Chev
development test mules, believing it would have been better to retain those cars for an open testing process with significant sensors measuring all aspects of the car.
Testing would be open with data being shared and engineers from all the teams at the test days.
If the cars were based at a technical centre – somewhere like Paul Morris’s Norwell Motorplex or Sydney Motorsport Park – all three cars could live in an open workshop with complete transparency. Any testing could then be done with the same set-ups, negating concepts of sporting parity.
Supercars believes its testing regime via wind tunnels, transient dynos, post-race laser measuring, dyno testing of race engines and other steps, negates the need for what it believes would be an expensive process with little real return.
THE FORD and Chev engines are largely interchangeable and, with Bathurst the priority, it would be easy to run a significant test
with engines being swapped in the cars and using drivers from different teams swapping between the cars.
“Do it at Bathurst during the 12-Hour. Run half hour sessions and get real data given that is the one track where you want absolute parity,” one insider said. “If it is a little out elsewhere it doesn’t matter as much.”
Ford, General Motors and Supercars have rejected this, with one saying “it will never happen”.
SUPERCARS TESTS engines after every race, but doesn’t appear to freely share the data, while claiming they are all within the parameters expected. The open sharing of data was one of the bugbears of Ford Performance’s global boss, Mark Rushbrook, last year.
In a technical parity sport, he said, all data should be open and accessible, but Supercars still firewalls the data and selects what it releases after its own analysis.
This is the most viable of the options rolling around the Gold Coast paddock.
PETER XIBERRAS HAD A FEW OPTIONS WHEN LOOKING AT A REPLACEMENT FOR TIM SLADE FOR NEXT SEASON. IN THE END, THE POTENTIAL REWARD FOR UNLOCKING RICHIE STANAWAY WAS WHAT APPEALED TO HIM. HE SPOKE WITH ANDREW CLARKE ...
PREMIAIR NULON Racing’s signing of Richie Stanaway was one of those typical worst kept secrets of the Supercars’ paddock, and the team confirmed the signing in the days after Bathurst, giving the Kiwi Bathurst winner perhaps his final lifeline in the series.
Team owner Peter Xiberras had plenty of options in front of him to replace Slade, from the experience of Mark Winterbottom (complete with sponsors who love him) to rookie Cameron McLeod and plenty of others in and around that level.
But it was Stanaway that appealed the most to Xiberras who believes he can unlock the best from 32-year-old former Aston Martin factory driver in GT Racing:
“I wouldn’t say brave is the right word to use – maybe it is high risk. But I believe there will be high rewards,” he said on the Gold Coast. “I’m confident, 100%.
“Sometimes you can listen to all the noise around you, but ultimately, you’ve got to form your own opinion. I met Richie; I think he’s a very driven, respectful young man. I think he’s got a lot of talent, and it’ll be my job to try and get the best out of him.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell him what to do because I don’t know a onethousandth of what he knows when it comes to circuit racing. I’ll show him my lap times and my data and say, just do the opposite,” he joked of his own circuit racing debut at Bathurst recently.
“I suppose at the end of the day, to me, if you’re not driven, if you’re not wanting to get to the front, it’s almost like, ‘why are you coming here?’ I think if we can just make him feel at home and give him all the
support and all that, I’m confident he will deliver in spades.”
Another new recruit for the team is former Triple Eight commercial director, Peter Jamieson, who he coaxed out of retirement recently. Jamieson was one of the keys
to Triple Eight’s emergence as a force in Australia, with host of commercial deals allowing Roland Dane to build the team that has dominated the past two decades,
“PJ’s been a massive coup for us – he’s fantastic. At the end of the day, I can talk
the talk, but I can’t do it on my own, and this is a people-driven business so you get the right people in the right seats and away we go.
“We’re always looking. So, if anyone out there’s talented, give me a call.”
FOR THE first time in nine rounds, Andre Heimgartner is happy again.
The smile and belief has returned to Heimgartner after he charged through the field in the final race of the Gold Coast 500.
The #8 Brad Jones Racing Camaro flew from 17th to sixth, which was the Kiwi’s equal best result since his special win, in the rain, at Taupo.
Although he missed both Shootouts, the result was not a flash in the pan, having been fast in practice and also having risen four spots to eighth on the Saturday. It was also the first time Heimgartner has scored back-to-back top 10s since that special trip to Taupo.
“It is nice when you are the one doing the passing and not being passed,” Heimgartner said.
“We had a really fast car where we could keep going at a really good pace
when others were pitting.
“I am really, really happy. This year has
been a bit of a thorn in my side. At BJR we have been slowly turning the ship
with good speed in the last few rounds, but luck never went our way.
“But this weekend we were able to execute and get some good results.
“I feel like this is the first time since New Zealand, when I won the race, I am going home happy and not looking for a ledge to jump off.”
It gives driver and team a “needed” boost ahead of the finale.
“This is what we needed as a team,” Heimgartner said.
“It is a track I love and have gone good at historically.
“We will see we what is possible but have fought our way back into the top 10 in the championship after a long year.
“We are coming good at the right part of the year and we just need to keep up the momentum and not do anything heroic.”
Thomas Miles .”
MARK WINTERBOTTOM HAS CALLED IT A DAY ON HIS FULL-TIME DRIVING CAREER AND, AS HE LOOKS TOWARDS BEING THE BEST CO-DRIVER FOR 2025, HE HAS BEEN HUMBLED BY THE REACTION FROM THE FANS OF THE SPORT. ANDREW CLARKE REPORTS ...
MARK WINTERBOTTOM has done it all as one of the most popular drivers in the field.
Now, the 2015 Supercars champion is focussed on which team can give him another Bathurst win. The paddock is speculating about a return to Tickford and a possible co-drive with Cam Waters, but he claims the decision is yet to be made after turning his focus from a full-time drive.
The speed of the decision by Team 18 to sign Anton De Pasquale for 2025 was a shock for ‘Frosty’ and, after taking stock and exploring his options, he has decided to step away from full-time racing.
“It’s sad to leave but at the same time I’m excited about what’s coming and the opportunities and the next phase of my life,” Winterbottom said, before responded to a question about a romantic return to Tickford where he made his name when it was Ford Performance Racing.
“Tickford would be good, but there’s lots of offers which are good; so it’s nice to feel very loved by lots of teams. We’ll work out where we’re going and lock all that away and come up with a good package – I just want to go somewhere that can try and win the big one.
“You choose to drive to win not because of who pays you the most money. You go back on the market and have a really good opportunity to look at who you think’s got the best potential to win the race.
“You get two good events and you’re trying to pick the best car, but at the same time you’re trying to make sure that if your team-mate is not in the Playoffs (the finals) then you win the Enduro Cup to get him in the Playoffs.”
One of the most popular drivers in the field, Winterbottom has been taken aback by the response for the sport’s
fanbase, and many fans have gone out of their way to pay tribute to him.
“We can’t always determine results
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.
in this sport, but you can determine the person you are and people don’t like fake people and I’ve tried to just be
me through my whole career, and the support has been amazing. People are coming up from 2004 when I started and they’re still supporting me 20 years later.
“If you just be a good person, that’s not hard and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s a skill that doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people and that’s a thing you can control. I’m proud of the following and the support and it’s been amazing. That’s why it’s not emotional.
“I’m trying to celebrate this; not to be sookie and sad ... but I think when it starts next year and you’re not on the grid, it’ll kick in. But, at the moment, it’s just trying to celebrate and enjoy it.”
He said along with finding the right drive for the Endurance Cup, the door is opening to other opportunities he hasn’t really pursued, such as a drive in the Bathurst 12-Hour Race.
NEW EPISODES OUT EVERY WEDNESDAY
THE CLIMB FROM ONE CAR TO TWO HAS BEEN TOUGH AT TIMES FOR THE BLANCHARD RACING TEAM, BUT SOME GOOD SIGNS ON THE GOLD COAST HAVE GIVEN TEAM PRINCIPAL TIM BLANCHARD SOME HOPE FOR 2025. HE SPOKE WITH ANDREW CLARKE ...
BLANCHARD RACING Team bounced back on the Gold Coast after a horror Bathurst and team principal Tim Blanchard said that gives some endorsement to the program undertaken by the small team from Box Hill which expanded from one car to two in the off-season.
Blanchard said on the Gold Coast that he never expected the expansion to be easy, but it has been a little tougher than expected, despite a technical arrangement with Walkinshaw Andretti United that has a defined end date with the pending arrival of Toyota.
“We always knew it was going to be a challenge,” he told Auto Action. “It’s a lot more work than one car; it’s more than double what a one-car team is in terms of resources required. We always knew it was going to be pretty hard, but it’s been tougher than we’d hoped while not being unexpected at all.
“We’ve worked closely with Walkinshaw, but you never see a competitive customer team, so you’ve ideally got to do as much in your own hands as you can. Working closely with Walkinshaw has been really good for us, and they’ve been really good to work with.”
He said the arrangement was not that dissimilar to the customer Triple Eight teams with the sharing of data and generally helping each other where possible.
“It is a little bit of that,” he said when asked if was about helping to fast-track some of his young engineers, “and also just giving us a reference. We haven’t got a huge database to work from, and there’s a lot of
other things we need to focus on and grow in the team.
“It just kind-of gives us a bit of a safety net in terms of technical direction, which I think, where we’re at this stage of our development, is really important.”
He said there had been no discussion about 2026 yet, but that he expects the program to continue next year.
James Courtney and Aaron Love are contracted for next year and, while it is expected to be Courtney’s final season as a main game driver, his experience and
knowledge has been critical to the team this season.
“James is an ultimate professional and he’s done a fantastic job this year. Aaron’s found it really tough – it’s tough coming into this series as a rookie driver and it makes it even harder when it’s a young team and the team’s not performing at the level they need to.
“It puts a lot more pressure on the young guy, and it’s definitely made it a lot harder than it needed to be. We’re developing a lot and there’s a lot going on, I think we’re
slowly improving. You always want to improve faster, but there’s definitely signs we’re heading in the right direction.
“We always knew this year was going to be a building year and a bit of a reset going from one car to two.
“I probably would have liked to have been a bit further up the grid, but that’s where we are and that’s the benefit of sport. It tells you exactly where you are at all times. We’ve got a bit of homework to do over the off-season, but we’ve already got one eye on next year and working towards that.”
A TOUGH Gold Coast 500 has got worse for PremiAir Racing in the aftermath due to a stolen steering wheel.
PremiAir is seeking information after “some lowlife” decided to steal the steering wheel from its spare chassis on the weekend.
The Camaro was on display at the Surfers Paradise street circuit in the Matt Chahda and Brad Vaughan wildcard livery, giving fans an up close and personal look at a Gen3 Supercar.
But things took a turn for the worse with PremiAir Racing now chasing information to track the steering wheel down.
“As if the weekend couldn’t get any worse …” PremiAir Racing wrote on social media.
“After wrapping our spare car for the weekend in Boost livery and putting it on display for fans to see up close, some lowlife decided to steal the steering wheel.
“If anyone has any information, it would be greatly appreciated.
“We always aim to bring fans closer to
the action, and it’s disheartening when things like this happen.” Gold Coast was a weekend of what
could have been after Golding was in the fight for a possible podium on Saturday, only for the rear left to take forever to change in the opening pit stop.
Then on Sunday there was more pit stop pain with the #31 being dropped at the stop without a right rear for Golding – on his way to 13th – while Tim Slade’s best result in his last fling on the Surfers Paradise streets was 17th.
“We have had a bit of a rough weekend, I think I ran over a black cat or something as they say – we just really struggled out there and didn’t have anything go our way really,” Golding reported.
“It was a struggle this weekend really. In the last couple of rounds we haven’t really had any pace, whereas in the couple of rounds before that we had flashes of speed. To take away nothing from the last two rounds is pretty frustrating,” Slade summarised.
Thomas Miles
TRIPLE EIGHT Race Engineering will return to the Dunlop Super2 Series after two years away with a Porsche rising star. Spearheading the Supercars heavyweight’s comeback to the feeder series will be youngsters Jackson Walls and Ben Gomersall.
The last time Triple Eight competed in the Super2 Series was 2022, when Declan Fraser led it to a third crown – Jamie Whincup admitted it felt “a bit hollow” not competing in it.
Walls is an intriguing selection, given he sits third in the Carrera Cup Australia standings with McElrea Racing.
But after four years in the Carrera Cup, which led to a trip to the Middle East, Walls will chase the Supercars dream having already got a taste of the #888 Camaro.
“To be completely honest, I don’t really think there’s a better way to start a Supercars campaign than in Super2, especially with the best team in the country at the moment and one of the best, if not the best teams, in the last 15 years or so,” Walls said.
“It’s pretty exciting for me, my family, and my supporters. We want to get things rolling right from the get-go.
“I want to strive for the top and give the championship a good crack.”
Gomersall will arrive at Triple Eight from the Toyota 86 GR Cup series where he sits eighth in the championship.
“I just feel like it’s such a great opportunity to be driving a Triple Eight Super2 car next year,” said Ben. “It’s going to be a really cool environment to learn from everyone with so much experience there.
“It is going to be a big learning curve next year, so if I can try to take in as much information as I can and learn from all the experienced guys there, it’s going to help me out. If we’re consistently improving each round from the first round in Sydney to the last round in Adelaide, getting some top-10 and top-five finishes along the way, I’d be really happy with that.”
This will be the third instance of Triple Eight competing in Super2. It achieved championship success on both previous occasions with Andrew Thompson in 2011,
VAILO ADELAIDE 500 “fanbassador” Greg Murphy is excited for this year’s finale, but also cannot wait to see the same streets host a Supercars Grand Final in 2025.
Next year the the Supercars Championship will be decided by a Finals Series for the first time and it will all come down to a thrilling conclusion on the streets of Adelaide.
Kiwi Supercars legend Murphy has been the latest to voice his approval of the revolutionary new format.
If the finals system had been used during Murphy’s career, he would have been a finals contender in his rookie 1997 season and in 1999 having won the rounds at Oran Park and Mount Panorama respectively.
“We have been in need of change and this is a great change. It works in NASCAR and is a proven formula,” Murphy told Auto Action
“I was confused by it when it was first brought into NASCAR and was not sure if it was the right thing to do, but I think it is.
“Good on Supercars for taking that and creating our own system for the end of next year.
“It will have eyeballs watching and excitement which is what we want.
“It will put a different kind of pressure on the
drivers and some will flourish and some won’t.
There will be a lot of bad luck stories, but that is what it is all about in sport.”
Murphy joined winner Craig Lowndes and third-placed Russell Ingall on the podium of the maiden Sensational Adelaide 500 in 1999. A quarter of a century later Murphy will be the “fanbassador” of the iconic event and cannot wait to return for the first time since it came back in 2022.
“The event is fantastic. I have always admired what they have done there,” he said. “I have not been at the event since COVID which is another reason why I was so keen to do this.
“I was lucky enough to be at the first one so I thought why not be at the 25th anniversary and help the event that has done such a great job over the years.
“It was an easy decision and will be nice to be amongst it all as a fan rather than working like the sprintcars, super cross and concerts.
“The challenge around that event as a driver was enormous and it set the standard for what Supercars events wanted to be and they are still pushing the envelope.”
Thomas Miles
NEXT YEAR will see the Porsche Carrera Cup stay entirely in the country after its brief foray to NZ in 2024, with an eight-round calendar released. The Supercars exclusive one-make support act will also make a return to Queensland Raceway and The Bend next year, the first time since 2008 for both tracks. After starting at SMP, Albert Park, Hidden Valley, and QR make up the first act, followed by The Bend, Bathurst, Gold Coast, and Adelaide, meaning SA will get a Porsche double-dose. With two rounds remaining this year, Harri Jones is well poised to take his second title.
TRIPLE EIGHT Race Engineering has been confirmed as the official engineering partner of Aussie Racing Cars, with the first T8-built chassis already having been made. The participant-heavy category – which has twice topped a grid of 40 in 2024 – is excited to get a dose of the T8 touch. “Triple Eight is by far the leader in engineering excellence and has the capability to support us with world class design and fabrication expertise,” CEO Brad Ward said. Whilst built to the same spec, T8 will incorporate improved accuracy via its utilisation of 3D modelling and robotic welding techniques to enhance performance.
THE BATHURST 12 Hour will head into 2025 with Meguiars coming in as its new naming rights sponsor. The car-care brand that has operated in some aspect of the local industry since 1901, has participated at the B12HR as a sponsor for the better part of the last decade. It becomes the third title sponsor after Liqui Moly (and others) in as many years. “Meguiars is a perfect fit for Australia’s International Endurance race … It’s hard to know who’s more excited about the future of the race –them or us!” Said Event Director, Shane Rudzis.
THOMAS RANDLE returned to the podium and matched his personal best on the Gold Coast, but is ready to chase a maiden win.
On the Saturday of the Gold Coast 500, Randle put another strong drive to second place, only finishing behind team-mate Cameron Waters.
The #55 had to fight to secure the first Tickford 1-2 in seven years, with Matt Payne initially and then Broc Feeney breathing down his neck.
Randle said it was a delight to not only get a seventh career podium, but produce a result that means so much to the team as a whole.
“Pretty surreal and always wanted to get a surfboard so to do it with a 1-2 with Cam is so special,” Randle said.
“We have been working towards this as a team for a long time and this shows how the changes we have made have helped in a big way.
“Felt like I could have done a better job in the Shootout, but had good race pace, especially in that middle stint, and moved up.”
However, having shown strong signs of progress since his rookie season, rising from 23rd to 13th in the championship last year and currently standing eighth with a round to go in 2024, Randle wants more.
After 101 race starts, Randle feels ready to chase that first win.
“It is more the win. I wold love to get that first win,” Randle replied when asked what’s driving him.
“I have had some good
opportunities, but just have not executed well enough
“It is nice to be at this end of the field and it (the podium) is definitely a big boost.
“Last year we were quite strong as a team and also Adelaide so hopefully that bodes well for the rest of the season.”
Randle credited a big reason behind his progression as the increased spotlight in Tickford’s first two-car season since 2009.
“It is something we have discussed throughout the year, but it was a massive business decision for Tickford to make to race with two cars,” he said.
“It came with its pros and cons like less staff but thus year the focus has been really strong.
“The communication has been great and the vibe within the team is quite relaxed.
“Cam and I have know each other for over 20 years so have a great relationship but obviously want to beat each other which drives the team forward and we push each other.
“Having two cars just makes everything more efficient.
“There are no egos and it really shows what the team has been working towards when the stars align.”
Thomas Miles
Matt Campbell will return to the IMSA Sportscar Championship in North America in 2025 after completing his first season in the top flight of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Campbell has a long history with Porsche in IMSA and is known to prefer a more settled life in the States, whilst the WEC rules for next year see teams switch to two-driver line-ups for all but the La Sarthe classic.
Not only will he return to fill the seat in the Porsche Penske #6 963 machine, but he’ll reunite with Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet who he took out the GTD Pro IMSA championship with in 2022.
His debut Hypercar season in the WEC has seen him take three podiums alongside Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki in the #5 machine to be fifth in the title race whilst the sister #6 is leading the championship, led by Kevin Estre.
However, Campbell will still return to the WEC next season to contest the Le Mans 24 Hour in the #6 machine with Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, whilst Estre will go the other way for the Daytona 24 and the Petit Le Mans.
And whilst he didn’t compete full time in the 2024 IMSA championship, it was still in the states that Campbell took his greatest success this year, taking out the GTP Hypercar win at the Daytona 24, and podiums at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans in Atlanta.
With Porsche Penske having already captured the IMSA title, and being on the cusp of the WEC in Bahrain on November 2, its
2024 season has seen it reel in the dominant Toyota WEC outfit with the 963’s vastly improved mechanical reliability.
In finalising the line up for 2025, French Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer has been promoted to the works driver squad in the #5 WEC car, following in the footsteps of Christensen, Jaminet, and Campbell, whilst Dane Cameron, Andre Lotterer and Makowiecki will all move on.
TW Neal
JUST TWO races into his Formula 1 return, Kiwi ace Liam Lawson hasn’t been shy of ruffling some feathers both on-track and in the pits.
Two weeks after Fernando Alonso threatened to “screw him” after being passed by the youngster in Austin, this time it was hometown hero Sergio Perez, in Mexico, who had some words for the driver who is threatening to move in on his Red Bull seat.
After the two clashed at Turn 4, Lawson’s RB then took a chunk out Perez’s floor edge and sidepod. With Lawson then overtaking him, the confident 22 year-old added insult to injury by flipping ‘Cheko’ the bird.
The six-time GP winner was then heard over the radio saying: “What the F**K is this idiot doing? Is he Ok?”
When a journalist asked Perez about his relationship with Lawson following the race,
a normally mild-mannered Perez found reason to snap.
“I don’t have any relationship with him. I
AUSTRALIAN RISING star Senna Agius well and truely lived up to his name by producing the standout performance of his rookie Moto2 campaign on home soil.
Wearing a Casey Stoner tribute helmet, Agius rode a race the two-time MotoGP champion would have been proud of at Phillip Island, rising from 13th to third.
In a daunting year where the 19-year-old from Camden skipped Moto3 and went straight to Moto2, it was a timely success.
The 2023 FIM Moto2 European Champion had only finished in the top five once this year at Catalunya.
However, Agius thrilled the home crowd as he soared through the field and got closer and closer to the podium.
After a daring ride to fourth, a crash for Alonso Lopez was met with cheers all around the island as the crowd pushed the Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider to a dream home podium.
He was the first Australian to stand on the podium in a home Moto2/250cc race in the 21 years since Ant West.
Agius could not quite believe it, especially
after crashing on the cool down lap and said the key was remaining calm after an underwhelming qualifying performance.
“I have no words,” Agius told Auto Action in the press conference with the Aussie flag around his neck and his family watching on.
“It was true on Saturday I was disappointed and felt we had much more potential than the fifth row, but I kept calm and tried to do one thing at a time.
“I have raced here before as a junior, but all of these guys have raced here for years, so racetrack wise I don’t feel like I had as much of an upper hand.
“This weekend has been more of a sense of calmness and brought back the joy of it.
“This year has been quite tough being a rookie in so many different situations.
“It has not been the easiest times recently and we have been scratching our heads a little at recent races running into some issues.
“So to come here and achieve a podium is amazing and I am quite emotional.”
Making an unexpected Moto2 debut was Harrison Voight, who beat his team-mate,
think the way he has come to Formula 1, I don’t think he has the right attitude for it. He needs to be a bit more humble,” said Perez
in his harsh assessment.
“When a two-time world champion (Alonso) was saying things last weekend, he completely ignored him. It’s like when you come to Formula 1, you’re obviously very hungry and so on, but you have to be respectful as well, off track and on track.
“I don’t think he’s showing the right attitude … In his first two Grands Prix he has had many incidents. I think there will be a point where it can cost him too much … if you don’t learn from your mistakes, Formula 1 is a brutal world and he might not continue.”
He also said that he’s racing everyone “out of control” after Lawson had another “unpenalised” battle with Franco Colapinto.
Lawson was cleared by the stewards of any wrongdoing in regards to all three incidents in Austin and Mexico. Perez finished 17th and last in the Mexican GP ...
TW Neal
after getting the ride at short notice, with a solid P18.
A week later in Thailand Agius retired and Voight finished 22nd.
In Moto3 Joel Kelso showed plenty of promise, leading in Phillip Island before being nudged back to 11th. He took a
maiden pole in Thailand and converted that to a strong seventh.
Tech3 Aussie Jacob Roulstone had a productive two races, finishing in the points with 13th and 15th.
All four Aussies will be racing in the junior classes at Malaysia. Thomas Miles
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
THE TCR World Tour will be coming back to Australia in 2025 as the leading support category at the first ever Supercars Bend 500.
After racing at Sydney and Bathurst in 2023, but pulling out this year, the top TCR drivers will race alongside the Australian domestic championship again next year.
“Our previous visit in 2023, with the two joint events with TCR Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst, was incredibly successful and we are all very much looking forward to race together with TCR Australia at the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park at The Bend in September 2025,” said President of WSC, Promoter of the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour Marcello Lotti.
The Bend 500 is scheduled for September 12-14, 2025.
THE COMPLETE 2025 SRO Motorsports Australia calendar is now confirmed with Sandown securing the last berth.
Last month when SRO Motorsports Australia confirmed it was taking over what is currently known as the SpeedSeries, one of the six rounds on the calendar was left as TBA.
Now the historic Sandown Raceway will join them, hosting Round 4 on July 25-27.
Interestingly the TBA round was originally Round 3, in June.
But that spot is now occupied by Queensland Raceway, which has been brought forward from August 1-3 to May 30-June 1.
This could be to avoid a clash with Supercars, which announced it will make a return to the Paperclip after six years, on August 8-10.
SUPERCARS LEGEND Mark Skaife is one of just eight new inductees into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Not only being a legendary Supercars driver, but also commentator, circuit designer, team owner and former RACE board member, Skaife is one of the biggest figures ever in the sport.
As a result he has become just the 10th motor racing member of the hall of fame.
“When I looked at the website and started to contemplate people who are in there, it made me honoured to be part of the same group,” Skaife said.
AFTER 18 months of blood, sweat and tears, Garry Rogers Motorsport was overjoyed as Jordan Cox drove the brand new Peugeot 308 P51 TCR to victory on debut.
Ben Bargwanna and Cox steered the new Australian, designed and built Peugeots at Race Sydney and the latter won the reverse grid affair.
Simply driving the car on its worldwide debut was a special feeling for Cox, but the win was the cherry on top.
“Just driving the car was a great feeling in itself because of all the effort that has gone in from a local team,” Cox told Auto Action
“TCR is a European-based category so it was a very proud moment to see it all come to fruition.
“It was great to win a race, but we are under no illusions there is still a big road ahead.
“We are aware of the workload to extract more performance out of the car, but it is a good start.”
Whilst silverware was almost instant, it was far from an easy debut for the 308 P51.
Following a shakedown at Calder Park, wet weather left GRM on the back foot on practice day, heading into qualifying.
With almost everything in the new Peugeot different to the previous generation, Cox admitted there is still so much to learn for both driver and team.
“I would be lying if I said if I was comfortable,” he said.
“The cars hit the track on Wednesday at Calder and encountered some driveshaft issues that quickly got sorted.
“The wet practice was a real loss for us and the car was not quite in the window in qualifying but we chipped away with minor changes.
“Race 2 we had decent set-up and Race 3 the car actually came alive compared to before but had a mechanical failure early on.
“There is absolutely no comparison to the old car. The one thing that is the same is the engine but GRM has put a lot of effort into the tuning and mapping side of things which we felt straight away.
“The drivability of the car
is definitely better. The rear suspension is totally different. The old car had a beam rear axle which with the right freedoms can work but quite restrictive in TCR.
“We have an independent rear suspension that GRM put a lot of effort into and straight away we felt the difference behind the wheel.
“It made the car easier to drive straight off the bat.”
Looking ahead to the Bathurst International, Cox believes the P51 has the potential to be “a very good car around the Mountain.”
GRM is giving it a “big push” to ensure Ryan Casha and Aaron Cameron join Cox and Bargwanna driving the latest specification Peugeots at the Bathurst event.
Thomas Miles
THE REVIVED One Raceway is alive and kicking after it successfully staged its first car race meeting since reopening.
The 2024 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series last weekend marked the first time in 789 days that a car has raced around the Goulburn circuit since an MRA round in August 2022 when it was known as Wakefield Park.
Since being shut down, Steven Shelley and his team have breathed new life into the Goulburn circuit with the grand opening being a successful staging of the Australian SuperBike Championship at the start of this month.
Anyone who went to Wakefield Park in its previous guise and returned was blown away by the modifications and improvements made to the now multidirectional circuit.
Shelley said the feedback from the 130 teams in attendance was all positive as drivers desperately chased history.
“All feedback I got from the teams, drivers, category managers was that everyone was super-excited and enthusiastic about the new layout,”
Shelley told Auto Action
“The track is going from green and un-rubbered to more mature and rubbering-up which saw lap times
improve significantly.
“Some were doing 56-59s times which was bloody quick considering we extended the circuit by over 150m and introduced three more turns.
“It is testament to the grip of the track and how it flows.
“There was a bit of hype around the place and it was wonderful to see the track come back to life.”
The facility looked impressive on TV with the new sound walls giving fans a birds-eye-view of the circuit.
Categories such as the screaming Hypercars did push the sound boundaries, but Shelley was thrilled to see the teams co-operate to ensure racing took place.
“We did have a couple of high-end noise categories and those teams amended their vehicles and mufflers for us which was wonderful to see,” he said.
“They understood the commitments we made to our neighbours about the noise.
“The Hyper racers put a second muffler on after testing on Friday and they appreciated what we were saying.
“We have played our part now and the motorsport fraternity can now play their part by assisting us in trying to do what they can to minimise the noise they produce at our circuit.”
Read AA’s special feature on the story behind One Raceway on pages 26-29. Thomas Miles
AFTER EXTENDING his Touring Car Masters points lead at Sandown, Adam Garwood (leading, above) will head to The Bend West Circuit on November 22-24 with a chance of taking his maiden title in the fan favourite category.
He’s guided his #2 Holden VB Commodore to two wins this season, holding an 82 point lead over Jamie Tilley in the #29 Mustang.
“It was great to extend the points lead at Sandown – the main thing was to stay out of trouble and we did that pretty well,” Garwood told Auto Action
He fell short of another win after a drag off with Danny Buzadzic in the finale, but he was pleased with how the Gerard McLeod-run Commodore has held up speed-wise throughout the year across all tracks.
“Gerard has been working his butt off this year; it’s as much his success as it is mine. We’re doing it better than everyone else, and I’m not perfect in all cases and we hit and miss, but I believe we’ve worked the hardest and it’s showing.”
In terms of Garwood’s attitude to the more rigid Commodore, he says it’s been a steady process.
“We missed the mark at Bathurst with the development in chasing our tail, but from Perth onwards we were smart with the revs and the weight penalties, and just pushed when we had to.
“It took me a bit to get my head around this car with the stiffness – it has its pros and cons – as it’s quite different to the bigger wheelbase cars I’ve driven in the past.”
Ahead of the finale, he also shared his thoughts about how they’ll approach it considering the RPM penalties they’ll carry.
“We’ll absolutely be going to The Bend to race. Obviously our rev limit will hurt us a bit, and we have some points up our sleeve in case anything happens, but otherwise we’ll treat it as a normal race meeting.”
TCM will race at The Bend for just the second time, and the first at the smaller West Circuit, concluding a successful and rejuvenated six-event year for the category. TW Neal
THERE’S PLENTY of category news ahead of the season finale of the Precision National Sports Sedans Championship at the Bathurst International on November 8-10.
The final offering of a five round season – a season that can be defined as both transitional and another vital leap forward – sees the championship title still on the line with around 20 entrants expected, with full-season rookie Peter Ingram holding the cards with a 103 point lead over former champion Steve Tamasi.
In the lead-up to the finale, the majority of news has revolved around the John Gourlay Audi camp, where it was recently announced that 2022 champion and Bathurst speed-demon Jordan Caruso will sadly say goodbye to the series for now.
Caruso will be heading to Germany to compete full-time in the International SIM racing world, meaning that he won’t pilot the brand new Gourlay Audi, a machine that will debut at Mount Panorama with much anticipation.
That pleasure will instead go to former V8 Supercars driver and Sports Sedans race winner Darren Hossack,
who has been testing the machine at both Calder and Winton.
Despite an engine misfire in a more open run at Winton recently – which was perhaps a carry over from the gearing issues reported at Calder –things are on track for ‘The Mountain’ even if track time has been more limited than the camp had hoped for.
In a season that has been void of Caruso and the defending champion category legend Tony Ricciardello, the Ingram Brothers from NSW in their new Mazda RX7 and RX8s have filled a vital hole in the absent machinery stakes.
Peter Ingram will enter Bathurst with the hope of becoming the first driver to win in his maiden season, as well as winning with an all-new RX7 machine (another first), whilst his brother Matthew sits fifth in the standings.
Tamasi, who won his maiden Mount Panorama race at the Bathurst 1000 in 2023, will be looking to guide his Holden Calibra to a second title, but will need to capture a fair deal of the 135 on offer, whilst Steve Lacey sits third (140 points back) in a close call with Geoff Taunton in fourth.
Category Manager Michael Robinson says that although this year has had its
challenges, it’s been another giant step forward with 2025 to be highlighted by a calendar that’s likely to be split between Supercars and SRO run SpeedSeries, some returning names, and the added presence of some new machinery.
“It’s been a quality season and we’ve carried it on from last year with the Supercars visits to SMP, as well as our first visit to Tasmania,” Robinson said.
“Although it’s been a difficult year in some respects with Caruso and the Gourlay Audi missing, as well as Ricciardello – who’s expected back next year – I’ve got to give a hats-off to the Ingram brothers, who have delivered a very professional outfit to the ’25 series with great quality machinery and a great team.
“But there will be a larger influx of new cars next season. There’s been a steady number this year, but we’ve also had teams, drivers, and machines in transition.
“Currently, there’s expressions of interest from both Supercars and the SRO for our 2025 calendar, so it’s looking like an even split, and that’s set to be announced soon.”
TW Neal
THE SUNGOLD Stadium Premier Speedway will officially open it’s 2024/25 season in superb nick on November 2, with the new, lighter clay, set to hark back to a more old-school Warrnambool track.
A good run of weather has allowed the venue to work around the clock to solidify the clay’s preparation, as well as finish off the modifications to the track.
Although nominations haven’t yet closed, a healthy field of over 30 Sprintcars and 40+ Wingless Sprints will be competing on a night that will usher in a new era for the track.
The likes of Jamie Veal and Jock Goodyer
will be amongst the Sprintcar names, with Veal set to defend the coveted Total Tools Warrnambool Track Championship, whilst Goodyer is returning from his maiden stint in America and will look to continue his fine national form as he looks to defend his national title.
With a 15-night calendar on the cards for this season, General Manager Michael Perry is optimistic about what lies ahead.
“We’re very much looking forward to seeing some cars roll around the track,” Perry told Auto Action.
“We’ve had some good weather to enable us to get things in tip-top shape
with regards to the clay. It’s a full track surface change so to have that done in time was a relief. We’ve changed the shape a bit too, which will slow the cars down a bit and make it a bit more technical.
“We’ve only had a few practice sessions run on it so far, and the track is prepared differently for that, so this weekend is the real test to see what it’s like with a full field on it.
“The comments were positive from the drivers across the two sessions regarding the work and the changes. It’s early days but we feel quite optimistic. It’s hard to draw parallels between practice and the
real stuff, so this opening weekend will more so mirror the fruits of the hard work.”
The hope for the new clay and layout is that it will both enable and open up some more racing lanes and, by January when the season really heats up, the track will be physically settled for its stellar run of the Speedweek, the new International Sprintcar Carnival, and the Grand Annual Classic.
Visit the venue’s website at premier speedway.com.au to get all the ticketing information for the upcoming weekend, with gates opening at 4pm. TW Neal
Being the last on the brakes isn’t just a test of skill, it’s also a test of how much confidence a driver has in their brakes.
With unique Fade Resistant Technology™, Halo P1 has a far lower and far more stable level of compressibility over a wide temperature range than the competition – giving drivers the confidence that their brake fluid will perform as well on the last lap as the first.
Made in UK
BIG SPEEDWAY races were on offer on all over the country over the weekend in Sydney, Queensland and Perth respectively.
Dayne Kingshott claimed the second round of the 2024-25 Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday night.
The defending champion started from pole and dominated the 30-lap final ahead of Ryan Newton and Callum Williamson.
Kingshott lined up on the front row with Williamson and the Krikke Motorsport driver got the jump.
He maintained composure throughout the race, running high against the fence to control the fast race.
Kingshott was second in his qualifying group and went from third to second in his heat race before winning the A Dash from the front row.
“The Krikke Motorsport team made some great calls with our crew chief Matty (Cochrane) throughout the night and we had a really good race car from beginning to end of the night, and it’s a fantastic feeling to get a win on the board so early in the season,” expressed Kingshott.
“With the feature race running non-stop, lapped traffic was a bit hectic and I had a few hairy moments on the fence, but I kept it all together until the end and picked up the win.”
Krikke Motorsport team manager Ryan Krikke was equally as happy as Kingshott to open the team’s 2024-25 season winning account.
“I’m happy with how the night panned out, as that was as good as a race as I have seen Dayne put together,” he praised.
“The track was super technical, and traffic was thick, but he made the right decisions at the right time, and I’m very happy for the entire Krikke Motorsport team to pick up our first win in only our second outing of the season.”
Newton started the feature fifth and soared up to third by Lap 4, which was the start of some intense racing with Williamson and Manders across the next 13 laps.
On Lap 17 he took second and held position as Williamson fell to fourth also behind Manders.
This left Williamson and Manders in a battle Royale for the final spot on the podium.
Williamson won the battle in the closing laps as Manders settled for fourth and Kris Coyle completed the top five.
Andrew Priolo who moved up sixth spots to take seventh, but the hard charger went to Ryan Lancaster who started from p15 and finished just behind Priolo in eighth.
The third round of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series will be held at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday, November 9.
RAFF GETS JUNIOR PRIZE
Also victorious was Raff Frisina and his RF Motorsport team in the Junior Formula 500s.
After multiple podiums last season, Frisina was one of the form drivers during the heat race action by virtue of finishing second in his opening heat race and then was able to go one better in his second and final heat race by scoring the win.
MARGO ON THE CROWN
John Margo achieved his latest success by taking out the 2024 North Queensland LS Sprintcar Series at Mareeba Speedway.
It is the first time Margo has won the crown, but ut is his fifth championship overall.
“It’s a huge honour to win the North Queensland Series in only my second full year of LS Sprintcar racing, and this year hasn’t been without its challenges, but I’ve been able to enjoy a consistent second half to the year, and it has rewarded me with the series win,” the 39-year-old said.
With the title wrapped up Margo takes aim at Saturday night’s 2024 season finale at Cairns.
SPRINTING IN SYDNEY
Racing is back at Sydney International
Speedway and the Bohud Racing Team and Michael Stewart emerged on top. Stewart took an impressive 410 Sprintcar victory after a dominant night. He won the feature race after being third in qualifying and then winning the heat and dash. “The Bohud Racing team gave me such a fantastic car all night after just sticking to our own setup plans and knowing what we had to do so we were in contention to get the win, and that’s what we were able to achieve,” commented Bohud Racing team driver Michael Stewart.
“I didn’t make the best of starts in the feature race, as I took off a bit slow in those early laps, but within five or so laps, I found my groove and was able to get to the front and stay there all the way through to the finish.
“I’m super proud of the entire Bohud Racing team and their wonderful efforts to put a great car under me.
“A big thanks must go to team owner Scott Jones for making it all possible, along with all of the team’s sponsors and the race fans who support me, and it’s an awesome feeling to be able to have the run that we did last night and reward everyone with a victory.”
Bohud Racing team owner Scott Jones was rapt that Stewart was able to get the fourth career 410 Sprintcar feature race victory for the team.
“Michael (Stewart) and the team did a great job all night and it was the perfect type of run that everyone chases,” he enthused.
“For this season we have based our schedule around Sydney, so it was awesome to get the first win on the board there and hopefully we can pick up a few more as the season goes on.”
The focus for the Bohud Racing team and Stewart is now on their next outing, which will be back at Sydney International Speedway on November 9, before they head to South Australia for the Sprintcars in the City that is running within the Adelaide 500 Supercars event on November 14 and 15
With the best motorsport action and spectacular entertainment, we'll see you in Adelaide.
14-17 NOV 2024
LIAM LAWSON has issued an apology to Sergio Perez after giving him the middle finger during their battle at the Mexico City Grand Prix, admitting “it was in the moment, but it’s not an excuse”.
The frantic start of the 71-lap Grand Prix brought the intra-team rivals within heated proximity of one another, with Lawson and Perez soon finding themselves battling it out for the final points position.
Their duel came early in the race, meaning from Lap 18 onwards, it was an uphill battle for both drivers to make it to the finish line.
The two rivalling drivers charged into Turn 4, with Perez overshooting his attack and forcing Lawson to run wide.
It was a similar situation as they rounded Turn 5, however, roles were reversed and it was the Red Bull driver who was forced off the circuit.
Spraying aero details across the circuit, it was Perez’s RB20 that came off worse for wear, with the home racer forced to continue the remainder of the race with damage to his floor and a hole in his sidepod.
“I gave him space in Turn 4,” Lawson said.
“He was coming in super far back and super late, so I knew he would try a lunge.
“I gave him space, he drove me off the track, and then into Turn 5, I’m trying to turn as much as I can, but he’s again, turned in and not given me space.
“It wasn’t my intention to, obviously have an incident, but I did try and leave space in Turn 4.
“I would have thought he would leave me space in Turn 5, but obviously not.” Lawson sped off down the road leaving behind the wounded Mexican driver, however, it wasn’t the last time the Kiwi would come face-to-face with Perez, forced to overtake him after his pitstop on Lap 39.
Given the damage and tyre deficit, it was an easy, DRS-assisted move down the main straight for Lawson after he says the Mexican held him up for half-a-lap — one that usually wouldn’t have gained so
much media attention until onboard cameras picked up the Kiwi driver flipping the bird mid-overtake to Perez.
Having settled since yesterday’s fiery outing, Lawson issued an apology to Perez, condemning his heat-of-the-moment emotions for the subtle outburst at his fellow Red Bull family member.
“I was obviously in the moment upset, he blocked me for half-a-lap to obviously try and ruin my race,” Lawson said.
“But honestly, I shouldn’t have done it, and I apologise because it’s not something we should do.
“It was in the moment, but it’s not an excuse.”
CLIMBING FROM the back of the grid to eighth place, Oscar Piastri described his final result as “a massive shame” after he spent the entire Mexico City Grand Prix battling through the midfield.
Condemned to start the 71-lap thriller from the second last row of the grid, Piastri’s point-scoring odds were always low, with his “tough” medium tyre opening stint not lending him any favours.
Launching on the long run down to the first braking zone, the McLaren driver’s pathway through Turn 1 became a difficult one after Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon made contact, ending both drivers’ races.
For Piastri, evasive action to avoid debris and a rouge tyre left the Australian in last place, with Zhou Guanyu getting a clear line on the inside of the first corner.
As the field completed the first sector, a Safety Car had been declared, holding Piastri at the back of the pack through to the restart. When the remaining 18 drivers got going again, passing the two Sauber drivers proved to be a bit of a challenge for the Australia who instead watched the bright green cars pick off Esteban Ocon before following suit.
While his teammate was further down
the road making headlines during a controversial championship battle, Piastri worked on demoting Zhou, a move he completed without complaint on Lap 10.
Valtteri Bottas soon sat less than a second in front of the #81, with Piastri reverting the order within a matter of laps.
“I think looking at last year’s race for Lando (Norris), and even last week for George (Russell), it’s very, very tough no matter which car you’re in to get through a pack,”
Piastri said.
“You kind of need to wait for everything to spread out a bit — once it did spread out, then I was able to come through reasonably quickly.
“It’s just, you’re kind of at the mercy of what the cars ahead of you do.
“Hopefully the tyres we tested in FP2 make that a bit easier next year, but hopefully I don’t have to start that far back again and do a better job of quality.
“So, obviously some things to improve, but I think outside of the controls, behind the scenes I felt like it was a much more positive weekend than Austin.”
Running in P9, the surprisingly quick Haas cars posed an unprecedented challenge for the Australian who spent the remainder of the race attempting to move above both Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, however, he was only successful in the case of the German.
Having closed down the gap to Hulkenberg, Piastri utilised his DRS advantage down the main straight to breeze by into Turn 1, yet with 15 laps on the board and eight seconds between himself and the #20, he could not manage anything better than P8.
“Looking outside the results, honestly, I felt like it was coming together to be a good weekend, so the result is obviously a massive shame,” he said.
“But I think there’s still some positives compared to last weekend, which was a pretty lonely P5.
“I felt like today I had at least a bit more control over my destiny.
“So, let’s see what happens next week.”
Reese Mautone
A GREAT year is set to get even better in what has already been a superlative 2024 for VHRR (Victorian Historic Racing Registry) events, with the upcoming Historic Sandown meeting on November 8-10 adding another boon attraction.
This year’s meeting will add the revival of the historic Tourist Trophy (TT), a reenactment event for select sport cars, many of which date back to the 1950s.
With an eye to continuing the TT at Historic Sandown for all future events, it revives the memory of beloved event that resonates with multi-generational motorsport enthusiasts, with the original trophy from 1955 – won by three-time Australian Grand Prix winner Doug Whiteford – still holding pride of place in the VHRR clubrooms. This year, trophy engraved glasses will be
awarded to all entrants, commemorating the TT’s return.
For a bit of history of the TT, one needs to go back prior to the first Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in 1966.
Attempts to hold motor racing around the famous Melbourne lake date back to 1934 and 1937, with attempts to hold events scuppered by strong local opposition.
It wasn’t until 1953 when the Light Car Club of Australia secured the use of the land for the Australian GP, contested on an anticlockwise 5.029km track – which was also won by Whiteford.
The addition of the first TT event then came in 1955 when the Moomba Festival backed two races to be held at Albert Park – in conjunction with Melbourne’s Argus newspaper – known as the Moomba TT
that also ran alongside the Argus Trophy contested by Formula Libre Racing Cars. Whiteford won in a Triumph TR2 over future winner Brian Sampson, and others such as the ‘The Fox’ – Harry Firth (Whiteford also won the Argus Trophy).
Australia’s first Formula 1 ace Tony Gaze won the TT the next year, whilst Reg Hunt took the Argus Trophy in a Maserati 250F.
The great Stirling Moss then won in ’56 in a Maserati 300S – a week later he also took the Australian GP in a 250F.
The Moomba TT was then renamed the Victorian TT 1957 and 1958, the last ever editions, with Whiteford winning his second in ’57, and third in ’58.
With the circuit closing shortly after for the development of other sporting precincts in the immediate area, so closed the history of
the TT … until now in 2024, at the Victorian home of horsepower.
Entrants for the revival include 19 invited sports cars and such as a 1954 TR2 driven by John Orchard, a pair of Elfin Mallalas from 1963, whilst other 1950s machines include a Zephsca Ausca from ’59, a ’58 Loter Peugeot Lotus 11 Replica, a ‘58 MG Regah Special.
There will be a qualifying on the Saturday, followed by the race on Sunday afternoon.
This year’s event will feature over 300 iconic racing cars from the 60s, 70s & 80s, including Group C&A, Group N, and HQ Racing, and offers an awesome weekend of historic motorsport with complete access for fans across all areas.
Visit VHRR.com.au for more information.
TW Neal
THE BALLARAT branch of the Light Car Club of Australia (LCCA and the BLCC) will celebrate its 75th anniversary, starting with a host of celebrations on November 2-3.
Although the club came into being on its own accord in 1991, the foundations of it were officially founded back in 1949 as a branch of the Light Car Club of Australia.
In the 1980s, as the aforementioned national parent club then fell into financial woes after it twice ran a round of the World Sports Car Championship and operated at a Significant loss, cue the foresight of the Ballarat members and committee at the time, leading it to go off on its own accord to ensure its survival, whilst retaining the majority of its assets to officially form itself by the early 90s.
Its original formation, in 1949, preceded the spinning off of the RACV of the LCCA in 1924, as the Ballarat branch formed into a heavily rally-focused group, running such prestigious events as the Ballarat Begonia Rally, the Tunbridge Trial, the Escort Eureka Rally (a round of the Australian Rally Championship) and the Winter Classic Rally, all of which
attracted drivers from around the country.
Another great point in the clubs history was hosting Australia’s largest motorsport event at the time in 1970 – the BP Sunraysia Desert Rally – that had almost 500 entries,
conducted in the Mallee country at Hattah, north of Ouyen.
It also hosted the nation’s longest, fastest and highest hillclimb race at One Tree Hill in Ararat, with the likes of Norm Beechy and Capt. Peter Janson counted amongst its notable competitors.
To mark the rally-heavy thematics, five Australian Rally Champions will be attending, with Bob Watson (1970) among them as guest speaker, whilst Doug Rutherford (1969), Ross Runnalls (1982), David Dinta and Kate Officer (1984) make up the other four.
The weekend kicks off with a luncheon at The Grand Restaurant on Saturday November 2 with John Emery as MC, with the celebrations to then move to the BLCC’s clubrooms at the Ballarat Airport on Nov 3 with a car display from 2pm.
One of the highlights of that display will certainly be the restored Renault Gordini R8 of ‘works’ driver and early Club member Mal McPherson.
TW Neal
ANOTHER YEAR and another big step forward for the Calder Park Raceway, as the iconic Victorian track prepares for an even bigger 2025.
For the tireless team at Calder Park it’s all about taking the small steps toward the bigger picture, and the new round of changes has seen changes made to the concrete sections at Turn 10, leading into the front straight.
To fix the unevenness of the surface between the asphalt and the concrete, the concrete has been machine scarified to match the texture of the asphalt both leading into the turn and onto the straight.
Recent track days and the Super Sprint
were run on the scarified surface where in wet conditions, there was consistent grip on offer.
2024 was a big year for the reunited track, hosting two rounds of the Victorian Motor Racing Championships, as well as the recent round of the Victorian State Race Series, with even more planned for 2025.
Circuit availability will be increased next year, with the planned introduction of five Calder Club Days, giving smaller Car Clubs access to run a variety of sessions including Sprints and on-track sessions.
The Test and Tune/Track Days are scheduled on, or about every second Friday, organised through Drive Events.
The next immediate changes include the planned painting of the track walls and the opportunity for track signage and branding, as well as the continual improvement of track side facilities for officials and track marshals.
Venue Manager Rowan Harman spoke to Auto Action about the new changes, who also praised the hard work of the team.
“They’re small steps but they’re all in the right direction,” Harman said.
“Things like the copper theft set us back, but everything is running as planned as finances allow, and we’re getting closer to being able to promote our own events.
“In terms of the changes, it’s been positive feedback from all categories, and the recent changes have opened up the available racing lines on the front straight.
“It would be nice to get rid of the bumps, but that would remove all the excuses out of the drivers handbook,” Harman laughed.
He also praised the work of the Newton brothers, Brenton and James, who share the load of Head of Maintenance.
“We’re a multi-skilled crew, and for guys like Brenton in particular, who’s been treading water for 15 years, along with his brother, they can all see the real positives and what we’re building at.”
TW Neal
IT’S TIME FOR THE RACING TO BEGIN AT AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER SPEEDWAY
NOVEMBER 2
An all-open wheel division schedule will open the 2024/25 season. Sprintcars will contest the opening round of the Total Tools Warrnambool Track Championship which doubles as a round of the SRA Series. Wingless Sprints join the opening night program.
NOVEMBER 16
The 360 & LS powered V8 Sprintcars (formerly Pro Sprintcars) contest round 1 of the Welsh’s Garage Doors & Gates Track Championship, also a round of the SRA series.
The prestigious Jack Willsher Cup for Formula 500’s shares the program.
Horse
TWO-TIME Moto Dakar Rally champion Toby Price will be competing at the 47th edition in the top T1+ Cars class.
The off-road legend will compete in a Toyota Hilux T1+ run by Belgian outfit Overdrive racing, the team that delivered Toyota its very first Dakar win in 2019.
After Price’s W2RC KTM contract wasn’t renewed for 2025, his switch to four wheels will see him try and emulate Hubert Auriol, Stephane Peterhansel, and Nani Roma, as the only winners in both cars and bikes.
And Price will have another twotime Dakar moto champion next to him in former British rider Sam Sunderland.
After not renewing his own GASGAS contract and opting for two-wheel retirement, Price’s good mate will occupy the navigator’s seat.
Overdrive Team Manager JeanMarc Fortin had this to say on the uniqueness of the pairing:
“This is one of the most exciting driver pairings we at Overdrive Racing have announced since the team’s inception in 2006,” said Fortin.
“To have four-time Dakar Rally Champions Toby Price and Sam Sunderland in the same car is nothing short of sensational, and is a project that we are incredibly thrilled about. We’re confident in Price’s skill behind the wheel, and Sam’s experience with navigation in the bikes category makes this pairing very formidable.”
Price’s talent behind a wheel is also undeniable, having featured in the SCORE International Baja winners circle several times this season in a Mason Trophy Truck, and he is a nine-time Finke Desert Racer winner - three of which were in a car (2021-2023).
“I am super excited to announce that we’ll be on the start line for the 2025 Dakar Rally,” Price commented.
“Teaming up with Overdrive Racing in a T1+ Car is a dream come true, and an opportunity that I am really grateful for and looking to make the most of …
“It’s been a huge amount of work since March putting this all together, and it feels surreal to be finally happening … four-time Dakar winners in one car is a cool story, and we’re looking to give it a good crack.”
Sunderland himself recalled an old Dakar chat, highlighting the surreal nature of the pairing.
“I remember the days at Dakar when we would sit in the camper after a long, rough day on the bike, chatting about how nice it would be to sit in a car with a seat belt and a bit of air conditioning.
“This always seemed a bit farfetched, so it’s surreal to be able to say we’ll be on the line.”
The 2025 Dakar Rally takes place from January 3-17.
TW Neal
YOUNG AUSSIE pair Lochie Hughes and Tommy Smith will be on the INDY NXT grid in 2025, with both young drivers taking vastly different paths in entering the final rung of the Road to Indy ladder.
Hughes, (pictured) who is joining US powerhouse Andretti Global, joins via his sensational USF Pro 2000 championship win which came with a $681,500 USD scholarship prize.
The former F4US champion from the Gold Coast almost swept his way through the Indy rungs, coming close to winning the USF2000 title in 2023 before taking the one that counted with Turn 3 Motorsport.
Smith joins from FIA Formula 3, where he spent two full seasons with Van Amersfoort Racing, and joins NXT with HMD Motorsports.
A late bloomer in junior formulae, Smith achieved a best F3 result of fourth at Silverstone, but couldn’t get things to consistently click in a garage that struggled for results.
For Hughes, his rise has seemed so natural in regards to his achievements in the US and he should slot nicely
into the #26 Andretti Dallara.
“It’s a dream to be a part of this historic team, and one that I’ve wanted to race for since moving to the US,” he said.
“This year was great for me, winning the USF Pro 2000 Championship and for Andretti winning the INDY NXT championship, so, I hope that I can help be a part of adding another championship title to Andretti’s record.”
And whilst Smith’s switch to the North Atlantic is more of a surprise, he’s more likely to flourish in a machine that slides into the corners a
bit more (he was never afraid to take it wide in F3), and is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the ovals.
“I am excited to compete in America and I’m up for the challenge,” Smith said.
“The series is competitive, and racing on ovals will be a new experience for me, but I’m excited to get behind the wheel for post-season testing and prepare for the 2025 season together.”
The 14 round INDY NXT season kicks off March 2 in St Petersburg, Florida. TW Neal
SO … THE class bully finally upset the headmaster and got sent to the corner. And, from the sound of it, the school rules are up for a bit of revision fairly soon.
In drama terms, Formula 1 is delivering this year in a way we haven’t seen since the Verstappen/Hamilton clashes of 2021 – with every sign that next year could be just as actionpacked. In some ways, it’s a shame the current formula is then to be ditched for 2026 in favour of something all-new, which is likely, based on past experience, to see one team do a better first-up tech job and dominate for a while.
In the meantime, the Verstappen/Norris clashes in America and, even more so, on Sunday in Mexico, are going to fill motorsport media space and are now going to lead to a significant rethink on F1’s much-discussed ‘Racing Guidelines’. Or even the rules.
Use of the word ‘guidelines’ is interesting in itself. ‘Rules is rules’ is something we all grew up with in motorsport, yet the ability for officials to assess any situation if there are unique circumstances is covered by the use of the word ‘guidelines’ …
The mood around F1 is clearly
one of needing to ‘sort’ Max Verstappen and his brinkmanship style of head-to-head combat.
To be fair, mostly, he’s only guilty of playing exactly to the aforementioned guidelines –you know, the ‘who’s ahead at the apex’ stuff – even if it looks pretty ugly and of late comes at the expense of his good friend Lando who, frankly, appears to be psychologically dominated by his ‘mate’.
If he’s to present any challenge to the champion’s points lead, Lando needs to hang out with a different crowd for a bit …
The other outcome of that frantic double-whammy lap in Mexico that earned Max the penalties is the affect it had on the ‘victim’ – Norris. Run off the road twice, he was stuck behind the Red Bull – letting the Ferraris get away – until Verstappen chose to make his tyre-change stop and take the penalty.
Indeed, you could speculate that it cost Norris the race – the McLaren was fast but, in the end, he had a serious gap (and no Safety Car) to close down the Ferraris, one of which he did.
And while you might point out that Lando doesn’t have a great record in out-and-out combat situations where he has to try and pass his ‘mate’, in this case, why should he have to when Max has run him off the road twice?
Remember ‘racing room’?
Max Verstappen will never voluntarily ‘redress’ a situation by letting anyone past. Something to do with his DNA.
Maybe, the discussions that are coming could include the concept that time penalties should also include a Stewards-originated demand that the offender let the victim back past, immediately. Lando, bless him, is all about fairness and goodwill. But this is Formula 1, not a State round at
Sandown. He needs to toughen up a bit.
Hopefully, the discussions that are coming do take place soon. Motorsport’s modus operandi has traditionally mostly been one of sticking to rules that were in vogue at the start of the year and making changes at the end of the year for the next year’s rule book. But, with F1 as close as it currently is – four teams in general contention and the interpretation of driving ‘guidelines’ a bit variable – the need for updates through the year is obvious.
The same could and can be said for Supercars. In its case, provision is there for adjustments, if required, for parity, and it was especially positive to see the discussions between drivers and officials at the Gold Coast result in the removal of the electronic ‘kerb-strike’ set-up from two spots. It improved the racing and the event – there’s nothing worse than good races being ruined by having to concentrate on a mounting ‘kerb-strike’ total … But, lest you think that all is totally wine and roses in the competitor/officialdom stakes, the USGP Stewards rejection of McLaren’s wish for a review of
Norris’ penalty – on essentially a point of order, rather than even progressing to the facts being challenged – is disappointing. Sometimes it’s hard to beat City Hall! (Interestingly, the Stewarding line-up at F1 races differs from race to race, and thus there is potential for different interpretations.
In his post-race comments from Mexico, Martin Brundle made the valid comment that the time must be near when, with 24 races a year, full-time professional Stewards take control in F1).
However, the signs and indications from both Mexico and the Gold Coast are encouraging. F1 – and Supercars – is being contested in tenths and hundredths of seconds. It may not be the Safety Car, crash-ridden stuff of Gold Coast support races, but it’s motorsport at a high quality level. It deserves the same from the officials’ box and the signs are that, mostly, it’s getting there. And, oh yeah, amid all that Norris/Verstappen excitement and distraction, Ferrari is putting it together rather regularly.
McLaren’s path to the Constructors’ Championship isn’t going to be easy, is it.
Good viewing to come …
PUBLISHER Bruce Williams
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BATHURST 2024 was the most boring Bathurst I’ve watched in 51 years.
When all cars must start with the ‘primary’ driver, all have the same tyres, same engines, same aerodynamics, same amount of tyres, same amount of fuel, same gear ratios, same engine mapping, etc., of course we are going to get the followthe-leader, no overtaking that we saw.
I LOVE everything you guys at AA are doing. It’s just awesome.
I have followed this great sport for many years and AA has the greatest appeal and best coverage I have ever seen.
Now, I had more than 20 people at my house for the Bathurst race. They have come every year, but 2024 will be the last year they will be here.
Why? The consensus from everyone who was here, supporters of both sides, is that the event has slowly lost its grip on appeal.
It has become boring and the Camaro, which is not sold here, is winning basically every Supercars race. Not only that, but the Mustangs are not even competitive.
Bathurst used to be a race we all gathered around the box to watch.
What’s happened?
It seems the organisers think there is nothing wrong and that it’s still a competitive race. It’s not.
And the heritage has gone out the window. How are they not seeing what we are?
When average Australians are turning off the box and the fans from both sides are saying “it’s boring” you have a problem! And it’s a deep problem.
FYI, here’s the feedback from the fans who were at my home.
The Ford fans don’t understand what’s going on. Why are there 16 Camaros and only 10 Mustangs?
There are clear performance issues, notable down the straight. The Camaro is in a different class. The ’stangs can’t keep up. Why does the Camaro have the advantage over the Mustang in the aero department? Why is there support for a car not sold in this country and GM won’t sell right-hand-drive cars here? We are not ready for Toyota – by a long shot. What will the grid be in 2026 – 16 Camaros, six ’stangs and four Toyotas running Chev engines?
The GM fans say it’s become a boring race and the ’stangs look tired. We might as well turn off the TV as we’re falling asleep. Where do we buy a Camaro after we win? The Camaro
is not officially sold locally after Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) ceased its left-to-right-hand-drive conversions in 2020. Two years after the race program began, why are there so many Camaros? They are in a different class, we have too much power and too many teams.
In nutshell, from a bunch of nobodies who used to just love the race, there are many concerns looming.
If the organisers can’t get this race competitive and fair there will be no fans and then there will be no race.
It’s fair to ask, if I can’t buy a car here, and the manufacturer is not interested in selling me a right-hand-drive Camaro, why the hell am I supporting them? If you want a race to be a race, make sure it’s not the roadrunner winning all the time.
Level the playing field, have same number of teams for each make and bring parity to the performance.
Please save our Great Race!
Les Kilby Empire Bay. NSW
FORMULA 1 is out of reach for the general public now, unfortunately.
I have been to every Grand Prix in Australia since the first race in 1985 in Adelaide at 18 years of age.
Now at 57 I find I have been squeezed out of the system.
From general admission to grandstand seating over the years, I can’t even purchase a ticket now.
Last year I was lucky – or unlucky enough – to get general admission tickets, however I found it was extremely disappointing as there was no pit access for the V8s and very limited viewing.
Unfortunately this event is not for the racing enthusiast any more. It is all about corporate enterprise.
I have been very fortunate to have gone to all the Adelaide V8s and other and around Australia and I must say that Supercars is still an audience-friendly event with people able to get close to the action.
It’s such a shame that F1 is a past memory now.
Steven Gibbins North Haven. South Australia
It’s only a 60kmh public road. The safety and health of (race) drivers must move with modern times. Recently I drove our Lexus sports luxury V6 on the M1 from Caboolture to Brisbane and ‘wow’, the Main Roads have grooved the old surface and laid down a new ‘rubberised’ mix of bitumen road surfaces. It’s grippy in the wet, silent on tyres and very good to drive on.
One has heard of overseas experiments with ground-up old car tyres recycled in road surface mix.
Let the teams choose who starts (just put both drivers’ names on the totem pole and on the screen), give the teams more sets of tyres to be used whenever they like, give them another 50 litres of fuel, install another, tighter chicane in Conrod Straight, let them “bump” each other, give them a push-to-pass button, include more cars (let the top 10 Super2 cars join in), stipulate smaller brakes, reduce the width of the tyres, etc. I sure hope things improve in 2025.
Greg Downes Warwick. Western Australia
KOSTECKI
LOVED READING the latest issue of AA as it opens the eyes to all the changes to V8 Supercars in 2025 and 2026 – the number of events, the new finals series and then the introduction of Toyota in ’26.
The big one for me as a true Blue Oval supporter, like Paul from Loxton, is Brodie Kostecki to DJR.
To me this move will be the dealsealer on parity – a very successful Chev driver grabbing the reins of a Mustang.
Brodie and his new team may require some track time next season to break in the pony. They might require the first few rounds in the new saddle to get their head around things.
But, if not on the podium at the end of the year, I reckon Brodie will at least be in the top five in the Drivers’ Championship.
If as a team they achieve this and win Bathurst then the parity issue is completely gone for me.
With Walkinshaw Andretti United moving to Toyota in 2026, another Ford team needs to step up and go the distance. Finally back in SA. C u at the Adelaide 500.
Nomadic Phil Back home in Adelaide!
THE V8 Supercars are more modern, Gen3 and faster, with better suspension and tyres, but when was the Mt Panorama road surface last upgraded to be safer at race speeds, braking and grip on bends?
As a retired speedway sedan builder/racer, I feel that a modern track/road surface on Mt Panorama would drop race lap times, increase safety and produce an improved and safer public road.
Eric Schloss, age 81, Bribie Island, Queensland Editor’s Note: Thanks Eric, the Mount Panorama circuit was last resurfaced 10 years ago – however, the Bathurst Council recently allocated $7.6m towards resurfacing, but it needs government grant support to reach the full cost ...
Our man Malcolm thinks the decision-makers have lost their way – but he has an idea to get them back on track.
HERE’S A FIX FOR THE SUPERCARS CALENDAR
SUPERCARS AUSTRALIA should rethink its 2025 calendar.
It has dropped the traditional Sandown 500 for a round of the new ‘Finals’ at The Bend Motorsport Park in November.
The Sandown 500 should remain in its usual September time slot, especially after all the effort that has gone into saving the venue.
For The Bend, why not have a new 1000km Supercars race earlier in the year, say April or May, on the 7.7km GT-configuration circuit?
A 1000km Supercars event there could be run in a very similar way to the Bathurst 1000 with similar support events.
Having a 1000km race there in April/May would be a great test for the Supercars drivers and teams as part of their preparations for the ultimate endurance race, the Bathurst 1000. Such a race at The Bend could attract more than 200,000 fans over four days.
As part of the three “Finals” next season, why not allocate Phillip Island a November round and make the Supercars Championship a 14-round series?
Phillip Island would be a great circuit for a finals round and the temporary grandstands for the Australian MotoGP in October could be left for Supercars fans to use in November. Perhaps the Phillip Island circuit owners, the Linfox Group, could agree to lower their track-hire fee to make it all workable.
Supercars fans want more rounds and this could be an opportunity to do just that.
Malcolm Webster Boronia, Victoria
IF YOU could turn back time, would you?
Of course you would. Everyone has their favourite time in motorsport, tracking back to the 1970s when Bathurst was for (supposedly) showroom cars and a group of titans –Norm Beechey, Bob Jane, Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan and Allan Moffat – wrestled for supremacy in the touring car championship. For a lot of peopl, me included, there was also a golden era in the days before Supercars.
There were flame-spitting turbo cars in Group A, with a horde of low-cost tiddlers filling the grids, and a huge selection of V8-powered Aussie muscle cars – including privateers –who could often afford to play with the big dogs.
It’s those cars, and plenty of them, which wowed fans at this year’s Bathurst 1000. Me included.
If you squinted just a little bit you could be transported back in time.
The cars looked right, they sounded right, and there were
even some hero drivers – Greg Murphy and John Bowe – at the wheel.
Not just that, but Godzilla got beaten. And we’re not talking any old Nissan GT-R, but the very same ‘pack of arseholes’ racer that enraged homegrown fans at Mount Panorama.
It didn’t matter what you remembered, or what you once loved, there was something in the field to spark those memories and those feelings.
Back in the pack there was Trevor Sheumack, best known for his Michelin competition tyre work, at the wheel of a gorgeous BMW M3 with a glorious history tracking back to one-time MotoGP racer
Johnny Cecotto in the 1990s.
He even had a full retro racing suit, saying “You have to look the part”.
Speaking of parts, of sorts, Porsche guru Paul Watson was also driving. He was the training chief for the German brand for decades, and still has a heritage connection to Porsche, but was driving the ex-Peter Williamson Toyota Supra.
Peter Xiberras? He was racing an ex-Graeme Crosby Commodore and took some time to adjust to the way the car was moving around on the straights.
But he had engineering legend Ludo Lacroix as his driver coach and the funny Frenchman had even installed a data logger – “Much more high-tech than Supercars” – to help with the job.
Xiberras is already organising a return to Mount Panorama, for the Challenge Bathurst
weekend, driving another of his collectible cars. It’s the 2010 Commodore, in Castrol Edge colours, built by Triple Eight Race Engineering and driven by Greg Murphy.
Speaking of Murphy, he had a giant smile every time he was wheeling the ProDuct Commodore, and even brightened the television coverage with some in-car commentary.
Back in the pits, there were plenty of old timers with experience on the cars. They swapped stories and wheeled the spanners for the weekend.
Alan Heaphy was among them, keeping an eye – as usual – on a group of Nissan racers from back in the day. The most obvious was the GT-R (with tape over some of its Winfield lettering to satisfy the latest rules on cigarette advertising on television) which looked and ran wonderfully. How much power was it producing?
“About 700, today,” Heaphy smiled.
The stories and the cars and people went on and on and on.
So the Heritage Revival was just that, with a full field of 50-plus cars which got a great reception. When they rolled to the pre-grid on Saturday the crowd was five-deep as they grumped and grumbled down to the track.
Plenty of cars were out of order, as rookie drivers got familiar with their old-timer cars on Australia’s toughest track. So there could be a thundering V8 Ford or Holden being muscled by a 2-litre car from the Super Touring era. That’s part of what made it good, and entertaining, and fun.
The super-fast hotrods of the Touring Car Masters have a similar appeal. But they have become what the drivers want, which means they are custombuilt and hugely costly and more like a Sports Sedan than a genuine racer from the back in the day.
The Heritage cars are raw and real and will always draw a crowd, which is why they should – will? – be back at Bathurst in 2025.
FERRARI WAS the only team that didn’t declare any new parts for their cars at the start of the US Grand Prix weekend, while McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes all had quite a few visible modifications introduced on their machinery.
But, because the FIA regs only force the teams to declare new parts that are visible for the fans and the TV cameras, this means that a team can bring new ‘internal’ parts and not declare them, without contravening the regulations.
That obviously applies to mechanical parts that are covered by bodywork, like the cooling system or a steering column, for example, but also to parts that are visually identical to the previously used ones but made with different materials.
That’s how, very quietly, Ferrari introduced a new family of front wings for the SF-24 in Austin, identical in design to the ones seen since the Italian Grand Prix but made with a different combination of composites to make them a little bit more flexible, in line with what McLaren and Mercedes have
been using for quite a while.
Asked about the changes made to the red cars, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur admitted that “when you speak about ‘upgrades’ you’re only speaking about what we are declaring. We have to declare only what relates to the external shape of the car – but everybody is pushing with all sort of developments that you can’t see.”
Asked if running a settled aerodynamic platform that the team knew well had been an advantage in Sprint weekend – where the teams had only one hour of practice to nail the set-up – while its rivals were trying to understand the entire impact of their new upgrades, Vasseur started off by saying that “I don’t know, because I don’t know what the upgrades of the others were – the impact on the drivability and the performance,” before stating again that “it’s not because we are not declaring something that we are not bringing something –because we only have to declare the
upgrades on the external shape.”
Nevertheless, Vasseur conceded that “it’s true also that, if you have a look at the last two years, it’s quite often that when you bring something where we are speaking about hundredths or tenths of seconds improvement, you can also struggle a bit more on the set-up and it’s not obvious that you will have a step forward in terms of overall performance.”
For the Frenchman, the battle at the front of the field is so tight that every little bit, no matter how small the gain it brings, has to be explored:
Vasseur also told us we shouldn’t expect any visible changes on the SF-24’s aerodynamic package any time soon, explaining that “Mexico is a one-off with the altitude – a big challenge in terms of cooling for the brakes and cooling for the engine. But I think Brazil will be more in line with the team regarding the upgrades – we have good options and we will do our best to bring something, but it will probably not be for Vegas, but for Qatar.”
LANDO NORRIS’ five second penalty at the end of the US Grand Prix cost the British driver a place on the podium and gifted championship rival Max Verstappen three precious points he had lost on track.
The fact that the Dutchman went off the track and drove Norris off the circuit in the process, with the McLaren driver attempting to overtake his rival, made most observers side with Norris’ view of the incident – and at McLaren it was very clear the team believed their driver had been robbed of a deserved third place.
Team Principal Andrea Stella was clearly furious with the penalty and quickly pushed aside Red Bull’s defence that their driver was ahead at the apex of the corner and, therefore, entitled to keep the position. For the Italian, ‘being ahead at the apex’ in relation to the interpretation of the overtaking manoeuvre, is not the relevant bit.
“The defending car just went straight on at the apex. We checked the video multiple times – he’s just going straight, going off track as much as Lando is, just giving no chance for Lando to complete the manoeuvre.”
The engineer then asked “how many times Max has used this way for defending … both cars go off track?” giving the view that “both
cars are gaining an advantage if there’s any advantage gained. That’s why, for us, this manoeuvre was at least neutral.”
Stella than expressed his surprise at the decision, stating that “when I saw that there was an investigation, I was pretty sure that was because Max pushed Lando off the track. In fact, we immediately told Oscar ‘make sure you close to within five seconds on Max because there could be a position at stake’.”
For the Italian, “the actual interpretation
of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is the polar opposite.”
Like Norris, Stella said that he was, “surprised that the stewards didn’t even feel the need to discuss it with the drivers after the race. It is an uncertain situation. Get the opinion of the drivers; take the time to assess the situation with the level of detail that is required when the situation is not so clear.”
Clearly riled, Stella asked “where is the urgency to interfere with the result of a race just because you have to make the decision in 60 seconds? It’s a question mark that I think the stewards should take constructively, positively. Is it really necessary to make a decision so quickly and, in our opinion, so wrongly?”
With some making a parallel between what Verstappen did at Austin’s Turn 12 to what he did to Lewis Hamilton at Interlagos in the infamous 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix, Stella admitted that, back then, “that was extreme, because the speed at which Max missed the apex in Brazil, if Lewis had turned in, then it’s a big crash at the time. This one was at much slower speed, so it could be a more benign situation,” before reaffirming his belief that, “it’s just the fact that you defend by going off track that cannot be permissible.”
“Oh no ... they’re on about that again ...”
MAX VERSTAPPEN was in a very defensive mood when he met the press on Thursday in Mexico, feeling that most people thought he should have been penalised for driving Norris off the track, at Austin on the previous Sunday.
Asked if his defensive driving was natural or a consequence of the FIA guidelines, the Dutchman joked that “I think we are getting to a stage where I almost need the (rule) book in the car. That’s how it is. I think if you look of course over the years, the book has grown quite a lot.”
He then expressed his view that “it is definitely over-regulated, but then I can see the other point of it – if you take rules away, and then there’s again an incident, it’s ‘ah, we need more rules, and we need to be strong on this’ … and so, it’s always the same thing because in the past we had maybe some lesser rules, and then you have the same argument: ‘no, we need to be strong on this or that’. So, it’s always the same story.”
Confronted with views that he didn’t even try to make the corner and just overshot Turn 12 to make sure he had the right to the position, Verstappen reacted with a short answer, saying that “it’s quite impressive that people can read my mind.
“It’s crazy. I mean ... I always tried to make the corner. I didn’t want to look for a shortcut, so, I don’t even know what to answer to these people.”
And when he was told Norris had said he felt the way the Dutchman was battling him was way harder than how he races with other drivers who are not in the title fight, the Red Bull driver disagreed, saying that, “at the end of the day he should just speak for himself … don’t bother too much about other people and just enjoy your life. Don’t think about racing too much …”
IS IT really possible to put down in writing all the scenarios that may come up in a battle between two racing drivers? Can you regulate with one set of ‘driving guidelines’ for the realities of 24 different tracks and around 400 different corners?
Of course you can’t, because every battle has subtle differences, every incident is sort of unique and, therefore, even a perfectly written compendium would never contain all the possible scenarios that will end up being played out on track.
As was clearly demonstrated by the Verstappen/Norris incident on lap 52 of the US Grand Prix, and again in Mexico, there’s a flaw in the current guidelines that the Dutchman has been exploiting for quite a while.
It’s written in the now famous Driving Guidelines that the driver who’s ahead at the apex of a corner has the right to the corner. However, it’s not written that the driver in question has to actually hit the apex of the corner and stay inside the white lines to keep the right to said corner.
Why is it not? Because, according to a couple of drivers who helped the GPDA and the FIA write those guidelines, that seemed too obvious to be put in writing. Which is, of course, one of the dangers of wanting to regulate everything without actually writing a book the size of a Bible! …
There’s an interesting parallel between two penalties that were applied during the Austin race: George Russell overtook Valtteri Bottas into Turn 12 on lap 13 of the US Grand Prix, hit the apex spot on but didn’t leave room for the Finn to stay on track on the exit of the corner, kept the position he had gained and got a 5s penalty for it.
Then, 39 laps later, Verstappen didn’t quite hit the apex of Turn
12, went off the track as well and because Norris, who’d been forced off the track by the Red Bull driver, actually overtook him still in the run-off area, it was the British driver who got the penalty. Which basically means that a driver, on the inside for a corner, can massively out-brake himself and miss a corner without getting a penalty, provided the driver he forced off passes him while they’re both off track. Does it make sense to you? To me, it certainly doesn’t.
Of course, if the positions were reversed, Verstappen would have sat behind Norris on the corner exit, gone on the radio to make it clear he’d been pushed off and the outcome would have been a penalty for the McLaren driver ... In Mexico, however, a different
line-up of Stewards were clear in their interpretation, and Max found himself stationary in the pits for an additional 20 seconds ... Norris, unfortunately for him, seems to be in awe of his title rival and doesn’t have the killer instinct the likes of Verstappen, Schumacher and Senna always had, for they all pushed the boundaries of the regulations until they were forced to take a step back. He doesn’t even have the ability to push all the way to the boundaries without going one millimetre over them, as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton do so well, and that’s why, unless there’s a massive speed differential, between the two cars, he’s been unable to make a clean move on his rival.
The drivers insist it’s up to the circuits to create natural deterrents to make sure no one is tempted to go off track to keep a position, but circuits have to make a living with track days, motorbike races, amateur racing and so on. Gravel traps do get in the way of attracting paying clients – while hosting a Grand Prix costs them a
truckload of money.
Can the glued gravel first seen at Zandvoort and then adopted at the Red Bull Ring be a universal solution? Probably not, but it could be an interesting one for Austin’s Turn 12.
But there’s a simpler way the regulator can solve things quickly, without the circuits needing to spend a lot of money: if a driver goes off the track with no interference from another driver, he gets an automatic penalty, no appeal allowed. And if you’re forced off the track, then you get away with it.
This would mean the Stewards would only have to intervene in the cases where two cars touched, which was not the case between Norris and Verstappen – or of any of the other incidents where drivers got penalties in Austin. You can bet that, with such a strict rule, track manners would immediately improve all around. Give a racing driver a hand and he’ll take your whole arm ... that’s how it goes, so the only way to go about it is to give them no leeway at all.
THE TOP drivers not directly involved in the controversy that resulted from the Verstappen/Norris incident in Austin have called for a rethinking of the driving guidelines, believing there’s a grey area the Dutch driver has been exploiting for many years now.
Lewis Hamilton, who’s had his fair share of incidents with Verstappen, most recently in the Hungarian Grand Prix, acknowledged, “it’s always been a grey area – that’s why he’s got away with it for so long.”
That’s why the Mercedes driver thinks “they probably need to make some adjustments for sure. Also, we do have inconsistencies through rulings, weekend in, weekend out, obviously depending on which Stewards we have.”
He then returned to a subject he’s talked about before, saying that “as a sport, we do need to level-up on all areas and, if you look at other global sports, they have full-time referees … and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.”
And his view on the incident were very clear, the seven-times World Champion reminding us that “I experienced it many times with Max. You shouldn’t be able to just launch the car on the inside to be ahead at the apex and then you go off and still hold your position. They need to definitely work on this.”
Team mate George Russell also agreed that things need to change, saying that “having looked back, I thought my penalty was harsh, but probably correct. Looking at Lando’s, I
Was Verstappen’s late braking dive ever going to have any other result than going straight on and taking Norris off the track? Drivers want a regulation re-think while McLaren decided to appeal the Steward’s decision ... unsuccessfully. And then there was Mexico ... (See main news pages). Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
think that was probably correct as well. But Max probably also should have got a penalty for running off the track.”
The British driver also returned to one of his favorite subjects, insisting that it’s the tracks that have to change the layout of the run-off areas to avoid such issues. The Mercedes driver said that “the root cause of the problem is having a circuit that allow you to run wide. If we take Austria last year as an example, you had 300 track limit problems. They put gravel in, and there’s no problems.
“If you put gravel in on that corner, Max doesn’t go off and Lando doesn’t brake that late and go off as well. I think we need to tackle the root cause.”
Having avoided any penalties in Austin, even though he did quite a bit of overtaking
in both races, Carlos Sainz admitted the current guidelines “mean that the guy defending and on the inside can brake as late as he wants, fake that he’s trying to hit the apex when he’s maybe not.” For the Ferrari driver “that’s exactly one of the main points that we have to discuss.”
Sainz than admitted that “I thought after Brazil 2021, when Max ran Lewis off the road and missed the corner and stayed ahead, that was almost quite clear that you have to stay within the track limits when you are defending.”
Then, concurring with Russell, the Spanish driver admitted he believed both drivers should have been penalised for that incident:
“At the same time, looking at that scenario, Lando coming in front of Max at the end of
the corner and winning the corner I think is also not fair, because he overtook outside the track.
“So that’s why it needs to be clarified a bit because I think, in that case, they were both to blame – Max for running wide and Lando for gaining a position off the track.”
For Sainz, “that’s why that specific scenario is a very complicated one to rule on. There were other scenarios that, for me, were a bit more black and white that I even didn’t understand.
“I think there was a penalty for George, and for Piastri, on Saturday, that for me were even more difficult to understand, while the one with Lando and Max was actually that they were both to blame in a way because they were both doing things wrong.”
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s technical partnership with the Haas Formula 1 Team has barely moved the Japanese manufacturer a step closer to competing in Grand Prix racing again, 15 years after shutting down its own team, but it certainly marks a big step forward from the timid co-operation with McLaren, announced just one year ago, during the last year’s Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
Back in October of 2023 Toyota and McLaren announced that Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa would join the Formula 1 team as one of its reserve drivers for this year, the deal coming as the British team stopped using Toyota’s wind tunnel facility in Cologne as its new, purposely-built facility in Woking had been completed.
During that announcement in the Suzuka paddock, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella explained that the deal would lead to “an exchange information on performance” between the two companies, adding that “we are also interested in a bit of exchange of how we deal with performance, how we deal with driver development. So, we want to sortof expand a bit our horizons.”
However, the reality is that, apart from Hirakawa having a handful of testing days with a 2022-spec McLaren, there had been very little going on between McLaren and Toyota for the simple reason that the British team is one of the biggest in Formula 1, has tremendous technical and manufacturing
capability and, therefore, doesn’t really need to reach out to the Japanese car manufacturer to accelerate its production of new parts or to use some of its technology, having a new wind tunnel, a state of the art simulator and tremendous CFD capacity in-house.
Having realized that, Toyota’s racing arm, very keen to get more access to current Formula 1 information, took the decision to look for a smaller partner that would certainly need access to its technology, facilities and personnel to move up the order. And that’s when it became clear that Haas was the ideal team for the Japanese manufacturer to link with.
No other Formula 1 team has to rely so much on external suppliers to design, test and develop its cars as Haas, the team having been created with a unique philosophy that was based on a huge collaboration with Ferrari and Dallara, that allowed Gene Haas to minimise his own structure and run the Grand Prix season with a fraction of the budget used by its direct rivals.
Now, the partnership with TGR changes the modus operandi of the smallest Formula 1 team and finally puts it on par with the likes of Alpine, Williams, VCARB and Sauber, having access to the latest technology available in Grand Prix racing. That’s something McLaren didn’t need from Toyota, so the move to linking up with Haas makes perfect sense for the Japanese manufacturer.
TOTO WOLFF has thrown his hat into the ring and joined Zak Brown and Andrea Stella in questioning how long Red Bull had been running a device that would allow the team to change the ride height of the front of the floor, something that, if proven, would clearly contravene the regulations.
The Mercedes Team Principal went as far as suggesting Red Bull had to hastily design a tool that could make that ride height change after other teams brought the device to the FIA’s attention, suggesting the Milton Keynes-based team had to quickly find a way to convince the FIA that the floor edge’s height could only be moved by the mechanics with the use of a complicated tool … and not by the driver from inside the cockpit.
Asked about the whole affair, Wolff didn’t hold back and while initially cautioning that “my view is from the distance,” he didn’t hesitate to add that “from what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, it’s outrageous.”
Talking about the never-before-seen tool that Red Bull had in Austin to show to the FIA how the height of the floor bib could be changed, Wolff mocked the rival team saying that “I really liked when they put this real broom in the car to demonstrate how that’s getting changed.”
The Austrian added that “I wonder how long it took them to make this and to stick it in there … and I didn’t know that in Formula One we were using such devices.”
On a more serious note, Wolff insisted that “it’s not good enough to say ‘that’s it.’
The problems are not going to do it again. Of course I cannot speak for the FIA at all, I cannot speak for Nikolas Tombazis, but it is not the end of it.”
Wolff had already asked “for how long has Red Bull be using this system that has two pre-defined ride heights for the floor bib? Is it something from this year only or have they been using it for many, many years and they only got found out now?
“I know the FIA cannot go back in time to find that out, but it would be interesting to know for how long that device has been in their cars …”
For Wolff, the device as Red Bull presented it to the FIA doesn’t make sense, because there are far easier ways of changing the height of the floor bib in the pits, when the mechanics are allowed to work on the car, than with a tool that was nicknamed by rival team mechanics as ‘the Bugs Bunny tool.’
That’s why, for the Austrian, it is important that Red Bull explains, why such a device exists,” insisting that “there are certain parts which you would question if you’d see them. This one, we haven’t seen it for a long time and we should have.”
And while Nikolas Tombazis has made it clear that, as far as the FIA goes, the matter is closed, Wolff believes that “the leadership of the FIA is going to look at that and say, what are we doing with this?”
The Mercedes man also made a distinction between “parts with a certain level of aero-elasticity, where you would
probably want to go as far as you can; and other parts that cannot be seen from the outside but that clearly, black and white if you want, are outside what the regulations allow.
“And this is one of those cases,
which is why I think the whole thing is outrageaous – that it exists and has been used for who-knows how long, but also Red Bull’s attempt to explain it, which would be hilarious if this wasn’t a serious matter.”
FORMULA 1’S penetration in the US market seems to have stalled in the last three seasons, with the TV viewing numbers stagnating at around 1.1 million spectators per Grand Prix, a very small number for a country that has more than 335 million people living in it.
It’s true that Formula 1 is yet to publish the number of viewers, per country that use F1TV’s streaming sources to give us a more complete picture of the situation – but the fact that broadcast rights-holder ESPN is celebrating Formula 1 narrowly beating IndyCar’s TV rating numbers last year is a bit puzzling as the global impact of IndyCar is minimal compared to Formula 1.
NASCAR still leads the US TV market with a viewership that is more than three times bigger than Grand Prix racing, so Formula 1 hasn’t really been able to break into the US market in a significant way.
ESPN is paying US$90million per year for the broadcasting rights and its Director of Programming and Acquisitions, John Suchenski, insists the deal is a good one for his company:
“When we first started out, Formula One’s key priority was exposure and growth in the US. Clearly, we have accomplished that. Now, it’s how do we
continue to take it to new levels? That’s where we’re trying out new things and working together and collaborating on new ideas and new approaches … I think it’s accurate to say that it has been a success.”
When ESPN first got the broadcasting rights, the average viewers per Grand Prix was just below 540,000 in the USA and that number has now doubled to around 1.1 million. But this number was already reached two years ago, during the 2002
season, remained unchanged last year, and hasn’t grown at all this year, in spite of the fact that, for the first time in more than one decade, there are four teams consistently winning races, raising the level of excitement of the sport.
In fact, the best TV viewing figures are still from 2022, when an average of 1.21 million US viewers watched the Grand Prix, with a decrease of nearly 10 per cent last year while, for now, the average number of viewers for the 2024 Grands Prix has been 1.16 million.
Only this year’s Miami Grand Prix reached numbers that could match what NASCAR gets around 40 times per year, with 3.1 million viewers watching the early May race. But the stock car series easily beats the three million mark every race, clearly beating Formula 1 in its domestic market.
Therefore, the recently-published numbers are far from encouraging for Formula 1, as the audience growth seems to have stalled. But, on the positive side, the number of US-based companies that continue to invest in the sport is still growing, meaning that for the teams, if not for the sport in general, there’s still some untapped potential in the American market.
WHAT WAS ONCE WAKEFIELD PARK, AN IMPORTANT MOTORSPORT VENUE, ALLBEIT WITH PROBLEMS, IS NOW ONE RACEWAY – RE-CONFIGURED, RE-DESIGNED AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE ONCE ‘ANTI’ NEIGHBOURS. IT RE OPENED THIS MONTH. AUTO ACTION’S BRUCE WILLIAMS SPOKE TO STEVE SHELLEY, WHOSE VISION HAS CREATED A WELL THOUGHT-OUT REGIONAL RACE TRACK … AND RECKONS IT'S TIME FOR THE INDUSTRY TO GET BEHIND THE VENUE AND SUPPORT THE PEOPLE BEHIND A MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN MOTORSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE ...
AA: Steve, you’re obviously a passionate man. You’ve got a lot of enthusiasm for motorsport. How did you get to the stage where you own two racetracks?
STEVE: I started out enjoying motorsport when I was at Sydney Motorsport Park doing some work on the skid pan and building some driving skills. Next thing I knew was that I was in the driver’s seat of a Radical and I’m cutting laps around SMP, and instantly became addicted to the buzz. I placed an order on the spot, and before I knew it, I was involved in motorsport and it just stuck.
My son Jake would come along and be super enthusiastic, supporting me and all my racing, helping in the pit crew and everything. And before I knew it, he was involved.
We found Wakefield Park when we were down there and playing in the Radical. We bought an MX5, and it became two MX5’s and Jake and I started racing, with and against each other.
Then we moved up into the Mitsubishi Evos, again at Wakefield Park. We were racing with and against each other in different categories. And eventually we started having some really good success at Wakefield Park. In fact, we were the first father and son team to win back-
to-back Series A in what’s called the Wakefield 300 enduro events.
We continued to race at both Wakefield Park and Winton. And I’ve been quoted to say that some of the best days of my life were at Wakefield Park.
I just absolutely love the place and the camaraderie and the friendships that I’ve found meeting like-minded people in the community and environment that is motorsport, which to be honest I didn’t find in too many other areas of my life.
From working with the officials, the volunteers, the other competitors, the spectators and everybody else in between, there’s just a vibe that you can only seem to find at competition level.
And that was when I heard that it was shutting down. Like me, many other thousands of people, our hearts broke thinking that this beautiful place is probably going to wind up as being a farm again.
I didn’t actually pursue it. The local state member, Wendy Tuckerman, was having a conversation with the local director of the Chamber of Commerce, Darryl Weeks, and they said “it is a tragedy that our town is losing this gold. The city of Goulburn has lost this
amazing facility. I wonder if there’s any way we can get it together and work out a way we can breathe some life back into it.”
AA: So that’s where the story starts about the rejuvenation of Wakefield –you getting involved. But let’s go back a step. You’d obviously discovered motorsport, so how do you go from that to being the owner of a fantastic little facility not far up the road from Wakefield Park – the little track you’ve got at Marulan?
STEVE: A friend of mine invited me to go and have a drive at an event that he had organised at what was called the Marulan Driver Training Centre, the MDTC. I’d heard about this place, and it was quite fascinating. I wanted to go and hang out with my mates and have some fun in some Legend Cars for the day.
Garry Willmington was the owner and, on the day that our group was there, there were some other people causing a bit of a ruckus.
Garry was obviously not having a good day, cars were being damaged, and people were doing dangerous things.
Garry was pretty upset.
I just pulled a business card out of my pocket and walked over to him and said ‘if ever you find yourself in a situation that you want to
let go of this place, please let me be the first person you call.’ He looked me in the eye and said ‘yes, okay, I will.’
It wouldn’t have been a year later that I took a phone call one night and it was Garry, and he said ‘I know you expressed some interest in the circuit. Are you still keen?’ I said yes, I am so he said ‘well, come over and talk to me.’
So I drove down there and walked around and thought, well, if I can’t have Wakefield Park, this is the next best thing.
buy it, cut the grass, give the joint a bit of a sweep and a clean, empty the rubbish bins, have a chat with the locals, and then see what you could do about getting the back track up and running again. But you have absolutely, completely and utterly transformed the place. Similarly, it’s quite obvious that a lot of the work you’ve been done is to work closely with the local residents. What have you done and why and how have you done it? I know that you did work really hard to try and re-engage with the people who wanted the joint gone.
STEVE: That’s absolutely correct. One of the first things we did when Wendy Tuckerman and Daryl Weeks invited me to consider it, was that, first things first, I needed to explore the relationships with the neighbours and see if there is a way forward. And when I met with the neighbours, what I discovered was that they’re actually genuine people with a genuine concern.
I took a phone call one night and it was Garry Willmington, and he said ‘I know you expressed some interest in the circuit ...' “ ”
These things called motor racing facilities are one of the most super rare things in the country.
AA: You’ve bought this little boutique racetrack and in the back of your mind, you were thinking about extending it, and in fact you’ve done some of the earthworks.
STEVE: Yes, we had lots of architectural plans and we’d had several conversations with the council about extending the circuit. The way that I look at Pheasant Wood circuit is, it’s a really fun circuit, but it’s on the cusp of becoming an exciting circuit.
And to have an exciting circuit, you really need to be able to get into top gear and, you know, have wide-open throttle for at least a couple of moments in any track, and you can’t quite get that there at Pheasant Wood.
So, we’ve had a lot of opportunity to expand the circuit, but then Wakefield Park became 'available, and I was asked if I would come to the table and look at taking it over.
My entire life has been consumed since that moment.
AA: How long has it been since … has it been two and a half years since you took it on?
STEVE: Well, it closed in September 2022 and we settled the purchase in July ‘23.
AA: So, you’ve owned it for a little over a year, and in that year, you’ve transformed the place. And I dare say that, in that year, you’ve probably spent an awful lot of the 365 odd days down there?
STEVE: Yes. my brother Greg joined me when I bought it.
He used to work for AeroCare and I knew of his skillsets in operations and just being a good general manager, so I asked him if he’d like to come on the journey with me. Since then, Greg and I have had well in excess of 60 trips between Goulburn and our homes. It might not sound that much, but it’s a lot of time to be sitting in the saddle getting to and from, to try and get down every week to keep on top of things.
AA: So you took ownership and people in the industry naturally assumed that you would
The Benalla Auto Club people were very open with me – they told me that the relationship with the neighbors had become more difficult over time and that the relationship had broken down and that it was time for a new custodian of the facility.
So I took that on board, went and met with the neighbours on several occasions to see if there was a way forward. And the common thread from the local people was “we didn’t want Wakefield to shut, we just want it to be listened to and respected, and we weren’t.”
So, if only one side is giving in any relationship, the relationship will break. And that’s what had happened.
AA: So the residents have obviously been happy to engage with you, and you’ve come away understanding what their issues are. And then you’ve gone along to, I assume, some engineering people, some sound people, some architects, and said “what do we need to do? Or what can we do?” And that’s when you started moving big lumps of dirt around.
STEVE: Yes, we looked at the original1993 consent. It promised significant noise walls, up to 10 metres, would be built. This was a promise and a commitment made by Samuel and Carter, who built the track back in 93/94, and they were never built.
So we said, well, first things first – let’s have a conversation with the neighbours and tell them about what our plan is. We went to them with a five-point plan. And one of the most dominant points of that plan was that we will insist that people don’t bring super-noisy race cars to the racetrack.
That’s just common sense.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people who think that a race car’s not fast unless they make it sound like a race car.
And this is not just a problem for us. This is a problem for all motorsport precincts in Australia, and we don’t want to be the only bad guy. We want our motorsport allies to stand beside us, including Sydney Motorsport Park, and insist that vehicles are kept to the same standard of noise compliance.
Sadly, one of the things that we have determined is that there is a culture of some people who just don’t care, and there was a culture at Wakefield Park that so long as you don’t ‘ping’ the noise meter, you can keep driving. That’s not conducive to good relationships at all and, moving forward, that’s not the culture which we’ll be operating.
We are working with exhaust manufacturers to come up with quiet exhausts – but every vehicle works with their muffler differently. So it’s not as easy as saying, here’s a muffler that works for all vehicles. There’s different categories, which produce different levels of noise.
AA : So, you’ve consulted with the residents, you’ve had experts come in and fundamentally, you’ve got a racetrack there that’s functioned pretty well for 30 years. You could have built some big high fences and put some big sand barriers up, but you’ve gone above and beyond – you’ve pretty much recreated the whole circuit and turned it into a facility that’s bi-directional and had massive changes to it.
STEVE: Well, I’m the sort of guy that once I sort of ‘dust it off’ and work out what needs to be done, I try and get it all done at the same time, so we don’t have to go back and revisit it. One of the things that we recognised when we started to peel back the top layer is there was no infrastructure.
AA: Can you tell me what you mean by that?
STEVE: When the original circuit was built, they scrapped off a little bit of topsoil, found something that resembled relatively robust substrate in some places, put down a bit of road base and then put a circuit over the top of that. When we discovered just how bad that was, we realised that we had to do a lot of work to ensure that the circuit was going to be an enduring circuit that was going to be there for decades to come.
Here’s the way I look at most
things in life. I use the 80/20 rule and 80% of motor support enthusiasts would probably prefer to have a significantly less intimidating circuit to go racing on, like One Raceway. Others can perhaps feel more at home at a GPtype circuit similar to Phillip Island or Sydney Motorsport Park.
When you go and look at Sydney Motorsport Park, you’ve got high speed straights, big, fast sweeping bends, you’ve got Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis, Porsches and Mercedes all out there with you. You’re trying to find your way.
It’s intimidating.
That’s the 20% of society who goes out there
configuration – what you’ve done with the bottom part of the track, which is really what I’ve seen, has changed the layout fundamentally for a much more appealing layout. But it also runs the opposite way now as well.
STEVE: We’ve done a huge amount of work, not just the racing surface. We have widened the pit lane; we’ve put in 450m of debris fencing along pit wall. We’ve extended the pit wall by about 250m. We’ve put a double gate in the centre of that pit wall so that it’s easier to access the pit lane and the pit straight for safety and convenience.
One of the big improvements we have made is to install a complete MyLaps solution … “ ”
on a fast track. The other 80% are looking for somewhere to go that they feel safe, in keeping with the culture of the people that they’re with.
We’ve made One Raceway a more comfortable environment while still maintaining a challenging race circuit.
We have removed all of the infield marshalling posts, so there’s nothing to hit anymore. We’ve expanded the runoff dramatically and we’ve invested in the asphalt runoff all the way to the tyre walls so that there’s no kitty litter to get bogged in – so it’s very safe for motorcycle racing now as well.
And because they’ve got so much runoff now people can go a little bit wide, correct their mistake and come back and rejoin safely.
AA: The last corner on the old track was a pretty nasty bit of track. I often looked at that myself and thought that really shouldn’t be there. So you’ve changed the whole
One of the big improvements we have made is to install a complete MyLaps solution. We’ve gone full digital – we’ve installed dozens of kilometres of fibre network around the circuit so that it’s very easy for outside broadcasting to come into the venue and operate at minimal cost rather than dragging around kilometres and kilometres of fibre cable with them.
AA: So, you are setting a precedent now for any tracks that get built or modified – any investment in tracks should really have this type infrastructure as any ongoing plan to help facilitate exposure for the sport.
My son Jake’s gone off on his own now and started a tech business called Jiffi.com.au and he’s been instrumental in helping us build all the tech solutions at the racetrack.
That’s what he does. He solves tech headaches and it’s been great to have him as part of the rebuild.
AA: So you’ve spent an enormous amount of money. Is it rude me to ask how much you might have spent?
STEVE: Look, I can comfortably say, well, in excess of $20 million.
AA: So, the whole facility is being dramatically changed. What happens on the other side of the fence? If I come through the front gate, what difference am I going to see from when I was there last?
STEVE: You’ll see, where the rubbish, the old torn up asphalt car park used to be in front of the pit garages to the south, is now close to 12,000 square metre concrete, flat, car park. We have spent a huge amount of time improving the garage facilities. The garages have all been opened up to full-width double garage, wide garage doors instead of a lot of the garages sharing a single garage door, and we’ve put lots more power points in all the garages.
AA: Apart from closed circuit TV, for officials in a central control area to observe what’s going out on the track, it’s also to be able to activate warning lights. Is that right?
STEVE: That’s correct. We haven’t completed it yet but we’re installing 94 track and surveillance cameras in the facility.
AA: This is a massive redevelopment of the actual circuit, which is the bit the cars drive around on, but you've also built this huge drainage program and all these big earth embankments.
STEVE: Well it is, but everything I’ve just described, including the vast amount of pits and pipes and drainage networks, storm water pipe systems and solutions and detention basins comes at the cost of millions of dollars. And there’s a point where there’s an inflection point where the investment is, there’s an over investment and there’s, it’s not a sustainable business model.
AA: So, you’ve created this incredible facility, how do you justify spending that much money? Is it going to be hideously expensive for club people to come and test there or race there? How do you get your money back?
STEVE: Well, there’s a couple of things that we’ve made commitments about to the neighbours.
One of them was obviously we’re going to shut the cars up. Another one was, we’re going to have a lot of quiet events – so we want to do other things.
STEVE LEFT school at 16, and went and worked for the family business, started by his grandfather, making soft drinks– Shelley’s Soft Drinks. When it was sold to Coca-Cola (1968), his grandfather started a new venture – Bert’s Soft Drinks, which continues today.
Steve decided to become a mechanic, as well as learning fitter and machinist skills. (The family still prepares its own race cars as a result).
In his late 20s’s he started a small business called AeroCare, cleaning and towing and cosmetic maintenance, washing and loading of small airplanes. Over time, AeroCare grew and grew, involving wider logistical and handling services, becoming Australia’s largest privatelyowned ground handling company – with 1400 staff at 17 airports.
As the internet became a useful tool, a software ‘tool’ was created to increase efficiency, which proved so successful that an offshoot business, Deputy, was established –deputy being the boss' right-hand man, helping to grow any business, through more efficient processes. The business grew and currently employs 400 staff in four countries, supporting 50,000+ businesses around the world.
And then, Steve got into motorsport … The development of One Raceway has been a family affair, Steve’s younger brother Cameron is assets and maintenance manager at both venues, while youngest brother Greg has been involved from the start – assisting managerially on site almost full time. “The commitment from all the people involved to get us to the stage that we have reopened the circuit is nothing short of amazing and I can’t thank my brothers and our families and all the staff and contractors enough for all the support they have given to this project," an emotional Steve Shelley told us.
We see the facility as not just a motorsport facility. We see it as a community gathering asset.
We want to have things like lots of cars and coffee events, caravan and camping, fourwheel drive shows, human athletic events and running endurance events, including bicycle racing, running, endurance event racing, car launches.
We are very passionate about investing in junior driver training and introduction to motorsport training as well. So that’s where we have a symbiotic relationship with Pheasant Wood, where we can have a smaller safer circuit that allows people to do introductory to both registered motor vehicle driving and motor sport, in both vehicles and motorcycles. Once they become competent and confident at Pheasant Wood, we can then take them to the next level and take them 25 minutes down the road to One Raceway and get them involved in motor sport.
AA : What sort of working relationship have you had with Motorsport Australia and, of course, AASA during this process? Have they been helpful? Do you look to them for support with driver training initiatives and using the facility for motorsport licensing and that sort of thing?
STEVE: In the first instance, everybody has been super supportive. Motorsport Australia have been great, as has the AASA and Benalla Auto Club. I would like everyone in the industry to recognize that we’re not competitors, but we’re allies in what’s called motorsport.
Up until now in Australia’s most populous state, we only had one motorsport facility for a couple of years. I’d be confident to say that in our lifetime, we won’t see too many other, if any other, full-time motor racing circuits born in New South Wales.
The barrier to entry is everything from all of the environmental issues and noise issues and everything else. It’s just so cost-prohibitive these days. I think for a very long time, the only circuits that we’ll see as full-time Motorsport circuits will be One Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park.
AA: So, the timing was good for you. There was a New South Wales state election, and the closing of Wakefield Park became a controversial issue, and both political parties were throwing their support behind the place being reopened. Was that helpful? Was the timing right?
STEVE: Yes. Both Wendy Tuckerman and Michael Pilborough were the local members. And the issue that they had was that this was a very, very marginal seat. They were trying to look for some support, and we said, well, we are impartial. We just want to get the circuit open.
They both made lots of promises about what they’re going to do what Liberal and Labor are going to do in terms of support. And the phone book numbers started coming up, but Labor basically committed $1 million as an election promise to contribute to the new owners for a contribution towards noise mitigation and other things.
It took us about 14 months and we got the million-dollar commitment, but that probably paid for one twenty-fifth of what we’ve invested. So it’s been a mostly lonely journey because the benefactor of our circuit is really the New South Wales and wider community of Goulburn. Because when we have an event, we might get a bunch of cars come and they all go and spend collectively millions in accommodation, food, beverages, spare parts, fuel … you know, all the Airbnb’s Right now we have about 16 staff. But if you look at what we do as a collective, you’ll find now that the wider community will put more people on to cater to the floating population of people who come to these events.
So collectively, I would proudly say we will be responsible for possibly hundreds of new employment jobs.
Last weekend we had the ASBK event and the conservative estimate as financial benefit to the region was $4.8 million.
AA: What does it mean to you and what is the emotion given that you have now that the track actually up and running again?
STEVE: It’s a culmination of an immense amount of emotions from everything from fear to extreme excitement and everything in between. But when the ASBK event took place last week, I went up and asked the riders what they thought of the circuit. And every one of them had a glowing smile and was just saying “I just absolutely love it.”
Then I had Luke Youlden come down to do a bit of a reconnaissance for the Porsche Driver Experience around safety etc. He did two laps of the circuit, came back and said “I’m happy to say that in my opinion this circuit is the safest circuit of any racetrack in the country.”
AA: What are you hoping to be able to do as a venue for motorsport in this country moving forward? Are you going try and chase some higher profile events? What’re your plans?
STEVE: The main thing that I feel is missing from the classic racing of old – and I’m talking about 80s, 90s, watching Bathurst, where there was different categories of cars all on the same circuit. I remember sitting on the lounge with my dad growing up – there was Nissans and BMWs and Holdens and Fords, and there was Bartlett in his Camaro. The excitement was significantly more engaging, a lot more than it is now with the Camaro and the Mustang. So, the Wakefield 300, I think, was a representation of the passion of that type and style of motor racing in the country.
I want to bring that back where there’s different types of vehicles out there in different classes all running around together, having a great time. The wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, their family – they’re all down there watching and loving being involved in old-type, classic type motor racing. But I also want to try and attract the Porsches and GT type cars. I think that’s a category which is a little bit unloved in this country. And I think that if you give them the right opportunity they’ll come in droves and have endurance events where we can have 700km races where we do 350km in one day and then the next day you’ll turn and will run in the opposite direction.
We’re open to all comers. We have the Hi-Tech oil series this weekend. We had Porsche here the weekend just gone with a super sprint on Sunday. Over the weekend we probably had several hundred cars go through the facility and everybody came away exicted and positive about the venue.
AA: Why have you changed the name from Wakefield Park to One Raceway?
STEVE: The Wakefeild Park brand had become so tarnished that it was quite despised by several people in the community. And there was a genuine request – if you’re going do this, will you please consider a name change? And when we started to think about it what would we call it and thinking about what we were trying to achieve with unity and community and togetherness and bringing the racing fraternity and the neighbours together as one, we thought it might be just as simple as just calling it One Raceway.
AA: And relations with surrounding neighbours are now on a solid level?
STEVE: One of our nearest neighbours called us up to ask if there was anything on in the first weekend of March, next year. He said that his daughter wants to get married at home and we’d love it if we could have a quiet weekend. I said, done – we’ll lock the gates that weekend.
And that’s the sort of culture that we want to have moving forward.
We need to respect that as the motorsport fraternity that we do make noise and it’s not everybody loves the noise of a loud race car, so a lot of people find it offensive or intrusive or even just distracting.
Existing earth that required remediation and drying out due to the lack of drainage was approximately 750,000 tons (to put that in perspective = 21,500 truck and dogs).
Cut and Fill from earth on site was approximately
2.5 million cubic metres, or 6 million tons.
Imported VNEM (Virgin Natural Excavated Material) was 600,000 cubic metres or 1.44 million tons.
ROADS AND HARDSTAND
• 20mm Road Base 65,000 tons
• 20mm Stabilized Road Base 4,500 tons
ASPHALT
• 36,000sqm 50mm Asphalt
• 27,000sqm two-coat seal CONCRETE
• 16,000sqm Concrete
• 400-metre-long concrete drain
DRAINAGE
• 7 mm drainage blue metal 7,500 ton
• Agline 100mm, Stormwater various, 100mm, 200mm,300mm,450mm,600mm was a combination of 17,000 metres
• Sewerage line 3,500 metres
• 4 x new sewerage tanks and system upgrade
• Irrigation and water Polypipe, 9,000 metres
• 30 concrete stormwater pits.
ELECTRICAL
• 16,000 metres of conduit ranging from 50-100mm
• 8,000+ metres of Electrical Cable
• 12,000 metres of Fibre Optic
• 38 electrical pits
• 32 electrical cabinets
• 72 surveillance cameras
• 42 TVs
FENCING
• 4,000 metres of powder-coating fencing. 18 x gates
PAINT
• Over 3.500 litres of paint so far
WHEN DAVID REYNOLDS STUCK THE TRADIE BEERS #20 CAMARO INTO THE CONCRETE DURING THE RECENT BATHURST 1000 QUALIFYING SESSION IT MEANT A BIG NIGHT OF REPAIRS IN THE TEAM 18 GARAGE AT BATHURST TO GET THE CAR BACK ON THE TRACK FOR THE GREAT RACE. AFTER THE FINISH, REYNOLDS TOLD AA IT WAS THE WORST CAR HE HAD RACED … ULTIMATELY IT MEANT A MASSIVE EFFORT BACK AT THE TEAM 18 WORKSHOP TO PREPARE A NEW CAR FOR THE GOLD COAST 500 ...
by ANDREW CLARKE
THERE’S 32G crashes, and then there’s 32G crashes. It is not always about the raw number, but it is about the angle of the impact and the little incidentals along the way.
It doesn’t change the impact on the driver – the head will weight 32 times more than normal with the force tying to keep the head moving in the direction the car went into the wall. So for Dave Reynolds at Bathurst, and his body, 32G is 32G. But for the Tradie Beers Camaro, this 32G was worse than others because of the angle of impact.
“It went in on a bit of an angle. If it had gone in square, it probably would’ve been easier to fix. The load went in at 45 degrees, so it sortof went diagonally into the car,” Team 18 team principal Adrian Burgess told Auto Action
“The bottom engine mount was ripped off and the bottom leg of the clip was pushed
back nearly 30mm. To unstitch all the bar work, to be able to pull that back forwards 30mm overnight on Friday was a bigger job than we’d anticipated.
“It’s the Great Race so you’re trying to do everything you can to get the car as straight as you can. The car was okay, but it certainly wasn’t anything special – which you saw on the first lap of the race when Dave was frying the left front tyre off it because the thing’s not quite square.
“The whole day was just a disaster from start to finish. Normally, you get Safety Cars to pull you back onto the train, especially when you’ve got a wounded car. We had the wounded car but not a Safety Car for 130 laps ... It’s the perfect sort of wrong recipe, but that’s the way it goes.
“You didn’t know that on Friday night when you’re rebuilding it. We wanted to have the car in the race for Dave and for
Tradie Beers and for all the sponsors. But it wasn’t quite right.”
By the end of Sunday, the brains-trust at Team 18 had decided that chassis couldn’t run on the Gold Coast and that they’d need to build the spare in a week – from scratch; a process that normally takes a few weeks.
The massive effort to get #20 on the Bathurst grid was going to be repeated in a different way back in the Notting Hill workshop. They had worked from the time of the crash to the start of Practice 5 just after 9 am … now they were going to work their butts off for a week to get the new car running.
“When you’ve got a team full of racers, you do whatever you need to do. It was good effort. It was great to be part of it. At 6:00 am we were still setting it up and stuff, until half an hour before Practice 5. You just use all the time you've got.
“During Sunday though, you could see that we were in a bit of a mess. It was quite an easy discussion after the race to have with the crew and with Dennis, the team manager and Matt, chief mechanic… It was easy to come to the conclusion that we needed to build the new car up.
Dave. You can’t do that to all the sponsors. You can’t do that to the guys and girls in the team. We just knew we had to do it, so that was fine.
“If you’re doing it in a nice calm way it could take three weeks, four weeks work probably to build it.
“We walked in Tuesday morning and by Tuesday evening the old car was pretty much stripped. Then we had all hands on deck, slowly building up the new car. By Friday morning it sort-of looked like a car!
“The biggest job is really not the clips; it’s not the front end or the rear end; it is the cabin. Getting all the air lines, the brake lines, the fuel line running through the air jack system, the wiring harness, the telemetry, the TV harness, all those things in there nicely ... that’s the biggest job. We probably
had suspension on them and everything ready to drop in. Once you’ve got that, it's getting the engine and the driveline in and making sure it’s square – you spend a lot of time with lasers, making sure the driveline is perfect. Otherwise, you have vibrations and loss of power and all those things.
“It’s very small losses, but they add up to something. Getting the driveline and all that mechanical installation square is important. I think we fired it up on Saturday morning, and put the rest of the bodywork on.
By Saturday night we 'got delivery' on the car. We rolled in Sunday morning, just did a final set up, loaded the truck and then it left to come up to Queensland.
“I flew back to Queensland Sunday and spent Monday just running round doing odd jobs, I Went up to KRE (KRE Race Engines) and dropped some bits off.
something else small, it’s a big price to pay. You’ve got to go and do the shakedown. Everyone was really happy and glad that we did that obviously.
“Also, getting Dave’s head back in the right place, knowing that it’s going to roll out in practice with a straight car and a good car. It’s worth spending that money to do the shakedown.
We came away from QR and he knows he’s got a good car. He said everything felt fine.
“I was texting him in the evening saying, is there anything you want changed? He said, ‘No, she’s pretty much good to go’.
“It was quite rewarding for the team. I think everyone was a little bit smashed, but everyone was happy and proud to roll out a nice straight car here on the Gold Coast.”
In a sport where we always think and talk mechanicals, there is a human side to the job. From the first all-night repair to building
It’s the Great Race so you’re trying to do everything you can to get the car as straight as you can … “ ”
We did a shakedown Wednesday. I flew a couple of guys up early Tuesday evening. We met them at the Spit at 8:30am with a tilt tray and a couple of Utes. Threw all the stuff in the Utes, put the car on the tilt tray, went out to QR ...
“To be fair, it ran pretty seamlessly. We had a couple of little issues, but nothing
Which, he said, is the whole point of the shakedown. You’d rather have it there than lose the first practice session of the Gold Coast 500 fixing silly little things.
“If you add up the cost of not doing that shakedown and just rolling out in Practice 1, it could be huge. If you miss Practice 1 because your TPMS is not working or
a car in less than a week when normally three or four weeks is required, takes a massive load from the crew. There are management issues involved here, having guys in pitlane on Saturday at Bathurst with very little, if at all, sleep carries risks.
Then, loading up on the staff back at home impacts personal lives as well. For those not inside the sport, the impact on the families of the crews and people involved is rarely understood. For Bathurst, most are away for a week. Then, with a rebuild like this, they may as well be away for another week, before going away again.
It is not the team that wears the load, it is they families too. There are many management issues to control, and it is
not just about their personal lives, it is also workplace safety.
“You’ve got to look after everybody. We made sure that if people in that week who we were rebuilding the car had things they had to do with their family in the evening or something, they needed to do that.
“A few of them went at normal times, some did nights and the others were staying here. You just share the load; you don’t try and disrupt everybody’s life. You try and accommodate where you can and that’s what really makes the team.
“It wasn’t crazy nights – we were starting at seven in the morning and went until 10, 11 at night. It wasn’t mad. I’ve been through a lot worse quite a few times. We had a lot of people on it. It was good. The commercial team were in at the weekend too, getting people coffees and lunch. Everybody was there pulling together, helping each other and showing support.
“Dave was in every day with donuts and coffees. It was a really good team-building exercise in a way. Everyone was involved in it."
The Tradie Beers Camaro hit the track with speed, speed that Burgess said wouldn’t have been there if they'd gone with the repaired car from Bathurst.
Reynolds made the Shootout on Saturday and finished sixth.
“I think after the last couple of weeks that is sort of good reward for everybody. You always want to be spraying champagne, but weren't quite that quick – but to get in the Shootout and then finish sixth … I've never actually been so happy for a sixth place in my life. We've been on a bit of a tough run recently, so it was good to feature at the front.”
If he was a little younger, he might well have agreed with some thumbs up emojis for the weekend ...
IF YOU appreciate both business acumen and the thrill of motorsport, Zero to 60 and Beyond by Tony Quinn will be an incredibly engaging read. This revised edition, packed with new chapters, offers a comprehensive look at everything that has transpired since the original Zero to 60 concluded in 2016.
Tony Quinn's journey is nothing short of remarkable. From his humble beginnings, turning waste from his father's pet food plant in Scotland into his first business, to building a multi-million-dollar empire in Australia, Quinn's story is one of relentless determination and ingenuity. Known for iconic brands like VIP Petfoods and Darrell Lea, it was his passion for motor racing that truly made him a household name across Australia and New Zealand.
What sets this edition apart are the 10 new chapters that delve deeper into Quinn's transformative journey. He candidly discusses his marriage breakdown, a highspeed crash, and the expansion
of his motorsport empire. Additionally, Quinn shares his experiences of surviving the challenges of COVID-19, offering valuable insights into his secrets to success in both business and life. Quinn's narrative is not just about business success; it's about resilience, adaptability, and the power of selfbelief. His quote, "Everyone's got to live their own life, make the most of the cards they're dealt, and write their own story," resonates deeply and serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance. Zero to 60 and Beyond is a mustread for anyone looking to learn how to thrive, no matter what life throws at you. It's candid, inspiring, and full of practical wisdom. In New Zealand, the book is available in NZ at local Paper Plus and Whitcoulls stores. Order online in NZ at www.paperplus.co.nz/shop/ bookszero-to-60-and-beyond
SLIP SLIDE away with this sturdy Roller Seat with a 150kg weight capacity, sitting on 5 swivel caster wheels to evenly distribute weight and minimise tipping. The thick, padded seat can be adjusted to any height between 450mm and 600mm. It also features a tool tray with 5 compartments and slots for spanners and screwdrivers which is elevated for ease of use.
FEATURES
Thick, padded seat, Ø350mm x 75mm
• 5 x Swivel caster wheels with rubber outer allows 360º rotation
• 2 x Lockable wheels, locking both swivel and roll
• Tool tray with 5 compartments
• Screwdriver holders
• Elevated tool tray for ease of use
• Widespread wheels to minimise tipping
450mm - 600mm Adjustable Seat Height
• Sturdy frame with a 150kg weight capacity
• Search for DMRS-600Mechanics Roller Seat
OVERVIEW
THIS SERVICE Tray features a removable top tray that can be adjusted to heights between 800mm and 1200mm. It can be used standing, seated, or on the ground, allowing you to use the Service Tray for a wide range of tasks. It is easy to manoeuvre with a sturdy grab handle and four swivelling caster wheels.
DESIGNATED SCREWDRIVER and socket holders keep your tools where you left them and the two magnetic and three larger non-magnetic compartments keep your parts organised while you work.
FEATURES
• 800-1200mm adjustable tray height
• 4 rubber outer caster wheels (2 x locking) 34kg total tray load capacity
• Removable top tray with 4 x swivel wheels
Sturdy grab handle
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ANOTHER HUGE season out west has fired up with Queenslander Ryan Newton taking the first round of the 25th anniversary Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series at the Perth Motorplex on October 19.
Newton claimed the 30-lap final after beating Kiwi Michael Pickens and Brad Maiolo.
Newton came from the B-Dash where victory put him on the front row for the A-Main alongside A-Dash winner Daniel Harding.
When the green flag dropped, Harding got the jump to lead the field in front of a big crowd of more than 7000.
Harding looked in control, building a gap and leading the way for the first eight laps until it all went wrong in dramatic and disastrous fashion.
As he approached to lap Aaron Chircop on the outside, the pair could not avoid each other.
Wheel-to-wheel contact fired Harding hard into the outside wall on approach to Turn 1 with the #18 ending up on its left side and the reds arriving.
“It sounds silly but I was just cruising, had a really good car and tried to stay out of trouble,” Harding said.
“I could not read it. When he came off the corner I thought he was going low, but he turned high – it is what it is.”
Maiolo made a big move off the restart where Newton took control ahead of Newton, while Pickens and Manders spent an entire lap side-by-side, dicing for second.
It was Pickens, who emerged in front on the inside, but he could do little about Newton as he picked off the lapped traffic and built his lead.
However, his lead evaporated when there was big trouble with eight laps to go.
Kendrick and Kingshott were battling hard when they came either side of the lapped Inglis.
As Kendrick and Kingshott tried to pass Inglis, the latter found himself sandwiched between the battling pair. Contact was inevitable and it occurred as they swung into Turn 3, sending Kendrick and Inglis into the outside fence.
Inglis suffered the biggest hit, rolling hard after further heavy contact when Lancaster arrived on the scene and careered into him.
This created an eight-lap sprint and Newtown put the foot down again.
But the heat was on for third as Maiolo made a big move around the outside to clinch a top three spot.
This demoted Manders to fourth and Kingshott to fifth.
No one could keep up with Newton as he cruised to a big win over Pickens and Maiolo.
After the success, Newton confirmed he will be coming back for Round 2 before returning home and coming back to Perth for the High Limit International. Also on track were the Speedcars where Keenan Fleming took the honours. He did not have it all his own way however, with Tom Payet out in front for most of the race.
At the halfway mark Payet was over 2s clear of Fleming, but the former suddenly slowed to the infield on lap 12.
Fleming found himself in the lead and did enough to complete the job by picking off the lapped traffic with ease. He cruised to a 7s win over Patrick Watson.
Jamie Oldfield won Late Models in the second round of the Pro Dirt Series with Cody Turrachio taking Formula 500s and Brendan Wedge winning Wingless Sprints.
Round 2 was held last weekend and will appear in the next issue of AUTO ACTION, while round 3 is Kings of Wings on November 9 also at Perth. Thomas Miles
WHEN ROUND 1 of the Toowoomba Steering and Suspension Smackdown Series got under way things were intense. Max Clarke got the better of the start over Aidan Raymont but Brodie Boss snuck through on the bottom to take the race lead.
This left Raymont, Clarke and Nathan MacDonald to have a mighty battle for second, racing three-wide for a couple of laps.
Raymont and Clarke made slight contact allowing MacDonald to drive by into second.
By now, Brodie Boss was comfortably out in front and, with five to go, Clarke finally got past Raymont into third.
Jake Hawkins tagged the inside wall with two laps left to run, seeing the race end early.
Twenty-one cars rolled out for the V8 Dirt Modified Super Rooster Classic and Chris Corbett took charge from last year’s winner Kevin Britten early.
Mitch Randall further back hits the concrete wall, just as fastest car on track David Clark went past. Clark went after Britten and one lap later he was past and had Corbett in his sights.
He had a look on the inside, but Corbett closed the door.
Nothing separated the top three positions right to the chequered flag with Corbett holding off a hard charging Clark to take the win.
He missed it by the smallest of margins (just 0.1s) last year, but make no mistake –this year was his.
In the Moore Trailers Championship Series for Production Sedans powered by the Steering and Suspension Warehouse, 20 cars made the feature.
Murray Dioth was first to greet the chequered flag from Ricky Gill who started at the front but faded after a restart and drove a hard fought race back to second as current NSW Champion Jordan Biviano
Matt Hardy won the AMCA Nationals Stow’s Transport Series feature race from Tony Blanch and Steve Price. This was a good opportunity to do some valuable racing laps before the Australian Title.
Toowoomba’s Keith Blatch won the Andrew Lyons Tiling and Waterproofing Lightning Sprint feature in a green to chequer performance.
With one lap remaining, Tyler Stralow,
who was undoubtedly the biggest mover in the hotly contested feature race, from grid position #7, was running second at the time clipping a lapped car – both flipped over with the race then being declared.
Darren Baldwin moved up to second, Sean Iacono finishing third.
Sprintcars, Speedcars and Modified Sedans are back on the high banks of Toowoomba’s Hi-Tec- Oils Speedway on November 2.
David Budden
THE SOUTH Australian Speedway scene was a hive of activity of both modern and classic Speedway showcased on October 9.
The first was the club show at the Murray Machining and Sheds Murray Bridge Speedway with a total of six divisions over the evening.
The Wingless Sprints field attracted the biggest numbers with a field of 36 and the top 20 competitors would start the 25-lap final.
Tyson Martin dominated and led from green to chequered flag for a well deserved victory after going undefeated in his two qualifying heat races driving for the Moore Family Racing Team.
Jack McCarthy and Anthony Tapley took the final steps on the podium, while there were four retirees.
The Modified Sedans were also out for the opening round of their Modified Sedans Eastside Bearings Series.
The format saw dual A Main finals and, on both occasions, the status quo remained with Mildura’s Martin Hawson taking his Holden Commodore to Victory Lane ahead of the Ford Mustang of Wayne Williams in the runner up position.
Nick Hall had an unbeaten run in the V6 Sprints, claiming both heat wins and the 20-lap final over siblings John and Renee Pfeiler.
Reigning Australian Street Stock Champion Nathan Thorne showed the fast way home aboard his front-wheel-drive
Mitsubishi Magna in Round 2 of the MJS Tree and Stump Street Stock Series.
Local drivers Sam Brumfield and Phil Watson filled the minor placings as Darren Flatman, Ben Tuttle, Zac Walters, Ryan Buchanan and Grant Harris failed to greet the chequered flag
Two divisions of Junior Sedans, the Top Stars and lesser experienced New Stars
also raced on the night.
Lachlan Brown proved too strong in the field of 10 taking the win from Ryan Burns and Jayden Garner.
The running of the annual Riverland Classic proved to be the best yet with a strong representation of machines from the past spanning over five classes.
There was also a series of three spirited demonstrations which turned back the hands of time as they brought the sights, sounds and smells back to life in front of
a healthy crowd of spectators. The day started with an enjoyable show and shine, allowing fans the opportunity to walk through the pit area and enjoy the wellpresented cars up close as the chrome sparkled in the afternoon sun while reading the history provided on the sign boards.
The fields consisted of Super Modifieds and Sprintcars combined.
Kym Webber was the only causality for the event, hitting the wall between Turns 1 and 2 in his WK27 Waikerie Crash Sprintcar.
Despite the best efforts to repair the damaged front end, Kym was unable to continue for the remainder of the day.
Other open wheeled classes included the combined Stockrod, Hotrod, and Sportmans with much interest shown on the long-awaited return of Grant Baker aboard his SA88 Hot Rod, the restored exGraham Mason (RIP) Hot Rod and Rhys Heinrich, the 2017 Australian Street Stock Champion steering the iconic ex-Des Obst SA1 Hot Rod.
The Speedcars and Formula 500s made up the rest of the open wheeled categories while the tin-top fans were treated to some spirited action by the healthy attendance of Saloons, Modified Sedans, Street Stocks and the roaring V8 powered Super Sedans. Paris Charles
BAROSSA VALLEY local Dave Mahon (Dallara Hayabusa F394) took his sixth state title at the Solar Wholesalers South Australian Hillclimb Championship at Collingrove on October 12-13, leading all the way.
His winning time of 29.01s came in Saturday’s fifth and final run, from Derek Foster (White Formula Libre), scoring 29.91s in the weekend’s final run after having a multitude of problems on the first day. Third was Bradley De Luca (Hayward 09), his best time of 30.22s also in the final run.
Entries were down this year, apparently due to the Australian Championship only being a fortnight away.
From the early runs, Bradley De Luca, in the car in which Brett Haywood won two Australian Championships, and David Whiteside, whose Cheap B.O.S.S. is eagerly awaiting its Cosworth DFX transplant, were the two looking to challenge Mahon.
Meanwhile, the Foster brothers were delayed with a flat battery in the White, and when that was sorted, Derek had the embarrassment of running out of fuel on the fourth run. His 31.15s on the day’s fifth and final run saw him finish the day in third, behind Mahon on 29.01 and De Luca’s 31.12s, with Whiteside fourth on 31.42s.
Allan Foster (White) was fifth with 32.28s, ahead of Alex Rowley’s ASR MB3, which had had a scary ‘off’ on the fastest part of the track, the straight exiting “The Wall” on the third run, with 32.74s, ahead of the fastest tin-top, David Coombe’s
Mitsubishi Evo 7 on 33.04s. Mahon only did the opening run on Sunday, a 29.16s, conserving the car for the Australian Championships, and waited to
see if he’d need to go out again.
Unlike last year, where the most of the fastest times were set on the first day’s competition, this year there was a reasonably even split over both days.
Mahon’s winning time of 29.01s (Day 1) was 0.90s ahead of Derek Foster (Day 2), in turn 0.31s up on De Luca (Day 2) with Whiteside (Day 1) 0.64 behind, with Allan Foster (Day 2) 0.68 back.
Charging up the field after a couple of off-road excursions on the first day was the Mitsubishi Evo 9 of Harrison Lodge, to finish
sixth with 32.28s, ahead of Alex Rowley on 32.40s, followed by the Evo 7s of David Coombe and Gavin Farley on 32.65s and 32.87s respectively. Harry Pfeiffer’s Mallock U2 MK21 rounded out the top 10 with 32.92s. In the shootout at the end of competition, Alex Rowley was fastest, from David Coombe and Gavin Farley.
However, Wayne Fitzpatrick’s Nissan 180 SX, which was fifth fastest, was the winner, as he had beaten his fastest official time by the greatest amount.
Report and Images: John Lemm
LEON AND Lewis Cordato both took medals in the opening round of the Karting Australia GoPro Summer Series.
The brothers both stood on the podium in their respective categories with Leon winning Gold in KZ2 and Lewis a Bronze in his national Senior racing debut in TaG. Sunday’s KZ2 proceedings was dominated by drivers determined to bounce back from Saturday disappointments.
Leon Cordato had some troubles on the first day and was pushed all the way by Bailey Sagaidak, who also had dramas.
In the end only two tenths separated them at the chequered flag with Jay Murray.
Lewis Cordato was third in TaG 125, which was a nice rebound from the heartbreak of seeing the chance of winning the KA2 title drift away at the very end.
Ahead of him Brodie Whitmore and Jackson SouslinHarlow had a fierce battle for victory.
Whitmore led for the majority of the 11 minutes, but Souslin-Harlow left his assault late and it was calculated perfectly.
He snatched the win, whilst teammate Tommy Rizk continued the celebrations for JSH Racing.
Rizk converted his early speed to take the KA3 Junior Feature race.
Despite taking pole, the inversion format of the Summer Series saw him start the first Sprint 10th and soar to second just behind teammate Joel McGrath.
One of the highlights of the event was the Cadet 12 Feature where Oliver Williamson had to fend off Spencer Garde and Mason Lucchitti.
THE FIGHT for both the coveted Rally Barossa and 2024 South Australian Rally Championship went down to the wire on October 19.
There was a feel-good story on the top step of the podium as Guy Tyler and Tania Wearing (pictured below)bounced back from a rally-ending crash in the previous round to win the finale.
It was no easy win however, with Tyler prevailing by just 3s over Declan Dwyer as the two Mitsubishis had a nail-biting arm wrestle all the way to the 11th and final stage.
Incredibly just 1.1s was the difference between Tyler and Dwyer heading into the last stage.
Tyler only hit the lead in the penultimate stage which he won by 5s and leapfrogged Dwyer.
Dwyer had a crack, but fell 2.8s short. Dwyer appeared to be in the box seat, building a 37s advantage over Carwyn Harries and Tyler at the end of Stage 7.
But then Dwyer hit a stone, which saw his advantage disappear and give Tyler the lead.
The rally became a straight shootout and Tyler triumphed.
The fight for the 2024 SA Rally Championship title was always going to go down to the wire with just 13 points covering the top five.
Crozier held the high ground as the leader despite not winning a rally, three points clear of Selley, who won the two rounds he competed in.
Completing the top five and still in a lot of contention were Mohr, Hunt and Dwyer.
If Dwyer won, he had the chance to soar from fifth to champion in the standings with leader Crozier only managing fifth.
At the time of writing, the South Australian Rally Championship final points were yet to be tallied. But having seen the vital win and championship
slip away, Dwyer was devastated.
“To win the SA Rally Championship this weekend we needed to win the Barossa Rally and have Darren Crozier finish third or less,” he wrote on social media.
“A great start in the dark left us with a bit over a 30 second lead, and Darren in fourth.
“We extended the lead in the morning and were running happily when with four stages to go a stone smashed one of our rear brake hoses, leaving us with no brakes, and three stages before service.
“We finished the stage but lost our lead entirely.
“Zoe and I threw everything we had at it, right on the ragged edge from start to finish and set a pretty hot time for a car with almost no brakes, but Guy was too strong.
“Gut wrenching but we will be back! Unfinished business.” Thomas Miles
MORGAN PARK was a alive on October 18-19 with hundreds of classic cars arriving for the Historic Queensland event.
A total of seven categories ensured there was a wide variety of eras, makes and models covered for enthusiasts and drivers alike.
The event offered everything from Circuit Racing, Super Sprints and Regularity Trials on offer.
Practice took place on Friday before the intensity stepped up with races over the weekend.
Commodores controlled Historic Sports Sedans Group U, A & Invited with Michael Mitchell winning all four sprints despite challenges from Michael and Christopher Fung.
A 1976 Porsche 911 was the car to have in Historic Prod. Sports Cars Group S, T & Invited.
Stan Adler won the opening two races before Douglas Barbour hit back and claimed the final two eight-lap affairs.
Historic Touring Cars Group Na, Nb, & Nc saw some classics such as Toranas, Mustangs, Capris and more go head to head.
Peter Baguley led the way all day in his Torana, winning all four races, including the chase for the Jack Lacy Trophy where he had to fend off Alexander Bland’s 1971 Capri.
Historic Sports & Racing J,L,M,O,P & Vee saw openwheelers from as far back as the 60s go racing.
Richard Carter and his 1965 Rennmax 23b were on fire, winning the first two eight-lap affairs by over 30s.
Race 3 was much closer with Peter Boel’s Flintstone Lotus just 4s adrift.
This ensured that when Carter retired from the finale, Boel was there to pick up the pieces and win.
There was a bigger field in the Historic Sports & Racing Group Q, R and Formula Ford.
Leading the way in a 1979 Salt T2 was Christopher Farrell, who was lapping a stunning 5s faster than his rivals.
To give fans something more modern, there was the one make Mini Challenge featuring cars from the 2000s.
Brayden Larkin leaped out from the pack taking the opener, but he could not repeat the dose in a thrilling Race 2.
Instead, Andrew Mills edged ahead by just six-tenths of a second.
Larkin got revenge by dominating the final two races.
But the cars were the stars as fans were thrilled at the HRCC Historic Queensland.
Thomas Miles
THE VICTORIAN State Race Series wrapped up in style with a big weekend of racing at Calder Park Raceway on October 26-27.
THE BATTLE for the last round of the Porsche 944 season went down to the wire with just two points separating Mark Verdino and Cameron Beller.
Verdino raced out of the blocks, winning the first two races as Beller had to settle for third and second.
However, Beller made his move in the extra points finale and won by 2s, however, second was enough for Verdino to hold onto a hotly contested round win.
FROM QUALIFYING it was clear Royce Lyne was going to be hard to beat.
He was the only driver in the 1m07s window and ended up sweeping all three races in crushing style.
The heat was on for the minors however as Benjamin Munro and Ashley Rogers took turns in second place.
In the end Munro made the decisive move in the final race.
THE ALL Holden fight for Improved Production honours was a classic as three cars were split by just four points.
Jarrod Tonks appeared to have enough pace to suggest he would be unchallenged after taking pole by 1.1947s.
He converted that into a commanding 4s win over Luke Grech-Cumbo and Kaide Lehmann in the opener.
However, things changed in a dramatic Race 2 where three cars retired.
Grech-Cumbo got the launch off the line and took a tight 1s win over Tonks.
The finale turned into a thrilling arm wrestle between Tonks, Grech-Cumbo and Ian McLennan.
McLennan led the opening lap before Tonks took control.
However, things fell apart at the lap nine restart when Tonks locked up at the opening corner and went off, gifting the lead to McLennan.
He held off Grech-Cumbo to the chequered flag by four tenths, but the #1 had the last laugh winning the round.
THE FORMULA Vees were hotly contested at the front of the field amid a stunning twohorse race.
Ashley Quiddington led the way early, taking a thrilling opening race where Lee Partridge was just two-tenths behind him at
the chequered flag.
However, Race 2 was even closer as Partridge gained the upper hand, albeit by a meagre 0.14s in a nail-biter.
This meant the third and final race was the decider and they did not disappoint.
The duo changed the lead three times with the race not decided until the very last lap.
It was Partridge, who won the bragging rights at the death.
THE EXCELS also produced some thrilling finishes, as always.
Ashton Cattach snatched the lead from Emily Jones and held on by two-tenths in the opener.
Cattach then went back to back by the more comfortable margin of half a second
as Jones was a first-lap DNF with Tyre Hodge leaping to second.
Cattach was on track to take a hat-trick, leading the first 13 laps of the 14-lap finale, only for Harry Strik to fly from third to first on the final tour.
THERE WERE some stunning cars as usual in the Sports Sedans.
Dean Camm’s Chev Corvette was initially the car to beat after taking the opening sprint.
But come Sunday it was all about Travis Condon and his Toyota Corolla, winning the final two races.
As he powered to a round win, Francois Habib in his Tasman Motorsport VZ snatched second best by one point over Camp.
FRESH FROM his Supercars debut, Bradley Vaughan switched a Gen3 Camaro for a much older Holden Commodore.
After losing out to Travis Lindorf, Vaughan hit back to sweep Sunday’s proceedings convincingly.
THE FIELD of MGs were constantly headed by Phillip Chester.
He won all three races in his MG BGT V8, leaving the #1 of Michael Trathen to settle for best of the rest.
THE #1 of Ryan Woods was in the familiar position of P1 throughout the weekend of Holden HQ racing.
The status quo remained the same all weekend as Andrew Magilton led home Rod Raatjes.
Thomas Miles
THE 2024 WA Sporting Car Club season wrapped up at CARCO.com.au Raceway on October 19-20 with new champions crowned.
FORMULA VEE contenders had additional silverware on offer, with the annual Morton Plate and BM Graphics Plate up for grabs.
Paul Moltoni took all three 1600 class races and the Morton Plate, which was presented to Paul by the Morton family in honour of their late father, Keith Morton.
Jason Fowler set some blistering pace, but in the end, the lead alluded him as Mason Legg was third.
In the 1200 class, Myles Lockett battled up the front with son Andrew Lockett but pipped him across the finish line each time to take home the BM Graphics Plate. The number three seemed to be young gun Issac Scarey’s lucky number.
IN HISTORIC Touring Cars, Peter Pisconeri in the Ford Mustang was dominant across all three races.
Current WASCC HTC Championship leader Simon Northey in the Ford Mustang was unable to put a stop to Pisconeri’s timesheet-topping streak, but retained the championship lead.
IN THE absence of current WASCC Free Formula Championship leader Simon Alderson, David Dreaden and William Norman capitalised.
In his Ralt RT4, William Norman recorded a clean sweep as Lance Carwardine in the Jane Brabham BT23 collected second outright for the category, with John Hurney third.
FSR WITH THE majority of the category
interstate for the Radical Australia Cup round, the FSR grid was combined with Free Formula.
Stewart Burns kept father Derek firmly in his rearview mirror to take the FSR win. While both Burns boys finished, the absent Bryce Moore retained the championship lead.
THE POPULARITY of the Excel Cup category was on display with 29 cars lining up on the grid.
It was a productive day in the driver’s seat for Zane Rhodes, who claimed the round.
However, Carlos Ambrosio did enough to ensure he would be crowned the WASCC Excel Cup Champion, having a turn on each step of the podium.
WASCC FORMULA Ford Championship leader Tom Chapman kept current championship bridesmaid Brock Brewer at bay in the first two races.
While Brewer managed to get the best of Chapman in the third race, by then, the leader had already locked the championship away.
Category newcomer Jensen Marold made an impressive debut, securing third outright for the round.
EACH OF the three HQ races saw some incredibly close racing from Stuart Kenny and Grant Ord.
Each took the chequered flag within milliseconds of the other, but Kenny secured the WASCC HQ Championship.
Mick Woodbridge sealed third outright and the round’s fastest lap time with a lightning 1:15.88.
IN THE Saloon Car PRO class, Mason Harvey overcame a Race 1 setback to claim two wins in his Ford AU Falcon, which also clinched the WASCC Saloon Car PRO Championship.
Jackson Callo drove consistently and ended the day on second outright.
Marc Watkins finished the round only three points behind Callo, which saw him awarded third outright.
The Koberstein name dominated the timing sheets in the Saloon Car PRO-AM class. Younger brother and current WASCC Saloon Car PRO-AM Championship leader Adam took the chequered flag in two of three race wins while Michael clinched the remainder.
AFTER A hiatus, Paul Kluck and his bright red R32 Skyline GTS-T made its return
to the Street Car category and was in blistering form.
He won Race 1, but his and many others luck run out by Race 3, leaving Phillip Crouse in the VW Polo as the lone starter for the final race and took the round.
Gary Utterson’s performance secured the Championship win, narrowly edging out Neville Zoccoli.
JOHN CALLEGARI flew to Race 1 victory in the VN Holden Commodore Group A, but the remaining two races went to Grant Gellan in the Ford Escort Mark I.
Callegari, Gellan, and Geoff Duckworth all collected the maximum number of points available.
KEVIN SIMONSEN established himself in Race 1 as the man to beat, but a DNF arrived in Race 2.
Championship leader Damien Croxon piloted his Renault Megane to win the remaining races and secure the championship ahead of Laurie Whittome. Kyle McPherson was second for the round, but finished the season in third.
THE EVENT also marked the annual Rob Janney Memorial Trophy for Time Challenge competitors, honouring the memory of a beloved WASCC stalwart and his favourite motorsport discipline. Joseph Douglas in the Subaru BRZ’s maintained optimal time consistency across the three Time Challenge rounds which saw him take home the honours.
The WASCC Cool Down Lap will be held at CARCO.com.au Raceway on November 17.
Shane Lawrie/Turn 7 Media
JOSH HAYNES wrapped up the 2024 TA2 Muscle Car Series title in the perfect way, by sweeping the finale at One Raceway.
The Hi-Tec Oils Super Series was the stage for the first car race meeting at the revived One Raceway and Haynes used it as the perfect platform to showcase his talent.
Having entered the finale with a formidable 82-point advantage over Graham Cheney, the #37 Herzog Steel Ford Mustang was always going to be hard to beat.
However, Haynes showed he was undoubtably the champion by not only securing the crown, but dominating all four sprints around One Raceway. In the end he amassed 1348 points, almost 200 more than runner-up Brad
THE 2024 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Round 6 was held at the newly opened One Raceway on the outskirts of Goulburn. A sunny spring weekend greeted the competitors on what was to be a busy schedule of racing. AA’s RICCARDO BENVENUTI was there to report on all the action.
Formula Vee
A healthy field of 29 cars entered this threerace format weekend. The first two races were dominated by Daniel Reynolds and Dylan Thomas. Both drivers powered to the front and diced throughout the race, with Reynold coming up trumps. The final race was marred by two Safety Car periods resulting in a compressed field at the restart. Michael Kinsella capitalised on this and passed both Reynolds and Thomas to win the race
Formula RX8
Rob Boaden stole the show, winning three of the four races. He was dominant during the weekend, resisting challenges from Brock Paine
Gartner’s 1157 and Mart Crutcher, as Cheney fell to fourth.
Haynes even set the lap record on the final lap to add the cherry on top.
“We’ve worked hree years for this so it means the world to me and my family. I’m still lost for words,” Haynes said.
“If I didn’t have my team I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. To also be able to set the lap record at the end of the race ... I’m really stoked.
“It took me three attempts to get a skid started but once it got going it was quite good. Huge thank you again to everyone involved.”
Haynes held onto pole in a thrilling Top 8 Shootout where his 59.9800s lap was 0.0410s clear of Gartner.
and Geoff Connell. All races were hard-fought affairs with only seconds separating the leading drivers. High drama came during the third race with Ivan Vantagiato swerving to miss a car that missed a gear down the fast main straight. A Safety Car came out to clear the stricken cars. At the restart, Connell jumped out of the block and led the final laps to win the race.
Stockcars
Danny Burgess completed a clean sweep of the event, claiming pole and winning all four races. He was part of a trio of drivers that diced lap after lap. Brett Mitchell and Daniel Stubbs hounded the leader. To Burgess’ credit, he never made a single mistake and controlled the races from the front.
ADC – Hyper Cars
Dean Crooke started the weekend in a perfect manner by winning the first two races, outgunning Hayden Crossland and Damon Sterling. Sterling showed his worth by overtaking Crooke during Race 3 and claiming
But Gartner’s strong qualifying amounted to nothing as he could not engage second gear off the line and fell to the back.
Further forward, Aaron Prosser lost the rear of his car at Turn 4 and darted into the side of an innocent Danny Reidy, while Speedway legend Robbie Farr found himself back in the familiar dirt and dust but for a bad reason – being involved in the accident.
Impressively, Gartner marched through the field up to fifth as Haynes won by 3s over Sam Bates.
This time, Gartner made a fast start in Race 2, but could only get to second as Haynes was already in the distance as Bates joined them on the podium in the clean affair.
In Race 3, Gartner threw everything at
Haynes across two thrilling laps to open the sprint.
However, Gartner’s dream of challenging for the win was dashed after 10 of the 15 laps when a mechanical issue sent him into retirement.
The finale was marred by an early crash where the red flag was waved after Prosser lost the rear of the car in the grass off Turn 10 and cannoned into the side of Crutcher. When the race resumed it became the Haynes show as he blazed away from the field and won by a mammoth 15s in a statement success.
Bates and Jackson battled hard for best of the rest honours that went to the son of former TA2 Masters Champion Nick Bates.
Legend cars
A great field of cars entered the Legend category, with star drivers like Dylan Thomas, Brendon Hourigan and Ben Goodridge. All races were hard fought affairs but ACT driver Ray Pring got the job done by winning four out of the five races available. Robert Hogan ruined Pring’s perfect weekend by winning Race 1.
THE THREE hour GT World Challenge
Australia enduro at Sydney Motorsport Park was dominated by Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti (pictured, right).
The Tigani Motorsport pair had to fight for the win, starting outside the top 10, but this did not stop them from producing something special.
The key to the victory was an early pit stop during the first Safety Car of a disrupted opening hour, which saw them gain a minute.
As a result Ojeda and Lucchitti went from seventh on Lap 57 to the lead just 15 laps later.
The #66 Mercedes emerged ahead of the #1 Arise Racing Ferrari of Chaz Mostert and Liam Talbot.
Ojeda/Lucchitti took the win by 7s over the Ferrari combination that clinched the Endurance Cup part of the championship. It was a two-horse race, with the next best, Brendon Leitch and Elliott Schutte, a further 52s adrift.
Saturday was a dramatic day for the GTs even before racing began.
Will Brown and Brad Schumacher did not get to start the race with their Audi being wiped out after a huge crash at Turn 6. Schumacher was pushing hard in the fight for pole, but spun coming out of the left-hander at the top of the circuit and went straight into the concrete head on.
“I was up seven-tenths on my flying lap and I was just trying to capitalise on that of course and put that car on the front row for the race,” Schumacher said.
“Unfortunately, just on the exit of Turn 6 where the grate is with the ripple strip, it just snapped in the rear on me and caught me completely by surprise – I just didn’t have the time to save the rear and ultimately went into
the inside wall.”
The Audi was ruled out on the spot for the rest of the weekend, seeing one of the contenders disappear and reducing the field to just 12 cars.
Garth Walden and Michael Sheargold took pole, but it was Paul Stokel the early leader as the former crew was held back by an early puncture.
The Triple Eight Mercedes of Grant Hackett and Declan Fraser lost a lap after more tyre troubles and a steering issue.
A Mark Rosser spin all the way to the Turn 1 tyres brought out the first Safety Car where
MARCOS FLACK and Tom Hayman
(pictured) doubled up at Sydney Motorsport Park to cement themselves as the leaders of the GT4 Australia Championship.
The tug of war between Flack/Hayman and the Ford Mustang of George Miedecke/Rylan Gray carried on and the Method Motorsport McLaren Artura made a decisive blow.
A Sydney sweep has given Flack and Hayman a handy 25-point advantage with one round to go.
But this was far from likely after qualifying with Flack/Hayman starting outside the top 10. Flack rose from 11th to eighth before handing over to Hayman on Lap 14 and the latter then produced something special.
He needed just five laps to soar to second and reel in leader Gray.
The pair then had a thrilling exchange for the lead that was ultimately won by Hayman with a grand move around the outside on Lap 24. Gray had no response and had to settle for
second 5s adrift.
Rounding out the Silver podium was the BMW M4 GT4 of Tim Leahey and Cody Burcher, who finished more than a minute behind.
Pro Am went down to the wide with the race winning move not taking place until the final three laps.
Aaron Seton and Jason Gomersall in the new Ford Mustang GT4 appeared to be destined to give the car another debut win. They led until the closing stages, only for Zoe Woods and Dan Jilesen to overhaul them.
Woods’ pace was irresistible in the final stint as she got past the Ford on the third to last lap.
It ensured Woods made history as the first woman to secure a class win in the series.
Taking out third place was Steve Jakic and Ryder Quinn after the latter led the overall field for the first 19 laps and posted a new GT4 lap record.
Ojeda made the key pit stop.
The Safety Car returned around 11 laps later when James Koundouris could not get going after ra Turn 11 spin.
The third and final stoppage was not until Lap 47 when the Sergio Pires/Marcel Zalloua Audi became the latest to get unstuck at Turn 1.
This meant the final 50 laps were all green, allowing the contenders to spread their legs going for glory.
Once the final round of stops were completed around the Lap 70 mark, Ojeda emerged with a minute in hand over Mostert.
Whilst the Ferrari driver slashed the deficit down to 7s, he could not quite get close enough to threaten the Mercedes before the chequered flag.
The late race move was for third as Leitch chased down Jaxon Evans in the sister Ferrari.
The GT Kiwi was flying in the Audi and passed his Supercars compatriot with just four laps to go.
The three-hour enduro was a one off with the GTs returning for the Bathurst International finale.
Thomas Miles
The Am title appear destined for Jacob Lawrence and John Bowe after they cruised to a 5s win.
On Sunday Gray overcame Burcher in the early stages to take charge.
However, Hayman was a man on a mission, passing Burcher around the outside before taking aim at the leading Mustang.
Despite an early Safety Car for Bailey Love, Hayman and Flack did enough to overcome a
15s additional time to dominate the race.
A big drive from Antonio Astuti put the #27 Mercedes into second, only for Miedecke to snatch the position in the closing stages.
Pro Am was a tight battle with Jilesen keeping Smollen at bay as Josh Buchan also became a big factor.
The GT4 Australia Championship concludes at Mount Panorama on November 8-10. Thomas Miles
OSCAR TARGETT (right) completed a dominant journey to the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia title in fine style at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Despite SMP throwing up tricky conditions, Targett took pole and two wins which were enough to wrap up the both the championship and the Jim Richards Enduro Trophy.
The Grove Racing youngster raced out of the blocks, being the only driver to record a 1m29s time in qualifying.
His 1:29.9823s was two-tenths clear of Ryan Suhle and Clay Osborne.
By the time the opening race arrived under the Friday night lights, rain made things even more difficult on slick tyres.
Targett led the field into turn 1, but Osborne was on the move, passing Gilchrist and Suhle to snare second within the first six laps.
By lap nine Osborne caught the rear of Targett and launched himself down the inside at the fast Turn 4.
But the race was far from over as Osborne
had a 5s penalty for a start line infringement.
As a result Targett stayed close enough to inherit the win despite Osborne taking the chequered flag first.
With the field tightly bunched, it proved very costly as he fell from first to fourth, with Gilchrist and Suhle also rising up, while
PETER PADDON (leading, above) has edged further ahead in the fight for the 2024 Radical Cup Australia after winning the penultimate round at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Paddon gained 11 points on title rival Cooper Cutts to extend his lead to 66 points with just one round to go. It came on a competitive weekend where three drivers shared wins across the four races, but Paddon’s consistency saw him take round honours.
Paddon and Cutts kicked off their rivalry by charing way at the start of the opening race.
The pair battled hard throughout the first lap before Paddon edged ahead and took control as Justin Tigani watched it all unfold from third.
However, only four-tenths was the difference when they took the chequered flag.
After taking pole, Josh Hunt looked on course for victory, leading the first 12 of the 13 laps.
However, his dream disappeared when he limped to a stop with just two minutes to go with suspected engine issues.
This created a one-lap dash where Barton Mawer managed to keep Paddon and Cutts at bay.
Race 3 was a final lap thriller with the title rivals going at it.
Paddon led either side of a Safety Car caused by Brad Russell, but Cutts was on his tail and waited until the final lap to go for glory.
Cutts was successful with a surprise move at Turn 7 to snatch a special win.
Paddon got a good jump in the final race, but could not stop Mawer from powering past to victory.
Cutts found himself down in fifth on the opening lap, but regained ground throughout the race to be third.
His charge was cut short from a raceending Safety Car.
All roads lead to Mount Panorama for the November 8-10 finale.
Thomas Miles
fifth placed Jake Santalucia was just a tenth away.
Ramu Farrell and Lachy Harburg put on a battle Royale in Pro Am with the former sneaking ahead by just 0.05s.
With Targett 98 points clear and only 120 up for grabs on Sunday, Gilchrist’s
championship hopes were more mathematical than anything else.
But Gilchrist was leading the Enduro Championship which was on the line in Sunday morning’s 40-minute race.
Gilchrist led off the line, but Targett came charging through on the second lap and was never challenged again, winning by 2s. Gilchrist’s dropped spots as the race went on, falling from second to 14th as Osborne and Suhle completed the podium.
Targett led the start of the finale, but could not complete the job and finished third, however it was enough to take the round win.
Osborne snatched the ascendancy on lap two and cruised to a 2s triumph.
The fight for second was not decided until the final two laps where Tyler Greenbury snuck ahead of Targett.
Ayrton Hodson and Conor Somers were first lap victims.
Farrell claimed the Pro-Am win over Harburg, who won the championship.
Thomas Miles
FRESH FROM a maiden Bathurst 1000, Cameron Crick dominated Australian Production Cars by winning all four races at Sydney alongside Dean Campbell.
Crick controlled the opening race and claimed a 3s triumph over Grant Sherrin and Simon Hodges in an all BMW podium.
Crick’s teammate Dean Campbell claimed back-to-back successes for the #118 in a much closer Race 2.
Just half a second split Campbell and Sherrin after 15 laps as they charged away from the back.
Best of the rest was Tyler Mecklem after a last-minute pass on Simon Hodges.
Campbell and Sherrin resumed their rivalry in Sunday morning’s Race 3.
Sherrin had a lunge on lap 10, but made contact, which sent him spearing into the grass.
The trip through the weeds sent Sherrin down to fourth, allowing Mecklem and Callaghan onto the podium.
However, the #27 BMW F82 M4 still produced a late charge to snare second on the final lap.
This set the scene for the final race,
which was double the length, an hour.
The extra time saw competitors get caught out by the solitary Safety Car. Crick, Sherrin and Morrall pitted when the compulsory window opened, but at the same moment a Safety Car arrived for a stricken Volkswagen.
As a result they all had to return to the lane, while Crick/Campbell also overcame a 5s penalty for a jumped start. Sherrin decided to roll the dice and not pit again amid the confusion and took the chequered flag first, but had to serve a two-lap penalty.
“We got pole and four race wins, which is something we haven’t done before,” Campbell said.
“The last race was interesting with the timing of the Safety Car, the compulsory pitstop window and the 5-second penalty.
“We probably didn’t agree with it, but we managed to get it done and back out to fight for the win.”
The final APC round is also the Bathurst International on November 8-10.
Thomas Miles
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JOSH BUCHAN has thrust himself into pole position to take back-to-back TCR Australia titles as Zac Soutar had no luck in Sydney.
Soutar headed into the penultimate round with a 27-point advantage, but some Race 2 drama and Buchan brilliance sees the Tufflift Racing driver now facing a 36-point deficit to the reigning champion.
This is despite a miraculous rebuild from Soutar’s small team, which ensured the badly bruised Audi RS3 LMS TCR could crawl to some valuable points in the finale.
In addition to the intriguing title chase, the Sydney round was a historic one as it marked the debut of the new Peugeot P51 308 TCRs.
Jordan Cox and Ben Bargwanna were the lucky drivers chosen to drive the two new Peugeots that have been homologated, designed, built and now raced by Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Buchan’s big weekend started with pole position after posting a 1:35.2037, which was three tenths clear of Honda’s Brad Harris and Lynk & Co’s Dylan O’Keeffe.
When the lights went out, Buchan carried on his dominance and cruised to opening race glory.
The only hairy moment was a big one however, with the #1 HMO Customer Racing driver having a wild speedway style slide through Corporate Hill.
Once he caught it, there was no stopping Buchan as he cruised to a 2s win as the only driver to record a 1m35s time.
As the #1 Hyundai dominated, championship leader Soutar could only manage sixth.
There were three different makes on the
podium with the Wall Racing Honda of Brad Harris the runner-up 2s behind Buchan and Dylan O’Keeffe next best in the Lynk & Co.
Tony D’Alberto challenged Harris, but his Wall Racing teammate shut the door before the #1 drifted to fifth.
Aaron Cameron was a non-starter due to engine issues in his older spec GRM Peugeot.
Once the race got going there were more dramas for teammate Ryan Casha, who also had engine dramas and drifted to a distant last, but still finished on the lead lap.
After losing ground on Saturday, things hit rock bottom for Soutar on the opening lap of the reverse grid affair.
The championship leader suffered a slow start before being caught up behind teammate Glenn Nirwan and Dylan O’Keeffe coming over the rise out of Turn 3.
The chain reaction saw Soutar clash with Brad Harris, with the #110 Audi RS3 cutting in front of Tony D’Alberto and piling head on into the concrete.
Before the incident triggered the Safety Car, Nirwan battled to get away from the reverse grid pole, which released Ben Bargwanna into the ascendancy ahead of teammate Cox.
As a result the special sight of the two new Peugeot P51 308 TCRs led the field, while the older spec machine of Aaron Cameron flew around the outside of five cars to soar from last to fourth.
At the restart Cameron jumped Brad Harris to make it a GRM 1-2-3 before the latter clashed with the other Peugeot of Ryan Casha.
The Wall Racing Honda then came together with Nirwan at Turn 8.
On Lap 6 the intra-team battle for a famous
RYAN MACMILLAN (pictured, right) has wrapped up the Australian Formula Open Series with another clean sweep, this time at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Macmillan was in a league of his own at SMP, winning all three races to extend his championship lead to 60 points with only 48 left on the table.
However, the fight for best of the rest was much closer with Kyle Evans only beating Thomas Gallagher by one point. Gallagher appeared to have the high ground having finished second in the first two races.
Macmillan dominated, taking pole by seven-tenths before going back-to-back.
However, he did not have it all his own way having fallen to third as Evans led the first four laps.
But everything changed on lap five as Macmillan shot to the lead and Evans fell to third, while Race 2 was much more straight-forward. In the final race Gallagher and Evans put on a show as Macmillan cruised to a 14s triumph.
The pair went back and forth before an ‘off’ for Gallagher in the closing stages proved to be the determining factor.
The final round of the Australian Formula Open Series is the Island Magic round on November 20-24. Thomas Miles
victory fired up with Cox forcing his way past Bargwanna.
Bargwanna had no response as he slipped to sixth, while Cameron also threatened to challenge before the #18 308 was wiped out by Tom Oliphant.
“This was 100% my fault,” Oliphant admitted to 7Sport.
As all of this was unfolding around him, Buchan made important moves to gain further ground in the championship by securing third.
The hard work saw the #1 becoming embroiled in a four-way fight for the lead that also involved O’Keeffe and Harris.
However, Cox was determined not to let history get away from him and he ensured the Aussie designed, homologated and built Peugeot P51 308 TCR victory in just its second race.
“It means a lot. I can’t be prouder of the GRM crew,” Cox told 7Sport.
“It’s an 18-month project, and there’s not many teams that get to build a car from a clean slate and showcase it, let alone win a trophy.”
Cox finished three-tenths clear of O’Keeffe with Buchan also less than a second away.
To complete a convincing weekend, Buchan won a tight final race and secured round honours.
Amazingly and critically Soutar’s squad was able to repair his significantly damaged Audi and get it on track to collect points in the final race.
Despite being off the pace, Soutar was able to collect some points with eighth.
D’Alberto was denied the same opportunity with his Honda still on the sidelines.
The combined points grid saw Buchan and O’Keeffe share the front row and their battle turned into a race-long affair.
O’Keeffe put himself on the back foot straight away by bogging down his Lynk & Co, sinking to fifth. Buchan retained the lead ahead of Brad Harris.
Despite also clashing with Will Harris at Corporate Hill, O’Keeffe was on the charge.
He passed Cox on Lap 4 and snatched second from Harris five laps later in an entertaining battle.
O’Keeffe then set his sights on Buchan and reeled him in at six tenths per lap to set up a thrilling finale.
The Ashley Seward Motorsport driver had a couple of looks at Turns 5 and 6, but ended up falling four tenths short as Buchan held on to a championship-changing win.
Despite starting last Cameron produced another impressive comeback to join them on the podium.
Cox sat fifth, but slowed out of contention and retired after 12 laps.
After a championship-changing weekend, Buchan is in the box seat ahead of the finale at Mount Panorama on November 8-10.
Thomas Miles
AFTER ROUND 5
1: Josh Buchan 640 points
2: Zac Soutar 604
3: Brad Harris 579
4: Ben Bargwanna 555
5: Jordan Cox 548
ON A weekend where Harri Jones became just the second driver ever to win multiple Porsche Carrera Cup Australia crowns, the biggest cheers were saved for Bayley Hall.
On home turf, Hall was unbeatable, taking pole and sweeping all three races.
It continues his love affair with the Surfers Paradise streets having also took two wins last year.
Jones also made history with a fourth place for the round securing the title with a 181-point advantage over David Russell heading to the Adelaide finale.
As a result the Porsche Centre Melbourne driver joined Craig Baird in an exclusive club of multiple Porsche Carrera Cup Australia crowns.
Another round win also saw Adrian Flack secure the Pro Am title.
Hall dominated the opening sprint in a lights to flag performance, highlighted by a perfect launch off the line.
Fellow front-row starter Jackson Walls wasn’t quite so fortunate, being shuffled down the order to ninth.
Taking advantage was Dylan O’Keeffe, who battled with David Russell to secure second place.
The race ended under Safety Car after Harrison Goodman hit a tyre bundle on the exit of the Beach Chicane, while Nash Morris was an early victim.
The biggest drama for the field was track limits as six cars received penalties.
Critically one of them was championship leader Jones, who dropped from seventh to 14th after a tough day.
Hall was again imperious at the start of the 40-minute enduro race.
He got a perfect launch as Russell won a side by side fight with O’Keeffe for second.
There was drama further back at the hairpin as Glen Wood tripped over Angelo Mouzouris.
Wood clipped the right front of the #999,
launching the #911 into the air.
Giltrap lost it coming to Turn 11 and hit the outside wall, seeing him slump from just outside the top 10 to 24th
The big battle was between Jones and Walls for fourth, with the Kiwi all over the back of the championship leader as they both caught O’Keeffe.
With Jones having multiple looks, the pressure was on O’Keeffe, but his defence became inconsequential when he received a 5s penalty for track limits as the final five minutes approached.
This dropped him to sixth and promoted Jones back to the podium as Hall won by a huge 5s.
The final race was another commanding lights to flag performance by Hall.
However, he did not have everything his own way with Russell applying the pressure throughout the 16 laps and finishing just half a second behind at the chequered flag.
There was also a big battle for third between the Porsche Centre Melbourne teammates with Fabian Coulthard having track position over Jones.
However, Jones was a man on a mission and snatched the championship-deciding position on the final lap.
They benefitted from opening lap drama where Walls and Dale Wood clashed at the hairpin that parted the seas and sent them into retirement.
Only the Pro and Endurance Cup titles are still on the table heading to the VAILO Adelaide 500 finale on November 14-17. Thomas Miles
PORSCHE CARRERA CUP
POINTS AFTER ROUND 7
1: Harri Jones 1067 points
2: David Russell 886
3: Dylan O’Keeffe 795
4: Jackson Walls 776
5: Bayley Hall 754
THE V8 TYREPOWER SUPERUTE SERIES HIT THE STREETS OF THE GOLD COAST FOR THE PENULTIMATE ROUND AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS STRUGGLED, CREATING AN EXCITING END TO THE SEASON AT THE UPCOMING VAILO ADELAIDE 500
Crick in the Ford Ranger was the quickest in practice, and took pole in qualifying on Friday morning, looking fast around the circuit.
It was a bad start to a tough weekend for Aaron Borg, after success at the mountain the no.1 appeared to have complications.
Crick was followed by Sieders and Wanzek rounding out the top three for the first race later that day.
There was drama at the start of the opening race as Borg and Amar Sharma came into the pits after the warmup lap.
Apart from a couple bumps into the short run to Turn 1, it was a clean start for the first race.
Just under 13 minutes to go and the #777 car of Holly Espray lost control, running over a bollard at the chicane, deploying the Safety Car.
Crick got away at the restart to hold his lead, even under the pressure from Sieders.
Borg limped around the track to get some important points for the sake of the championship.
Race 2 on Saturday morning saw the top six reverse for the start.
Walsh didn’t get a great start, dropping off the front row, and Borg once again was not on target, falling to last.
Marjoram drove off to lock in first, as the
battle for second was heating up, Cody Brewczynski and Crick fighting for position.
Race 3 and Harris took the lead as Marjoram drops to third early in the race.
Crick leads the overall for the weekend and held onto second, three cars now scrapping for the championship.
After a broken axle on Friday, Borg made his way up to 11th, scoring valuable points for
his campaign.
Harris and Crick made over one and a half seconds on the third, charging away from the pack.
The Ford Ranger of Ryan How in eighth was fastest on track early in Race 3, also competing in a great battle for seventh with Jimmy Vernon around the chicanes.
There was some damage down the back of the pack in the second last lap of the race, but Harris went on to win, returning to form at his home race.
The green flag fell on the final race, and it appeared to be a messy day out on track for the Utes. Harris got a great start and crossed the line under Safety Car to win the round in the EFS 4X4 accessories Mazda BT-50.
A large incident involving four cars led to he Safety Car, as Rossi Johnson couldn’t restart his Colorado, and it was towed off track. It will be a tight contest for who takes home the title in Adelaide, kicking off on November 14. Ava Stone
THE FIGHT for the 2024 Aussie Racing Cars title went down to the wire with Joel Heinrich and Kody Garland finishing level on points.
Despite Garland winning the finale and matching the points, Heinrich secured backto-back crowns on count-back after a record 13 wins in 2024.
He dominated the opener, leading from lights to flag despite a mid race Safety Car for Grant Thompson hitting the wall at the beach chicane.
Despite the break, Garland passed Reese Chapman to importantly seize second in the closing stages.
Heinrich did the double on Saturday morning as Garland had to settle for second once again as the race ended under the control of the Safety Car.
It was required due to a multitude of incidents including Denis Butler being spun
by Desmond Collier, while Kent Quinn hit the wall exiting the Beach Chicane.
The inverted grid Race 3 was a wild affair with nine DNFs.
With the top six of the grid inverted, Cody Brewczynski led from pole and held off Mason Harvey in a thriller, as Heinrich only recovered to sixth – but the action was behind him.
Courtney Prince, Scott Dornan, Anthony DiMauro and Andrew Corish all tangled together at Turn 12.
The chequered flag was waved a lap early due to a big crash on the back straight for Shane Mann, Jordan Freestone, Asher Johnston, Desmond Collier and Taylor were not even able to make it to the finish due to an accident at the final corner that left them stranded just a few hundred metres from the chequered flag.
But the title was going down to the wire with the final race being a double points affair.
Garland had to win, while Heinrich had to finish in the top two and Chapman made life very hard for him.
The opening lap could not be completed due to a five-car crash at the start line involving Gooding and Johnston, who tangled on pit straight, while Thompson was among three others who had nowhere to go.
Thankfully an anticlimactic finish behind the Safety Car was avoided after an impressive clean up from the officials, creating a thrilling one-minute sprint to the flag.
Heinrich had a huge scare as Chapman stole second with a great move around the outside in the run down to Turn 1.
But with the title on the line Heinrich
launched a big dive down the inside at Turn 11 and retook second from Chapman. It proved to be the championship winning move as a huge eight-driver car park occurred at the same corner further back.
The accident was triggered by Thomas spinning Mercer, who found himself standard looking the wrong way on the racing line.
It was only a matter of time before the inevitable contact and Butler was the first on the scene, making sickening head on contact.
This left Tucker, Watters, Freestone, Taylor and Gooding with nowhere to go and the race ended under yellows.
WAU driver out due to damage at Bathurst, Geoghegan was the on a charge.
There weren’t any incidents around the first chicane as the Toyotas took to the track for their first race ever on the streets of the Gold Coast.
Tekworkx Motorsport Toyota.
Lodge and Ashley Seward Motorsport continued their success from the last race at the Mountain to win Race 1.
The championship was now tied between Geoghegan and Owen at the top of the table.
Race 2 and Lodge got away to a great start, Fraser also claiming second position from Geoghegan at the first chicane.
Woods was back in the mix with a new boxer engine in her Toyota from the incident the day before.
Fraser gained on Lodge, trying to use his experience to pass the #39.
Ryan Tomsett was putting the pressure on Geoghegan, appearing to have issues turning the car, but he managed to defend his position.
On Lap 7 at least three cars were involved in an accident, bringing out the first Safety Car of the weekend in the series.
Garland did everything he could, but it was not enough with Heinrich’s second place enough to secure back to back titles.
Thomas Miles
Race 3 got underway as Geoghegan now leading the championship, but Lodge held the lead in the first lap.
A large pack of in the middle of the group were fighting three-wide for position to claim any remaining points for the season.
The top five were fighting for position, but invted driver Fraser was clipped in the battle and crawled down the track with a damage issue.
His day was done, dropping quickly and retiring the car.
Owen drove an amazing race, doing everything he could to compete for the championship, gaining 11 places.
But Queenslander Geoghegan was crowned champion of 2024 – although passed on the last lap by Westbury, he had done enough to claim the Toyota 86 title.
driver Declan Fraser rounding out the top three.
It was a close battle for the title going into the final round of the series, Owen leading Matt Hillyer by 26 points, but with the
Geoghegan stuck with Lodge as the pair were trying to escape the chasing pack.
The competitive field saw a lot of position changes throughout the 10-lap race.
On the final lap, Zoe Woods in the #210 pulled over with smoke coming from her
As the track was cleared and the green flag was waved, rain began to fall.
Owen tagged the #95 of William Seal and fell to the back of the pack, the chances of Owen’s championship now looking unlikely.
Lodge drove on to win Race 2, with one left to go.
Sixty years after his grandfather won his very first Australian Touring Car Championship, Geoghegan pulled into the pits to celebrate with his Tumbi Tyres/Aust Payroll Sols team.
Lodge, in the meantime, had completed the perfect weekend, unable to be caught around the streets of the Gold Coast.
Ava Stone
THERE WAS A FAMILIAR FEEL TO THE 2024 EDITION OF THE GOLD COAST 500, WHICH WAS A KEY PART TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP STORY. CAM WATERS SMOKED THEM ON SATURDAY BEFORE BRODIE KOSTECKI TOOK THE HONOURS ON SUNDAY AS WILL BROWN PUT HIMSELF IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOX SEAT. THOMAS MILES LOOKS AT A SHAPE-SHIFTING WEEKEND AT SURFERS PARADISE …
FOR MUCH of the weekend, it felt like 2024 was following a near identical script to one year ago. Tickford raced out of the gates with Waters untouchable, recording back-to-back Saturday wins in crushing style from pole.
Further back, the championship leader had a setback in qualifying, but bounced back with a spirited drive through the field to reduce the damage down by their rival’s podium finish.
Come Sunday, Brodie Kostecki also repeated his efforts by taking pole position.
But that is where the similarities ended as, this time, Kostecki completed the job and secured his latest bit of history, taking a maiden win on the streets of Surfers following his breakthrough Bathurst success.
Twelve months ago Kostecki put himself in the box seat for title glory, but this time his
former teammate Brown crept closer to the big prize.
The chase for the title has become an exclusive Triple Eight team-mate tussle as WAU’s woes hit a new low.
The Gold Coast concrete canyon did not bite as hard as previous years, but still caught a few out.
IT WAS clear the Tickford Mustangs would be fast from the moment cars hit the track on Friday.
Waters and Matt Payne led the majority of a clean opening practice session before the Monster Mustang made the knockout blow with a last-gasp 1:11.3972s, a full tenth ahead of the rest.
If that was not enough, team-mate Thomas Randle led a Tickford 1-2 in the second and final practice session. Randle edged ahead of Waters by just 0.0290s as it was clear they were the team to beat.
The biggest talking point from Friday’s running was the changing of the goal posts when it came to the chicane kerbs.
After a mammoth 189 kerb hops were detected in Practice 1 alone, even with the Turn 2 loop switched off, a change was made ahead of Practice 2.
Turn 9, the penultimate corner of the Beach Chicane, was switched off, whilst Turns 8 and 10 were still monitored.
The changes made an immediate difference and drivers praised Supercars Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird.
BROWN MIGHT be in the box seat to win the 2024 Supercars title with one round to go, but it was almost a very different story.
As the intensity to reach the Shootout was at an all time high in the final minutes of qualifying, Brown was pushing hard.
However, he got it wrong at Turn 11, “locking the rears” and getting out of shape mid-corner, sliding the left hand rear into the tyres.
Suddenly Brown found himself wedged against the barriers and both Nick Percat and Tim Slade had nowhere to go when they arrived on the scene.
The two big hits left heavy damage on the right-front in addition to the left-rear.
As a result Brown was stripped of his best time, missing the Shootout, and would start 11th.
Below: Saturday winner Cam Waters set the height standard, sometimes with all four off the ground. Above: Mostert looked the likely challenger but a bizarre gearchange position sensor handicapped the WAU car. Far right: a Tickford 1-2 was cause for celebration. Below right: Brown attempted to match Waters for height at the chicane as he rescued a modest qualifying performance. Bottom right: Matt Payne gained five spots to grab fourth at the end of Saturday.
Images: MARK HORSBURGH/PACE IMAGES
To rub salt into the wounds, all his championship rivals Waters (pole), Broc Feeney (fourth) and Mostert (third) were much further up the grid.
“I have been locking rears into there the last two sessions and just thought I would get it turned, but didn’t and slapped the fence,” Brown said.
“Unfortunately I took out some other cars out of their qualifying so sorry to them. These things happen at the Shootout.”
Brodie Kostecki was the lucky one, being promoted into the top 10 at Brown’s expense, but his one-lap dash was destroyed by a kerb strike, another repeat of 2023.
Payne was another to find trouble in the Shootout, getting the approach to Turn 11 wrong.
Waters flew to pole, producing a scorching 1:11.0581 – a tenth too much for Stanaway.
second year in a row, Waters won the Gold Coast 500 opener but, unlike last year, he was hardly challenged.
The Monster Mustang spearheaded a convincing Tickford 1-2, winning by a huge 9s, the second biggest margin since the event grew from a sprint round in 2010.
It was arguably the most dominant drive of Waters’ career as he defended pole position with the inside line at Turn 1 and was never seriously challenged from there.
The only brief nervy moment was after making his first stop on lap 33 when Feeney, on six-lap fresher tyres thought about making a move, but was quickly covered.
Before too long Waters reestablished his lead and, with Mostert dropping out of the equation, he eased to victory lane.
Whilst it was an easy win, Waters did not stop throwing his Monster Mustang around the streets, with the stunning sight of all four wheels airborne at one stage at the Beach Chicane.
“It was a lot more of a cruisey win than last year because I did not have Shane breathing down my neck, but we rolled out with good cars. I knew pretty quickly I had a good race car and that is credit to the team,” Waters said.
“I was looking after the tyre and knew I had a gap, making sure I had something in reserve if I needed to.
“The car was really good towards the end of stints and I just tried to maximise it.
“We are really competitive at slower speed street tracks, which is probably because there are less straights we have to go fast down.”
TO COMPLETE a perfect day for Tickford, Randle also performed by holding off Feeney and matching his career-best result. A seventh career podium and second
runner-up finish was not only a breakthrough for Randle, but also for Tickford.
It was the team’s first 1-2 finish in 2562 days since the 2017 Gold Coast 500 when Mostert led home Waters.
Once Mostert and WAU dropped out of the picture, the battle for second became an arm wrestle between Randle and Feeney.
With team and personal pride on the line for Randle and key championship points for Feeney, both battled hard.
The #88 had 3s to reel in the #55 and did so, but could not quite get close enough to launch an assault.
“Pretty surreal and always wanted to get a surfboard so to do it with a 1-2 with Cam is so special. We have been working towards this as a team for a long time and this shows how the changes have helped in a big way. Felt like I could have done a better job in the Shootout, but had good race pace and the last few laps were pretty daunting,” Randle said.
Feeney was simply pleased to get a maiden surfboard too after a day of breakthroughs on his home track that had previously been unkind to him, with a previous best result of eighth.
“Making my first Shootout appearance and getting my first podium here on the Gold Coast is awesome. I actually had no idea I was on the podium when I crossed the finish line, so I was stoked. It’s great to get a surfboard because it’s a trophy I’ve been chasing for a while because it’s my home race,” Feeney said.
THERE WAS only one car that had the pace to challenge Cameron Waters in the Gold Coast 500 opener and that was Mostert, but the WAU driver’s victory hopes were destroyed by a bizarre issue.
Despite setting a hot pace to be second, Mostert was battling a gear position sensor drama that saw him lose around 5s in the first stop.
But things only got worse when he returned to the lane and the #25 crawled to as slow as just 11km/h with fourth place finisher Payne passing him before being serviced.
The #25 WAU Mustang dropped from effective second to 16th.
Whilst Mostert had his head down and regained 10th by the time the chequered flag fell, it was small consolation for WAU.
“That was pretty painful,” said Mostert’s WAU engineer Sam Scaffidi.
“I am not sure if we would have got the win, but we definitely could have got P2.
“It is just gutting for everyone here considering how fast the car was in qualifying and how great our race pace was. Then it all went downhill. It was a gear position sensor issue.
“It was pretty early into the first stint, so for Chaz to drive around that issue is a massive credit to him, he did a mega job.”
“I’m a just gutted for everyone involved. It just wouldn’t run on the speed limiter, it felt like I was walking up pit lane at one stage,” Mostert said.
The other heartbreak story of the race was James Golding, who was in a fierce fight with Feeney for fourth as the pair would not back down going into the Beach Chicane.
However, Golding’s race was destroyed by a left rear problem on his first stop and he could only manage 16th.
“About five laps into the race the cool suit failed, and then not long after my radio to the team failed so I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear anything I was saying.
“In the last six laps or so I was deteriorating a bit, so I was glad to get to the end. And of course, we had the drama with the wheel nut in the pit stop, which was unfortunate as we had an awesome start and were up to P3. It just really wasn’t our day,” Golding said.
BROWN BOUNCED back from his qualifying crash, regaining four critical spots to limit the points loss to Feeney.
The #87 found itself sandwiched between Kostecki and Payne on the opening lap, but survived and passed the likes of Stanaway and Heimgartner to secure a seventh that was critical to his title hopes.
“It was a tough day for us. In the race, unfortunately we got stuck behind (David) Reynolds on strategy and couldn’t really get past him. We just didn’t have enough pace to drive through the field, but it was not a bad day,” Brown said.
The car Brown could not get past was Reynolds, who was “really happy” with sixth in a brand new chassis.
They emerged behind Payne and Kostecki, who both rose five spots to get in the top five.
Winterbottom clashed with Le Brocq on the opening lap, which left the #9 four laps down and last.
Cameron Hill had an eventful moment, spinning on his own at Turn 3 and “won the world reversing championship.”
COME SUNDAY it was Kostecki’s turn to be unbeatable around the streets of Surfers Paradise.
The Erebus Motorsport star blitzed the Shootout, making the most of some timely cloud cover to go almost three-tenths clear of the rest with a 1:10.3150s.
Brown importantly got ahead of Le Brocq, Mostert and Feeney, while Waters was only seventh and Wood had a kerb strike in his first Gold Coast Shootout.
When the lights went out, Kostecki and Brown both got strong launches off the front row with the Erebus driver taking control
ahead of Mostert, who short-cut the chicane after contact with Le Brocq.
After racing resumed following the early Safety Car, the status quo remained.
Eventually after the first round of stops, just 1.8s covered the top four that now had Feeney instead of Le Brocq.
The pressure seemed to be on Kostecki, but he found an answer and pulled 3s on his rivals across the stint in what turned out to be a key part of the race. From there it became a fight for second as Kostecki cruised to a maiden winner’s surfboard in convincing style.
BREAKER STREET lived up to its name as carnage on the opening lap saw the track blocked, impacting all-but 10 of the 25-car field.
The drama was sparked when Stanaway launched a dive-bomb on De Pasquale and Wood.
Whilst the Kiwi managed to sneak past and soar into the top 10, it triggered madness behind.
De Pasquale made contact with Wood, giving the WAU driver a massive close call with the tyres on the outside.
However, De Pasquale also got a tap from Courtney, which sent the #11 DJR Mustang spinning head-on into the inside wall.
It left Jones, Percat, Winterbottom, Hill, Slade, Evans, Davison and Fullwood with nowhere to go amid the traffic jam on Breaker Street as only Reynolds and Love escaped unscathed.
Despite 10 cars being involved in the wreck, only De Pasquale was a DNF as Courtney came back after 10 laps in the pits, while Percat somehow set the fastest lap of the race with the help of his team-mate’s front bumper.
“There’s not too much I can say. It was a really hard day today. I got caught up in a scrap at the start, and unfortunately, that was it,” De Pasquale said.
“Woody was having half a moment with Anton in front of me, we were all there,” said Courtney.
“I could see it all happening, so I’m trying to stop, and I think I had like four cars in the back of me trying to push me through the accident. It was just disappointing.”
MORE WAU WOES
FOR THE second day in a row, cruel luck returned for Mostert and this time it was a WAU mistake that not only ruined his race, but also championship.
The #25 was looking fast, sitting in third before losing the place to Waters amid the second round of stops.
However, Mostert had to return to the lane for a splash and dash just 10 laps later after it became apparent WAU had used the Wood car’s fuel hose.
The extra stop pushed Mostert from fourth to 14th.
“Unfortunately they put Woody’s rig instead of Chaz’s so they did not get much fuel in, so Chaz had to come in again to hit the minimum drop,” WAU Team Principal Ryan Walkinshaw confirmed.
“Yesterday was a tough day and something out of our control, but today was very much in our control.
“It is a bitter pill to swallow and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Feel bad for Chaz because it was not his mistake.”
“Not the weekend we wanted – it’s been a tough one, not much went our way. We will debrief this one of course, and learn from it. We are a team, and always will be,” Mostert said.
There were also more pit problems for
his car from the air jacks without a right rear tyre, losing 6s and leaving him 13th.
ON THE HUNT
WITH MOSTERT again out of the equation, the fight for second turned into an intriguing game of strategy between Tickford and Triple Eight.
The Triple Eight Camaros had track position with Brown leading Feeney, while Waters ran five laps longer in his first stint, but more importantly took on a much bigger dose of fuel.
He then put the foot down in the mid-part of the race, being faster than all, aside from Kostecki, and passing Reynolds, Le Brocq, Payne and Randle.
Before the final round of stops Waters was 10s behind Kostecki, but that reduced to 4s after the shorter final stop as he rejoined right
behind the Triple Waters gave it everything in pursuit of the Bulls, throwing his Monster Mustang over the kerbs and into the tyre bundles with the battle scars to prove it, but ultimately could not quite get close enough to challenge for the podium.
“We started too far back, which was my fault, and we had to roll the dice and try something different,” Waters said.
“I gave it absolutely everything to get it on the podium and beat up the car to get it there but she lasted.
“We were 100% attack and had a little slow fuel flow which cost us a bit.
“I am pretty happy with where we got back to and to be honest I am buggered. It was tough out there.”
Randle completed the top five ahead of the impressive Heimgartner, who rose 11 places to secure sixth as Stanaway recovered from a three-place grid penalty for impeding to be seventh.
THE 2024/25 National Drag Racing Championship is off to a flying start with records broken in the Aeroflow Spring Nationals at Tailem Bend.
Another big crowd ventured to the Dragway at The Bend where Phil Read and third-generation champ Josh Leahy took Top Fuel and XPRO Nitro Funny Car honours respectively.
The action heated up straight away with record-breaking runs on the Saturday.
Read stole the show on the opening day, setting an incredible 3.72 second pass at 522.62kmh, the quickest Top Fuel pass in Australia over the 1000ft distance in the Hydraulink Jim Read Racing Top Fuel Dragster in Q2.
In the elite Group One ranks, Morice McMillin (XPRO Nitro Funny Car) and Daniel Gregorini (Top Doorslammer) joined Read in claiming the new NDRC Top Qualifier medals.
Read was the toast of the town coming into Sunday as as not only the holder of the quickest Top Fuel pass in Australian history, but also as the Top Qualifier and Winner of the Aeroflow Spring Nationals A-Final against Newby, with a 3.762/516.74kmh effort over Newby’s 8.035/80.52kmh pass.
He overcame Damien Harris in Round 1 with the latter an early ‘out’ due to a second motor-destroying explosion in as many days.
Team-mate Newby secured his A-Final berth with a round one 3.845/488.46kmh over Putland (5.233/219.92kmh), which was dampened by a fire after the finish line, and a round two winning 4.04/381.96kmh solo.
But Read was in a league of his own all weekend.
“That proves (the record) wasn’t a fluke!” enthused Read after taking the victory,” Read said.
“It felt good, it felt really good from start to finish. It just took off and it was flying; smooth as ...
“A 3.76 is great – we thought it would run
3.77. I think we are starting to get a handle on this at this track, so hopefully we can keep it going!”
Leahy impressed as a newcomer and blazed to victory in XPRO Nitro Funny Car.
Adam Murrihy was the driver Leahy overcame to get Spring Nationals glory and few would have thought that would be the case.
It had been a remarkable turnaround for Murrihy to make it to the A-Final against Leahy following a difficult qualifying and Round 1, but his Round 2 4.090/488.59kmh effort had signalled a return to form allowing him to make the A-Final, where he ran a 5.405/222.89kmh early-off pass to Leahy’s winning 4.069/489.23kmh performance, which followed the Rocket Industries’ racer’s earlier strong 4.134/418.95kmh and near-PB 4.070/467.71kmh performances in Rounds 1 and 2.
McMillian and Walshe meanwhile each had their fair share of trouble over the day,
with Walshe splitting the dry sump for a large oil leak to miss round one before enjoying a redeeming 4.177/423.71kmh effort on a round two loss, while McMillin had the chutes come out early in both Rounds 1 and 2.
In the B Final it was Walshe, who took the chocolates.
With a 12 car field this weekend in Top Doorslammer, race fans were treated to A, B, C and D Finals for this bracket, with Lisa Gregorini and her all-girl Scratch and Match Auto Colour team (5.719/404.39kmh) blazing through to become the first allfemale team to win an NDRC Christmas Tree over a red-lighting Ronnie Palumbo (5.702/409.36kmh) in the A-Final.
Palumbo and Lisa Gregorini headed into the A-Final with two wins apiece in a rematch of last year’s Spring Nationals match-up (where neither was able to proceed with the final, leaving it to be run at a later date), with Palumbo having won over Tassone with a 5.816/368/50kmh
and Mick Mahoney with a PB-ing 5.678/408.21kmh, while ‘Mrs YoungBlood’ had a solo Round 1 win after Andrew Sutton was pushed back (5.726/381.52kmh) and a round two 5.719/404.17kmh win over Abel (5.887/396.58kmh).
“Last year was definitely playing on my mind – when Ronnie put me in the other lane (with his lane choice) I thought at least it isn’t exactly the same – hopefully we won’t have deja-vu!” Gregorini said.
“Thankfully both cars were able to accept the tree and it was a great run, a real close race.
“I had no idea he had red-lit until I got out of the car at the end and Daniel (Gregorini) told me.
“It has been an epic weekend for us with a lot of problems, including issues yesterday where it shut down in the burnout and we still weren’t sure what the problem was going into today – thankfully it didn’t pop its head up again and we were able to race on.”
The B-Final was taken out by Zappia (5.656/407.93kmh) over Lisa’s husband Daniel Gregorini (5.737/396.76kmh), while the respective C and D Finals were taken out by Peter Kapiris and Tassone.
Taking out the Aeroflow National Sportsman Championship wins were Rob Bergamin over Colin Griffin (Super Gas), Zayne Condello over Seth Jarvis (Junior Dragster), Tex Griffiths over Andrew Waight (Super Street), Sean Ricketts over Dean Jamieson (Modified Bike), Ken Collin over Chris Allen (Competition Bike), Lillian Hagan over Lawrence Raschella (Junior Drag Bike), Sean Maher over Chris Lioulios (Super Sedan), Cory Dyson over Daniel ‘BatDan’ Carranza (Modified), Steve Norman over Kim Fardella (Super Stock), Matt Forbes over Peter Pisalidis (Competition Eliminator), Mike Evans over Mark Hunt (Supercharged Outlaws) and Paul Partridge over David Foster (Top Sportsman).
THE 2024 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix will go down in history as Phillip Island hosted its first ever Sprint, but it was also the latest chapter of Marc Marquez brilliance.
Marquez did not make life easy for himself off the start line, but nothing would stop him from winning a fourth Australian victory after overcoming Jorge Martin in a thrilling battle.
Marquez was in ominous form as early as practice where rain ruined teams’ hopes of coming to grips with the new track surface, but Martin denied him pole.
In Qualifying, Ducati became the first manufacturer to locked out the top six on the grid since Honda in the 1997 French Grand Prix.
Jack Miller might have been riding in front of an adoring home crowd, but the local wildlife was not his friend.
The KTM rider ran over a rabbit in qualifying before hitting a seagull in the Sprint.
But this did not impact his fall at Lukey Heights from eighth as he was one of many victims from the 13-lap dash.
Binder, Acosta, Alex Marquez and Zarco all fell, but the scariest occurred between Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales, who found themselves tumbling into the gravel at the end of the Gardner Straight.
At the front of the field, Martin finally converted a third successive Phillip Island pole into a victory in the Sprint.
Marquez was his biggest threat, but ran wide at Doohan and slumped to eighth, but
still fought back to an impressive second as Bagnaia was only fourth.
ON THE big day Sunday, another start mistake almost brought Marquez undone.
When lights went out, the #93 went limped off the line in a cloud of smoking wheel spin, which saw it fall to 13th. Marquez revealed “a big insect” was on his visor, causing him to remove a tear off, which incredibly happened to fall under his rear tyre.
However, the setback only gave Marquez further motivation as he produced a ride for the ages.
From pole Martin shot to the lead as Bezzecchi and Bagnaia slotted on behind his back wheel.
Bezzecchi did not last long before crashing at Miller Corner, promoting Bagnaia to second and he did not allow Martin to ride into the distance.
Within 10 laps Marquez had already flown from 10th to third and was lining up Bagnaia as fans were captivated by a thrilling threeway fight for victory.
Bagana sensed his moment and sliced down the inside of Martin with a fine move at Stoner Corner. However, Martin immediately responded to his championship rival, retaking the lead with a big dive at the following heavy-braking right hander where the #1 was forced wide and Marquez also snuck past.
With five laps to go Bagnaia ran out of grip, setting up a two-rider showdown between
Martin and Marquez, who were riding at qualifying pace.
Marquez waited around 10 laps until Lap 24 to finally pounce at Miller Corner.
The Gresini rider appeared to have won the battle, but it was not over.
Martin stayed on the back wheel and launched from the slipstream with a successful slingshot down Gardner Straight.
Desperate to reclaim the lead, Marquez then launched a dive-bomb at Miller Corner and made it stick, but only just.
That proved to be the final chapter in a thrilling duel as Marquez won by 0.9s.
A further 10s back was Bagnaia with Miller having a wildlife-free day in 11th.
Thomas Miles
BAGNAIA (right) produced a timely reminder of his class by winning a wet Thai Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Just when the championship appeared to be drifting, Bagnaia dominated a wet Buriram International Circuit to reduce Jorge Martin’s points lead to 17 with two rounds to go.
Martin initially extended his points lead in the Sprint despite losing out to the factory Ducati of Bastianini.
Bastianini was the beneficiary of the title contenders clashing on the opening corner.
Martin went in deep, but escorted both himself and Bagnaia wide, allowing Bastianini through to a lead he would never let go, winning by 1.5s
Martin’s mistake saw the PRAMAC rider fall to fifth, but he put his head down to soar up to second, critically one place ahead of Bagnaia.
WET WEATHER greeted the riders ahead of Sunday’s main race at the Buriram International Circuit in front of 205,343 fans.
The conditions caught out Alex Marquez on the sighting lap coming out of Turn 12 and had to start from the pits.
Martin got a rapid launch to storm into the lead, but almost thew it away by running wide at Turn 3.
Martin ran shoulder to shoulder with Bagnaia down the straight where the Pramac rider prevailed on the outside and quickly opened half a second with some rapid pace.
Behind them Marc Marquez and Quartararo both gained two spots to get into the top four as Bezzecchi and Acosta dropped out of the top 10 with offs.
The VR46 rider was completely out of action by lap four after a big fall at Turn 1.
Binder had a rapid opening lap, soaring
from 13th to fifth while Australia’s Jack Miller also leaped from 15th to fifth amid some drama.
Fabio Quartararo’s impressive ride on the Yamaha ended in dramatic fashion on Lap 4. He qualified sixth and was fourth until Franco Morbedelli tried to pass at Turn 8, but made contact, sending his former teammate chasing into the gravel.
Four laps later karma struck, with Morbidelli falling himself, while Bastianini also crashed. Martin was next to crack, going off at Turn 3 and it was costly, slipping from first to third, gifting Bagnaia a 1s lead.
On lap nine, Marquez made his first move at the final corner and snatched the lead, only for Bagnaia to immediately reclaim it.
After four tense laps Marquez had a second crack, but it was an action replay. Eventually it was the Gresini star that cracked under pressure as the #93 slid from underneath him at Turn 8.
Marquez almost saved it, but still fell from second to 16th before eventually recovering to 11th.
Miller again impressed in slippery conditions and appeared on track to get a first trophy since Spain 2023 as the crash promised him to third.
However, both Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio demoted him to fifth in the final two laps.
Miller and Acosta produced a stunning fight for third on the penultimate lap as they went side-by-side for four straight corners before the Tech3 rookie prevailed.
The thrilling title fight heads to Sepang this weekend.
Thomas Miles
MOTOGP POINTS AFTER ROUND 18
1: Jorge Martin 453 points
2: Francesco Bagnaia 436
3: Marc Marquez 355
4: Enea Bastianini 345
5: Brad Binder 203
DESPITE ALL of the ire surrounding the WRC’s new point system in 2024, this season has delivered its fair share of dramatic chaos, and the Central European Rally (CER) was no exception.
The Round 12 tarmac clash ahead of the finale in Japan saw Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville enter the weekend with a chance to sew up his maiden title, but the WRC’s perennial bridesmaid will have to wait another round after a series of costly errors dropped him from the lead.
In a pressurised rally of fine margins throughout, Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier also let another win slip by again crashing out from the lead on the Sunday, with Hyundai’s Ott Tanak delivering his second win of the year as a result after spending all of the Saturday breathing down the Frenchman’s neck.
The #8 i20N driver ended up winning by seven seconds from TGR’s Elfyn Evans, whilst Neuville slipped into the final podium spot, 39.8 seconds in arrears from the leader.
Tanak’s victory alongside compatriot co-driver Martin Jarveoja – the 21st of his career – cuts the championship margin from 29 to 25 points but, to take a second title, he’ll need Neuville to find trouble on Japan’s often slippery roads in the Aichi and Gifu prefectures.
“It’s not up to me – Thierry will decide. All I can do is push on in Japan and try to score as many points as possible,” Tanak said.
“CER was really intense. It was demanding from the start, with four drivers so close together and never more than 10 seconds apart. The conditions were never easy, and although the weather was better on Sunday, it was still challenging and unpredictable.
“It was a big fight on Sunday with Seb (Ogier), we really tried to push today to secure the win. It’s good for the team that only a Hyundai driver can win the title, but
there’s still a battle coming with Toyota for the Manufacturers’.”
That means it will be the first WRC drivers title for the Germany-based based Korean manufacturer, which also holds a 15 point lead over Toyota in the makers stakes, as it looks to add a third (2019-2020) Manufacturers title, and end TGR’s three year reign.
The unique format of the CER offered 18 stages across 302.51 competitive kilometres, beginning in Prague, Czechia, before featuring stages in Austria, Czechia, and Germany, with the rally ending in the southern Deutsch town of Passau.
Joining the regular crews, part timers Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), and Gregoire Munster (Ford M-Sport) competed as Manufacturer point-scoring options, whilst Sami Pajari (TGR) and Jourdan Serderidis (Ford) also drove Rally1s.
To kick off the first asphalt affair after seven
after two stages in Czechia, leading an edgy Neuville by 0.9s, with part timer Mikkelsen in third.
But after his hay-bale clip on Thursday, Neuville put the foot down for the first fullday (seven stages in Czechia) to lead Ogier by 6.4 seconds overnight, with Tanak in third, which meant the Belgian driver was in the box seat for a Saturday title push.
The crews delved into six stages across Germany and Austria – with only a brief incursion into the former – for the 123.46 km Day 3. SS11 in Austria’s Schardinger Innviertel was where one hectic minute saw Neuville and Wydaeghe drop the ball with some pace note confusion.
Two back-to-back off-road excursions saw him drop to fourth, giving Ogier the ascendancy, as well as letting Tanak back into the title race.
That part ran tight all day, with Ogier taking three to two, to lead by just 5.2s overnight with Evans into third.
With the crews heading to Germany for the final four stages, it was Tanak who took the reins early by flipping the deficit into a 1.9s advantage, as well as keeping the lead through SS16.
The penultimate stage then saw Ogier overshoot the same left-hander for the second straight stage, but this time he found some trees and a telegraph pole and parted ways with his left rear wheel ...
That left Tanak to fend off Evans, whilst Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta proved the fastest on the day to bank vital Manufacturer points with Evans, meaning that both the Drivers and Manufacturers titles will be on the line in the finale for the first time since 2021.
Behind the fifth placed Katsuta, Munster equaled his highest ever WRC finish for Ford M-Sport in sixth, whilst WRC2 Citroen winner Nikolay Gryazin placed seventh over Skoda driver Oliver Solberg and Rally2 Toyota driver Filip Mares. That also put Solberg in the box-seat for the second tier title in Japan, with Citroen’s Yohan Rossel still a chance 12 point back.
The 2024 finale at Rally Japan kicks off in Aichi, southwest of Tokyo, on November 21-24, where Neuville will look to end his unenviable record of being vicechampion on five occasions.
THE SECOND stanza of the NASCAR Round of 8 ended with a thrilling lastlap pass through Turns 3 and 4, as Tyler Reddick punched his ticket to the Phoenix finale with a win at the Miami Speedway.
The Toyota 23XI driver (leading, right) rode the outside in a powerful run home in the 267 lap affair, passing a desperate Ryan Blaney who opted for the slower inside lane, whilst six of the remaining contenders also filled the top-six.
There was openly a 0.241s margin in the end, as Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliot, and William Byron all finished within 2.346s of each other.
A late caution saw Reddick recapture his slightly waning speed on his older rubber to run down the Penske driver, with the last warning coming as a result of a Kyle Larson spin as he himself threw the kitchen sink at the win with a gutsy attempt at the lead.
And, like Christopher Bell the week prior, Blaney left Miami having left a win on the table and, along with Larson, will enter the last race of the Round of 8 outside the cut and likely needing to win at Martinsville.
Reddick, who advanced into the Round of 4 alongside Vegas winner Joey Logano, he was given immediate praise by owner and NBA great Michael Jordan, who said that, “Little kid drove his ass off!”
The Californian native said that he essentially had no right to win considering the relative state of his Goodyears.
“We were backed into a corner – we had no other choice,” Reddick said.
“I know we were on a tyre deficit and here at Homestead (Miami Speedway), that’s
Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
a death sentence. But I don’t care. We did what it took to win this race, and we’re fighting for a championship.”
As the final restart played out, Blaney took to his task on aggressively blocking Elliot to shut him out, a move that initially let Hamlin into the lead, before Blaney swiped underneath him to reinstate himself.
As it appeared that the Mustang had bolted and had the pace to the white flag, Reddick hunted Elliot in a shot at Turn 1 as
Reddick mistakenly elected for the more middling line, as the eventual winner took to the top like a rocket.
It was another frustrating post-season day for the driver that sits just seven points above the cut over Larson, William Byron. He had a clean day without making it count for another top-10 finish, but was visibly the slowest of the eight contenders, finishing in sixth place.
For Larson, his pace was a sure threat
early as it always is at Miami, but a flat tyre in Stage 1 saw him put his Hendricks Chevrolet into the wall. And after the second incident on the run to the chequer, he finished in 13th.
and Chase Elliot (-43).
TW Neal
A WEEK after being eliminated then reinstated following the finale of the Round of 12 NASCAR playoffs, Penske’s Joey Logano (right) has pre-booked his place in the Phoenix showdown in November.
The 2022 champion took out the 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week on a late fuel strategy, leading for the first time with six laps to go, holding off the seemingly dominant Christopher Bell by 0.662 seconds, with Daniel Suarez in third on the same strategy.
Following Alex Bowman’s car failing postrace inspection at the ROVAL, which elevated Logano above the cut from ninth position, the Connecticut native was elated with the turn of events in America’s gambling capital, netting him a record equalling fourth win at the 2.4km oval.
“Man, we did some fuel-mileage stuff, didn’t we? Holy crap,” said Logano.
“What an incredible turn of events here last week … we’re going to the Championship 4 again. It’s real. Great fuel mileage, great calls by crew chief Paul Wolfe, and Nick Hensley, our gas man … We’re going racing again. What an incredible situation.”
On the flip side of the deck, Bell was disheartened, but satisfied with the strong hand that he would take into Miami and
Martinsville.
“The points look pretty good, but you’re never safe in this deal,” Bell said after leading 155 of 267 laps. “We needed to win today and unfortunately, we didn’t. We’ll go on to the next one.”
Of the eight playoff contenders, three found themselves eliminated from any chance in Stage 2, whilst two others were derailed by pit strategies.
Whilst Denny Hamlin’s eighth place was enough to leave him fifth in the standings, 27th behind teammate William Byron, regular season champion and Stage 1 winner Tyler Reddick was left 30 from the cut after rolling on lap 89: an incident that derailed fellow playoff driver Chase Elliott.
2023 champ Ryan Blaney had it tough from the get-go, starting at the rear in his spare Mustang after putting his Charger in the wall in practice – he would enter Miami in seventh, with Elliot in eighth.
Bell is the theoretical leader on 42 points with Logano on 17 but already qualified, whilst Kyle Larson (who finished 11th after an unscheduled pit stop ruled him out) is in third, five points to the good over Byron, the driver that’s teetering on the cut.
TW Neal
Report: LUIS VASCONCELAS Images: MOTORSPORT IMAGES
CHARLES LECLERC led Carlos Sainz to give Ferrari an easy one-two in the US Grand Prix – but the Scuderia’s domination in Austin ended up not being the main story of the day. A controversial penalty that robbed Lando Norris of a well-deserved third place was the talk of the Paddock in the hours after the race, diverting attention from what was a tremendously well-executed race by the Italian team.
With McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes all declaring important aerodynamic upgrades for the weekend, Ferrari didn’t have to declare anything, as the external shape of the SF-24 hadn’t been changed – but under the skin of the red cars there was a very important modification: the front wings were made of a different mix of composites and therefore had a gain in elasticity, the Scuderia finally matching what the other three top teams have been using since the middle of the season. Without confirming this was the case, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur explained at the end of the race that, “it’s not because we are not declaring anything that we are not bringing something new, as we (only) have to declare the upgrades that make a change on the external shape of the car …”
Pushed on the matter, Vasseur, as usual, laughed it off, saying “we have to be creative” when asked what had really been changed. On track, it had already been clear during the Sprint race (see sidebar) that Ferrari had the best race pace of everyone, so much so
that even its rivals were already admitting the two drivers starting from the second row of the grid were the hot favorites to win the main race.
The one-two confirmed that view but Verstappen gave the Scuderia a big hand by pushing Norris off at Turn 1, going off the track himself as well, to help a wide eyed Leclerc move from fourth to first without having to make a serious move. Sainz, who started ahead of his team-mate, found himself on the
outside of the first corner and had to lift to avoid the two cars going off, so he kept the position, still behind Verstappen but ahead of Norris, who’d gone the exact opposite way from Leclerc, and dropped from first to fourth. The McLaren driver managed to keep the initial lead at the start and moved left to block Verstappen’s path but left half a door open and, of course, the Dutchman barged through, outbraking himself and going wide but, crucially, returning to the track ahead of
his title rival. Norris blamed himself for “driving like a muppet” and quickly settled in for a long first stint, realising that having fresher tyres for the final laps was his only way to move back up the order.
LECLERC IN FULL CONTROL OUT OF DRS range right from the first lap, Leclerc’s escape was delayed by a Safety Car period very early on (Lewis Hamilton had, untypically, spun off in Turn 19 and beached
his Mercedes on the gravel). At the re-start, on lap six, Leclerc pulled away from Verstappen again, gaining around half a second per lap and stamping his authority immediately.
The Dutchman was much more concerned with the other red car, as Sainz had DRS access for a couple of laps, before an ICE issue sent the alarm bells off at Ferrari. The Spaniard complained of lack of power out of the slow corners and of smelling fuel and, for three laps, lost ground until being told what settings to change on the Power Unit. As soon as he did so, he was back on pace, but knew any chance to win was gone:
“As soon as I saw Charles in P1, then I saw that Max couldn’t keep up with Charles, I knew that if I couldn’t pass Max in the first three laps, it was going to be game over because then Charles and I were always very close in pace. And after that start, and especially having a car in between us and not being able to pass Max within the first five laps, I knew it was going to be very, very tough.”
At the front, the Monegasque continued to extend his lead to 10.6s by lap 24 and was insisting with his team that they mirror whatever Red Bull would do on strategy, as he didn’t want to give any advantage to Verstappen – or Sainz, for that matter!
The Spaniard pulled the trigger by pitting on lap 21 and resuming with clear track ahead of him, in P5, so Red Bull didn’t react because the undercut had worked and it was only on lap 25 Verstappen that dived into the pit, followed by Leclerc one lap later.
That left the two McLarens, yet to stop, in the lead, with Leclerc in third place and bringing his Hard tyres in very gently, but withouth allowing Sainz to cut the gap much. With no threat from behind, the two SF-24 were almost in cruise control but still pulling away from their rivals – this one-two being the most dominating demonstration from the Scuderia since the start of the year.
A delighted Leclerc admitted that “it was a pretty good Turn 1 – I did exactly what I wanted to do and we had a really good launch. Yesterday I was a little bit the victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and today I gained from being in the right place and that helped quite a lot our first stint because we had mega pace. Then, in the second stint, it was all about managing the cars behind and we did a great job. The pace of the car this weekend was really, really good in the races and that’s mostly thanks to the engineers.”
KNOWING OVERTAKING on track on identical tyre life wasn’t going to be easy, McLaren extended the first stint of both its drivers, so it was only on lap 31 that Norris swapped for the Hard tyres with Piastri stopping one lap later. The Brit returned to the track 6.6s behind Verstappen but with much stronger pace, with Piastri close to his team mate’s pace but still too far behind to be a factor in this fight.
By lap 43 Norris got into DRS range and
the battle with Verstappen started off with a couple of timid attempts into Turn 12, the Dutchman keeping all his battery power for the long straight prior, defending well from his rival.
It took nine laps for Norris to finally get ahead of the Red Bull driver, but both drivers had been off the track out of Turn 12, the Dutchman dive-bombing and missing the corner apex completely and forcing his rival off too. Norris, who’d been clearly ahead before the braking zone, opted to stay ahead rather than give the position back and the Stewards, bound by the letter of the law, handed him a five second penalty for “going outside the track and gaining an advantage,” even though he’d been clearly pushed off by Verstappen. It was a decision that is set to lead to changes in the driving guidelines issued by the FIA, but it served Verstappen’s purposes perfectly, as he extended his championship lead. But his race pace was reason for concern for Red Bull, as Piastri, who was 12.9s behind Verstappen on lap 33 caught him in the last lap, after gaining more than half a second per lap in the last stint – proof, if needed, the RB20 was only the third-quickest car on race day in Austin.
AS IT has often been the case when Red Bull doesn’t have a dominant car, Sérgio Pérez was not even in the same post code as Max Verstappen the whole weekend. Only ninth on the grid, and that thanks to Russell’s penalty, the Mexican was in the midfield battle the whole first stint, undercuting Magnussen and Gasly and beating Tsunoda on track so, after the pit stop, he looked set to finish a distant P6. But Russell, who’d started last, on the Hard tyres, had so much more pace on the last 15 laps that he caught and passed the Mexican to claim sixth place, as Pérez finished the race 40s behind his team mate … Hulkenberg, Lawson and Colapinto completed the top 10, the German recovering from an unusually poor qualifying effort to beat his direct competition. But it was the Kiwi’s recovery from 19th on the grid to P9 that caught everyone’s attention and helped start staking his claim for the second Red Bull seat in 2025!
On the Hard tyre at the start, Lawson made four positions in the first lap, benefited from Zhou’s spin before overtaking Alonso in a clean move and then extended his first stint, while keeping a good pace, so he was already ninth after swapping for Soft tyres, a position he kept to the end of the race, scoring two precious points for VCARB.
He was justifiably chuffed with his race return at the end of the 56 laps, saying that “into Turn 1 I was just in a good place, managed to get around it. And then from there, just settled in and the Hard tyre worked really, really well for us.” As for the significance of this result, the New Zealander was in no doubt that, “it’s definitely important, it’s also what I’m here to do. I’ve got a goal of staying in Formula 1 and these races are very important, so it’s doing exactly what I’m here to do. There are five more very important races as well, to focus on.”
MAX VERSTAPPEN won the Sprint after starting from pole position – his first race win since June 29! Then, in another Sprint even, the Dutchman had finished first (Austria) but it took him almost four months to be able to again savour seeing the flag first.
No wonder then that even disliking the Sprint format, the World Champion was delighted at the end of the 19-laps race:
“It’s been, quite a few races where it was more like just looking behind, never really being able to attack. Now, finally, the car definitely had just more performance and I could push a bit harder, so I’m very, very happy with today.”
Still, the Dutchman was wary of the red threat, adding that “looking at the whole race, I think Ferrari was also very quick but for us this was already much, much better.”
Much calmer than in previous occasions, he then praised his team, as he tries to rally everyone behind him for this final part of the season:
“I think what has been very important for us in the last few races is to remain calm and just work on the problems. And that’s what we have done as a team. Just focus on ourselves. That’s the only thing that you can influence and control.”
A robust defence into Turn 1 kept a very fast-starting Norris behind with the two Ferraris in hot pursuit. With tyre life being a question mark, as usual in Sprint races, Russell and Sainz were on a charge, the Mercedes driver passing Norris for second and the Spaniard, after a lengthy battle, getting ahead of team-mate Leclerc to claim P4. At the front, benefiting from all the fighting behind him, Verstappen was looking after his tyres, pushing for two laps and then saving his Mediums for the next two, his lead stable around the 2-3s margin.
Russell’s early push didn’t pay off, as his left-front tyre gave up midway, helping Norris, Sainz and Leclerc to get ahead of him, while the two Ferraris also caught up with the McLaren driver in the final laps.
Under pressure from Sainz, Norris locked up the left-front going into Turn 1 on the final lap, going wide and allowing his friend to get by, with Leclerc also catching him with five corners to go, but lacking a couple more corners to make a decisive move – the two nearly touching twice, in Turns 12 and 15, in the final lap.
Hamilton, racing with a broken front suspension part, caught up to Russell before his rear tyres gave up, finishing in P6, while Haas had the measure of the rest of the midfield and collected the final three points at hand, Magnussen, for once, finishing ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
While Verstappen and Norris were brawling, Carlos hit the front and was never really challenged. Below: On this occasion it wasn’t really Yuki’s fault, but it was still spectacular ... Opposite page. Top left:
CARLOS SAINZ gave Ferrari its second consecutive Grand Prix win with a dominant display in the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, in Mexico City.
The Spanish driver was untouchable in qualifying, beating Verstappen by 0.225s and drove a very strong and controlled race to score the fourth Grand Prix win of his career. Behind him, Verstappen and Norris managed to have two incidents in less than 15 seconds, the Dutchman collecting two 10-second penalties for his actions and dropping completely out of contention for the podium.
Sainz had been clearly the quickest in qualifying but, as it often happens at this circuit, the Ferrari driver lost the lead on the very long run down into Turn 1, with Verstappen slipping ahead.
Sainz tried to out-brake the Dutchman on the outside – a brave move, as seen in Austin and a few laps later here in Mexico – but was given no room and took across the grass. Emerging in the lead, he allowed the Red Bull driver through, to avoid a penalty.
Behind them, contact between Albon and Tsunoda led to a Safety Car period, as both cars were damaged by the side of the track, so Sainz got another chance when the race resumed but Verstappen judged the re-start perfectly and kept the lead for one more lap.
The Ferrari driver’s pace was clearly better and, at the start of lap nine, Sainz just whizzed
past Verstappen and retook a lead he was to keep until the end of the race.
One lap later, a messy scuffle between Verstappen and Norris made life much easier for Ferrari, Leclerc slipping through when the two title contenders went off in Turn 7 and settling into second place. An Austin repeat seemed on the cards, especially as Verstappen was holding the faster Norris behind and allowing the red cars to pull a big lead.
By lap 25 there was nearly five seconds between the two Ferrari drivers with Verstappen 10 seconds behind the leader and Norris still stuck behind him. The Dutchman, however, was struggling for grip and pitted immediately after, the 20s lost due to the penalty dropping him to 15th place.
Unleashed, Norris wasn’t making an inroads on the red cars, so he pitted on lap 30, swiftly followed by the two drivers from the Scuderia, the order at the front remaining unchanged.
From then on Sainz wanted to save his tyres but, with Norris pushing hard and cutting the gap to Leclerc, the Monegasque had to react.
Annoyed by his team-mate’s pace, Sainz complained “there’s no need to push this hard” but after being told about the McLaren’s pace, upped his game and controlled the race until the end.
A delighted Sainz admitted that “I really wanted this one. I really needed it also for myself. I wanted to get it done. I’ve been saying for a while I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari and to do it here in front of this mega crowd is incredible.
“Now, with four races left, I want to enjoy as much as possible, and if another one comes, I will go for it.”
On the move that put him back in the lead, Sainz explained that “I was just a bit annoyed with the start and having lost position to him. And I said to myself, ‘I need to surprise him one way or another’ because Max is super difficult to pass. He’s proven it many, many times. And I was a bit far back, but I said, ‘I have nothing to lose, I’m just going to send one down the inside.’
“I’ve been very confident with braking into Turn 1 this weekend. And I knew I could make it.”
Behind him, Leclerc was in trouble, though, as his rear tyres were starting to go; and losing precious time – and tyre temperature – behind
Stroll while lapping him, didn’t help. At the end of lap 62 the SF-24 got away from him coming out of the last corner and the Monegasque narrowly avoided the wall while seeing Norris slip by into P2.
Third, and with a big gap to the two Mercedes, Leclerc pitted for Softs and took the fastest lap, so his net loss to Norris was just two points. Ferrari scored 41 points in Mexico, against 22 for McLaren, the gap between the two teams coming down to 29 points in the Constructors’ championship, with still four Grands Prix – two sprints included – to go.
McLAREN’S LOST OPPORTUNITY LOOKING AT the pace shown by Norris and Piastri once they both got in free air in the second part of the race, it seems McLaren
did have the quickest race car on Sunday and should have taken home more than a second and an eighth place.
The young Australian blew his chances with an avoidable mistake at the end of Q1, starting the race from P19, so he did quite well to recover 11 positions on a track where overtaking is far from straightforward.
For Norris, the time lost behind Verstappen cost him any chance of attacking Sainz in the last few laps but he was still quite happy with P2 and the net gain of 10 points over his rival: “I’m happy with P2. Normally I wouldn’t be, but I think on a day like today, I was happy. Things looked like they could go a lot worse, especially in the first part of the race. So, to keep the car in one piece and to keep the race alive was important.
“And the pace was extremely strong, so it’s a shame that we lost so much in the first stint with some of the battles that we had. If I was a bit more in there and in the mix, then I think our opportunities could have been even better.”
Norris had caught Verstappen at the end of lap 10 and pulled alonsgside him, but on the outside, going into Turn 4. Ahead at the apex, The McLaren driver was pushed off the track but kept his foot down, cut across to Turn 5, and emerged ahead of his rival. Verstappen then tried an impossible move down the inside into Turn 8 – not an overtaking point – going way off the track and taking the British driver with him.
As the Dutchman kept the position, a penalty was inevitable and with another 10s being handed to him for pushing Norris off, his race was essentially done.
The McLaren driver admitted that “I knew what to expect. I didn’t want to expect such a thing, because I respect Max a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this.
This is not very clean driving, in my opinion, but I avoided it, and it was a good race.”
VERSTAPPEN BLOWS A FUSE
THE DUTCHMAN obviously felt hard done by the double penalties and was quite ironic on the radio, but dialled down his fury at the end of the race.
Having suffered a lot more tyre degradation than his rivals, both with the Medium and the Hard tyres, Verstappen tried to focus on that, saying that “the biggest problem that I have is that today was a bad day in terms of race pace; that was quite clear again on the Mediums and on the Hard tyres. We are too slow, and that’s why I’m being put in those kinds of positions. That is my problem.”
On the penalties, the World Champion admitted that “20 seconds is a lot,” quickly adding that “I’m not going to cry about it and I’m also not going to share my opinion…” but still said that “I just drive how I think I have to drive. Last week that was all right, this week it got me a 20-second penalty. It is what it is. Life goes on.”
The truth is that while his defensive move into Turn 4 was typical Verstappen, making sure there was no room on the corner exit for Norris, the dive bomb into Turn 8 gave everyone flashbacks to Brazil 2012, when the Dutchman braked impossibly late for Turn 4 and forced Hamilton off the road.
It’s a sign of desperation from a driver that knows he now only has the third-quickest car in the field and feels a 47-point lead may not be enough. But it’s also proof that, now in his tenth Formula 1 season, Verstappen hasn’t fully matured and still has his share of red mist moments when things are not going his way.
To compound Red Bull’s terrible day, with Verstappen in P6, Pérez jumped the start, got a penalty for it, had a couple of incidents with
Lawson and Colapinto to finish 17th and last in front of his home crowd … Is his seat safe until the end of the year?
Many in Red Bull’s camp think it’s not, so let’s wait and see …
BENEFITTING FROM Verstappen’s double penalty, Pérez’s weekend off and Piastri’s mistake in qualifying, Mercedes ended up in fourth and fifth places with Hamilton beating Russell after a lengthy battle.
The youngster, on the old aero package, had damage to the top flap of the left front wing from mid-race on so, eventually, Hamilton, on the new, unproven, package got the better of him to claim P4.
Behind them and Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen drove superbly to finish the race in seventh place, managing to keep the recovering Piastri at bay by just 1.5s. With Hulkenberg finishing in ninth place, Haas scored eight precious points that puts the American team 10 points clear of VCARB in the championship.
Gasly finished 10th and happy with the first point with the new upgrade, counting himself lucky that his car didn’t get too much damage after the left front wheel was hit by one of Tsunoda’s loose wheels on the run down to Turn 1.
LIFE WAS always going to be difficult for Oscar Piastri, starting from 17th on the grid. Being cautious as all hell broke loose ahead of him after the Tsunoda/ Albon collision, the Australian just kept his position and was unable to make progress until lap 10.
Passing the two Saubers was not too hard but Colapinto proved a tough nut to crack, Piastri admitting “he was not too slow.” It took him a few laps to get ahead of the Williams. Stroll was easy prey on lap 24 and, with Alonso retiring, the McLaren driver found himself in the top 10.
As those who also started on the Mediums pitted, Piastri stayed out and moved up to P5 but could do nothing about the two Mercedes, who eased past on fresh tyres.
Stopping only on lap 39, the McLaren driver resumed the race in 13th place and had a storming second stint to miss P7 by a very small margin.
That’s why the youngster admitted that “taking away the result, I felt like it was coming together to be a good weekend, so the result is obviously a massive shame. But I think there’s still some positives compared to last weekend, which was a pretty lonely P5. I felt like today I had at least a bit more control over my destiny.”
On his second battle with Colapinto, once they were both on fresh tyres, Piastri commented that “I think after I pitted, he had quite a big moment and defended very hard, which I think cost both of us a lot of time, but he can do what he wants. He doesn’t have to make life easy. It was just a bit tougher than I expected to get through, but once we had some clean air the pace was good.”
And, being self-critical as usual, the McLaren driver made it clear that “the key in that, is make sure you’ve got clean air by qualifying well.”
Praising his driver Andrea Stella admitted that “Oscar pretty much finished where we thought he would finish, without being able to overtake everyone easily. In fact, it wasn’t easy to overtake. This meant we lost the little time that meant we couldn’t pass the second Haas, which is what our realistic target was.”
And adding a cheeky comment, the Italian noted that “actually, Max wasn’t that far, so with some more pace and some easier overtaking, this could have been a target,” before concluding with an important reminder to all: “Oscar didn’t have the upgraded car, so he did a fantastic job in getting back into the points.”
ANY V8 Supercars team that allowed any of their drivers to compete in next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour instead of the pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park would face serious sanctions.
The offending drivers would also be severely disciplined as V8 boss James Warburton threatened tough action to enforce full participation in the season-launching SuperTest, which had been expanded to two days, February 7-8.
V8 Supercars had been widely criticised by motorsport fans for scheduling the test on the same weekend as the Bathurst 12 Hour.
The clash was also unpopular with the several V8 drivers who planned to contest the 12 Hour, now regarded internationally as a major GT endurance race.
There had been suggestions that drivers could miss the test to compete at Mount Panorama, if allowed by their teams.
Although unlikely in most cases, Nissan – which had strongly opposed the clash because it was fielding a factory GT3 entry in the 12 Hour – would rather Rick Kelly
THERE WAS a strong possibility that Peter Brock was heading to England shortly after the Phillip Island 500 of the ManChamps.
be at Bathurst.
But according to informed sources, Warburton had let it be known that all drivers had to take part in the test and all associated promotional activities, just as the teams are compelled to attend and participate.
He made it clear that he would enforce the rules and impose harsh penalties on drivers who missed the test to contest the Bathurst 12 Hour, as well as punishing their team for releasing them.
Warburton was understood to have warned that offenders would be hit with exclusions or heavy fines – or both.
Publicly, he characterised the clash as an ‘unavoidable conflict’ because of new primary broadcaster Fox Sports’ commitments to other big sporting events the weekend before and the weekend after. Privately, he was said to be fuming that there is any debate or dissent in the V8 fraternity.
In England, Brock was predicted to drive for the British HDT equivalent, the Vauxhall Dealer Team. Speculation suggested that Brock would spend time away from Australia and not return until late 1975.
Also overseas, Warwick Brown impressed at Riverside Raceway California and finished fourth in the USAC and SCCA race in a Lola T332.
Bob Muir saw victory snatched from his grasp in the penultimate round of the Van Heusen Championship.
Muir was pushed back to third due to a startline drama and the win went to John Leffler.
ADELAIDE WAS alive after the South Australian Premier John Bannon confirmed the maiden Australian Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix would go ahead in 1985.
After negotiating with Bernie Ecclestone in London, Bannon announced they had agreed to an initial three-year deal.
Before the meeting there were fears the government was unhappy with FOCA’s first offer.
On the track, Niki Lauda snuck ahead of McLaren teammate Alain Prost to win a thrilling 1984 F1 World Championship by just half a point.
Despite Prost cruising to victory in the Portugal finale, second place was enough for Lauda to take a famous third title.
THE FIRST spy pics of the new Ford EF Falcon were seen as Dick Johnson Racing tested the new car ahead of the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship.
With just days before CAMS’ homologation deadline, the EF Falcon hit the track for the first time.
“We have lost front downforce from that (losing the diplanes),” Bowe said.
“It behaved differently (but)the times matched up which is about where we wanted to be.”
Michael Schumacher made his return from a two-race ban at Jerez in style by winning the European Grand Prix.
Damon Hill was probably not going to beat Schumacher, but a bad mistake from Williams during the first refuelling stop did not help his cause as he finished 24s adrift.
Nigel Mansell also made a comeback, but made a “pigs ear” of the start from third on the grid.
MARCOS AMBROSE was under the microscope after allegations of brake testing Rick Kelly after the opening Supercars race on the Gold Coast.
Ambrose was fined $10,000 for careless driving after appearing to slow after taking the chequered flag and winning the opening race with the lapped Rick Kelly right behind him.
It led to an extraordinary media conference where Greg Murphy turned into the press and starting grilling Ambrose in an intense exchange.
Murphy ended up having the last laugh, winning the round after they tied on points.
Both legends Peter Brock and Dick Johnson told AA of their disappointment in Ambrose’s actions.
The Champ Cars were still the biggest show in town and David Besnard made an unexpected debut and finished seventh.
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