 At the peak of Australian Speedway racing and all its possible accolades, sits the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at the top. This is the race to be a part of if you're a small Sprintcar team, and the race to win for many others.   It's more than just three days, rather a week of festivity, with most teams already in the area after competing at the Tolmer Double Down and Premier's Speedways International Sprintcar Carnival the week prior. The annual President's Cup at Avalon and King's Challenge at Mount Gambier prelude the Grand Annual Classic and becomes the harbinger for those with the speed to go all the way to the $60,000 prize at the end of those famous 40 laps.   This would be my second Classic, and the first time I'd photograph the entire week itself. Once again, I had media credentials but no infield access for the Classic, but to me that didn't really matter. There are plenty of vantage points around Premier Speedway and although the extra access would have made my job easier, I didn't mind. I mean, I was at the Classic! Where else would you rather be?      The 90+ entries would be split across the first two nights to gather points, determining their position for the final night. As always, the announcements of who would be taking part from overseas always began the hype around each year's race. Former New Zealand champ Max Guilford and Americans, TJ Stubbs, Justin Whittall, Carson Macedo and 2014 Classic winner Tim Kaeding would be the international entrants competing in the opening night.    Ryan Potts was the first to fly and not in a good way, flipping wildly in hot laps, with his Classic pretty much done before it began. Carson Macedo would also begin on the backfoot, after a broken U-joint took him out of qualifying, with no lap set. Justin Whittall would set overall QuickTime with an 11.227 lap, as Kerry Madsen went fastest in the second group at 11.734 seconds.    During the heat races, Callum Williamson, Matthew Symmons and Bobby Daly were all involved in incidents, with their teams rushing to make it back out.   Despite being the fastest car in qualifying, Justin Whittall would have to fight among the B-Main to advance to the first Prelim A-Main. However, it would end immediately at Turn 2, as he was sent spinning into the wall. On the opposite end of the spectrum, fellow American Carson Macedo, who had an engine change after hot laps, moved through the B-Main to advance, along with Daniel Pestka, Scott Enderl and Kobi Wright.    With the four wide salute to the fans, it was time for the first A-Main of this year's classic. Matt Egel and Tate Frost took to the lead at the start, before Peter Doukas and Kerry Madsen made themselves known near the front. Doukas and Madsen were throwing it down at Matt Egel amongst traffic when Callum Williamson brought out the first yellow after spinning in Turn 2. With under ten laps to go, all eyes turned to a fast-moving Brock Hallet, who went from third to first after starting twelfth in a couple of laps. Matt Egel tried to get the lead back but to no avail, Brock Hallet would win Night 1, with Jock Goodyer and Kerry Madsen completing the top four, locking themselves into Sunday night's A-Main. After an astonishing performance, Peter Doukas would unfortunately spin on his own on the final lap when he was running seventh.      Night 2 was now upon us, with the final five Americans taking to the track. Ryan Timms, who won the biggest Sprintcar race on earth at the Knoxville Nationals as a rookie and had already shown his prowess at Borderline two nights ago, was one to watch. Hunter Schuerenberg, 2024 winner Aaron Reutzel, Cole Macedo and Xavier Doney - making his lone start this season in Australia - were the other four outlaws looking to lock into tomorrows A-Main. Cole Macedo was one of the favourites coming into this year's event and would go fastest in Flight 1 of qualifying with a 11.465 second lap. Jy Corbet would just pip Macedo's time in Flight 2 to score the overall QuickTime after a lap of 11.434 seconds.     However, Hot Laps and Qualifying was not straightforward at all, taking two hours to complete. First it was Chris Johns to flip after one timed lap, then during the second flight, all hell would break loose. Brendon Farrer would crash in Hot Laps, before something broke on Luke Thomas' hot rod, causing him to wreck violently. All hands were on deck around both Farrer and Luke Thomas' car, with a new chassis being prepped for the N15 whilst extensive fence repairs were being completed. The W2 was also being worked on after Kingshott had issues in qualifying.   Mitch Saller suffered engine problems in qualifying, and not for the first time during his trip down south. With no more parts, the team's Classic was over. After the fence was repaired, Ryan Timms would smack the wall and flip, and although the team patched the car up, Timms wasn't at the time cleared by the medical team, becoming another one failing to put down a single qualifying lap.    A manic qualifying was just the beginning; it was in fact a crazy night from start to finish. There were so many little things that added bits of drama to the night from unsure points tallies and questions regarding the rule book and of course exciting racing. Kinser Claridge would lose his front wheel whilst leading on the final lap. The wheel would cross the line, but Claridge would not, instead giving the best interview of the event, bubbly as ever, just thankful to be a racing driver. Cole Macedo smacked the wall hard in his second heat and still won to start on the front row of Night 2's A-Main. Travis Millar led most of Heat 8, until the crowd roared as James McFadden went by, followed by Ryan Timms. McFaddden would win the heat and start on the front row of the A-Main, as Travis was absolutely chuffed to have raced against a couple of the best Sprintcar drivers on earth.     At the drop of the green, McFadden and Macedo would pull away, as Jy Corbet settled into third. With twelve laps to go, Randy Morgan would spin and bring out the yellow and bunching up the field. A battle between Madsen and Reutzel opened the door on the backstraight for Brad Vaughan to slip through and find himself in fourth on the second restart after Ian Madsen came to a stop on track. Vaughan wasn't finished there, making a move on Jy Corbet, pulling away as Ryan Timms had moved up to sixth from a twentieth-place starting position. James McFadden would take the Prelim Night 2 victory, shoe and beverage in hand, followed by Cole Macedo and rookie sensation Brad Vaughan. Jy Corbet would finish fourth and lock himself into tomorrow's Classic race.    As always, Premier Speedway became a packed house on Sunday for Classic Night, the car park filled up quickly and Mount Max soon became standing room only, even before cars hit the track. There would only be engine starts at the beginning of the night, with Hot Laps reserved for the eight already locked into the main event. Six final heat races would solidify the points table and set the grid for the C-Main and pair of B-Mains. The winners of each heat, including two others would lock their way into the A-Main.   The top four drivers from the C-Main would tag along to the pair of B's, and it would be one of mayhem. Jason Wilson would spin on the second lap, and on the third, Troy Hose would do the same, collecting Alex Attard, Steven Loader and Kevin Titman. Titman would continue but would collide with Wilson soon after. Kinser Claridge, Adam Alexander, Luke Thomas and Tarhlea Apelt would all advance. Unfortunately, Claridge would flip out of contention in the first B-Main, as Marcus Dumesny won and Ian Madsen Carson Macedo and Luke Storer fought to hold on to their transfer spots. The second B-Main was also one of carnage, with Brodie Davis flipping wildly on the frontstraight as everyone diced to avoid, and not long later three Americans would all fail to finish, as Whitall ran into a slowing TJ Stubbs, and Ryan Timms had nowhere to go. Peter Doukas, Daniel Sayre, Tim Kaeding and Jordy Rae would all snatch up the final transfer spots to make it into the 53rd Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic. 
 Now that we had the 24 drivers competing for Australian Speedway's greatest prize, it was time to introduce them, but not before shattering the sky and smoking out the speedway with a ton of fireworks. On the back of Harley Davidsons, the drivers would be ridden through the pit gate for introductions.   One final four-wide salute to the fans, made up of 24 of the best, and one final fireworks display before the green flag dropped and racing began. Hallet led at the start before McFadden quickly took the lead a lap later. Macedo and Goodyer fought their way ahead of McFadden, right before the arguably biggest moment of the week. Tim Kaeding and Ian Madsen got together vying for the same piece of real estate into Turn 3. Daniel Sayre and the top four of Macedo, Goodyer, McFadden and Kerry Madsen were all victims, with Macedo and Madsen out immediately. Kaeding and Ian Madsen were animated at each other, as brother Kerry, Goodyer and McFadden were all just as annoyed. McFadden and Goodyer would continue, alas at the tail of the field with ill-handling cars.   Brock Hallet would lead the field back to green, and it would be Aaron Reutzel looking to move forward at the front. With 25 laps to go, Bradley Vaughan would suffer a front right failure sending him into the wall and upside down, and the feel-good story of the Classic was over in an instant.    After getting by Matt Egel for second, Aaron Reutzel would set his sights on Brock Hallet and would take the lead with 18 to go. With nine to go, Carson Macedo rode the wall and flipped out of Turn 2, now both pairs of brothers out of this race.  McHugh would get by Hallet for second, as Aaron Reutzel checked out, taking his second Classic victory in three years and bringing Monte Motorsport back to victory lane at the Classic. Bonus Gallery         
                  
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 The yearly Sprintcar Speedweek in the southeast of Australia begins on Boxing Day at Murray Bridge Speedway, before travelling to Tolmer Speedway, Borderline Speedway, Avalon Raceway and finishing at Premier Speedway on New Year's Day.   Unfortunately for me who was eager to photograph the entire Speedweek, I just wouldn’t be able to make the first night at Murray Bridge coming from Melbourne, and of course, I wouldn’t end my Speedweek until I’d also photographed the yearly Wingless Summer Slam.   So, my itinerary would consist of ten days, eight events at six different speedways. As the Brandt Speedweek circus began at Murray Bridge, I would start at Avalon Raceway for their Sprintcar Gold Cup.      Thirty Sprintcars took to the sun kissed Avalon Raceway, with Jordyn Charge and Jamie Veal the favourites after qualifying, as Chad Gardner and crew completed an engine change. Charge, Dane Court, Daniel Pestka and Grant Stansfield all took the chequered flag first in their respective heat races.    Jordyn Charge and Jamie Veal would start on your front row, and it would be almost immediate drama. A stack up between multiple cars caused Dennis Jones, Dane Court and Ashley Cook to all stop in Turn 2, with the latter two retiring from the feature.     Jamie Veal took the lead from Charge as they fought through traffic, and didn't look back. With eighteen laps remaining, Bobby Daly found the Turn 2 wall bringing out the second and final yellow flag of the race. It would be a battle for third between Will Carrol and a quick Parker Scott, who snapped up the final place on the podium with seven laps left. Jamie Veal would once again win at Avalon, followed by Jordyn Charge and Parker Scott.   Soon enough, I was on the road to Tolmer Speedway to join the Brandt Sprintcar Speedweek circus. In addition to the strong Australian cohort of competition, TJ Stutts, member of the infamous Pennsylvania Posse would also be competing, along with reigning New Zealand Sprintcar champ Max Guilford.     After engine starts and a thorough cleaning of mud off the cars, Todd Moule would grab QuickTime in Flight 1 by only three thousandths of a second ahead of Matt Egel. Steven Loader was QuickTime in Flight 2 until Dylan Menz - the last car to head on track - snatched the award away.     Max Guilford, Dylan Jenkin, Lockie McHugh and Peter Doukas would take the chequered flag first for each of the four heat races, which would determine the grids for the B and A-Mains  During Sprintcar Speedweek, the top eight in points (combined from qualifying and heat race results) would take part in the A-Main dash, setting the top eight positions for the feature. The running order to start the Dash however would be set by a draw, with drivers picking their number from some young fans.    It was an unlucky Speedweek for Luke Storer, particularly at Tolmer. Contact on the backstraight during the heat race unsettled the car, and the sudden drop in speed meant Alex Attard ran over the front of the S98, before Dennis Jones arrived head-on. It was all hands-on deck to get the car repaired, but in the B-Main, whilst in the top four transfer spots, a flat tyre ended his run.    The A-Main would go green for all 35-laps, making for the fastest Sprintcar feature at Tolmer so far. Lockie McHugh went unchallenged for most of the race, as Dylan Jenkin, Dylan Menz and Jordyn Charge fought for the podium. Behind, battles for position we're thick, far and wide.   Ryan Newton - who won the night before at Murray Bridge - was leading his heat race before a sudden mechanical failure brought him infield. After winning the B-Main, Newton would move through the field to finish second and keep the lead of the Speedweek standings. No one, however, was going to catch Lockie McHugh, grabbing his third win at Tolmer, as Jordyn Charge finished third.    The following day and two hours south, everyone would arrive at Mt Gambier's Borderline Speedway, where a few extra Victorian teams would join the action including Jamie Veal who went QuickTime in Flight 2, after Matt Dumesny did the same in the first flight of cars.    Jordyn Charge's great run of results would come to an abrupt end after a flip in the second heat race, bringing his night at Borderline to a close. On the opposite spectrum, Jy Corbet won his heat and the dash after Brock Hallet was swamped at the drop of the green flag and would start on the pole position of the feature.   The B-Main would be a race of attrition and an insight into what was to come. Thirteen of the twenty drivers finished, with Jake Smith failing to start, four cars getting stuck together and Scott Enderl experiencing a hefty rollover.     Jy Corbet and Lockie McHugh would start on the front row when the green flag dropped on the A-Main and immediately started duking it out. Eight laps into the race, Randy Morgan and Rusty Hickman got together, ending Hickman's race with front end damage. It soon became a war of attrition similar to the B-Main, with drivers dropping like flies as the pulled infield to retire. With five laps to go, Jy Corbet would smack the Turn 4 wall and Randy Morgan would hit the rear of the stopped NQ10, resulting in a flip for Morgan. Matt Dumesny would fail to refire, ending a great run for him, and on the restart, Dylan Jenkin would bounce through Turn 3 and into the side of Ryan Newton, sending him spinning. Lockie McHugh would take the victory once again, followed by Matt Egel and Max Guilford.    After a needed day off, I was back at an overcast Avalon Raceway for Night 4 of Sprintcar Speedweek. Brendan Quinn put down a storming lap to go QuickTime in Flight 1, as Luke Storer was pipped by Jordyn Charge in Flight 2. Cory McCullagh would also be back in the saddle, 368 days since the last time he strapped into a Sprintcar, driving Dane Court's V96, and performed as if he never left.   Unfortunately, Brendan Quinn would be unable to capatilise on his quick qualifying, as a dive through Turn 3 caused contact with Chris Johns, causing him to flip. However, despite the bent top wing, Johns would continue in the heat race as Quinn was sent to the back. Brock Hallet, Jamie Veal, Cory McCullagh and Rusty Hickman would win the four heats, joining McHugh, Storer, Charge and Will Carrol in the Top 8 Dash.   Rusty Hickman would beat Jordyn Charge to pole position in the Dash, as Dylan Jenkin had a large wreck in the B-Main, that began in Turn 4 after he tried to gather the car up from a wheel stand.    When the green flag dropped for the A-Main, Jordyn Charge would pull away from the field immediately, and would do so on the restart, caused for a sideways Will Carrol in Turn 2, with Matt Dumesny having nowhere to go but into the side of the NT25. As the laps wound down however, Jamie Veal and Lockie McHugh would battle Charge for the lead, but to no avail. After wrecking at Borderline, Charge would not only be back on the podium, but on the top step, celebrating on Avalon's new winner's mound.    There'd be no Sprintcar racing across the country on New Year's Eve, but a day later, the final round of Sprintcar Speedweek would be held at Premier Speedway, where all eyes were on Lockie McHugh, on the verge of second series victory in a row. Jock Goodyer would also be one to watch, joining the fun, racing Jack Lee's V25 after competing in the High Limit International in Perth. However, focus would quickly turn to the fastest in qualifying. The Storer name would be on top of the timesheets, but it would be brother Daniel scoring QuickTime, as Max Guilford showed his speed at his second visit to Warrnambool with QuickTime in Flight 2.   The racing would be clean yet exciting, with the B-Main out on track with the sun still above the horizon, all a testament to the hard work of the volunteers at Premier Speedway.     Daniel Storer pulled away in the Dash to start the feature on pole and would do the same in the A-Main, lapping faster than the rest of the field after the first restart caused by Goodyer, Anderson and Morris getting together. However, seven laps later, Storer would pull infield with issues. Hallet would grab the lead but would be harassed by McHugh as they fought through traffic. Hallet would pull away in the final stages to win, as Lockie McHugh finished second becoming the first name on the new John Sidney trophy as he won the Brandt Sprintcar Speedweek once again.   The winged Sprintcar action would be over for me after New Year's Day, and so too would the long drives to the tracks. However, it would be straight into photographing another multi-night series, that being the Wingless Summer Slam.   Not only would I be on my standard photo duties, but I would also be running the Victorian Wingless social media page, posting the heat race winners, race results, series points and some images from each night.    It was certainly a chaotic night of racing, however, one with plenty of good racing. Ten winners from ten different heat races, set up two exciting B-Mains and a 30-lap feature that would see Travis Millar pull away from the field to win with Blake Walsh second and Tyson Martin third, with plenty of battles behind them.    Next up was Laang Speedway, 50km west, the short 280-metre bullring that always provides plenty of action, and did so once again, even more than the previous night. Despite some of the carnage, there was plenty of hard racing, with no one really standing out as the favourite until the A-Main.    After a handful of drivers fell to the wayside at the beginning of the feature, Travis Millar lead most of the race, until Blake Walsh took the lead down the inside with nine laps to go. Kyle Mock would avoid the carnage and move through the field to finish second ahead of Millar, as Blake Walsh's win would put him tied with Millar on points heading to Premier Speedway, with Chris Temby 16 points behind, ready to pounce.    It would be back to Warrnambool for the final night of Summer Slam, and to conclude my own Speedweek. All eyes were on Travis Millar and Blake Walsh, who were swapping positions near the top of the nights points standings with each overtake in their heat races. Meanwhile Kyle Mock, (who had been using Summer Slam to test the new purpose-built ARC Wingless chassis), suffered mechanical dramas in his first heat, before taking the victory in his second. Both Mock and Chris Ansell would have an exciting battle in the first B-Main, throwing sliders at each other as they both advanced to the A-Main. Tyson Martin and Blaine Densley would win both their heat races and would thus, start on the front row of the feature.     The green flag would fly for the final A-Main of Summer Slam, and in the span of two laps, Blake Walsh had taken the lead around the outside, and pole sitter Blaine Densley had pulled infield with engine dramas, as it became anyone's game for second place. Tyson Martin was next to pull infield from third, as Mitch Broome brought out the caution at the halfway mark. Chris Temby looked to be banging down the wall in an attempt to catch Walsh, but it wouldn't be enough, as Walsh would score back-to-back wins, Temby second and Luke Weel in third. Blake Walsh's first Wingless victory at Premier Speedway would also land him his second Summer Slam belt.   With that, the busiest part of the season had been completed, ten days attending eight events at six different speedways across two states, taking thousands of photographs and covering some fantastic racing. It wasn't over though, a busy January was just around the corner. Bonus Gallery                        For as long as I can remember, I've watched the Bathurst 1000 from the couch, and as a motorsport photographer, of all the races in the country, the 'Great Race' was at the top of my bucket list to photograph. It's a must watch race every year, because anything can happen. Careers and legends are created here, and this year would be no different.   The week would begin with what is becoming a common occurrence during Supercar's weekends, the 'Track to Town' allowing fans to get up close and personal with the machines and meet those who will attempt to tame them on track.   It would be thanks to Erebus Motorsport that I'd get the opportunity to be trackside for this year's Bathurst 1000 installment. Not only would they have their four drivers in the Great Race, but also be supporting Ollie Wickham in the Toyota GR Cup, and Max Geoghan competing in Super2.
In addition to the team's main game drivers of Jack Le Brocq and Cooper Murray, the rising talent of Jarrod Hughes and Jobe Stewart would join as their co-drivers for the 2025 Enduro Cup.   Like many of the co-drivers competing at Mt Panorama, both Jarrod and Jobe would be pulling double duty, racing in both Supercars and Super2. There seemed to be a black cat wandering around Jarrod's Super2 car with the amount of bad luck he was handed, as Jobe Stewart had a moment at Forrest Elbow during his shootout lap, smacking the wall and giving me and plenty of others a mild heart attack.     In addition to the demands that come from being on track and preparing for the 1000km race, as always there are the PR demands too for the drivers including multiple signing sessions. Chiko would again jump on board to sponsor the #99 car for the Bathurst 1000 and would have their own little pop-up near merchandise alley, serving Chiko rolls whilst also having a claw machine where you could win a sticker or some socks.   As reigning champions, Erebus would get to display the coveted Peter Brock trophy until the race on Sunday, and it's so cool that instead of it being in a glass case in a museum, it gets moved around, with fans getting to hold it on the podium, sat on a cheap metal chair in the garage among Chiko rolls, and even brought to the top of the mountain to be shared with the unique individuals who camp there every year. For a bit of fun, Betty Klimenko zip tied the trophy to her wrist on Sunday to show that Erebus were certainly going to put up a fight to retain the moniker of 'Kings and Queens of the Mountain'.   Practice 1 would look gloomy, but the rain would stay away for the moment, as all drivers aimed to get comfortable in their cars, at one of the toughest racetracks on earth. Cooper Murray set the sixth fastest time with a 2:06.068 lap, after a large lockup into the Chase, as the #9 Tyrepower pair of Jack and Jarrod set their fastest time of a 2:06.317, putting them tenth.   The rain would make its return for Practice 2, a co-driver only session. One thing you don't want to do is crash your car on the first day, but with rain predicted for Sunday, it was critical for the co-drivers to get used to the conditions and gather some data. Jarrod (2:09.313) and Jobe (2:10.194) finish the session in 14th and 19th, with experience rather than speed being the aim.   The sun was shining on Friday, and all four Erebus drivers would get on track, with Cooper and Jobe in sixth (2:05.121) and Jack and Jarrod in fourteenth (2:05.546). The pace was consistent, even though they fell down the order in the fourth session, as Cooper (2.05.191) placed 17th with the #9 pair (2.05.402) in 20th.   Friday was all about finding the pace for qualifying at the end of the day, with everyone eyeing the top ten to make the iconic shootout come Saturday. And it would be unbelievable close, with the top six within less than a tenth of a second of each other. Cooper Murray could well have been on provisional pole, minus a hairy moment at the final corner, as unfortunately Jack Le Brocq would qualify back in seventeenth.    To end a what was a busy Friday, the #99 entry had their scheduled pit stop practice, to make driver swaps, brake changes, possible double stacking and everything in between become second nature for the drivers and mechanics.   The final co-driver only session took place on Saturday morning, with Jarrod and Jobe keeping it clean as a couple of other drivers became acquainted with the Turn 1 gravel trap. Jarrod placed in ninth with a 2:06.339 with Jobe in 24th, after setting a lap time of 2.07.158.     Final practice would give teams another chance for pitstop practice and would also be most drivers final opportunity to push their cars to the limit before the 1000km battle. Cooper Murray's second last lap (2:05.367) of the session was his fastest, placing him fourth as the Tyrepower duo sat 25th at the end.   It was now time for the greatest qualifying session of the season, the iconic Bathurst top ten shootout. Cooper was fast climbing the mountain, yet lost some time as he danced across it, and closed the gap in the last sector. With a time of 2:04.600, he and Jobe Stewart would start sixth for the great race.   An early morning on Bathurst day began with a quick warm up session, and the teams last chance to practice their pitstops and driver changes, as well as getting a few more laps under their belts.   Soon enough, the cars were lined up on the grid, with both main-game drivers starting the race, and as the pre-race festivities began, I walked to Turn 1. Before heading to Bathurst, I watched previous year's race starts, particularly those from the 90's and early 2000's to get an idea of how I wanted to shoot the race start. The common camera angle from television coverage showed the mountain of fans in the background, so I wanted to show that as well. 
I heard the marshals call out 'car stopped' for the stalled #14 car before I realised that the lights had gone out and the clutches had been dropped. After a few laps, I walked to the top of the hill on the front straight to soak in the atmosphere and was happy to report it was standing room only. It was also great to hear the cheers and reactions from the crowd, as if you were in a stadium. The Bathurst 1000 really is a yearly pilgrimage for many.   Jack Le Brocq pitted very early putting him on a different strategy, but I made it back to the garage to catch the first pitstop for Cooper Murray, who had moved up to second as everyone kept a keen eye on the radar. There was a large weather system south of Bathurst, and nobody knew when the predicted rain would actually hit. A quick sandwich and edit of photos, then I headed back out. 
I visited the final corner for some more track shots, when on lap 55, the first safety car came out. That's when the wind changed, now coming from the south, and instead of heading back to the garage, I made the confusing walk to 'The Chase', predicting that rain would arrive soon.   I spent a long time at 'The Chase', waiting for the rain to move from the top of the mountain to the bottom, watching the stories of the race unfold, and it was here that I began to really get excited, as it dawned on me. Holy crap, I'm photographing the Bathurst 1000!   It was also around Lap 85 that both Erebus cars found themselves together in the Top 10.   Finally, I headed back to edit some more photos, making sure I was back in the garage for the final pit stops of the race. The team's job was complete, now it was down to the drivers, and Cooper Murray and Jobe Stewart had put themselves in a position to win it all.   With 22 laps to go on the safety car restart, Cooper Murray moved into second place, and a lap later, took the lead of the race, and held the lead for a long time, but Matt Payne who is known to be fast in the wet was reeling him in.   I was now capturing the reactions of the team, who were unimaginably, more nervous than I was as Matt Payne went side by side with Cooper down the backstraight. Suddenly, the garage erupted in cheers and excitement as the quickest driver in the wet out of the top three, fired off the road and fell back to third.   With five laps to go, it was now James Golding looking to get past the Chiko Camaro, and did so, but only by making contact into Griffin's Bend, with an extremely optimistic move. Again, I didn't see it as it happened, and when I turned to look at the screen, time seemed to freeze as Cooper was parallel to the tyre barrier. Up until that point, I had felt nerves like never before, and all I felt now was that gut-wrenching feeling of disappointment that Bathurst so often delivers. And I was just a photographer, I can't imagine how the team felt.  
Golding received a five second penalty for the move, but created a five second gap to Cooper, meaning after all that, Erebus didn't even get a podium. I expected to feel something at the Bathurst 1000 that was going to be unlike anything else that I had experienced photographing motorsport, but I had no idea it would be anything like this. I had never felt so nervous during a race, and it certainly took me a few days to process what happened with five laps to go. If there was one thing to take from the experience though, it's that Erebus Motorsport are very often a chance at the Bathurst 1000, and that they should be extremely proud of their efforts. Not only that, but they were one of a couple of teams to not have a single mechanical issue or crash all week. In the end, Cooper Murray and Jobe Stewart finished fourth, as Jack Le Brocq and Jarrod Hughes finished fourteenth,   Finally, and once more, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone at Erebus Motorsport for making me feel welcome and part of the team, and for allowing me to realise a dream of photographing the Bathurst 1000. Bathurst 1000 Bonus Gallery
                  
       
   
  
         
   It’s called ‘the Build-Up’. The transitional period of weather in the Northern Territory between the dry and wet seasons, occurring in the months of August to October. However, the same could be said for Australia’s season of Speedway. With the Northern Territory’s season occurring during the offseason, Northline Speedway’s final two events of the NT Titles and Chariots of Thunder acts as the build up for a new season of Speedway for the rest of Australia.   My second trip to Darwin would be for the final and most important event of the Northern Territory’s speedway season; the Chariots of Thunder. Consisting of three nights at Northline Speedway, some of the best Sprintcar and Wingless drivers would also make the trek to the tropics, making for some seriously competitive racing.    Teams and drivers from all over Australia would bring the heat, including 2023 Chariots champion from Tasmania, Jock Goodyer, last year’s winner Matt Egel from South Australia, Dayne Kingshott and Jason Pryde from WA, Lockie McHugh and Brodie Davis from Queensland, Eddie Lumbar from NSW and Jamie Veal and the Storer brothers from Victoria, to only name a few Interstate entrants.    New Zealand speedway phenom Michael Pickens would also make the show, but like the Pennsylvania Possie, the Northern Territory faithful would be rooting for their home drivers such as Zack Grimshaw, Chris Harrison, Jet Thompson and Mark Phillips.     The Wingless field would be stacked as well, Aussie champion Tyson Martin would begin his ‘Australian tour’ at Northline and would be joined by the O’Connell brothers from Queensland, Bailey Heinrich from SA, as drivers such as Jake Warren from Victoria took part in multiple rounds of Darwin’s season.    The Top End Wingless cohort is a strong bunch, with Matthew Sealy, Jamie McInnes and Daniel Goldoni making up part of the roster. Blake Walsh claimed his second NT Wingless Title the week prior and looked to be the favourite.    Northline Speedway was opened in 1982 to replace Darwin’s Bagot Park Speedway that had closed a year prior. The 400-metre dirt/clay surface and its facilities sit right alongside Hidden Valley Raceway’s turns 2/3/4. Interestingly, the track can get quite dusty (probably thanks to the fine dirt used in the surface) yet still provides multiple lanes of racing from bottom to top at the same time.    In only his fifth 410 show, Luke Storer would grab Quicktime with an 11.380 second lap as fellow Victorian Dane Court also impressed with the third quickest time. Jordyn Charge, who dominated last year's Sprintcar season in Darwin split the pair in second.   In the Wingless feature, Blake Walsh controlled the race as fierce battles in the midfield occurred behind. Unfortunately, both Daniel Goldoni and Kyle Wiseman would end their races in the fence, with Goldoni out for the rest of Chariots. Casey O'Connell and Blake Scarey would round out Night 1's Wingless podium.     The Sprintcar A-Main would be one of pure chaos and endurance. Five red flags and two open reds, allowing teams to fill up the cars with fuel and make adjustments, meant it took almost one hour to complete the 30-lap feature. Matt Egel, Jy Corbet, Chad Pittard, Jamie Veal, Jock Goodyer, Michael Pickens, Zack Grimshaw and Glen Sutherland would all be victims, with the latter two of Grimshaw and Sutherland ending the Chariots of Thunder campaign in the infield on Night 1.  Lockie McHugh would weather the storm to take victory once again at Northline, as Jordyn Charge finished second and Dayne Kingshott snatched up third.   The second day would be cooler with some cloud cover (thank goodness), and although lap times were slower during Friday night's hot laps, they were just as close with Jy Corbet going Quicktime with a 12.515 second lap, as Brodie Davis brought the track to a halt when he flipped on his second timed lap.   Night 2 would be the night of the high stakes Pope's Challenge to honour Bob Egan, who was instrumental in the transition from Bagot Park Speedway to Northline. The polesitter of the A-Main would be given a choice to start from the back, and if they come from the back to win the feature, they'd take home $65,000. The top eight starting positions and pole sitter for the A-Main would be decided in the 'Dash', where Jock Goodyer ran away from Jy Corbet to grab pole, and thus deciding to take on the Pope's Challenge.    During night two's Wingless feature, Casey O'Connell took a massive lead, so large it looked as if he had fallen to the back of the pack instead. The last thing he needed was a yellow, which is unfortunately what he got, yet still had the pace to take the victory ahead of Blake Walsh and Tyson Martin.    Unlike the previous night, the track was fastest on the bottom, meaning passing was difficult, which didn't help Jock Goodyer attempting to move from the rear to the lead. After a long time coming, Jy Corbet was back in victory lane, with Steven Loader grabbing a surprise second place finish, and Lochie McHugh staying consistent in third.    Unlike the Sprintcar Classic and Aussie Titles, the overall winner of the Chariots of Thunder would be the highest points scorer across the three nights. In the Wingless division, Casey O'Connell lead on 689 points, Tyson Martin followed on 682 points, with Blake Walsh close behind on 680 points.    Lochie McHugh lead with one night left on 653 points, as Luke Storer trailed by only five points, with Dylan Menz in third, a further six points back. This top three would also sweep the fastest three positions during Hot Laps, with McHugh going Quicktime with an 11.779 second lap around Darwin's bullring.    Casey O'Connell pulled away once again in the final Wingless feature, as brother Cody moved into second place. Behind, John Egan was fending off the likes of Blake Walsh, Tyson Martin and Zane O'Tool until with two laps left, Jake Warren stopped on the backstretch bringing out the yellow. The pack bunching up one last time failed to deter the top three, with Casey O'Connell pulling away to his second straight feature win, and the overall Wingless Chariots of Thunder crown.    For the final race of this year's Chariots of Thunder installment, it looked to be a battle between McHugh and Goodyer, and that's exactly what we got. When the track opened up clear of any lapped traffic, Goodyer used the high side, driving around Lockie McHugh, taking the lead at halfway. Brendan Guerin's rollover would bring out the first stoppage, with eight laps left, and soon after Jason Pryde would do the same. An open red and the moment that turned the points tally on its head, Lochie McHugh ending his consistent run in the fence, as Jordyn Charge also got collected in the crash. Dylan Menz and Chris Harrison getting together would bring out another red flag, making it four in the span of five laps.    Jock Goodyer put on a clinic of restarts to pull away and win the final A-Main of this year's Chariots of Thunder, as Jamie Veal finished second. In the midst of all the late race chaos, Daniel Storer, who climbed through the field and eventually the wall, bringing out the racing ending caution yet somehow continued would snag a third-place finish against all odds.  With Lochie McHugh and Dylan Menz crashing out of the final race, as well as Jock Goodyer and Jy Corbet falling victim to incidents during the Night 1 feature race, the winner of Chariots of Thunder for 2025 would be the team and driver that had achieved the most consistent results. And that would be non-other than Luke Storer and Perrett Family Raing, who had impressed with Quicktime on Night 1, and multiple heat wins throughout.   With the end of Chariots of Thunder comes the end of Northline Speedway's season, but as seems to be tradition with the final night of racing in Darwin, the party was just getting started. The 'Build-Up' is complete. Get ready for a brand-new season of Australian Speedway. Bonus Gallery         
   
                 If you’d told me two years ago that my first Supercars event with media credentials would be in Darwin, I’d be very confused. Darwin and Hidden Valley Raceway was not on my radar at all to photograph, yet there I was at a humid Darwin Airport at 1am, ready for a weekend of motorsport.   After spending many hours awake in the airport and eventually picking up the hire car, I then picked up Jake of Northline Media from Humpty Doo (a.k.a the middle of nowhere) and headed to Hidden Valley Raceway to pick up our credentials.   Jake, the Darwin native is the reason I’m there in the first place, as his consistent pulling of my leg convinced me to schedule the trip for the Supercars round in Darwin as well as the annual Chariots of Thunder at Northline Speedway.   My reason for Supercars media credentials is also thanks to Jake, as I would be helping him cover the local category of Combined Sedans. With 25 cars making up the Combined Sedans, as well as short races and limited track time compared to the other support categories, having two photographers share the load made the weekend much easier, with our aim to get a minimum of five different shots of every car competing.     The category was a mix of Improved Production cars (that weirdly included a Porsche 911 GT3R and an Aston Martin Vantage), Hyundai Excels and mighty Holden HQs, a colourful grid indeed! In addition, seven local Commodore Cup entrants would join the Touring Car Masters grid, however they would get more track time, so we weren’t too worried about be able to photograph those guys.   Before we got on track however, the Supercars would drive from the track into the city of Darwin and back again for the ‘Track to Town’ festivities, giving fans the chance to meet the drivers and get up close to the machines with their special indigenous liveries.    Now, just because I was there to photograph the Combined Sedans and Commodore Cup didn't mean I would ignore the other support categories. You can always expect Trans Am to have some carnage (which they had plenty of in Darwin), and this would be the first time I'd get to photograph the Porsche Carrera Cup. And of course, the main draw card to journey to Darwin in the first place, the Supercars championship.     In addition to the on-track competition, drift and burnout demonstrations entertained the crowd, and as soon as I smelt burnt rubber, I felt at home.   Other than watching races at Hidden Valley in the past, my only other knowledge of this track is driving it in the V8 Supercars 3 game, which isn't a good example, as the game version is shorter than it actually is in real life.   Hidden Valley Raceway's main feature is the very long front straight. At 1.1km, it's one of the longest straights on the Supercar's calendar, and longer than the drag strip parallel to it. I will no longer complain about walking along Sandown's front straight again either.   The long straight leads into the heavy braking zone of the large Turn 1 hairpin, that has seen plenty of chaos over the years. The speedway side of Hidden Valley Raceway, the Turns 2,3 and 4 were the only corners I didn't visit, but it's not like I was running out of interesting angles.    Turn 5 is the second braking zone in the lap, a ninety-degree right hander, that I had saved for Saturday morning. With sunrise being at 7:00am, and the first session being at 7:30, I expected it to be the perfect spot to snap golden hour, and I was right. Almost every sunrise and sunset I saw during my time in Darwin was beautiful, and not only that, but the light stayed amazing for a few sessions after that first session of the day.    Turn 6 is the track's second and much sharper hairpin that is also quite accident prone. With fans watching from above, it's from here onwards that Hidden Valley Raceway shows you how colourful it can get. You'd expect a hot almost desolate place like the Northern Territory to be quite brown and colourless, but I was pleasantly surprised.    Turn 7 is a fast slightly downhill right hander, that continues on into Turn 8, as the road veers to the left and over a crest at Turn 9.    Before you know it, cars are already at the west side of the circuit, being thrown into the double left hander of Turn 10/11, past the spectators in the shade. If I wasn't lugging camera gear and walking thousands of steps, I would have enjoyed the Darwin heat, particularly if I was sat around this pair of corners in the shade.     Turn 12 and 13 is a downhill elongated chicane that leads into the final corner, a cambered left hander that's sharper than it looks, and imperative to get right to get the most speed along the front straight. For the final race on Saturday, I was mesmerised by how each Supercars driver used every centimetre of racetrack, lap after lap. It took me much longer than I anticipated snap a photo of flicked-up gravel.   On Sunday, with one final Supercars race left, I decided to stay towards the front straight and Turn 1 - a corner I had yet to visit - as well visit the pit garages. Walking up and down pitlane is open to only a handful of photographers, but I would be allowed to be in the team garages, in moderation.    Eventually, I also figured out I could take photos on the grid before the race, which I made sure I did for what would be a two-stop race. Oh, and there was an F35A flyover, which not even the F1 Australian GP has anymore.     After the race began and drivers came in for their first pit stops, I walked back to the garages to at least attempt some photos of pitstops, with the limited access I had. I found that taking photos from the balcony worked the best.   Previously, to win the Triple Crown, a driver must win all three races, or - as Scott McLaughlin was awarded the crown in 2019 - score pole position and the two race victories. In 2020, the rules were changed to guarantee the award of the Triple Crown to the highest point scorer across the weekend, but Broc Feeney didn't get the memo, sweeping the pole positions and winning all three races, another piece to what will hopefully be a championship season for the 22 year-old. Bonus Gallery         
       
         The annual Gippsland Rally would play host to the fourth round of the Australian Rally Championship and also a single day and night of competition for the Victorian Rally Championship. This wouldn't be my first rally, as I attended the Nissan Nightmoves in 2023, but it would be my first proper go at covering one through photos. However, rather than the usual event coverage, I'll instead give you a bit of insight into how I went about photographing it.    Strict planning and following a schedule are important parts of covering a rally, where you have to cover great distances to follow the action. The Gippsland Rally in particular is notoriously difficult to get around, with off-road tracks that include river crossings being one of the only ways to get to majority of the stages. So, Thursday and Friday I spent the time finding how I could get to the stages, how long it would take me, as well as finding photo locations on the sections of road the teams would use to get from one rally stage to another.    To cap off Friday, all the competitors would head to the Port of Sale for the Rally show and ceremonial start of the 2025 Gippsland Rally.    At Rally Central in Heyfield, teams were calm and ready to begin, even as rain began to fall. At 12:15, cars began to roll out to begin the first stage, and so did I. My plan for the first lap of the rally was this: photograph the finish of the third stage (Deep Creek), then drive to the start of the fourth stage (Mcallster), then travel backwards around to photograph the end of stage five (Chesterfield) and the cars driving back towards Heyfield on the liaison route. 
 I arrived early at the finish line of Deep Creek and walked down the stage for about ten or so minutes until I found a good corner to start from where I could move around and get a couple of angles, taking note of any other good spots as I walked along. This would be part of my first mistake, as I had not actually looked at any of the photo locations before getting there. In short, I spent an hour on the Deep Creek stage, fighting my way through the trees, bushes and uneven ground as I walked back to my car, stopping to take photos every two minutes as a car raced past. I'll mention that I also lost the lens hood to my 200-500mm lens, but that wasn't really a bad thing as I wanted to through it off a cliff anyway.   Because I'd spent too long on the Deep Creek stage, I made the decision to head straight to the end of Chesterfield, so I could guarantee grabbing those liaison shots I had planned.     Dust and the sound of internal combustion rose from the forest, and cars exited from the trees out past beautiful farmland before joining the main road back towards the town of Heyfield. For a moment, I had found my rhythm, snapping photos that I had planned that in turn, came out great. But I was about to lose it.    With rally photography, because of the distances the cars travel compared to a normal circuit and that they don't come back around again (at least for a few hours). Heading back out of the Chesterfield stage, I had planned to get the competitors heading over two bridges, which didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, and rather than quickly move on which I should have done, I spent too much time trying to force what was a bad angle to turn out better. Without knowing it, I had missed what would have been a great opportunity to photograph the start of second lap on the Glenmaggie stage, as well as capturing the teams working on their cars during their allotted thirty-minutes at Rally Central. Basically, I'd let myself be flexible with my time when really, I should have had a strict schedule.    As the sun fell, I headed to the Thompson stage spectator area and walked up the hill, met some spectators, panned some cars and caught another photographer's flash. Because I had missed the Mcallster stage earlier in the afternoon, I thought I'd head there for my final stage of the night, but quickly realised that If I headed back to the Chesterfield stage, I would have more time to experiment with my new remote flash. Ideally however, I would have hit every stage, before doubling up on the same stage.    Walking through the forest to find some corners, I was feeling prepared. Although I was ready for a lot of trial and error with a remote flash, I had bought plenty of spare batteries. But when I went to set up the flash, I realised the remote was dead. That's fine I'll just replace the batteries... great, they're AAA batteries, and I only have AA batteries. So, I was back to using a direct flash on top of the camera body. I was pretty annoyed about that.    With the mistakes I had made the previous day ringing in my head, I was ready with a plan on Sunday. For the first lap, I'd begin at the Glenmaggie stage, before heading to the EZIUP Power stage, full of fast bends and jumps. On the last lap of the rally, I would access the Thompson stage via an off-road track I knew my Skoda Yeti could tackle. After most of the competitors had passed through the chicane I was stationed at, I headed to my next stage.   But to save a few minutes, I headed north up a section on a gravel road I had not checked out and got stuck. I walked back to the stage to get help and 45 minutes later, I was free. I arrived at the liaison route at the end of the EZIUP Power stage, but it was too late. Before I knew it, the course car came past, meaning the end of the stage. I hadn't even gotten my planned liaison route photo.    Now, I had two stages to cover in the final lap. Arriving at the Thompson stage, I set myself a goal as I walked up three corners away from where my car was parked: by the time the eighth car had passed, I wanted to be back at my dirty Skoda, so I could have enough time to drive to the finish of the EZIUP Power stage. This meant that each time a car had passed, I would have two minutes to move back down the stage to find a new angle and photograph the next car. And I did, photographing seven of the eight cars that sped past, each from a slightly different position. When I needed to most, I was finally able to get into the rally photographer zone. About time too!     I arrived at the EZIUP Power Stage, the final stage of the rally at the same time as other photographers and as everyone gathered at the final jump, I walked further to the next corner. This ended up being the right decision, as the top ten were coming through in reversed positions, meaning after I snapped a few cars flying through the sweeping right hander, I got the leading three getting air on the final jump of the rally. I was even able to get my liaison route photo as cars headed back to Rally Central for the celebrations.   So, lets recap and look at how to fix what I did wrong: -Aim to visit every stage, and schedule travel time, walking time and competition time on the stage to the minute, making use of as much time as possible. -Find the locations to photograph on the stage before the rally. -Stick to the roads you know and have checked. -Bring the correct spare batteries! I think some rally redemption is in order. Bonus Gallery  
                    If you’re familiar with the Motorsport landscape, you’ve most likely come across Legend Cars. 5/8th scale powered Yamaha bike engines, that are raced across the world. In Australia, Legend cars are raced on circuits and dirt ovals, but we also have a category called Aussie Racing Cars.   As Legend Cars were beginning to grow from 1992 onwards in North America, Australian touring car racer and performance engineer Phil Ward was offering mid-week motorsport enjoyment through go-karting and track days. In 1994, Ward looked to offer something new to the weekly participants, and after two years of building and track testing, the Aussie Racing Car was born.   They began racing on go-kart tracks, but slowly over time, more orders for these little rockets came through and so too did invitations from promoters to race them at larger circuits. In 2003, the growth of the category took a huge leap as it became an official support category of the V8 Supercars and the rest, you could say, was history.   Under the bodywork is a steel tubular space frame and roll cage designed to FIA specifications. Fully adjustable suspension and big brakes get a huge amount of use, as the engine from a Yamaha XJR1300 motorcycle provides 135hp, can rev to 11,500rpm and reach 230km/h, which is plenty for a car that only weighs 500kg.   Inside the cockpit, the driver sits far back, becoming the definition of a backseat driver, using a sequential transmission to change gears.    One of the biggest talking points this season has been allowing teams to run larger pistons as well as set their own camshaft timing. This change came in mid-season and although certainly caused a row among fans, competitor Cody McKay believes this to be a great idea, as he explains in his own video.   There’s been plenty of body shapes that Aussie Racing Cars have adopted over the years include the Toyota Aurion, Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, but like the current Supercars field, Mustangs and Camaros fill the grid.    The cars may be small, but they provide plenty of action, with large grids, side by side racing and kerbs becoming small jumps. I'd get to witness the exciting category for the first time Sandown Raceway during 2025's fourth round of the championship as a with a close championship battle was brewing between three-time champion Joel Heinrich, 2021 champion Kody Garland and Mason Harvey.     Practice 1 would begin with a considerable moment for Kim Anderson after landing inside Turn 3 and bringing out the red flag. When they did get going, Kody Garland set the pace (1:19.923) followed by Mason Harvey (1:19.932) and Kent Quinn (1:20.296) making it a Mustang 1-2-3.    Two red flags would be brought out during qualifying, including one for Joseph Andriske, and the second ending the session early. Joel Heinrich would take pole position (1:19.274) ahead of championship rival Kody Garland (1:19.812) and Reece Chapman in third (1:20.166).    At the start of Race 1, Joel Heinrich stalled from pole position, allowing the rest of the field to swallow him up. Matt Harvey, who was doing double duty competing in both Aussie Racing Cars and Radicals, went off at Turn 9, dropping eight places from his starting position. Heinrich fought through the field to finish third with Caleb Paterson ahead, as Kody Garland took a convincing victory.   Rain would threaten Race 2 but would hold off and when the lights went out, Heinrich took the lead on the back straight from Garland, as Garland would fall to third the next lap when Paterson overtook him into Turn 1. Cody McKay would bring his car to pitlane with engine issues, heading back out with no front panel as action was aplenty on track with drivers being much more aggressive in this second race. Diesel Thomas would be the first to make a mistake when he spun at Turn 4 but would continue.     Among a tight battle pack, Scott Andriske would go straight on at Turn 4, getting stuck against the tyre barrier, bringing out the first safety car. Under the yellow, Ryan Reynolds would pull of track, hopping out of the Jascott Civil Mustang and grabbing a fire extinguisher from the marshal. There would be a one lap dash where Caleb Paterson got the jump and the lead from Joel Heinrich, but after a wild flip from Nathan Barber that brought out the red flag, the positions would return to the lap before, with Joel Heinrich taking the victory, followed by Caleb Paterson and Kody Garland.   For the third race of the weekend, the Top 8 would be reversed, handing Kent Quin and Jack Boyd a front row start. Boyd took the lead down the backstraight as Garland and Heinrich were already up the front by lap two, racing the leaders. Into Turn 1, Heinrich looked to go to the inside of Boyd, but contact would send them both spinning. The pair would recover almost immediately but off the podium, as two corners later, polesitter Kent Quinn spun on his own in front of the pack, as his teammate Caleb Paterson and Scott Dorman had nowhere to go, running straight into Quinn. Both Quinn and Dorman would pull of the track to retire, as Paterson would come into the pits, remove the front bodywork and continue on.   The safety car would be brought out when Kim Anderson spun at Turn 1, and when he tried to get going again, got stuck on the kerb. We’d have another one lap dash, where Garland and Heinrich were stuck in a dogfight for the win coming up to the final few corners. There’d be contact at the final corner, allowing Brandon Madden to nab second in a photo finish as Kody Garland took another victory. Joel Heinrich however would be given a post-race five-second penalty for the incident with Jack Boyd, dropping him to 13th, and promoting Ryan Reynolds to third, who had started 22nd with an engine replacement.    Nathan Williams would start on the front row for the final race of the round alongside Kody Garland, except Garland would not make it out on track as his car refused to fire. Williams would lead the opening lap, but would get swamped on the back straight, as Caleb Paterson leapfrogged his way to the lead. Heinrich would skillfully overtake the rookie for the lead soon after into Turn 9. The chequered flag would come out a lap early with Diesel Thomas in the Turn 4 barrier, with Joel Heinrich fending off Caleb Paterson to take the victory. Nathan Williams who was thought to have taken a strong third place, was given a 30-second penalty, promoting Brandon Madden to third once again. Caleb Paterson’s consistency would give him his first ever round win in the Aussie Racing Cars.   The battle between Joel Heinrich and Kody Garland will continue with the next chapter to be written when the Aussie Racing Cars head to The Bend in support of the Supercars Championship and TCR World Tour. Bonus Gallery    
             Races 7 & 8 of the 2025 GT World Challenge Australia season would send European GT3 machinery around the suburbia surrounded Sandown Raceway, and not for the first time this season, rain expected to play its part. However, the category and Australian motorsport as a whole would be missing a key member of its family.  Tim Miles, competing alongside Brendon Leitch in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi had passed away in a road accident, leaving a sizeable hole in the paddock. The proud kiwi had greatly impacted Australian motorsport during his time as a competitor, team owner, businessman and overall supporter.     Elliot Schutte and Jaxon Evans held the lead in the Pro Am championship with a steady lead on 118 points, with Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher following with 96 points, as Jayden O’Jeda and Paul Lucchitti were a further 15 points back. Renee Gracie held a very comfortable 52-point lead over James and Theo Koundouris in the Am class heading into the fourth round of the championship.  Paul Stokell and Matt Stoupas would so far be the only pair to enter into the Trophy class, driving the iconic KFC Audi R8 LMS and making their season debut at Sandown.      Practice 1 would be red flagged halfway through the hour-long session after a Sergio Pires in one of the Tigani Motorsport AMG GT3 Evos had a huge hit into the Turn 1 barriers. It would his teammates Jayden O’Jeda and Paul Luchitti taking first blood (1:08.214) ahead of the Ferrari pair, made up of Stephen Wyatt/Jordan Love (1:08.750) and Jaxon Evans/Elliot Schutte (1:08.844). Renee Gracie would the quickest in the Am class, setting a time of 1:09.943.     During Practice 2, drivers would put in a lot of laps around the 3.1km circuit, with Lee Holdsworth topping the time sheets (1:08.102), ahead of the two Ferrari 296 GT3’s, with Jordan Love/Stephen Wyatt, (1:08.154) just missing out on the quickest time, followed by Jaxon Evans/Elliot Schutte (1:08.499). Darren Currie and Grant Donaldson would be on top of the Am class in the 111 Racing AMG GT3 Evo with a 1:09.599 lap.    Something new to this season, an additional hour-long session known as Pre-Qualifying. As the sun set behind the clouds, blue hour moved over the racetrack, and it looked almost as if they were racing at night.     Jayden O’Jeda and Paul Luchitti would top the timesheets again (1:08.171) followed closely by Jordan Love/Stephen Wyatt (1:08.259) and Brad Schumacher/Broc Feeney (1:08.411). The Koundouris brothers of James and Theo would be the fastest pair in the Am class (1:10.198) during the dark session.      The drivers would be split among the two qualifying sessions, setting the grid for each of the 1-hour endurance races. The only incident would be for Alex Peroni who went straight on at Turn 4, briefly bringing out the red flag. Jordan Love (1:08.216) took pole position in the first qualifying session and would have Jayden O’Jeda (1:08.597) lining up alongside. Jaxon Evans (1:08.800) in the second Ferrari would qualify third, as Darren Currie (1:10.669) would be the fastest in the Am class, and would start tenth.     Elliot Schutte (1:09.170) would make sure Arise Racing started on pole for both races, as Brad Schumacher (1:09.285) made it a close fight, whilst Jamie Day (1:09.418) qualified third in the beautiful Aston Martin AMR GT3, looking for its maiden victory. Renee Gracie (1:10.115) would qualify ninth as the highest placed Am class competitor.   The second qualifying session would set the grid for Race 1 on Saturday, where Brad Schumacher would take the lead by going wide at Turn 1 as Liam Talbot & Elliot Schutte were busy banging doors. Brad Schumacher would be penalised for overtaking off track, before Team BRM's day would go from bad to worse after Mark Rosser beached the car at Turn 9, bringing out the safety car.    At the pit stops, the Volante Rosso Aston Martin had the lead as Talbot handed the car over to Englishman Jamie Day, who unfortunately, didn’t have the pace compared to the other Pro drivers, falling back before spinning through the grass at Turn 1.     Jaxon Evans would take the chequered flag for Arise Racing and co-driver Elliot Schutte to extend their championship lead, as Ryan Wood and Steve Brooks finished second, with Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher joining them on the podium. Ben Schoots and Shane Woodman took the Am class victory, finishing ninth overall.    Before the race on Sunday, the many spectators who had come through the gates would be allowed to walk among the machinery on the grid.     There would also be a moment to honour Tim Miles, with both his helmet and car he competed in on display. As the teams lined along the front straight to pay their respects, Miles' co-driver Brendon Leitch would take their Audi R8 LMS Evo around the track with burnouts and noise to farewell his teammate. 
With the rain coming down and track temperatures already nearing ambient temperature, teams rushed to the grid to change the cars over to wet tyres. The ten-minute delay ate into the race time, as the green flag would wave with 48-minutes left on the clock.    The polesitter Jordan Love would spin from the lead at the exit of Turn 3, handing the lead to O’Jeda, as Broc Feeney struggled in the opening laps as he was hounded by Jaxon Evans. Moments later, the safety car would be brought out as Theo Koundouris repeated what Jordan Love did at Turn 3, this time spinning into the armco barrier, with race ending damage.     Once the green flag flew again, teams waiting until the last possible moment to bring their car into pitlane, with Mark Rosser making the most of the overcut, coming out of the pits second after they started last, but unfortunately would fall back, struggling in the wet conditions. Paul Lucchitti would take over the leading car from co-driver O’Jeda, however Liam Talbot and Brad Schumacher would quickly hunt him down. 
 As the clock ticked down, Schumacher slowly closed the gap to Liam Talbot, two champions fighting for the win in difficult conditions. Elliot Schutte snagged third place from Lucchitti on the penultimate lap as Liam Talbot shut the door on Brad Schumacher at Turn 4 to grab both Jamie Day and the Aston Martin’s first race victory in Australian GT World Challenge. Renee Gracie would add another victory to her season, taking the Am class win. As teams prepare for the next round of the championship at The Bend in September, Elliot Schutte and Jaxon Evans hold a comfortable lead of thirty points ahead of Schumacher and Feeney, meaning they could miss a race and still be in the lead. Renee Gracie is in a similar position with a dominant 74-point lead of the Am competition. Bonus Gallery                
    
  The fourth round and halfway point of the 2025 Trans Am season would be held in Melbourne’s south-east at the Home of Horsepower: Sandown Raceway. The series would join the national SpeedSeries, to replace the cancelled August round at Winton.    Reigning champ Todd Hazelwood had so far dominated the season, with a 74-point lead ahead of Nathan Herne in second as they arrived at Sandown. James Moffat was a further 62-points behind Herne, with the top three all being previous champions.   There would also be some fresh faces on the grid this year, including Ben Bargwanna and Jordan Cox, who would both migrate from Touring Car Racing Australia.     James Moffat topped the time sheets in Practice 1 with a 1:11.100, as reigning champ Todd Hazelwood followed in second (1:11.281), with Nathan Herne in third eight tenths behind (1.11.911). The only stoppage would be for debutant Clay Richards taking a trip into the Turn 9 gravel trap.    Todd Hazelwood would top a completely green second practice session with a time only slightly faster than his Practice 1 time (1:11.248) as the usual Garry Rodgers Motorsport suspects of James Moffat (1:11.397) and James Golding (1:11.578) rounded out the top three.    The same pair would go one-two in Qualifying with Golding (1:10.233) beating Moffat (1:10.568) to pole position. Aaron Love would slip into third (1:10.734) in the Hi-Tec Oils Camaro.      Golding took command at the start of Race 1 as Todd Hazelwood fell backwards, and Tom Davies ran into the back of Elliot Cleary. A lot of the action was at Turn 9, first with Blake Tracey spinning into the gravel, then debutant Cody Maynes Rutty who locked up in an attempt to overtake Jordan Cox. A lap later, the rookie would spin at the exit of the same corner.    It would be 2023 champion James Moffat slow on the track that brought out the Safety car, leading to a two-lap dash to the finish. Golding took the victory, with Aaron Love in second, as Jordan Cox held back Todd Hazelwood to score his first podium in Trans Am.     Race 2 began with a melee in the mid pack. Contact from Ben Bargwanna, who was side by side with Nathan Herne, who in turn made contact with rookie Lachlan Evennett, sent Elliot Barbour around on the front straight into the armco. Unfortunately, Cameron Laws had nowhere to go, running head on into Barbour. Bargwanna would come into the pits to remove the damaged front bumper, as Nathan Herne also came in with a damaged right rear tyre and attempted to change it himself. Herne would then come in after the restart with a destroyed front radiator, and Bargwanna was too slow in his damaged #97 Mustang, with both retiring from the race.   Back at the front Todd Hazelwood overtook James Golding for the lead, and just at the right time as a second safety car would be brought out for Clay Richard’s who found himself stuck in the Turn 3 wall. The race would finish under yellow, with Hazelwood, Golding and Aaron Love standing on the podium.     The third and final race would be the big one, a forty-minute sprint, and on a wet track. Golding would pull away once again as Blake Tracey moved up to second after starting eighth in the opening laps. On his eighteenth birthday, he was chasing down James Golding as drivers began to search for water to cool down their wet tyres. Jordan Cox held third for the mid-part of the race after Aaron Love and Todd Hazelwood both went through the mud at Turn 3 until Hazelwood closed the gap and took the place as Adam Garwood retired with gearbox issues. Ramsay would retire after he too took a trip through the mud at Turn 3 as Jordan Cox fell backwards.   Unfortunately for Tracey, a spin would drop him back into the clutches of those he'd passed at the beginning of the race, whilst also causing a vibration to form in the rear, as a flat tyre would drop him down to fifteenth as he crawled across the line. James Golding's tyre management and consistent pace would grab him the race win, as Hazelwood finished second, extending his championship lead to a sizeable 133 points and Aaron Love scored another third place. The series will next head to The Bend Motorsports Park, joining Supercars and the TCR World Tour. Bonus Gallery         
          One of the most significant events on Winton Motor Raceway’s calendar every year is Historic Winton. Two days of vintage race cars on track, with classic displays off it.   As is the theme with these kinds of motorsport events, I’ve picked a handful of cars to feature, and we start with Peter Nowlan’s Mallock M16B. Peter competes in the Australian Driver’s Championship, a spec series using the Australian built Hyper Racer X1, but this Mallock M16B is his other ride. Mallock is a race car producer based in England, began by Arthur Mallock post-WWII and is known to be ‘responsible for making motor racing accessible to the man in the street’ with the Mallock U2. The company is now run by his son Ray, under the RML Group.   Peter bought the car in 2010 with no engine, and it sat until 2017 when he decided it was time to restore it, completely stripping the car and chassis to bare metal, painting it then slowly putting it all back together whilst checking everything as he went. The body however was plenty broken, so a lot of fiberglass work had to be completed by Peter himself. Under the bonnet is a Ford Kent crossflow engine, along with a four-speed gearbox and aftermarket VW Golf radiator he had to source from elsewhere. Some things need[ed] to be rebuilt, some things just need[ed] to be cleaned. I had to build an engine, so I had to start from nothing, had to get a block and all the bits and pieces to build a new engine for it.” – Peter Nowlan   Two years later, the project was finished, and he began competing in historic racing with the Mallock. However, it wasn’t smooth sailing to begin with, as it caught fire the first time out, and almost the second time due to fuel leaking from the carburetors. As Peter describes, it’s been a steep learning curve, but over the past three years, the car has run smoothly. Compared to the Hyper Racer X1 he races as he competed in the Australian Driver's Championship, the Mallock is much more forgiving, and the front engine, rear-wheel drive format makes it turn through corners well and has overall much more feel. My first introduction to Formula 1 was when I was just a lad, and I saw on telly on a Sunday morning, a replay of Alan Jones, 1980 at Brands Hatch… and I love that car, and I thought I need to do it in the colours as close to [the Williams FW07] as possible” – Peter Nowlan   There are a handful of historic cars I see at almost every event I go to, and one of them is this 1986 Norax C2. Just one of three, and the only one currently racing, the Norax C2 was built in South Australia as a Group C prototype.     Under the fiberglass shell and among the steel frame is a rotary engine sending power to the 5-speed gearbox. 13-inch tyres put the power to the track, as 10-inch tyres steer up front. To give you a sense of the speed the Norax is capable of, Kevin tells me it can reach 280kmh down the front straight at the Phillip Island Circuit 'and if you’re brave enough, you can take Turn 1 flat out too', as the engine reaches 8000rpm in fifth gear It does not have a lot of torque, so you have to be smooth. If you’re smooth and you’re nice to the car, you can do really good lap times. If you want to be harsh to the car, your lap times reflect and just slows down.” - Kevin West    So far, this is the only car I’ve spotlighted that I’ve sat in too. The shifter is to your right, the steering wheel is small, the pedals are thin, right among the front suspension and for me seemed inoperable. I’d be scared driving this car 40km/h let alone 280km/h! It’s a car that reminds you that racing car drivers are in fact crazy.    The story behind Norax is quite an interesting one, with the cars being built by three friends, separating the workload across the three of them, one responsible for the running gear, the other the chassis and wheels and finally one man working on the body. The name Norax itself came from the Norax lamp factory in South Australia where there was space in the back for the cars to be built.   Kevin West now races and owns the car, after previously campaigning the car with Peter Turner for nearly ten years. After Peter passed away in a road accident, Kevin purchased the car off Peter’s estate and has continued to campaign the car in historic racing with the help of family and friends. The car is still as it was when it raced in the 80’s at South Australian tracks such as Adelaide International Raceway and Mallala, with the only modifications being those to keep the car running in historic racing. Each time they take the Norax to the track, they come back with a different list of things that need to be checked. Kevin tells me that one hour of track time will result in four hours of maintenance back home. We had a squeaking brake, so we’ve just jacked it up, taken all the wheels off and checked all the brakes to make sure the brakes are fine. It just appears to have been a stone or something like that.” - Kevin West  Let me now pose a question to you. How do you go about building a car from 1920, where the only parts that are left are an engine stored in a museum, and a damaged radiator? Wes Wilkinson is the one that has answered this question with a replica of the 1920 Indianapolis 500 winning Frontenac.   The original car itself - the brainchild of Louis Chevrolet - was ahead of its time when it raced at Indy. It was the first aerodynamic car to compete, with the daisy petal style front-end designed to push air around the car, whilst also into the engine. The engine in question, developed by Arthur Chevrolet with the Monroe Motor Company, was a three-litre, twin cam with four overhead valves per cylinder and a dry sump, decades ahead of the technology at the time! In 1922, regulations changed to allow larger engines and thus is the reason these cars were almost scrapped, say for the motor now at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.  However, Wes' intention with the car was simple, compete in Targa rallies which means having to follow strict FIA-homologation rules. Wes had tried already with a modified 1928 Chevrolet, yet it proved to be slow and unreliable. In addition, the price for a competitive historic racer was too steep, so he made the decision not many would think to do; build a car from scratch.   Wes had been chasing details from a car spotted in a 1920 film, and it turned out, he had obtained the only vision of the rear of the Frontenac. In addition to more acquired photographs, a model from Etzel Speed Classics in New York and discovering the original radiator, Wes was able to bring the build up to scale. However, the aim was always to race, which meant there had to be alterations. The original one and a half seat arrangement wouldn't be allowed, meaning the replica is slightly wider than the original to sit two people. In addition to the roll hoop, drum brakes were added for safety whilst a 1928 Chevrolet engine can push the car to almost 100mph. The last piece of the puzzle is the Monroe engine, altough Wes tells me that he'll probably end up in jail before he gets to discovery the secrets on the engine sitting in the museum!   The final car is another replica inspired by those raced at Indianapolis, in particular the roadster years of the 1950’s and early 60’s. Let me introduce Turnham Sports Cars and the man behind them since 1969, Pete Turnbull.   Pete has been racing since he was 17 years old and continues to wrestle racecars as he nears 80. He has built approximately fifteen cars including this Turnham, known as the Steel City Special. The build took about two years, and under the bonnet of this beautiful machine is my favourite Holden engine, the six- cylinder 202. The roadster however caught mine and many others attention thanks to its sign writing style war paint. What happens here in Australia, we paint cars like European cars, and they’re dull greens and dull reds. And I thought, I want mine out there so you can see it!” - Pete Turnbull   Pete tells me the hardest part of the build was designing the suspension, as "there's nothing worse than a race car that won't go around corners properly". Even still, he adds that "it's bloody hard work" racing the Steel City Special, particularly with the heavy steering, and the fact he's not the youngest bloke on track! Bonus Gallery          
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AuthorMy name is Noah Thorley. I'm a motorsport and car culture photojournalist based in Melbourne Australia. I document and tell visual stories for the current and next generation of car enthusiasts. 
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