In 2008, the Victorian Motor Racing Championships held the last circuit racing event at Calder Park. 15 years later, Calder Park would be the third round of the same championship, seeing a welcome return to racing on the national circuit. The lucky categories that would be the first to battle each other at Calder again would be the Hyundai Excels, Super TT, 2 Litre Sports Sedans, the Vic Formula Race Series and the Stock Cars Australia series. The Hyundai Excels would be separated into two classes, Master and Trophy, with their own individual practice sessions, qualifying and races. The Hyper Racer X1s are a new breed of open wheel racing. The cars are packed with modern technology and engineering including ground effects. Although 1300cc doesn't sound like much, the Superbike engine in the back of the X1 puts out 350hp, and thanks to its power to weight ratio rivalling modern supercars, it can reach 200km/hr in 6.5 seconds with a top speed of 270km/hr. However, despite the futuristic look of the Hyper Racers, the category I and many others were really looking forward to seeing were the Stock Cars. This would be quite a large competitive gathering for Stock Cars in Australia, with 16 cars entered. Not only would they race on the National Circuit, but they would do parade laps on the Thunderdome. But I’ll leave the best till last. Richard White’s 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR is the car that kicked off the current Stock Car Australia series back in 2013. It is believed to have been built by Sabco for Kenny Irwin Jr, under the No. 42 Bellshouse guise. Unfortunately, Kenny Irwin Jr never got to race this car as he was killed in a crash at New Hampshire. Although Richard isn’t quite sure who and where this car was raced, he does know it was used in the Winston Cup (NASCAR Cup Series) from 2000 to 2001 at some of the road course races. Later the car was moved to Florida, where it competed in SCCA, winning a championship. In 2012, the car was imported to Australia by Graham Booth. After the inception of the Stock Car Australia series, it was later sold to Aaron Hills, who raced and tuned the engine, brakes and suspension, until earlier this year when Richard White purchased the car. It was given the Budweiser no.8 livery as Richard already had the Goodwrench Chevrolet Lumina Dale Earnhardt tribute and it just made sense to have both Earnhardt Snr and Jr paint schemes. “It’s an awesome car… pushing upwards of 700hp… as my confidence grows with the car, we’ve been giving some of the Oz Trucks a bit of a run which is great.” -Richard White I’ve previously written and photographed plenty of drift layouts held on Calder’s National circuit, and even its return to drag racing last year. So, because the full National circuit has only been used for drift days such as DriftX and additional test days being a precursor for this event, let me take you around a full lap through my lens. The drag strip also acts as the track’s start/finish straight, the longest on the circuit. Drivers brake deep into turn 1, aiming for the late apex at the exit of the corner to set themselves up for the short straight before the right-left corners of turns 2 and 3. Up over the hill, the cars get squirrelly, with wheels sometimes off the ground as they accelerate through the back straight. Cars dance around the turn 4/5 chicane which has been brought further out with some cones and tyre bundles. Brakes are applied again as the drivers head into another right left section before accelerating through a short straight before the final corner. A mixture of different lines from shallow to extra wide are taken to get as high of a top speed by the end of their journey along the front straight. The uneven and changing surface of the final corner’s exit - from tarmac to concrete and back to tarmac again - would make it tricky for drivers to get a good run onto the front straight to complete their lap. My photos only show so much though, so ride along with Nikolaos Fenech in his Hyper Racer. After the Saturday morning qualifying sessions, it would finally be time for Calder Park’s first circuit race in 15 years, and fittingly, it would be the Stock Cars to take to the grid first. Scott Nind would lead from the green flag to chequered, becoming the first race winner at the track since 2008. Scott Nind’s 2009 Ford Mustang XFinity was last raced in the U.S by Ryan Reed in 2010, and was the dominant force all weekend. The Roush Yates motor is making 900hp, thanks to the NASCAR Cup level upgrades, and it showed, as Scott's fastest time was a 1:01.974! “[It’s] a real weapon! It’s way too much power for me. [On the Thunderdome] It’s a bit scary because it’s so rough and bumpy, but the car’s just not set up for that.” -Scott Nind Despite all the racing on the national circuit during both Saturday and Sunday, I soon headed to the Thunderdome for something I would never have even dreamed of photographing. The NASCARS and AUSCARS brought to Calder Park this weekend would be doing parade laps on the Thunderdome! The one thing I had been wondering however was which direction the cars would be running. The American anticlockwise, or how it was done in Australia, clockwise? With many more left-hand drive NASCARS, than right-hand drive AUSCARS, they’d have to drive in the yankee direction, left turns only. For a handful of laps, the cars and drivers would be held at a steady pace by a pace car, but for most of the demonstration they were given the space to go at their own pace and overtake others. Brett Mitchell in the Chevrolet Oz Truck was definitely pushing the hardest during both 45-minute sessions. While for some it would be their first time on the Dome, a handful of cars would return to the banking for one more time. Scott Pierce's Holden Commodore NASCAR originally started out as an Oldsmobile, hence why it is left hand drive. After being raced on the Thunderdome by Paul Stocker it was acquired by Fastrack Racing to be used as a ride car. Scott purchased the car from Fastrack four and a half years ago and in that time has dropped in a later model Dodge engine. My favourite part about this car is that it's set up for land speed, as they have taken it to the Lake Gairdner salt flats for the annual Speedweek, although the plan is to definitely make the car suited for the track. It makes a lot of power. It's fast in a straight line, it's a handful but it's great fun. It probably runs out of brakes if you go too hard, but you have to expect that out of a 30 to 40-year old car" - Scott Pierce Paul Stocker competed in the final race weekend at the Thunderdome under the no. 48 Howtrac Earthmoving Equipment colours. In race one Stocker would finish tenth, meaning he would start third in the reverse grid race, but would fall back again to tenth as a photo finish for the win occurred up front. In the final race at the Thunderdome, Paul Stocker would finish a better eighth. As a young kid I used to come down [to the Thunderdome] and drool over all the NASCARS just like everyone else did. I never thought I'd ever be in a position to be owning one and driving one." -Scott Pierce A total of four AUSCARS took to the Thunderdome including Lukas Gates' VP Commodore, originally raced by Clyde Lawrence in December 1990, but the car was retired after be driven for a single season. It was moved to Wakefield Park and like Scott Pierce's Commodore, was used as a drive experience car. It was again moved to Winton, where Lukas bought the car and restored it to its current glory. It does everything pretty kind, it's a forgiving car. For me, being a rookie, it's a fantastic car to drive. It's been a really fun restoration project and I've really enjoyed it" - Lukas Gates The car started out as a VN Commodore however it was quickly updated to be a VP. The original alloy 308ci Holden engine still sits in the car, including all the original gear from when it was first built at Calder Park, only now setup for circuits. Jamey Hollier from Calder Park Racing and Performance believes this car was one of the very first VN Commodore AUSCARS. We've got another one, number 31 Darryl Speers car, which we are currently restoring at the moment. Hats off to the guys that drove these things the way they did back in the day, it's a scary thought to think how fast they were going... it's a rush!" -Lukas Gates With the fond memories up and down the Stock Car pit lane, I wonder how close any of the current drivers got to the cars they own now twenty plus years ago. For Troy Perichon, he got extremely close to Jim Richards' #6 Ford Falcon AUSCAR, working on the car when he was 15 years old! They're light, you can throw 'em around corners and have a bit of fun with them. [Driving the Thunderdome] was an experience, albeit the wrong way for us AUSCARS... It was actually a thrill to be out there with all the NASCARS... a highlight of the weekend." -Troy Perichon Jim Richards took this car to back-to-back AUSCAR Championships in 1987-88, and in 2018 Troy bought the car, starting his labor of love to bring it back to its former glory. Lots of fond memories, getting out here on a Thursday night to set up and get practice going for the Friday... for me it was a great experience, having the likes of Jim Richards and Mick Webb and Les Small, lots of blokes out here in those days... fantastic people to be around." -Troy Perichon Although most of these cars have been in Australia for a while, this recent revival for Calder Park would be this car's first competitive outing in Australia. Stephen Dale would come all the way from Perth (along with Paul Zemmunik, bringing his #8 Mudweiser Chevy) with his 2014 Dale Earnhardt Jr XFinity car. The Hendrix built chassis was brought to Daytona under Dale Earnhardt Jr's team, JR Motorsports, along with two other XFinity cars and Stephen Dale believes this car was one of the backup cars for the 2014 February weekend at Daytona. Bought in 2016 from the US, the car arrived in 2017-18 as a rolling chassis. Stephen Dale with the help of others completely rebuilt the car in house, sourcing, making and engineering a lot of the parts themselves, additionally changing the front end to a Chevrolet SS and giving it the National Guard livery Dale Jr is known for. In the XFinity series (tier down from the Cup Series) they use an open motor, but it was not financially viable to purchase one for the project and you can't really buy engines from Hendrix Motorsports. So instead, an LS from the K&N Series was used, which makes 440hp on the chassis dyno. The car is so forgiving, that's what stopped me going in the bush or in the grass quite a few times! It is a beautiful car to drive... There is something about driving in a straight line, then all of a sudden going up 25 degrees, and the car turns left without even having to turn the steering wheel, you can't explain it to people really, it is so different. That's why we've got passenger seats in these... Once somebody has a ride in one of these, they fall in love with them." -Stephen Dale With the weekend being Stephen Dale's first time driving the car in anger, by the final race he had improved his lap time by seven seconds, a strong effort from a fresh car, and from someone used to driving on dirt now learning to heel and toe. Awesome feeling to drive out there... and be part of the history regardless of whether it's rough or not. Awesome people here, great family of car owners and drivers, they've helped us immensely to get here, and we'll be back. I just hope that the club members really have a good think about what they've got." -Stephen Dale So, I guess the only thing left to ask is, in light of this return, what does the future of racing at Calder Park look like? Well, with two state championships (VMRC and Vic State Racing), one national championship (Hi-Tec Super Series) and a recently enounced round of the Superkarts championship, both being under the two main Australian motorsport governing bodies (AASA and Motorsport Australia), this event certainly isn’t a one-off. Many people are working to make sure Calder Park is a common track to see on race calendars, and although there is still much work to be done, this is most definitely a step in the right direction and the work to make this track usable is definitely visible. There was just heaps of positivity among those who I spoke to, which isn’t something I’ve heard or experienced before when it comes to Calder Park. One sentence I kept on hearing, particularly about the Thunderdome’s future was this: “We’ll be back!” Usually when it comes to the future of racetracks, I’ve unfortunately learnt to be a bit pessimistic saying I’ll believe it when I see it. But in this case, I look forward to seeing you all next time. Bonus Gallery
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Circuit racing comes in all shapes and sizes. From Hyundai Excels to historic touring cars, to juniour Formula Ford to the high intensity and technological advancements of Formula 1. From a grid of high-end European supercars to a handful of Super Trucks. The latter had been on my radar for a while, and during the second round of the Victorian Motor Racing Championships at Winton raceway, I was able to take a closer look. The first ever truck race was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the US in 1979, whilst the first championship began in 1982. From 1986 onwards, trucks would start to become highly modified, as the sport spread worldwide from the USA to Brazil and even India, sometimes even with manufacturer support. Today, the FIA European Truck Racing Championship is the most popular racing series for trucks, which began in 1985. In Australia, Truck Racing began at a wet Calder Park Raceway in 1987. First, these meetings were one off events, but eventually, a full championship was created, racing at tracks across Australia. Today, Winton and Wakefield Park are the only tracks that hold rounds of the Australian Super Truck championship. In Australia, there are three classes of Super trucks. Type A have no restriction on the size of their engine, an automatic gearbox and must have a minimum weight of 5,500kg whilst Type B Super Trucks have a manual gearbox and must weigh at least 5,000kg. Light Trucks are powered by a 7.5 litre diesel engine and must weigh at least 3,400kg. Mark Noonan's Super Truck is originally a Scania T143, powered by a 12-litre turbocharged engine, with a wastegate and different injectors an upgraded ecu. King shocks are at each corner of the truck, and their big coilover setups allow adjustments particularly when it comes to dampening the bumps over the kerbs and around the track. Inside, everything is pretty ordinary for a racing machine, apart from the automatic gearbox, an Allison World Series transmission runs through the gears, which Mark describes as 'perfect'. For safety reasons, the trucks are restricted to 160km/hr on track, and I assume that's also why they race on the Winton Short track, void of the two long straights. I've watched enough crash compilations to know that if a Super Truck goes off track, a gravel trap and tyre barrier isn't going to be enough to stop it. Regardless, these drivers, in these Super Trucks use every centimetre of track, and then some. You gotta work pretty hard! [The truck] is direct to put onto the apex, but to keep it there you are just working the wheel" -Mark Noonan On track, the Super trucks clock in approximately 1min 16-18 second lap times, whilst the Light Trucks are only a couple of seconds slower. Steve Zammit however would claim pole position with 1:14.268 lap time, 1.7 seconds faster than the nearest driver. Within the Super Truck championship is a separate team's championship, where a co-driver is put into the cockpit and that driver competes in that separate championship, while additionally adding points to the main championship. When parts do break, it's a bit of an ordeal to fix. More, larger bolts and much heavier parts make fixing these trucks a workout. This became apparent watching the Gle Racing team replaced a cracked brake disc on their Kenworth T900 early on the Saturday. The grease, timer ticking towards the first race, large components around and including the brakes, and the use of heavy duty, often homemade tools showed how much work and heavy lifting needs to go into, what would be on a race car, a relatively simple exercise. I was certainly surprised when the truck came onto the circuit for Race 1. Thus, working on trucks can be a dirty exercise, so minimising servicing needing to be done by taking care of the trucks on track helps. But notably, these trucks are pushed to the limit, and it doesn't matter how much they'll need to clean them afterwards. As the chequered flag flew on the final race, it would be six-time National champion Steve Zammit who would clean sweep the weekend. It was only Lachlan Fern and Mark Noonan who would stop the Direct Power Steering team from taking victory in the two team championship races during the weekend. Bonus GalleryFor the third round of this year's Keep it Reet Battle Royale season, drifters would return to 'The Gauntlet' layout, last used in 2019 as the first round of that years VicDrift championship. With half of the season already over, it was now or never for drivers to grab wins in battles for points in the championship, whilst those at the top of the standings couldn't drop their form now. Jason Ferron led the championship after his round 2 win, whilst Marcus McCathie was only 6 points behind after his two podium finishes to start the year off. Keep it Reet would bring travelling drifter Grant Anderson (aka InstaaGrantt) over from the USA, to compete in their R34 Skyline, taking to it like a duck to water. The Gauntlet layout would be new to most drivers or at least faint for others. Drivers start on the back straight of the National Circuit, heading anti-clockwise as they throw it into what is the North track's hairpin, before sliding right onto the main straight. They then flick their cars towards the wall before sliding through the final corner onto the crossover. The first corner would prove to be the most problematic, with plenty of drivers coming in with too much speed, heading off into the dirt. Often times, the chase car would also follow suit, trying to match the speed of the lead car. After over two hours of practice, the qualifying battles would begin to determine the Top 16, with qualifying finishing during golden hour. Names like Aaron Gorton, Aaron Dewar and Sam Mudge who was 7th in the championship heading into Round 3, were knocked out in qualifying. Just like the previous round of the Hi-Tec Drift All Stars, Patrick Barlee would grab the top qualifying spot, but only just pipping Marcus McCathie. Patrick Meehan in the Tuff Lift AU Falcon would qualify for his first Battle Royale Top 16, as his teammate Jamie Stevkovski would qualify a personal best of sixth, and Grant Anderson would qualify on the edge in 16th. Scott Massari, who hasn't drifted competitively since 2021, took first blood to Grant Anderson, as Jason Ferron defeated Blake Coady, although we mostly remember the flame throwing competition before the winner was declared. There was a lot of flame-throwing during Round 3, as Mike Lake was knocked out losing his second battle to Anthony Romano, whilst Cam Marton took his first loss in a battle against Jordan Sanderson, who then knocked out the guest Grant Anderson. It was great to see Danny Pesek back sideways after a hiatus, qualifying in 15th, but ultimately took his second loss against Jamie Stevkovski. We'd get down to the nitty-gritty in the Top 12, as last chance knockout battles became more frequent. An upset would occur as Pat Meehan would knock out reigning Pro champion Cam Marton, meaning there'd be two AU Falcons in the Top 8. Scott Massari would also continue through to the Top 8 after defeating Matt Walker as their two S13's went door on door. With Patrick Barlee and Marcus McCathie going undefeated into the Top 8, they would go head-to-head in an attempt to get their ticket straight to the final battle. In this battle, Pat Barlee would over rotate through turn 1, sending Marcus McCathie through the grass with a de-beaded tyre. With Barlee deemed at fault by the judges, all McCathie needed was a clean lead run. He did exactly that, sending him straight to the final battle. The track was getting colder, and mistakes were starting to creep in. Scott Massari would hand a second and final loss to Jason Ferron after he also over rotated at the final corner. Jordan Sanderson, who was looking to be a strong contender for the win all night would defeat Jamie Stevkovksi after Stevkovksi had to straighten up and re-initiate his drift during his lead run. One thing I will mention though that was great to see was no mechanical failures, only a couple of de-beads. All drivers that qualified, competed in all their competition battles, which is quite uncommon in drifting. It was also cool that they had the big screen in front of where the drivers would park to find out who won each battle, as they could immediately watch their battle and discuss with their competitor. To find out who would battle Marcus McCathie for the overall round win, the minor placings would have to be set first. Both fellow photographer Mitch Peterson and I thought it would be Jordan Sanderson and Patrick Barlee in the Top 2. That didn't quite happen, but we did get to see these two V8 gladiators battle it out regardless, with Sanderson heading to the Top 3. The battle of the Scotts was next, with South Australian champion Scott Miller edging out Massari with a great lead run, and a closer chase, bringing Scott Massari's brilliant return to competitive drifing to a close. Now it was down to Scott Miller and Jordan Sanderson to decide who would take on Marcus McCathie for the victory. Both drivers had a fantastic first run, but Sanderson would run away from Miller for most of his lead run, to move forward once more. In the battle for fourth and fifth, Patrick Barlee harassed Scott Massari's door, able to grab fourth place after a few shaky battles in the Corvette. With time running out, the round win would come down to one single battle, rather than the best of three, between the VE Commodore Ute of Jordan Sanderson and the S13 of Marcus McCathie. The battle begun, the cheer squads, roared their support, but McCathie would go very wide into Turn 1 during his lead run. And in the second half of the battle, Sanderson would drive away. Jordan Sanderson would take a convincing win, as Marcus McCathie would settle for second once again. Scott Miller would finish third, with Patrick Barlee fourth. Scott Massari would ultimately be placed fifth whilst also taking home the 'Thrash Kings' award. This leaves McCathie with a 35-point lead ahead of Jason Ferron heading into the final round of this year's championship. It's going to take some serious competition to stop Marcus' consistency, but stranger things have happened. Top 8 after Round 3: 1. Marcus McCathie 296 points 2. Jason Ferron 261 points 3. Scott Miller 249 points 4. Patrick Barlee 239 points 5. Jordan Sanderson 217 points 6. Adge Punaro 165 points 7. Cam Marton 158 points 8. Jamie Stevkovksi 145 points Bonus GalleryAustralia’s TCR championship would leave where they left off at Phillip Island, with championship contenders continuing with their strong form, popular results, first time winners and hands on head moments. Former champion Will Brown would miss Round 3 of the championship at Victoria’s Winton Motor Raceway, however, the young Clay Richards would debut, making sure there were still four Audis on the grid. BTCC race winner Tom Oliphant and the Ash Seward Motorsport team would be unable to race their Lynk & Co TCR, and would have to race the older Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Michael Clemente and the Carl Cox Motorsport team would show their speed, setting the fastest time in first practice, with a 1:26.796, closely followed by the two Hyundai i30N’s of Bailey Sweeney and Josh Buchan. Brad Harris would go off at the first chicane, and a brief red flag would be thrown to clean up the asphalt. Aaron Cameron would be the fastest man on Friday afternoon, setting the fastest lap in both S5000 and TCR. His 1:26.211 was only 0.07 seconds faster than reigning champion Tony D’Alberto in the Honda Civic FK8, as others found the mud. The first fifteen minutes of qualifying would set grid positions 11-14, as the top 10 would have ten extra minutes to settle their qualifying positions. For the top 10, I was at Turn 6, watching the drivers jump over the kerb. Get this corner wrong and it can ruin your whole lap. On multiple occasions, Lachlan Mineef leapt over the kerb, got all squirrely and just saved it heading into Turn 7. It would be Michael Clemente that aced his lap, grabbing his maiden pole position, continuing his strong form with the new Cupra Leon Competition and Carl Cox Motorsport. In Race 1, Aaron Cameron would have a poor start, meaning he’d be in the thick of it into Turn 1, where he would run into his teammate Kody Garland, as Ben Bargwanna would also get caught in the crossfire. Josh Buchan would lose a podium after going wide before Turn 10, as his teammate Bailey Sweeney jumped to second and Zac Soutar grabbed third. Michael Clemente would hold off a late charge by Bailey Sweeney to grab his second win of the season with the new Cupra. The top 10 finishers of Race 1 would be reversed for the starting positions of Race 2, meaning Tom Oliphant would start on pole with Clay Richards alongside. Tom Oliphant would run away from the field through the first few corners, as Clay Richards fought off Bargwanna. Jordan Cox would fight through the field, eventually snatching third from Ben Bargwanna. Jordan Cox would be hassling the back of Clay Richard’s, determined to overtake until he hit the Turn 6 kerb, landed awkwardly and spun. Watching Mineef and others fly though that corner on the limit, I’d been waiting for someone to spin there all weekend. This would leave Clay Richards off the hook to grab his first podium in his debut weekend, as Tom Oliphant would grab his first win in the Australian TCR championship, with Josh Buchan third. Tom Oliphant would only make one mistake, driving back to the garage rather than to the top three interviews. For Race 3, it would the two Hyundai’s of Bailey Sweeney and Josh Buchan. Everyone was bunched up into the first chicane, as Brad Harris and Ben Bargwanna spun off into the dirt. Michael Clemente would charge through the field, up five places fighting for the podium positions. Clay Richards’ suspension would collapse, ending his race early, as a battle for second and third would form between Buchan, Soutar and Clemente. On the final lap, Soutar would find himself on the grass, then him and Clemente would run into each other and the rear of Josh Buchan, leaving Clemente on a trip into the wall, and leaving Josh Buchan to finish second with a smoking rear. Bailey Sweeney would take the win in Race 3, and extend his lead in the championship, 36 points ahead of his teammate Josh Buchan. It's going to take some strong finishes from the competition to take on the Hyundai's in the championship. But there are certainly teams and drivers in this category up for the challenge. Bonus GalleryIt had become tight at the top of the S5000 standings heading into Winton Motor Raceway between Joey Mawson and Cooper Webster. But by the end of the race weekend, the gap between first and second in the championship had grown. In Practice 1, Aaron Cameron - again pulling double duty racing in both S5000 and TCR – would show early speed, topping the timesheets with a 1:17.857. The top three were only separated by seven hundredths of a second, with Joey Mawson and James Golding in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, Mark Rosser and Nic Carrol would come together at Turn 7, leaving Rosser stuck on the edge of the asphalt and Nic Carrol with a trip to the hospital with a hand injury. In the Friday afternoon practice session, Aaron Cameron continued to be the fastest S5000 on track, with a better 1:17.572, followed by James Golding, three tenths behind and Joey Mawson a further two tenths back. The teams were greeted with a cold Saturday morning session in which they would set their qualifying times. With rain a possibility, it was important to get a quick lap in early, whilst also warming up their tyres well enough to not lose any grip whilst on the cold track. After missing Practice 2, it was good to see Nic Carroll back in the car, being medically cleared to race after receiving ligament damage in his hand after his Practice 1 incident with Mark Rosser. It would be James Golding who would snatch pole position with a lap time of 1:17.073, six hundredths of a second ahead of Joey Mawson, with Aaron Cameron half a second behind, starting third. However, James Golding would drop through the field on the first lap. Joey Mawson would take the lead around the outside of Turn 1, as drivers used the slipstream on the way down to Turn 3, where Cooper Webster would snatch second. James Golding would then go wide out of Turn 4, falling to fourth. James Golding would fight through the field, setting fastest lap after fastest lap with the help of push-to-pass to find himself in back in second when the safety car came out for Mark Rosser when he landed in the Turn 4 barriers. On the restart, Mawson, Golding and Cameron would all lock up into Turn 1, with the latter two heading through the grass. Mawson would survive to grab the Race 1 win, ahead of Cooper Webster and Blake Purdie. A bit of disarray would continue into Race 2, as Blake Purdie would have a great start, but would lock up into Turn 1, running into Cooper Webster as Jordan Boys and Winston Smith would have nowhere to go. With Blake Purdie left with no steering, he would then run into Mark Rosser, taking him out of the race as well. The safety car would come out to clean up the mess, as luckily Jordan Boys would be able to continue after receiving a new front wing. Aaron Cameron would make a mistake, surrendering second place to James Golding, as Joey Mawson would cross the finish line victorious again. Race 3 would be a clean affair, as there were a few battles at the rear of the field. At the front though, no one was stopping Joey Mawson, his third win of the weekend, and his second clean sweep of the season. James Golding would finish second, with Aaron Cameron third. With Mawson’s dominant weekend, he leads the championship by 77 points ahead of Cooper Webster, who is only 5 points ahead of James Golding. It’s going to take a miracle for anyone to catch up to the two-time S5000 champion. Bonus GalleryI made a mistake at the last Speed Series round at Phillip Island, by not focusing on the Trans-Am series. On track rivalries, first time winners, fierce battles and a photo finish, Phillip Island gave a perfect example as to why this series is one of the most entertaining in Australia. Although Winton wasn’t as thrilling as their trip to the Island, there were still plenty of talking points and on track action. Tyler Everingham would depart from Dream Racing Australia to return to drive for The Racing Academy'' Mustangs alongside Elliot Cleary and Cody Gillis, as Jackson Rice would take over the vacant seat left by Everingham. Brett Holdsworth would also be looking to rise up the championship leaderboard with consistent results after returning to fighting shape after a bike accident in between rounds. His Ash Seward Motorsport, Breeze sponsored Camaro is my favourite looking Trans Am on the grid. Ben Grice, who was apart of a massive crash at Symmons Plains this year, would lead the field in Practice 1, with a lap time of 1:24.857, followed by James Moffat, who was three tenths behind. Championship contenders Owen Kelly and Josh Webster would both have off track excursions, with Webster's bringing out the red flag in Practice 1. The session would finish when Tyler Everingham spin at the entry to Turn 7, needing the tilt tray. James Moffat would go one better to set the fastest time in Practice 2, with a 1:24.650, only a tenth faster than the two of Brett Holdsworth and Lochie Dalton. Qualifying up the front would be important for all categories, as it is difficult to overtake at Winton and thus, advance your position from the back. Lochie Dalton would surprise everyone by taking pole position, setting the fastest lap of the weekend – a 1:22.863 - almost four tenths ahead of Cody Gillis, who will line up alongside him in Race 1. The 18 Trans Am cars would all be bunched into Turn 1 for the first race, as Elliot Cleary would head off into the mud all on his own. Also on the first lap, Elliot Barbour would run into the back of Brett Holdsworth at Turn 7, with Barbour's bonnet flipping open a few corners later. Barbour would have to pit to get the bonnet taped shut, but on lap three, the bonnet would come flying off, before he came back into the pits to serve a drive through penalty for the incident. Chris Pappis would somehow find himself off at the exit of Turn 9, skating through the saturated grass, but was able to rejoin thanks to the service road. Lochie Dalton would turn his pole position into his first race victory in the Trans Am series, with Cody Gillis second and Ben Grice in third. Race 2 would be much cleaner, with no incidents, just good hard hustles for positions. A train would form behind Brett Holdsworth in a battle for eighth, but Holdsworth would prevail as Lochie Dalton would cross the line to grab his second win in a row. Cody Gillis would reclaim second with James Moffat snatching a podium finish from Ben Grice. Race 3 would be the big one, a 40-minute, 25 lap race. It would be a clean first lap, but Nash Morris would run into Owen Kelly (who had both been fighting for the race win at Phillip Island) at the final corner, leaving Morris to have to come through the pits. Both their recoveries would be helped by the safety car, after Elliot Barbour lost the rear at Turn 6, getting stuck in the gravel and bringing out the yellow flag. James Moffat would grab second on the restart from Cody Gillis, as Tyler Everingham would run into Brett Holdsworth, also at the final corner. After fourteen laps, the bruised car of Edan Thornborough would quit with mechanical gremlins. As the boxing matches happened behind, Lochie Dalton would pull away again, grabbing win number three, clean sweeping the weekend, with pole position and leading every lap in dominant fashion. Heading to Round 4 at Queensland Raceway, James Moffat leads the championship, however, Lochie Dalton's dominant weekend has helped thrust him to second, only trailing Moffat by nine points. The battle for third in the championship, despite being sixty points shy, can also turn in anyone's favour with Tony Hayman, Josh Webster and Owen Kelly having six points between them. And if this year's Trans Am racing is anything to go by, the standings won't stay like that. Bonus GalleryAustralia’s national drift championship would finish the Victorian part of their season back at Winton Raceway. Both Pro and Pro-Am drivers would be drifting at a familiar circuit, yet for the first time, on an all-new layout, which promoted door-on-door sideways action. Winton Motor Raceway is a staple in not only drifting in Victoria, but overall in Australia. Many drivers have visited and driven this track multiple times over, and the two layouts are known by everyone. So, for the third round of this year’s championship, the Hi-Tec Drift All Stars team brought it upon themselves to bring a new layout to fruition, with AASA and Winton Raceway coming on board, and giving them the all clear to make it happen. Funnily enough, I had never been to Winton for drifting, so I was going to photograph a new layout (to me) either way. Essentially, this is a reversed version of the first chicane layout, which has been the most often used layout over the years. The start line is at Winton’s Turn 3, driving anti-clockwise, they manji down the straight, sliding towards the left pit wall, then quickly to the right clipping point, before drifting into the now left hander Turn 2. This, the switchback into Winton’s Turn 1, followed by another left hander onto the short circuit’s back straight allow the chase car to follow and be on the lead car’s door, as the clipping points on the outside of the corners get covered in tyre smoke. Now, it didn’t matter if you’d visited Winton once or a hundred times, everyone would be on a level playing field. However, drivers would still be able to try out the new layout digitally, thanks to it being uploaded to Assetto Corsa. Drifting the track in a video game/simulator would allow drivers to get familiar with the layout, but not with how their car would react to the track and its changing conditions. Practice on Saturday would throw drivers into the deep end, their first time physically on the new layout, plus with added water. Drivers found the limits quite quickly, with many excursions off track, including Ben Boyle overcompensating at the final clipping point, heading off course into standing water. Brad Tuohy would also head straight into the tyre barriers at the first corner in one of his early practice runs. Matt Grice's Commodore was also left needing quite a bit of surgery after smacking the final corner's tyre barriers. After lunch, the track was finally dry enough to see some burning rubber, and in the late afternoon, drivers would begin their qualifying runs among the golden light. There were a handful of drivers pulling double duty, competing in both Pro and Pro-Am including Sam Mudge in his Murray RIver Motorsport Silvia S13. Jordan Sanderson brought his Pro Commodore drift ute as well as the Commodore Ute he uses for Pro-Am. However, his Pro-Am car would suffer mechanical issues, meaning he would compete in both categories with his Pro car, just using different tyre compounds. Jordan Putkunz, who came into round 3 only competing in the Pro-Am category, was quick to become comfortable with the new layout, and decided on Sunday morning to also take on the Pro competition. There were a handful who wouldn’t make it to the battles, thanks to mechanical failures including Ben Brody and unfortunately Matthew Craig in the bonkers turbocharged Barra powered Onevia Hatchback. Anthony Romano would overcome a missing third gear, by replacing the entire gearbox in time for competing in the Pro-Am class. Romano is known for drifting Ford Falcons, so its weird seeing him drive anything else. Kurt Dunn would also work overnight to repair his shiny S15, in preparation for the battles on Sunday. Caleb Sheehan from Tasmania would be battling mechanical issues all weekend, including have to call a five-minute mechanical for a broken throttle pedal. He got his 2JZ BMW street-car fixed in time to take on and defeat Sean Mcillhatton. Ben Odgers would knock out the very competitive Moe Elhaouli in the first battle for Pro, but would be defeated himself by Brodie Maher, after having two wheels off into the dirt. Dale Campaign would knock out new boy Jordan Putkunz in Pro, as Jason Ferron and Aaron Dewar tangled, handing Ferron the victory, Pro championship leader Roger Ianson would make contact with the back of Warwick Hill's BMW E46 during their one-more-time battle. Kieran Racklyeft would spin at the final clipping point in both his chase and lead runs, allowing Jordan Putkunz to continue on in the Pro-Am category, as Brad Tuohy halted Sam Mudge's advancements in the Pro category. Scott Schembri in the twin turbocharged V8 350Z would first defeat Top Qualifier Patrick Barlee, then Brad Tuohy, as he popped out wide of the massive smoke clouds. The rivalry between Jason Ferron and Dale Campaign would reignite in their Top 8 battle. Fast and smooth runs from both lead to a 'one-more-time' battle, with Dale Campaign in his Onevia getting the upper hand and advancing to the Top 4. Interestingly, the last time I photographed Dale Campaign was back in 2019, at my first drift event. The Top 4 in Pro-Am would come down to Sam Mudge, Anthony Romano, Jordan Sanderson and Jordan Putkunz. Sam Mudge would defeat Anthony Romano, advancing to the Top 2, as Putkunz wasn't fazed by Sanderson's Pro car, advancing to battle Sam Mudge in the final. Anthony Romano would outrun Jordan Sanderson to grab the final podium place, as Sam Mudge would latch onto the door of Jordan Putkunz, to take the overall victory in Pro-Am. Track duties weren't over for Sanderson though, as he would fight Brodie Maher for another third-place battle. The final battle in Pro would be against Dale Campaign and Scott Schembri. Scott Schembri would hassle the rear of Dale Campaign in his chase run, and when it came to his lead run, he bolted from the RB25 powered Onevia. Scott Schembri would be victorious on the reverse layout at Winton for the Pro category, with Dale Campaign second, Brodie Maher third and Jordan Sanderson again in fourth. The consistent two fourth place finishes for Sanderson gives him the championship lead in both Pro and Pro-Am. However, Roger Ianson and Patrick Barlee in Pro, and Sam Mudge and Kieran Racklyeft in Pro-Am will be aiming to get the upper hand, as the series heads to Queensland Raceway for round 4 of the 2023 championship. Bonus GalleryBetween twenty and thirty thousand years ago, volcanic activity formed Mount Leura and Mount Sugarloaf in Camperdown Victoria. Mount Leura's last volcanic eruption was at least five thousand years ago, yet days of violent explosions still occur on the mountain thanks to the internal combustion of racecars. For fifty weekends of the year, Mt Leura is your typical lookout with views of the surrounding landscapes. However, for two weekends, the drive to the top is closed off, reserved for those competing in the Victorian Hillclimb Championship. Usually, it is just a single weekend in May, although this year, the championship also had a round of competition in March. Drivers have been racing at Mt Leura since 1949, where it held two national events, sanctioned by the Australian Automobile Association. Since 1954, events at the hillclimb have been sanctioned by CAMS/Motorsport Australia, and in 1985 and 1987, Mt Leura held the Australian Hillclimb Championship. Those were probably among the times they parked cars in the shed among all the hay too. So, automotive competition in the form of time trials have been around for a while in Camperdown, and during the second last weekend of May, the road to the top would be closed for Round 5 of this year's Victorian Hillclimb Championship. The track has become a staple in the Victorian Hillclimb scene and would be almost as recognisable as the Ballarat Light Car Club campervan. Cars lineup at the bottom of the climb and are allowed a short distance of burnout space to clean/warm up their tyres. Once the previous car has crossed the finish line, the next car is given the go-ahead, with the timer starting only when the car moves off the line. The long start straight sends drivers into Turn 1, a fourty-five degree uphill corner, and soon after accelerating out of Turn 1, they begin to brake for the first hairpin. Drivers hug the inside of Turn 2, as they pass houses and accelerate onto the longest straight on the track. Aiming to the right side of the track, hitting the apex at the right-hand kink, yet continuing to embrace that side of the asphalt as the drivers begin to brake heavily into the trickiest section of track known as 'The Cutting', a homage to Australia's greatest racetrack, particularly Bathurst's own famous corner with the same name. This section, particularly the corner exit receives little sunlight, and add the rain the track over the weekend, the asphalt here is particularly slippery. Each run back down the hill after their completed laps, drivers would search for the dry and damp patches, especially at the braking zone into 'The Cutting', to see how conditions had changed throughout the days running. In the final runs of the second day of competition, drivers were really pushing hard into 'The Cutting', locking up brakes and having to readjust their steering quickly through the corner. Push too hard and you'd lose time, or worse, end up in the armco, which claimed two victims on the Sunday. Coming out of 'The Cutting', drivers accelerate through the tiny chicane, a bare right up the hill towards the finish line, 803-metres from the start, and only halfway up Mt Leura. This is the best spot to listen to each run. The sound of exhaust notes, squealing tyres and the agonising misfires from the MG's struggling to find third gear echo across the mountain, as the soulless clock at the start line counts up, its numbing clicks hiding the battle between man, machine and naturally formed landscape. The cars immediately slow down after completing their lap, heading to the top to turn around and wait at the side of the road, before coming back down. James Mcniven's AE86 Corolla was my personal favourite car that took on Mt Leura. The Toyota has been in Australia for fifteen years, after being a rallycross car in Japan. In that time, James has barely touched the still original engine and gearbox, only replacing the individual throttle bodies with twin side draft Webers. Even the five-year-old AVON slicks feel almost new. It's a car that James just puts fuel in and goes, and it is very competitive in hillclimbs, even winning its class at the Bathurst 6 Hour in 2017. Hillclimb and other time trial based motorsports are probably the easiest to get into. You don't have to own a purpose-built race car, and like many at Mt Leura, you can race your daily driver. This Leyland Moke, which is a common sight at Victorian hillclimbs had three drivers assigned to take the wheel during the weekend, whilst this was the second tarmac event, after two dirt events for the 14-year-old in the no.72 Hyundai Excel. More often than not, in hillclimb racing, you're competing against yourself and your previous lap times, and when you do compare times against other racers, it is again most likely going to be against similar cars yet competing in different classes. It's always exciting to explore a before unvisited racetrack, and also absorbing to experience and see a style of motorsport in a different way. Bonus GalleryNostalgia, noun: /n ɒˈstaldʒ(ɪ)ə/; a sentimental longing or a wistful affection for a period in the past. Although the BF/FG Falcon and VZ/VE Commodore, particularly the 'Car of the Future' era of V8 Supercars may not be old enough to evoke nostalgia for everyone, it’s the generation I remember most growing up. For the first time since 2019, the V8 Touring Cars, which brought ex-V8 Supercars up to the 2013 'Car of the Future' together, would be a stand-alone series with its own calendar. More recently the series was called Super 3, which had raced right alongside the Super 2 series from 2020 up until last year. Super 3 will continue alongside Super 2, as the V8 Touring Cars returned to its independence at the 2023 Speed Series Phillip Island round. Gather a grid of loud, purebred and brutal Australian race cars, that have their own stories and impressive resumes, with experienced and up and coming drivers behind the wheel, and you've got a noteworthy racing recipe. Although only nine cars took to the first practice at Phillip Island, the competition is expected to expand to more than twenty cars by the third round in August at Queensland Raceway. The series will have its finale at the Bathurst International, and I'll be pretty disappointed if I miss these 'Blueprint' era Supercars take on The Mountain once more. The consistent whiney V8 exhaust note as the cars accelerated was, only interrupted by the brutal mechanical sound of the gear changes from the sequential gearboxes that echoed across the island. The noise a complete contrast to the visuals of these Australian Supercars hugging the apexes at this picturesque track. My personal favorite car on the grid was Mark Winterbottom's 2008 FPR BF Falcon now owned by Jacob Khouri. Winterbottom won seven races during the 2008 V8 Supercar season, on his way to runner up in the championship. However, the reason I made a beeline for this BF Falcon was because one of my favourite racecars of all time is Steven Richard's 2007/8 Castrol Edge coloured Ford Performance racing Falcon, so to be able to photograph its teammate was pretty special. Jamie Tilley would set the fastest lap during the first practice session for the category, in the former Triple 888 FG Falcon, which was driven to victory by Craig Lowndes in 2009 at Winton. However, it's most famous moment win was at 'that' 2010 race at Sydney Motorsport Park, that took Jonathen Webb to his first victory. Second in first practice was Ray Hislop in the other ex-Winterbottom Falcon that raced at Bathurst in 2012 with the 1977 XB Falcon winning paint scheme. Third would be Jim Pollicina in another retro-liveried car that raced at Bathurst, whilst also taking seven wins during the 2012 season under the guise of Craig Lowndes. Jamie Tilley would finish off the V8 Touring Car's Friday running with the fastest time of a 1:35.213. 18-year-old Jude Bargwanna would debut this weekend driving an FPR FG Falcon. Bargwanna's car claimed 35 wins in 199 starts in the V8 Supercars, then claimed the 2015 Super2 championship in the hands of Cam Waters, and the 2022 Super3 championship being driven by Brad Vaughan. Bargwanna would be second fastest, followed by Jim Pollicina. Jude Bargwanna would set the fastest lap of the weekend in the very short Saturday morning qualifying session with a 1:33.926, 1.2 seconds ahead of Jamie Tilley, who was nine tenths ahead of Ray Hislop in third. Not everyone was able to get their best lap in, as Jacob Khouri spun and crashed into the Turn 2 barrier ending his weekend prematurely, and red flagging the session, as repairs were made to the tyre bundles. Pollicina would thread the needle from the second row to grab the lead into turn 1, but would drop back to fourth, then give Hislop and the fans a good Ford vs Holden battle, on his way back to third. Peter Abood in his VE Commodore, previously raced by Paul Morris and Russell Ingall didn't finish the first race, and would be joined in the pit lane by Jamie Tilley who suffered a tyre failure on the final lap, handing second place to Pollicina and third to Ray Hislop, as Bargwanna pulled away, winning on debut. Pollicina would yet again get the jump on Bargwanna at the start of Race 2, as Tony Evangelou, in FPR's first BA Falcon, which had been driven by Craig Lowndes, Glenn Seton and Jason Bright, while also taking Evangelou to the 2010 V8 Touring Car title, tried to hold on to third. Bargwanna would ultimately grab the lead around the outside of Turn 1, with Hislop spinning and almost making contact with Tilley, as Evangelou would suffer mechanical problems. Jude Bargwanna would take two wins from two, ahead of Pollicina and Antonio Molluso in third, driving the former Stone Brothers Racing Falcon, raced by Tim Slade in 2012. In the final race of the categories return at Phillip Island, Jude Bargwanna would stall from pole position, dropping down to last place on lap one, as Pollicina grabbed the lead once again. Jamie Tilley moved through the field, as Tony Audinno fell back from second with damage to his BA Falcon, debuted by Matt White during the 2006 Super2 championship. Jamie Tilley would deny Jim Pollicina victory, taking the chequered flag ahead of Pollicina and a charging Bargwanna who recovered to finish third, and ultimately win the overall round trophy. The V8 Touring Car Championship heads now the challenging Winton circuit, as Bargwanna is followed by Jim Pollicina who trails by only six points. Bonus GalleryThe fast, brutal and beautiful Phillip Island Circuit would hold host to Australia's GT World Challenge third round of 2023. The series would hold two 1-hour endurance races during the weekend, that despite the name and intentions, felt more like two, hour long sprint races. Like other GT championships around the world, Australia's GT World Challenge consisted of multiple classes based on driver experience and car type. After the first two rounds at the Bathurst 6 Hour and Perth Supersprint, it was the pairing of Liam Talbot and Max Hofer in the Audi Customer Racing R8 LMS EVO that lead the Pro-Am championship. Reigning champion Yassir Shahin, now piloting a Porsche 911 GT3R and paired with Garnet Patterson was trailing in second, with Geoff Emery in third in another Audi. In the Am championship, the developing Brad Schumacher lead followed by Matt Stoupas and Paul Stokell in the KFC Audi R8. The duo of Michael Sheargold and Garth Warren were further behind in points, but still held onto third place. Two drivers would compete under the GT Trophy class, Renee Gracie in her return to motorsport, who came to Phillip Island tied for first with Marcos Flack, and Paul Luchitti, who had yet to put any points up on the board. In addition, two MARC cars would be invited to compete among the GT cars. Darren Curie would race the MARC II Mustang, whilst Geoff Tauntum would compete in the brand-new MARC GT. Tauntum's GT was made entirely in Australia and is powered by a reliable 6.2 litre Chevrolet LS. Max Hofer would be paired with Geoff Emery at Phillip Island, and the duo would show their speed, posting the fastest time in Practice 1, only three hundredths faster than Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross, with the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Justin McMillan and Glen Wood a further three hundredths down the road. In the final practice on Friday, the aforementioned Justin McMillan and Glen Wood would go quickest in the colder afternoon session, ahead of Emery and Hofer almost half a second behind, and the Shahin Patterson pairing in third. Qualifying would be split into two sessions, one for each race and to give teams with two drivers assigned to one car both an opportunity to set a lap time. Liam Talbot would grab the Race 1 pole, half a second ahead of the familiar cars of Yassir Shahin and Geoff Emery. The promising young Jayden Ojeda would be on pole for Race 2 after setting the fastest lap of the weekend in the category, a 1:27.454, ahead of Garnet Patterson and Dylan O'Keefe in the final session before Race 1. Yassir Shahin would take the lead around the outside of pole sitter Talbot on the opening lap, as the two ran away from the rest of the field. Andrew Heitz in the Lamborghini Huracan succumbed to gearbox issues after his pitstop, taking him out of competition entirely for the rest of the weekend. Both Ash Samadi and Andrew Faucet would have large off-track adventures, and subsequently would not finish the race. Timed and compulsory pitstops would either be fast paced or feel like a lifetime. Teams with two drivers would rush to complete their driver change, changing seat inserts and attaching HANS devices and buckling up their drivers into the cockpit, whilst single driver teams would wait for the time to tick down, as cars on track raced by and brakes cooled. The post-race celebration photos would be premature as the winning no.1 Porsche was handed a five-second time penalty as Yassir Shahin was found to have not maintained the correct speed under the safety car, dropping Shahin and Patterson to fourth. Ross Poulakis and Jayden Ojeda would be relegated to first, a Mercedes AMG's first win of the season, with Stephen and Brenton Grove claiming second after brilliantly coming through the field from starting 21st. Geoff Emery and Max Hofer would be put on the final place of the podium due to the penalty given to EMA Motorsport. Jayden Ojeda would lead the bunched-up field to the green flag for their rolling start, but Garnet Patterson would give us a repeat of Race 1, taking the lead around the outside of turn 1 and although pulled away in the first laps, Ojeda would reclaim the lead after an aggressive pass into Miller corner. After the pitstops, both Shahin and Talbot found themselves battling for position, with contact being made and damage occurring to Shahin's 911 as a result due to divebombing the Audi at Miller corner, giving Shahin another five-second penalty. Geoff Emery and Max Hofer were able to storm to the Race 2 victory, with Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross being upgraded to second after the penalty given to Yassir Shahin and Garnet Patterson, which dropped them to third. Interestingly, Max Hofer now leads the Pro-Am championship after being a co-driver for two different teams. Geoff Emery and Liam Talbot are a close second and third respectively. Brad Schumacher has extended his lead over the KFC Audi of Paul Stockell and Matt Stoupas, as Renee Gracie continues to lead the Trophy category. The series now prepares for Round 4 during the final weekend of July as they will act as a support category for the Supercars Supersprint at Sydney Motorsport Park. Bonus Gallery |