jack atley 15/5/25 jack atley 15/5/25

THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT - ROUND 3 PREVIEW

A smaller collection of 13 Drivers have entered for the Third Round of the 2025 944 Challenge Championship, as the category returns to the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

Though what is lacking in quantity is not lacking in quality as some of the best 944 Challenge drivers will be gridding up this weekend, where the field will have an extra race with 4 sprints over the weekend, which is proudly presented by Bowden’s Own Car Care Products.

PORSCHE 944 CHALLENGE - ROUND 3 2025 PREVIEW!

Porsche Cars Australia

Bowden’s Own

Melbourne Paving

Butchers Diner

L K Diesel Service

Don Watson Transport

Tyrepower Benalla

AVi Technology

Poolmaster Bayside

Bowdens Own Car Care Products

Trico

888 Home Loans

Pit Lane Clothing

A smaller collection of 13 Drivers have entered for the Third Round of the 2025 944 Challenge Championship, as the category returns to the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Though what is lacking in quantity is not lacking in quality as some of the best 944 Challenge drivers will be gridding up this weekend, where the field will have an extra race with 4 sprints over the weekend, which is proudly presented by Bowden’s Own Car Care Products.

Continuing his perfect start to 2025 at Calder Park with 3 more wins in the #1 car is Cameron Beller. Cameron will have his work cut out for him to continue that record this weekend, but as usual he will be putting in 100% effort to continue his winning streak.

Adam Brewer only found the podium in the final race at Calder Park, but 2 fourth place finishes means he is sitting in equal second in the championship behind Beller. Brewer was on the podium every race at PI last year, but the top step eluded him – a feat he will be looking to change this weekend as he attempts to close the gap on Beller in the points battle.

Moving up four positions in the pointscore after Calder Park is Jamie Westaway in the #28 car with a trio of podium finishes moving him up to fourth position. With a 50% win record at Phillip Island in 2024, Jamie will have his sights on putting an end to Beller’s 2025 winning streak and look to start clawing back his points deficit to the top three in the points.

Moving up to fifth position in the points is the impressive Peter Grant in the #84 machine. Fresh from scoring a trio of fifth place finishes at Calder in his best round to date, Peter will be hoping to again have a solid weekend to potentially improve his points position, but he will need to improve on his best PI finish to date of 7th position to do that.

Slipping back a couple positions in the points was Mark Taubitz, his weekend going south early after he was escorted to the gravel trap in the first race from 7th position, dropping him 2 laps down while he was recovered, putting him on the back foot for the rest ofd the weekend. Taubitz missed out on cracking the top 5 last year at Phillip Island, a stat he will definitely be looking to turn around this weekend and recover some points positions lost at Calder Park.

Nick Carpenter showed good speed at Calder in the #14 Melbourne Paving 944 – but was again hampered by virtue of being found the culprit in the incident which sent Taubitz to play in the sand, earning him a 30 second race penalty courtesy of the race stewards. Despite this, he recovered well to secure a pair of seventh place finishes in the two Sunday races. Nick’s best PI finish to date is 9th, and he will be another looking to record a new PB finish at the Island this weekend.

Sharing the tenth position in the 944 points is Jack Atley in the #35 Pit Lane Clothing car, Jack coming away from the Calder feeling there was missed opportunities after showing good pace on Friday practice, but getting snookered by another damp qualifying session, and a Race 1 spin put him on the back foot. A best finish of 9th at PI last year will rank him as another driver who will have his eyes on besting that result this weekend and to move firmly into the top ten in the pointscore.

Sam Rofe shares the tenth position in points scoring a pair of top ten finishes, but found himself struggling with matvch fitness over the length of the races and losing some positions in the closing stages in the #68 Porsche. Competing in the recent sh*tbox rally up to Townsville will undoubtedly help him and he will look to have a stronger finish to the races this weekend as he returns to PI for the first time since Island Magic 2015!

Slipping back from 5th after Sandown, to 13th in the points after missing the Calder Park round is Carter Fox with the #7 car. Carter had a fantastic Sandown and weekend and will be looking to continue as we head to Phillip Island. Last time there, Carter scored a 6th position in the final race, he will be hoping for a strong weekend to put him back to a competitive points position once the worst dropped round comes into effect.

Having his first 2025 outing, and first time competing at Calder Park was Michael Westaway onboard the familiar orange #45 944. Michael took his time getting used to the track and finding his feet, but had a strong final race where he moved up to eighth position in the final race. Always competitive at Phillip Island, Michael will surely be looking to mix it up in the top half of the field this weekend.

Heading to his debut round at Phillip Island in his 944 this weekend is Andrew Goldman in the #333 Carpet Shed machine. Gearbox issues in Race 1 put Andrew out at Calder Park, but a great job to source and replace the box overnight enabled him to notch up a top ten finish in the final race on Sunday. He will be looking to learn and score a few more top ten finishes over the course of the weekend.

Debuting for the first time in 2025 is Toni Andreevski in the #27 944, and Josh Brisbane in the green #56 car. Both drivers scored stong results at their last visits to the Island, a pair of seventh place and eighth place finishes respectively – expect both drivers to factor in the top ten all weekend, and watch out for Andreevski if some weather hits the circuit...

Unfortunately we are missing a number of regular competitors this weekend for various reasons, with Mark Verdino missing along with Tony Westaway due to being away, Andrew Jackman and Dick Howe are absent due to surgeries, along with Chris Lewis Williams, Manny Mezzasalma, Jared Campione, Pedr James & John Vainoras, some of who we hope to see make the trek over to the Bend for Round 4.

If you like what you see on the circuit and want to get on board with the Porsche 944 Challenge series, the series is enjoying a resurgence with a couple of cars available for purchase and others returning to competition, along with some freshly built cars being finalised with some of those for lease, or sale. Get in touch with the guys in the series if you would like to get on track and join in the action.

jack atley 2/4/25 jack atley 2/4/25

BELLER HAILED AT ANNUAL PORSCHE PRESENTATION NIGHT

Beller Motorsport driver Cameron Beller was warmly applauded as he received his prestigious 2024 Championship winning trophy during the star-studded Annual Porsche 944 Challenge Series Presentation Night, which took place at the luxurious and elegantly designed Porsche Centre Melbourne.

Many 944 Challenge Series drivers were in attendance as were family, friends and invited guests.

The win by Beller saw him become the first ever driver to take out five 944 Challenge Series Championship titles in the 26 year history of the category.

Also awarded during the night were Mark Verdino, Chris Lewis Williams, Jamie Westaway, Adam Brewer, Nic Carpenter and Carter Fox, with speeches by President Mark Taubitz.

jack atley 1/4/25 jack atley 1/4/25

THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT - ROUND 2 PREVIEW

16 Drivers have entered for the Second Round of the 2025 944 Challenge Championship, as the category returns to Calder Park Raceway, in Melbourne’s West for an earlier spot in the calendar than in previous years. This round of the series is again proudly presented by Melbourne Paving.

PORSCHE 944 CHALLENGE - ROUND 2 2025 PREVIEW!

Porsche Cars Australia

Melbourne Paving

Butchers Diner

L K Diesel Service

Don Watson Transport

AVi Technology

Poolmaster Bayside

Bowdens Own Car Care Products

Trico

888 Home Loans

Pit Lane Clothing

Kicking off his title defence with a perfect score at Sandown with 3 wins in the #1 car is Cameron Beller. Cameron also took victory in the final race at Calder in 2024, so he will be looking to continue that run of form and as we head to his home circuit this weekend.

Adam Brewer secured second position overall at Sandown in Car #3, though he was unable to snag a race victory despite showing great speed over the weekend, as well as the Pole Position. It could have been much worse however, as he was able to recover from a big moment in Race 2 when he had a slide while leading and was collected by Beller. A trio of third place finishes

The defending Calder round champion from 2024, Mark Verdino was off the podium at Sandown with three 4th place finishes in the #44 Sidelink Transport car, which places him in third position in the points at the end of the round. With Calder being the site of all three of Verdino’s race victories, he will be entering the Calder round as the firm favourite to repeat again.

Sitting in equal fourth place in the 944 Championship points is Mark Taubitz in the #71 Porsche. Mark was on for a good weekend until the closing stages of the final race where he came out on the wrong side of a late safety car restart, and then again when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a failure to Jared Campione’s steering led to contact with Taubitz, and he spun, striking the guardrail – though held onto fourth place by virtue of being able to cross the line in the final position to secure the points for finishing in last place.

In sixth position is the Poolmaster Bayside #20 car of Andrew Jackman, despite also suffering a last lap, last race drama tangle with Nick Carpenter, Jackman secured enough points to hold a one point margin over Peter Grant, who is in seventh outright in the #84 Auto Coupe 944. Peter scored his best race finish to date on the last visit to Calder with a fifth place in the second race, he will look to improve his points position this weekend with another strong outing.

Sitting in an unexpected eighth position is Jamie Westaway in the #28 car, despite a pair of second place finishes, a DNF in the final race hurt his championship pointscore. Jamie secured Pole position last time at Calder, so he will again be up at the pointy end this weekend and aims to get his Championship title bid back on track.

Nick Carpenter sits in equal ninth position in the #14 Melbourne Paving 944 – a position not representative of the positions he crossed the finish line in after he was slapped with a 15 second time penalty for passing under yellow flag conditions, in Race 2, and a 5 point penalty for the last lap clash with Andrew Jackman in the final race. Nick was sixth for the round at Calder Park last year, so he will be hoping to improve on his points position by the end of this round.

Sharing the ninth position in the points is Jack Atley in the #35 Pit Lane Clothing car, Jack coming away from the Sandown weekend feeling content with a straight car and solid points at a track he has traditionally not favoured, and a spring in his step as we head to Calder where he will look to score more top ten results.

Sitting in an uncharacteristic eleventh position following the round is 4-time champion Chris Lewis-Williams in the #37 Tyrepower car. Chris was hampered by a failure in the front suspension in the first race of the Sandown weekend which led to a DNF. He recovered well to finish the final race in second position, but with the 944 Championship points rewarding race finishes heavily, Chris will be looking for a consistent weekend to move up the points order after this weekend.

Sam Rofe had a much better result for his return to the series at Sandown, managing a top ten finish in the final race in his first hitout with his new powerplant. This weekend will be Sam’s first visit to the Calder Park circuit, as he will look to have another reliable weekend and add to his top ten tally.

Tony Westaway had a sub par weekend with the yellow #50 Porsche, a spin in Race 2 and then a suspension failure in the final race sees him also down in a lower position than he would be accustomed to. Tony missed the Calder round last year, so he will refresh his memory back to the previous outing in 2023 and hope to have a much less troublesome weekend and finish all three races.

Manny Mezzasalma sits in 15th position in the points in the #10 machine after his weekend was cut short at Sandown, and he was unable to complete Sundays races after an 11th place finish in Race 1. Also not finishing Sundays races on Sunday was Andrew Goldman in the #333 car, after suspension issues in Race 2 ended his race and could not be fixed for Race 3. The issues have now been sorted, and he will make his Calder Park debut this weekend.

Also entered for their first Calder Park event this weekend, and first event for 2025 are Michael Westaway in the #45 machine, and also a big welcome back to the series to Pedr James in his striking #98 PKJ Rural Fencing 944, after a four year hiatus from racing. No doubt there will be some cobwebs for Pedr to blow out, but he showed good pace when he last competed and will be back in the thick of the action in no time!

Unfortunately, we are missing Carter Fox in the #7 this weekend due to work commitments, as well as Jared Campione who was unable to finish repairs to his car in time for the event, likewise John Vainoras, with all three hoped to return for Round 3 along with a few other drivers expected to make their 2025 debut at Round 3 in May.

jack atley 21/2/25 jack atley 21/2/25

NO PLACE FOR THE FAINT HEARTED - STUNNING LAST LAPS OF ROUND 1 - VIDEO

If you ever thought the Australian 944 Challenge Series was just ‘a bit of fun’..or ‘not fully committed’…maybe check this video out and think again.

It’s no place for the faint hearted.

If you ever thought the Australian 944 Challenge Series was just ‘a bit of fun’..or ‘not fully committed’…maybe check this video out and think again.

It’s no place for the faint hearted...and this was only Round 1.

944 Challenge Series Rcing - 2025 ROUND 1 - SANDOWN

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jack atley 17/2/25 jack atley 17/2/25

BELLER TAKES FULL POINTS AT CRASH MARRED SANDOWN ROUND 1

Beller Motorsport driver and reigning champion Cameron Beller has held off strong opposition to take 3 wins from 3 races, during a chaotic and crash marred Round 1 of the 2025 944 Challenge Season, at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

Beller Motorsport driver and reigning 944 Challenge champion Cameron Beller has held off strong opposition to take 3 wins from 3 races, during a chaotic and crash-marred Round 1 of the 2025 944 Challenge Season, at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

*Cameron Beller leads Jamie Westaway at Sandown. pic by:* **Rebecca Hind**

The notorious walled circuit claimed multiple victims over the weekend with many of the drivers coming off second best.

With inclemant weather also adding to the party, multiple safety cars were used across the 3 race weekend.

Beller stayed ahead of spirited drives from regular front runners, Jamie Westaway, polesitter Adam Brewer, Chris Lewis-Williams and Mark Verdino all weekend to claim full points for the round and to again lead the championship, after taking his fifth 944 Challenge Series title in 2024.

The current champion Beller said afterwards, ‘This season will clearly be very tight, it wasn't easy this weekend and it isn't going to be an easy season…a lot of guys are fast’.

The field of 17 cars heads towards Turn 2 and Sandown - pic by: Rebecca Hind

Round 2 of the championship heads to another iconic Melbourne circuit, Calder Park Raceway on 28 - 30 March, 2025.

PROVISIONAL POINTS AFTER ROUND 1 - VIC STATE

jack atley 12/2/25 jack atley 12/2/25

THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT - ROUND 1 PREVIEW

18 Drivers have entered for the First Round of the 2025 944 Challenge Championship, as the category returns to the Home of Horsepower - Sandown Raceway, in the South East of Melbourne. This round of the series is proudly presented by Melbourne Paving.

PORSCHE 944 CHALLENGE - ROUND 1 2025 PREVIEW!

Porsche Cars Australia

Melbourne Paving

Butchers Diner

L K Diesel Service

Don Watson Transport

AVi Technology

Poolmaster Bayside

Bowdens Own Car Care Products

Trico

888 Home Loans

Pit Lane Clothing

Returning to defend his championship from 2024 is Cameron Beller, with the #1 again adorning the Beller Motorsport car. He will once again have to prove himself against a tough field of protagonists hoping to stop him going back-to-back. This will be led by 4-time Champion Chris Lewis-Williams aboard the #37 Tyrepower 944, and 2-time champion Jamie Westaway behind the wheel of the #28 machine.

After finishing the 2024 season in the runner-up position, Mark Verdino will also be looking to improve on that result in 2025 and wrestle the championship from Beller in his #44 Sidelink machine, as will Adama Brewer, who was in championship contention up until the Calder Park round where a points penalty ruled him out of a chance to take the trophy, but he will again be fast in the #3 AVi Technology car.

Mark Taubitz will be back in the new #71 car, after scoring his first career race wins in 2024, Mark will be looking to unlock some more pace in the Apple Computer liveried car to join the fast 5 at the front of the championship battle consistently.

Carter Fox returns for 2025 with the #7 car, as he will look to continue his upward trajectory that he showed in the second half of 2024, as does Tony Westaway in the familiar Yellow #50 car, both drivers having the pace to mix it at the front of the field this weekend.

Andrew Jackman wheels out his familiar #20 Poolmaster Bayside for Round 1 where he will be looking to make life hard for the front runners, as will newcomer Peter Grant in the #84 Porsche who showed flashes of impressive speed in his rookie year last year.

Also starting his second season of 944 Competition is Nick Carpenter in the Melbourne Paving #14 car, Nick will have aspirations to move further up the field as he will set his sights on finishes further into the top 10, ditto Jack Atley, who again will be behind the wheel of the Andy Tudor owned #35 Pit Lane Clothing backed machine as Jack also targets the top ten and beyond on a regular basis.

An aborted return last year for Sam Rofe in the beautiful #68 car after engine woes curtailed his return, Sam has a new engine and will be looking to contest the 2025 season as he blows out the cobwebs and re-familiarises himself with his car, and the circuits!

Also returning after missing the back end of the 2024 season are Jared Campione in the #88 Campione Electrics machine, and Manny Mezzasalma in the #10 car. Both drivers have had work carried out on their cars in the off-season and will also be looking to move themselves up the running order with some strong results in 2025.

Andrew Goldman also makes a return to competition with the #333 Carpet Shed 944, with a fresh powerplant after a failure at The Bend last year ended his season prematurely. Andrew will be another who will improve as he gets more comfortable with his 944 as the season progresses.

Also returning is John Vainoras, after suffering more issues with his car last year, it's hoped that he has got the issues sorted finally in the #32 car.

An unfortunate late withdrawal is Lyndon Watson in the #5 Watson Transport car, Lyndon will likely miss the first few rounds but we look forward to him joining the championship in the back half of the year.

Unfortunately, we will be missing one of the Westaway brothers, with Michael not competing this weekend after plans to enter derailed at the last minute. We look forward to having him return for Round 2, along with Keith Marriner and the return of Andy Jones – plus a couple more new, and familiar names to the 944 Challenge field expected to hit the track for Round 2 / 3!

jack atley 7/12/24 jack atley 7/12/24

BELLER BECOMES FIRST TO CLAIM FIVE PORSCHE 944 CHALLENGE SERIES TITLES

Beller Motorsport driver Cameron Beller has become the first driver in the category’s history to claim 5 Porsche 944 Challenge Series championships, as the 2024 season was completed, at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

Beller finished the year by taking victory in race 2 in the final round of the year and ended up 26 points clear of his nearest rival.

Cameron Beller is seen ahead of Jamie Westaway at Phillip Island

Sidelink driver Mark Verdino finished the seaon in second postion with Tyrepower Benalla driver - and 4 times series champion - Chris Lewis Williams completing the season in third place.

jack atley 23/10/24 jack atley 23/10/24

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 6 PREVIEW

13 entries for the Sixth Round of the 2024 944 Challenge Championship, which marks the final round of the 2024 Victorian State Racing Championships as the series returns to Calder Park after the first venture on the rejuvenated historic race track last year.

Porsche Cars Australia

Butchers Diner

Campione Electrics

EJM Advice

Stratton Finance Hobart

AVi Technology

L K Diesel Service

Don Watson Transport

Trico

888 Home Loans

Pit Lane Clothing

This round of the Championship is proudly presented by Butchers Diner, and in the State series final round, only three points separate leader Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) from second placed Cameron Beller (#55) going into the round.

Beller took home the chocolates at Phillip Island three weeks ago with 2 race wins to close the gap while Chris came home in third position for the round, but Chris scored the better round results of the two last year when he wrapped up the Vic State Championship crown in 2023.

There will be plenty of eyes on these two as they tussle for the top spot!

Not to be forgotten about in third position is Adam Brewer (#3) with Brewer only 20 points behind Lewis-Williams in the State Championship - and with 100 points on offer this weekend! - it would only take the front two to have a slight issue to catapult Brewer right into the title hunt at Calder Park.

Also in a similar position, albeit further back in the pointscore and thus requiring more to go his way to make an impact is Mark Verdino (#44).

Verdino sits a further 24 points behind Brewer, and while coming from fourth to first in the final round might seem unlikely, it is most certainly possible – and a top three finish is certainly something that could easily happen – especially given that Verdino took the Round win and his first race win at Calder Park last year.

Technically still in contention for the State Championship in fifth position is Jamie Westaway# (28).

Jamie would have been still in the mix, and would have moved up to fourth had he not lost all clutch pressure on the final lap of the final race at Phillip Island, whilst leading.

He now sits 82 points behind Beller and would need bad luck to fall the way of all of the top four to be able to overcome the deficit. Having missed this race last year, Jamie will be using Friday to get himself familiar with the Calder Park circuit before Saturday action starts.

In sixth position in the State Championship Points is Mark Taubitz (#71).

Taubitz was happy with the handling of his new car at the fast PI circuit but still lamenting the lack of performance from the drivetrain and exposed a couple of shortfalls with the new car that hurt his results on the Sunday races at Phillip Island. With those exposed issues now rectified, Taubitz will hope for a good weekend and some strong results at Calder Park as he looks to retain his top five in the 944 Challenge Championship ahead of Westaway.

Returning to the circuit after having to withdraw from Phillip Island due to contacting COVID during race week is veteran Dick Howe (#8) unfortunately Dick was entered, but unable to make the trip - but he is now well and truly recovered and we look forward to seeing him return to the venue he has competed at many times, albeit on the banked Thunderdome!

Currently sitting in 14th position in the State Championship in his rookie season is Nick Carpenter behind the wheel of the #14 machine, Nicks expected debut at Phillip Island unfortunately didn't go the way he was hoping after encountering fuel pump issues during on Saturday qualifying meaning he did not get to turn a lap in anger during the races. Nick will be hoping he has sorted those issues this weekend at Calder, and he has the opportunity to leapfrog up to 8th position in the State Championship if he can have a strong outing!

Having one of his most enjoyable weekends for some time was John Vainoras (#32), beaming after having a weekend long tussle with Jack Atley where the two were able to share the triumphs over each other on Sundays races. John also has the opportunity to move up into the top ten of the State Championship points this weekend if he can string together a good trio of results!

Setting up for his first outing at Calder Park with his 944 is Peter Grant behind the wheel of the #84 car.

A strong weekend at Phillip Island for Peter sees him close behind Carpenter in the 944 Championship points, an important factor when looking at the Rookie of the Year standings for this year!

A welcome sight on the grid for the first time this year was the Yellow & Black #7 machine of Carter Fox, although Carter has been at a couple of events behind the wheel of the Andrew Jackman car.

The cars return wasn't without drama however, Carter incurring a damaged windscreen after hitting some debris which smashed the wiper onto the screen, and a scare with a gear selection on Sundays race before a strong showing in the final race.

Carter showed some good speed and will hope to match that with consistency to chalk up a good outing this weekend at Calder Park.

Back behind the wheel of his faithful car #20 will be Andrew Jackman, having had his first race meeting since his Bathurst 6 Hour class win at Easter.

Jackman was quick in the wet conditions on Saturday, but a couple of spins at MG corner hurt his results. He returned strong on Sunday, dicing with Tony Westaway and Taubitz before having a lose at Honda corner which dropped him down. His car was again quick at Calder last year in the hands of Taubitz, and Jackman will be looking to continue to show that strong speed on his first race meet at the Melbourne circuit.

Also returning to the series after an even longer hiatus was Jack Atley – exchanging the microphone for the steering wheel, Jack was behind the wheel of the Pit Lane Clothing #35 944 again this weekend after he acclimatized himself at Phillip Island. A spin and resultant DNF after getting bogged in the wet grass and mud ended his Saturday early, but Jack had a ball dicing with Vainoras for the minors on Sunday, and will have his eyes set on some top ten finishes this weekend.

Unfortunately we will be missing the Westaway brothers, Tony & Michael this weekend but both will be back for the final round at Island Magic, as will Josh Brisbane and Toni Andreevski, as well as the returns of Andrew Goldman with a fresh engine after his dramas at The Bend, and the expected return of Keith Marriner fresh from his commentary duties at Phillip Island last time out!

Get in touch with the guys in the series if you would like to get on track and join in the action.