THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT - ROUND 4 PREVIEW - WINTON FESTIVAL OF SPEED
Porsche Cars Australia
Tyrepower Benalla
Melbourne Paving
Butchers Diner
L K Diesel Service
Don Watson Transport
AVi Technology
Poolmaster Bayside
Trico
888 Home Loans
Pit Lane Clothing
A season high collection of 20 Drivers have entered for the Fourth Round of the 2025 944 Challenge Championship, as the category returns to the Victorian High Country and the famed Winton Raceway in Benalla, with the event proudly presented by Tyrepower Benalla.
The second race of the last round at Phillip Island saw Cameron Beller’s 2025 winning streak come to an end, nevertheless he still scored 1 victory, 2 seconds and a third from the 4-race format at Phillip Island. Last time at Winton Beller wasn’t able to visit the top step of the podium which ended a long winning streak for him at the circuit - He will be hoping to start some new streaks this coming weekend in the #1 machine.
The man who broke Beller’s 2025 winning streak in Race 2 at Phillip Island was Adam Brewer in car #3– now finding himself second in the points standings courtesy of a pair of third places to complement his victory. Brewer was leading the third race but a spin at Honda corner prevented him from being able to repeat and attempt to take the round honours, but could make inroads on Bellers lead if he can prevail this weekend at Winton.
Sitting in a clear third position in the points is Jamie Westaway (#28), taking a narrow round win at Phillip Island courtesy of 2 wins and 2 seconds. Jamie took the pole position last time the series was at Winton but a mechanical failure while leading Race 1 kept him from scoring points that weekend.
Jumping back up in the pointscore into fourth position is Mark Taubitz, behind the wheel of the #66 Pipecraft machine,Taubitz had one of his best Phillip Island weekends, grabbing a third position and a pair of fourth places along with the fastest lap in the final race. Returning to the site where he scored his first two race wins in 2024 (Behind the wheel of the very same car) Taubitz will be looking forward to what the weekend has in store for him.
Holding station in fifth position in the points is Peter Grant, who had what could be described as an off weekend for him with the #84 car lacking overall speed – which was diagnosed to be a mechanical fault in the post event investigation.
Despite having been a regular since early 2024, this weekend will be Peters’ first outing with the 944 Challenge at Winton – so we will wait to see where he slots in pace wise on the tight regional track!
Vaulting up four spots up in the pointscore into sixth position is Jack Atley in the #35 Pit Lane Clothing car, Jack having a successful weekend at Phillip Island with a trio of top-ten finishes across the weekend. He holds a slender lead over the drivers just beneath him in the points ladder, and Jack will be aiming for more top ten finishes at Winton to hold onto that position.
Dropping down from second position in the points after a strong start to the season due to missing the last round at Phillip Island is Mark Verdino in the #44 Sidelink Transport car.
With the ability to drop a worst-points round of the season, Verdino is still right in the hunt once that rule takes effect after this round. Expect to see him back fighting up at the top of the pointscore if he can have a strong round this weekend at Winton.
Sam Rofe sits in equal seventh position with Verdino in his striking #68 machine, only three points away from his championship adversary Atley. A pair of top ten finishes at Phillip Island despite a Race 1 spin have helped Rofe keep him in the points fight with Atley, but he will be making his first visit to Winton in a very long time and need to get on the pace quick to keep Atley on his toes.
Nick Carpenter slipped a couple of positions to 9th due to a DNF in the third race at Phillip Island after an unfortunate tangle with Carter Fox saw him encounter the tire wall with his #14 Melbourne Paving car, ending his weekend early.
Nick had a good outing last time at Winton and showed encouraging pace in what was his first round with the 944 Challenge last year. If he can improve on that he will be looking to challenge the top ten this weekend.
Having a customary strong weekend at Phillip Island in the Orange #45 machine was Michael Westaway, bringing him into the top ten in points despite missing the first round of the season. Like Verdino, Michael will also potentially jump into a strong position once the worst dropped round comes in effect if he can muster up a strong result at WInton – a track he has had some podium finishes at in the past.
Tony Westaway is another who has missed a round, being absent from the last round at Phillip Island. Tony will also hope for a strong weekend to put him in a good points spot once the worst dropped round is calculated following this round with his #50 944.
Fresh from one of his best points rounds at Phillip Island is Andrew Goldman in the #333 Carpet Shed car. Andrew will revisit Winton for the second time in the 944, but being a track he is more familiar with - will look to move further up the grid this weekend as he will set his sights onto moving closer to, or into the top ten in points once he can drop his worst round.
A disappointing weekend was had at Phillip Island for Carter Fox – a clutch issue following on from a career best qualifying position of 4th position in his #7 car saw him miss Race 1, and grid up from the back of the grid in the borrowed #20 Poolmaster 944 of Andrew Jackman who was sitting out the round.
A DQ from Race 2 for being underweight after moving up to cross the line in 5th, was followed by a non-classified finish after the clash with Carpenter. Another 5th place finish in the final from the back of the grid again showed the pace and potential that didn’t materialise.
Carter will want a strong weekend to help vault him up also once the worst dropped round is brought in after this round.
Not the season he was hoping to have for our 4 time and 2023 series champion Chris Lewis-Williams in the #37 Tyrepower Benalla machine. A late entry for this event, Chris is the most recent race winner in the 944 Challenge at Winton taking the spoils in the final race of the 2024 round, and will want to have a good showing after suffering DNFs in races at both of the first two rounds and missing the last round at Phillip Island.
Having one of his strongest rounds of his career at Phillip Island was Toni Andreevski in the Purple #27 944 with a trio of 5th place finishes on record in his first round of the season. If Toni can repeat that level of performance, he could certainly signal his intentions if he can commit to a full season attack in 2026!
Another having a breakout weekend at his first event for the 2025 season was Josh Brisbane – with the immaculate green #56 reading the play perfectly before the wet Race 1 at Phillip Island, scything through the field all the way to fourth position despite dropping to dead last after the start with an issue off the line. Three more finishes just outside the top 5 rounded out a great event for Josh and he will be keen to put on just as good a show this weekend at Winton.
Manny Mezzasalma will have his #10 machine back after missing Phillip Island, and will be looking for some reliability after a troubled 2025 that saw him pack up early at both Sandown & Calder, and aim to lay some groundwork for a stronger end to the year and springboard into 2026.
Returning after missing the last couple of rounds is the #88 of Jared Campione – a suspension failure in the final race at Sandown causing a last lap incident and forcing him to sit out those rounds to undertake repairs on the car.
Expect Jared to have the bit between his teeth as he gets back behind the wheel and looks to having a strong weekend.
Pedr James had his stunning #98 car back out at Calder for the first time in 4 years, but struggled with gearbox issues for most of the weekend, as well as trying to get used to the Calder layout for the first time. He will certainly put on a better show on his return to the Winton circuit, a venue where he took his first race win in the reverse grid race back in 2018.
The #20 Poolmaster Bayside machine of Andrew Jackman will be back on track this weekend – but will again not have Jackman behind the wheel. We will this weekend see Hyundai Excel stalwart Ryan Phillips debuting in the 944 Challenge – and fresh off some race wins at Winton only last weekend in his Excel, no one will be surprised if Ryan is right up at the pointy end this weekend.
With a strong field in attendance, the future is looking even stronger with some more new competitors looking to debut, or rejoin the series for the Sandown and Phillip Island rounds to round out the year.
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.