THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 2 PREVIEW

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 2 PREVIEW

18 Cars are entered for this round, the second round of the 2023 944 Challenge Championship, though unfortunately, there have been two last minute withdrawals with Andy Tudor and Vlad Kennedy both unable to make the round.

The first round of the 2023 944 Challenge season featured one of the most dramatic races in 944 Challenge history, with Adam Brewer (#3) leading into the final corner of the race from Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) and Cameron Beller (#55) just behind having come from the rear of the grid – only for Brewer to run wide, allowing Lewis-Williams and Beller through, with Beller using the momentum to edge ahead by the smallest of margins at the chequer.

As a result of a victory & 2 second place finishes, CL-W leads the points after the first round as he returns to the Winton circuit to race his 944 in anger for the first time in a number of years and will hope to leave the circuit retaining the championship points lead.

Adam Brewer got his season off to a great start with a second and a pair of third places from the three races to be second in both championships after being in contention throughout the weekend at the pointy end with Beller and Lewis-Williams. Some testing last week fortunately uncovered a gearbox issue that would likely have curtailed his results this weekend had he not tested in preparation, thought it curtailed his attempts to get a jump on being track-ready ahead of his chief rivals!

Sitting in third position in the championship after his best race, and round result to date is Mark Verdino (#44) The Sidelink Transport car performed fantastically and Mark secured a 3rd place finish in Race 1, with a 4th and 6th to go along with it as he had a great showing all weekend, and is motivated to have a stronger result on his first return to Winton after making his only start at the circuit to date last year.

Sitting in 4th in the 944 Championship after also having a great first round is The Lasagne man himself, Joey Kellock (#77). Joey secured a 4th, 5th and 6th place finishes as he battled all weekend long with stablemates Mark Verdino & Tim Wolfe. While experienced at Winton, this will be his first race weekend at the regional circuit as he will no doubt have a baptism of fire as he goes into battle with a bunch of contemporaries in their 944’s!

Sitting in 5th position in the 944 Championship points is Andrew Jackman (#20)– still on a high after taking the Class E victory at the Bathurst 6 hour two weeks ago with Cameron Beller and Mark Taubitz,

Andrew will no doubt be reminding everyone he is the highest place of the trio in the pointscore going into Round 2. A strong weekend results rise at Sandown saw him have his best start to a season to date and he will have intentions of continuing that this weekend at Winton.

In 7th position in the 944 points after Round 1 is Mark Taubitz (#74) – after a promising 5th position in qualifying Taubitz struggled in the races with the long straights at Sandown and had to settle with a pair of 8ths and a 9th place from the weekend. A subsequent tear down of the engine post Sandown has revealed a broken Valve spring – hopefully an increase of engine performance will help Taubitz turn his fortunes as he hopes to repeat his performance last year at Winton where he scored a pair of podium finished behind Beller and Jamie Westaway.

Sitting in 8th position despite two victories at Sandown is Cameron Beller, showing just how much a DNF can hurt you in the championship pointscore after his gearbox issues in Race 1. An amazing drive from the back of the grid saw him snatch the victory in Race 2 along with in Race 3 – helping him salvage as good a result as possible and keep him in contention and ready to move up the points ladder this weekend at a track he has been virtually unbeatable over the past few years.

Also having a strong start to the season was Keith Marriner (#64) with a trio of 10th place finishes helping him to 9th position in the points entering Round 2, with Keith showing good pace to be able to stay firmly in the mid pack all weekend, a feat he will also be looking to replicate again this weekend!

A much more enjoyable weekend was had by Jim Mitchell (#46) than his previous visit to Sandown, three solid finishes and a lack of issues sees him placed 13th in points after the first round, with some further reliability this weekend will likely see him move further up the order and move up into the top ten with the absence of some of his rivals this weekend.

Having one of his most encouraging performances to date was Carter Fox (#7) highlighted by a fantastic qualifying performance which put him in the top half of the grid in 8th position. A great first race where he was on the heels of Taubitz all race garnered a 9th place finish, but a bad start in Race 2 dropped him down the field, with a failure on the startline and subsequent DNF in Race 3 ending his weekend earlier than he would have liked. He will be looking to also improve on his first foray to Winton last year as he makes his return visit to the circuit.

It was a weekend to forget for series veteran Dick Howe (#8) who finished 7th in Race 1, but a pair of DNF’s in the two Sunday races with mechanical issues sees him mired back in 16th position in the series points. He will be hoping for much more reliability this weekend as he looks to get his season back on track this weekend.

Fingers crossed from everyone in the paddock that John Vainoras (#32) will finally have his issues sorted after a long drawn out problem with fuel – the car had plenty of fuel at Sandown and kept running – only issue was half of it was being left on the race track! With that issue now being solved, we expect to see John finally finish all sessions this weekend and get some well deserved points on the board!

Returning for the first time this weekend after missing the first round due to other commitments are veteran Tony Westaway (#50), Toni Andreevski (#27) and Josh Brisbane (#56) along with returnee driver Ryan Woods – having purchased the car Peter Doherty has campaigned for the past 20 years in the series with Peter hanging up the helmet (for now at least!)

Tim Wolfe (#66) & Lyndon Watson (#5) are both sadly missing from this round also with conflicting work appointments preventing them from running as well as the late withdrawals of Kennedy (#23) & Tudor (#15).

Unfortunately, we won’t see the return of Michael Westaway (#45) and Andy Jones (#33) who are still finalising their car repairs to make their series returns, as well as Manny Mezzasalma (#10) as he continues his recovery from a broken leg.

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'd like to get on track and join in the action.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS TAKES ROUND 1 HONORS

Tyrepower Benalla’s Chris Lewis-Williams has come away leading the championship, after an action packed Round 1 of the 2023 944 Challenge series Australia at Sandown.

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Chris Lewis-Williams leads Adam Brewer into Turn 2 at Sandown

BELLER'S INCREDIBLE LAST TO FIRST VICTORY

Beller Motorsport’s Cameron Beller has already pulled off ‘one of the victories of the year’ with an astonishing ‘last to first’ race victory, during Round 1 of the 2023 944 Challenge series championships at Sandown.

Amazingly, Beller’s engine had to be rebuilt the night before after a gearbox issue caused the engine to seize.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he managed to grab the win by a mere ‘0.01 of a second’.

See the highlights via Blendline TV’s coverage.

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 1 PREVIEW

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 1 PREVIEW

17 Cars are entered for this, the first round of the 2023 944 Challenge Championship, proudly sponsored by Porsche Australia and 888 Home Loans, with 1800Lasagne coming on board as a sponsor for this Round.

The first round of the 2023 944 Challenge season opens with many questions to be answered - with reigning two-time reigning champion Jamie Westaway taking a sabbatical for the 2023 season - leaving the path open for a potential competitor to take over where Jamie left off, with his championship winning car currently advertised for sale on the 944 Challenge website and my105.

The natural favourite for the championship thus would be 4 time series champion Cameron Beller in his Aqua #55 car, however with Chris Lewis-Williams (also a 3 time series champion!) committed to the full season in his #37 Tyrepower Benalla 944, it looks like Beller making it a fifth title is anything but a formality.

Proudly adorning the #3 for the 2023 season is Adam Brewer in the Matt Black AVi Technology car as a result of his third place finish in the 2022 Season. Adam has been looking at all avenues in his bid to move further up in the final championship score as he takes the fight to Beller & Lewis-Williams.

Another driver who will be wanting to join the others at the pointy end as he looks to also compete in the full season is Lyndon Watson - Lyndon showed his traditional strong pace in his 2022 appearances and will be looking to fight for a podium finish this round in the Don Watson Transport #5.

Returning for another season is the veteran Dick Howe - his venerable #8 car carried him to 4th position in the State Championship last year and Dick is always a force to be reckoned with at the home of Horsepower.

Also back for 2023 is Mark Taubitz in his Black & Gold Peter Brock Le Mans retro liveried #74. Mark secured 5th in the Vic State Series in 2022 and hopes that a new car coming on in the mid part of the year will give him the ammunition to fight up at the very front of the field.

Still on a high from his strongest run in the series to date at the last round of the championship at Island Magic is Andrew Jackman in the Poolmaster Bayside Miami Blue #20 car. Andrew is committed to a strong round this weekend before he focuses his attention on preparation on the Mazda 3 he has entered in the Bathurst 6 Hour at Easter

It was a strong debut season in 2022 for Mark Verdino, but the desire to move up the field further has led to some upgrades in the way of a new engine for the Verdino & Co Blue & White #44.

Another driver who had his best result in the series so far at the most recent round at Island Magic was WA native Tim Wolfe. Tim secured third outright for the round in his Pipecraft backed bright yellow #66 machine, and couldn't wipe the smile off his face as a result! If Tim can keep the same speed as he showed at Phillip Island, he will be a definite threat for the top 5 this weekend.

Keith Marriner is another who had a good weekend at Phillip Island and showed a good turn of speed, dicing with Taubitz and others over the weekend.A freshen up of the grey #64 Seat Time Race Solutions car in the off season will have Keith looking to continue his good form of late into 2023.

Beginning his second season in the 944 Challenge is Carter Fox in the yellow #7 car. Carter showed maturity during the 2022 season and largely kept himself out of trouble as he learnt throughout the year, and will look for further improvements as he further hones his craft during the 2023 Championship.

Vlad Kennedy is also back for another full year in his Dark Red Keyway Builders #23 car, and will hope that some reliability issues that hampered his results in 2022 will be behind him for this year as he moves himself up the grid in his second season.

Back on track for Round 1 after missing the Island Magic event after his crash at Southern Loop during the final round of the Vic State Championship, is West Australias Andy Tudor. Andy is super keen to get back behind the wheel of his #15 White Raglan Drilling car, which the Beller Motorsport crew only put the finishing touches to earlier this week!

Jim Mitchell is back behind the wheel of his Martini liveried 944 #46 racecar, and will be hoping to have a much more positive year this year after a 2022 Championship that was riddled with bad luck and resulted in a number of DNF and DNS results.

Also back for 2023 is John Vainoras in his Purple #32 944, and John will hope to finally have put the issues with fuel starvation and cut-out that plagued him throughout his 2022 season in his rear view mirror for good!

Also on the grid this weekend after only making the single round at Sandown last year is another of the series veterans, and new life member of the 944 Challenge series, Peter Doherty. Peter returns to the wheel of his Guards Red #80 Porsche this weekend and will consider it mission accomplished if he has a fun weekend of racing with some strong results and a straight car to drive back onto the trailer.

Rounding out the runners this weekend, is the sponsor of this round, Joey Kellock of 1800Lasagne. With the sponsor adorning all cars this weekend, Joey will look to improve on the results he achieved when he made his racing debut at Sandown in August behind the wheel of the leased Beller Motorsport car. Now in his own White #77 lasagnemobile, Joey was stoked to get his first top five last time out in the final race of Island Magic and has ambitions to improve on that this weekend.

Unfortunately there are a few cars that havent been able to return for this weekend, with Toni Andreevski, Michael Westaway, Josh Brisbane and Andy Jones on the sidelines, but hopefully we will see all four return for Round 2 @ Winton in 2 months time.

Also missing after an off season incident is Manny Mezzasalma who we will hopefully see back for Round 2 or 3, while Tony Westaway is overseas and will miss the first round also.

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'd like to get on track and join in the action.

MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA SAFETY NET RULING

STATEMENT FROM MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA

Motorsport Australia is providing further information regarding the 2023 changes to window net requirements for closed vehicles in a circuit race event.

Click here to view Technical Appendix Schedule I of the Motorsport Australia Manual.

The primary function of a window net is to protect the driver from having any body part protrude through the window opening during an incident.

The requirements are in place to ensure that all closed vehicles competing in a circuit race event have a window net installed capable of performing its primary function.

The changes will apply across the circuit race discipline and many vehicles that had previously not required a window net will now be required to fit one. 

For circuit racing, the fitment of the window net to the door frame of a production vehicle is no longer permitted and the window net must now be fitted to the safety cage structure.  

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Regulation Updates

Window Net

Window nets must only be securely fixed to the safety cage structure. Window nets mounted to the driver’s door frame or other vehicle components are not permitted.

The load requirement of 500N now includes the method of fixing to the safety cage structure. 

The window net when installed in the vehicle must be able to withstand this load when applied at any point.

The area of the driver’s window opening required to be covered by a window net has now been defined relative to the driver’s seat position, steering wheel position and safety cage structure.

A window net must cover the area within the following:
Forward from a vertical line drawn from the rear most point of the driver’s door window opening (i.e. original door frame) OR where the seat back is visible through the driver’s door window opening (i.e. the seat back can be seen through the window when the door is closed), this vertical line is to be drawn from the rear most point of the seat back.

Rearward of a vertical line drawn through the centre of the steering wheel rim

Below a straight line drawn between the intersections of the two vertical lines, being the rearward line and the steering wheel line as described above, with the upper most longitudinal or lateral half roll bar members of the safety cage structure. 

A Window Net is installed to cover the window opening, designed to protect the driver from having any body part protrude through the window opening in an incident.  It must be mounted to the safety cage structure and be capable of withstanding a load of 500N at any point.
 

Racing Net – FIA 8863-2013

In most vehicles a triangular racing net will not provide the required driver’s window coverage to comply with the requirements of a window net, and in that case the use of only a racing net is not permitted and a window net must be fitted.
 
A Racing Net, often referred to as a seat or triangle net is installed in contact with the seat to provide additional lateral support to a driver during an impact. Racing nets will meet FIA Standard 8863-2013
 
Where permitted, racing nets must be installed in compliance with FIA Installation Specifications.
 
A racing net is only permitted for use on the driver’s side door window under the following circumstances.
•    When permitted by category or classification standing regulations.
•    When competing in a vehicle which is compliant with Schedule I, Article 4.b
•    Where the racing net provides the required window opening coverage as detailed in Schedule I, Article 4.a.i and will provide the same function of a window net.

A racing net is permitted to be installed on the passenger’s side of the driver’s seat in compliance with FIA regulations (refer Article 6.).

All other event requirements remain unchanged.

1800LASAGNE JOINS AS ROUND 1 PARTNERS

The Porsche 944 Challenge is excited to announce a new partner  for the 2023 Championship with 1800Lasagne stepping up to naming rights sponsorship for the first Round of the Season.

944 Challenge Club President Mark Taubitz is excited about this latest of what is hoped to be numerous new sponsor engagements.

‘1800LASAGNE is an Italian restaurant located in Thornbury owned by new 944 Challenge competitor Joey Kellock that has just recently been awarded a prestigious ‘Hat’ award by Good Food. It is styled with a homage to old world Italy, has tunes spinning (on vinyl only) 5 nights a week, guest DJ’s three nights a week, with live Jazz on Sunday afternoons.

Do yourself a favour and check it out, tell them you saw them on the 944 Challenge cars to give Joey a thrill and you may even receive a Ric Flair-esque ‘Woooooo!’

Joey had this to say:

“I’m very proud to be sponsoring this Round of the Porsche 944 challenge. I’ve loved the 944 since I was a kid and I never thought that I would be able to one day fulfil my dreams of being a race car driver let alone be racing a 944! Furthermore – it’s a great class with great racing, great drivers, and great cars, it’s also relatively affordable so anything I can do to bring attention to the car and the class – I’m all about it!

1800 LASAGNE – BOOKINGS VIA 1800Lasagne.com.au and walk-ins welcome.
Open 5pm till late Wednesday to Sunday day with live jazz (1800jazzagne) Sunday Afternoons.

888 HOME LOANS ANNOUNCED AS 2023 SERIES PARTNER

Following on from their expanded sponsorship of The Porsche 944 Challenge in 2022, and to go along with the Hyundai Excel and Improved Production series, comes the exciting announcement that 888 Home Loans have stepped up to be the naming rights sponsor for the 2023 Victorian State Race Series.  

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The 888 Home Loans branding will feature prominently on all cars throughout the year starting with the first round at Sandown in February.

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888 Home Loans have already proudly assisted many VSRS members, family and friends achieve their financial goals.

888 Home Loans professional services are cost and obligation-free for all Competitors, Pit Crews, Families, and Friends of all categories within the VSRS. (Simply mention VSRS, and specifically the Porsche 944 Challenge when you contact them!)

Purchasing a home, an investment property, commercial property, or even simply refinancing your existing loan to a lower interest rate, 888 Home Loans does the hard work for you.

Contact 888 Home Loans on 1800 1888 00 for a confidential appraisal of your lending needs.

The Porsche 944 Challenge welcome and congratulate Cameron and his team on the continued support of the Victorian State Race Series and the 944 Challenge and can’t wait to hit the track again in 2023! Stay tuned for more exciting sponsor announcements soon!

MAGIC IN THE AIR - ROUND 6 PREVIEW

ROUND 6 PRESENTING PARTNER

18 Cars are entered for this, the sixth and final round of the 2022 944 Challenge Championship 

The fifth round of the 2022 944 Challenge season started with dramas – with the start lights failing as the cars gridded up for Race 1 race on Saturday, with confusion resulting as the lights flashed as half the field took off and half remained – unfortunately some contact with Jim Mitchell and Andrew Jackman ending Jims’ weekend on the spot. Sunday’s races were a bit more orderly, though an off-track excursion in Race 2 for Andy Tudor saw him make heavy contact with the tyre wall as he went onto the grass to avoid a spinning car at Turn 1.  

Through all of this Jamie Westaway (#1) was able to take the round honors with a clean sweep of the weekend to secure the 2022 944 Challenge and Vic State Championships in an amazingly consistent and fast performance throughout the 2022 season. 

Second all weekend was Cameron Beller, and he will be hoping to consolidate second position in the championship this weekend where he pretty much just needs to finish all three races to secure the second position in the series, but will no doubt be looking for vengeance over Westaway and take some race victories to end his 2022 season on a positive note. 

Adam Brewer (#31) had another great weekend last round, finishing third outright and will be looking to pounce on any issues for Beller this weekend to snatch second place in the series should Beller falter.   

Behind the top three is a frantic battle for fourth position in the championship – hanging onto a narrow 2-point lead is veteran Dick Howe, after scoring 2 points more than fifth place Mark Taubitz last round with the pair finishing 5th and 6th outright respectively for the round. Last time at Island Magic, the pair came together at the end of the first race with Taubitz launching into the air spectacularly as the pair rounded Stoner corner – both will be looking for a clean round and to gain the advantage of the other. 

Waiting in the wings only 20 points further back is Tony Westaway, Tony will be able to leap up the points order if a less than stellar weekend is had by either Howe or Taubitz, after gaining points on both drivers last round where Tony finished 4th outright for the weekend. 

Seventh position in the points is held by the Poolmaster himself, Andrew Jackman (#20). The last round started off terribly for Jackman after getting hit on the startline when the lights failed, and then spun out on the restart at Siberia dropping him to the back of the pack – but he rebounded strongly with a pair of good finishes on Sunday to consolidate his seventh position in the points. 

A trying weekend was had by Mark Verdino at Phillip Island, finding himself spinning to avoid the spinning Jackman in Race 1, and the spinning car of Vlad Kennedy in the second race, leaving his mired in the back half of the pack all weekend. He will be hoping for improvements this weekend in an attempt to get ahead of Jackman in the series points. 

Keith Marriner (#64) sits in ninth position in the series points leading into this weekend, a good result with some strong speed last round at Phillip Island where he was firmly in the midfield all weekend, another solid weekend will help him secure a to pten position in the series points. 

Rounding out the top ten in points is Toni Andreevski (#27) despite having missed the first two rounds, strong performances at the following rounds saw Toni gain some good points with some strong drives, in the three rounds, including a top ten placing for the round at Phillip Island. 

A vastly improved weekend last round for Carter Fox (#7) improving throughout the weekend and improving on his PB times sees him sitting in eleventh position in the points entering the weekend, ready to leap into the top ten if he can finish ahead of his opponents in front of him for the weekend as he looks for further improvement to end his debut season with. 

A breakout weekend last round for Tim Wolfe, a fantastic Fifth position in qualifying and backing it up in Race 1 showing the speed he has unlocked in the Pipecraft car. Unfortunately, he was hampered by some poor starts, and his recovery drive in Race 2 saw him spin at Honda and then again at Siberia off into the gravel ending his race. A great race up to 8th in the final event was a strong ending to the weekend, but he will have eyes on mixing it up at the pointy end all weekend this round. 

Josh Brisbane (#56) sits in thirteenth in the points, having a speedier weekend last time at Phillip Island as he went back to his primary engine, qualifying in ninth position but some dramas in the Second race on Sunday ended his weekend early. He will hope to have a fast trouble free round this weekend to put a troublesome season behind him and to have a positive ending to prepare for 2023. 

Vlad Kennedy (#23) also had issues at the last round, having a good race 1 result, but a spin in Race 2 at Turn 1 ended his chance of a good result, and a DNF with some gearbox issues in the final race ended what was a weekend to forget for him, and ready to look forward to this round and hoping he will be able to replicate his performance at Phillip Island from earlier in the year where he scored his first top ten in the final race and move up the points. 

One of the happiest men after the last round at Phillip Island was newcomer Joey Kellock (#77) – the world’s fastest lasagna delivery driver jumped into the deep end with the 944 Challenge, and last time out had his first outing in his brand-new car after renting a car at Sandown. He again finished the round in eighth position outright for the round, again crossing the line for the final race in sixth position. Joey can’t wait to get back to the Island and looks to secure his first top 5 result this weekend in the 1800 Lasagne car. 

Returning to the circuit after another unfortunate incident at the start of the weekend, its again great to see Jim Mitchell (#46) return after the start line incident ended his weekend after only 20 metres. Surely Jim is due some good luck this weekend and he will hopefully have a trouble-free run! 

Also returning after is John Vainoras (#32) after his troublesome season, John had some Motec issues at the last round and hopefully has the gremlins finally exorcised from his car once and for all to end the season on a high note and ready to get prepared to have a stronger 2023 season.  

Returning to the track for only the second time this year is Lyndon Watson, after a fantastic podium result last time out at Phillip Island 6 months ago, Lyndon will be another who will also have his eyes set on a top 5 this weekend – it looks like the battle to get into the top ten will be red hot this weekend! 

Unfortunately, we won’t see the return of Michael Westaway, Andy Tudor and Andy Jones until next year as a result of damage caused at the Sandown and Phillip Island rounds, while Chris Lewis-Williams will be absent due to work commitments. 

Another who will be not on track this weekend is Peter Doherty, though we will hopefully see him returning to the track to start next year again, while Manny Mezzasalma has parked his 944 this weekend in order to race its bigger brother in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge events. 

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’d like to get on track and join in the action.