jack atley 8/6/24 jack atley 8/6/24

BELLER TAKES VICTORY IN RACE 1 AT THE BEND

Beller Motorsport driver Cameron Beller has come out with a strong victory in Race 1 during Round 3 of the 2024 944 Challenge Series at The Shell V Power Motorsport Park in South Australia.

After taking pole position in qualifying, the No 55 was never headed, coming home ahead of Adam Brewer and Mark Verdino who completed the podium

Races 2 and 3 for the weekend will be held tomorrow.

All races can be seen LIVE and FREE TO AIR on TV via: https://www.blendline.tv/

Beller Motorsport driver Cameron Beller has come out with a strong victory in Race 1 during Round 3 of the 2024 944 Challenge Series at The Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in South Australia.

*944 Challenge Series driver Beller leads Brewer and Verdino in Race 1*

After taking pole position in qualifying, the No. 55 was never headed, coming home ahead of Adam Brewer with Mark Verdino completing the podium.

Races 2 and 3 for the weekend will be held tomorrow, Sunday 9th June.

All races can be seen LIVE and FREE TO AIR on TV via: https://www.blendline.tv/

*Cameron Beller takes victory in Race 1*

Mark Taubitz 6/6/24 Mark Taubitz 6/6/24

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 3 PREVIEW

16 Cars have entered for Round 3 of the 2024 944 Challenge Championship as the series makes its second visit to the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park at The Bend after first visiting the South Australian circuit soon after its opening in 2018. This round of the Championship is proudly presented by EJM Advice.

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 3 PREVIEW

Planting himself at the top of the 944 Challenge Pointscore after two rounds is reigning champion Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) in the Tyrepower backed 944, after taking round honors at the last round at Winton where he took two second places before securing his first race win of the year in the final race.

Adam Brewer pushing track limits to the extreme.

Consistency thus far has helped Adam Brewer (#3) to sit in the second place in the championship battle after snaring a pair of third place finishes at Winton, Adam has finished every race in the top 5 so far in the AVi Technology machine.

Sitting in third place in the points coming into Round 3 is our other 4-time champion, Cameron Beller (#55) Cameron has been on the podium four times from six races so far but yet to get onto the top step in 2024, a gearbox issue in the first race last time out at Winton allowing Brewer to move ahead in the points battle.

Moving up to fourth position in the championship points heading into this round is club President Mark Taubitz, fresh from his best ever weekend at Winton where he was able to secure two race wins, he will again be piloting the #66 bright yellow Tim Wolfe owned Pipecraft machine this weekend.

Mark Verdino experimenting with new methods to increase tyre wear.

Also moving up on the pointscore into fifth position is Mark Verdino (#44), a trio of fourth place finishes at Winton Raceway helping the Sidelink machine move up four positions after his Round 1 DNF in the last race at Sandown had him back in ninth place after Round 1. Mark will be jetting back and forth to South Australia over the weekend, so will be doing all he can to net some strong results from his commitment for his efforts this weekend.

Sitting just two points out of the top five in the points is Michael Westaway, (#45) having one of his best starts to the season Michael has finished every race in the top ten and also showing the benefit of consistency in the 944 Championship.

Also proving the benefit of consistency is Andrew Goldman, who sits in seventh position in the #333 Carpet Shed 944. Andrew has been on a solid improvement curve after finishing the Winton weekend with four consecutive ninth place finishes as he continues his acclimatisation to the 944.

Having his debut race weekend at Winton was Nick Carpenter (#14) driving the Red ex-Peter Doherty car, Nick had a solid weekend at Winton where he recorded a trio of eight places across the weekend as he had himself in the mix of the action across the weekend, and will look to take the opportunity of some of his rivals being absent this weekend and move toward the top ten in points.

Returning to the track after missing the round at Winton is Joey Kellock (#77), fresh with a new look to the 1800Lasagne machine this weekend, there will be no missing Joey as he looks to make up for the missing round and record a strong weekend to get his season back on track the weekend at Tailem Bend.

Also returning after missing the round at Winton is Jared Campione (#88) in the Campione Electrics car. Jared will be hoping that his engine misfire woes that hampered him at Sandown have been cured and that he can also record a strong weekend and score some top ten finishes over the weekend.

Back behind the wheel of car #50 is Tony Westaway, after letting son Jamie behind the wheel for Sunday at Winton after Jamie’s clutch failure in Race 1. With Jamie a late withdrawal and being away from the track this weekend, Tony should be able to finish all races behind the wheel of his own car, with his past experience at the circuit in his 944 something that will hopefully help him start the weekend on the right foot.

Looking to get their seasons on track after a point-less round at Winton are Manny Mezzasalma (#10) and Josh Brisbane (#56) after both drivers had the same misfortune befall them, with a Race 1 DNF for both culminating in contact when Manny unfortunately spun, just clipping Josh at the end of Race 2, ending both of their weekends early. They will both be wanting to finish all three races and get some solid points this weekend at The Bend.

Having his first venture out on circuit this weekend is Carter Fox, though he will be driving the #20 Poolmaster Bayside car this weekend instead of his usual #7 machine, as he waits for the final assembly of his engine which caused unreliability issues for Fox in the back half of the 2023 season. Carter will look to get some good results on the board this round as he prepares to get back behind the wheel of his regular mount at Sandown when Andrew Jackman will get back into his own car after some follow up shoulder surgery.

Two new entries for this weekend, with Damon Woods, nephew of Ryan taking over the #17 944 this weekend. Damon has proven his skill behind the wheel of Formula Fords over the last couple of seasons and will look to translate those to the 944 Challenge – while Peter Grant takes over the Red #84 944 as he ventures out for his first race weekend behind the wheel of his new car this weekend at the Bend.

A few drivers are missing this weekend, Jamie Westaway was a late withdrawal from the event , along with Dick Howe (#8) with both drivers expected to return at Sandown for Round 4 along with Andrew Jackman as Carter Fox gets back behind the wheel of his regular car, and Sam Rofe (#68) who just ran out of time to get the engine repairs to his car complete in time for this weekend.

Jim Mitchell(#46) and John Vainoras (#32) are also hopefully going to be back at Sandown, as well as Lyndon Watson (#5) Toni Andreevski (#27) and the return of Keith Marriner (#64) and Andrew Jones (#33) while the rumour mill is swirling that we may see the return of the West Australian cartel drivers in Tim Wolfe (#66) and Andy Tudor! (#15)

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 17/3/24 jack atley 17/3/24

LEWIS-WILLIAMS WINS THE WEEKEND AT WINTON

Proving patience is important in racing, Chris Lewis-Williams capitalised on a good start to take the lead off the line in the third and final race of the weekend at Winton ahead of Mark Taubitz.

Chris stayed cool to hold his line at the track that is notoriously tricky to pass at, and was able to defend the lead from both Mark Taubitz, and then Cameron Beller after the former spun in his attempt to find a way through.

Chris Lewis-Williams gets the advantage on Mark Taubitz as the field negotiates Turn 4. PIC: Phil Wisewould.

Lewis-Williams secured the round win by virtue of his race 3 win after two second place finishes in races 1 & 2. while Taubitz recovered to 7th place after his mishap, which was good enough for him to come second for the round overall.

Beller looked high and low to get past Lewis-Williams, but had to settle for second place, narrowly ahead of Adam Brewer, with Mark Verdino a bit further back in fourth place after running wide on the exit of Turn 10.

Beller shadowed Lewis-Williams but could not find a way past. PIC: Phil Wisewould

Lyndon Watson was fifth in the Don Watson transport machine ahead of Michael Westaway, the recovering Taubitz, Nick Carpenter, Andrew Goldman and John Vainoras.

Lewis-Williams takes the points lead after Jamie Westaway scored no points for the weekend, with Adam Brewer second ahead of Cameron Beller in both point scores. Mark Taubitz moves to fourth in the 944 Series points ahead of Mark Verdino, with the two swapping positions in the ladder in the Vic State Series Pointscore.

Next Stop: Shell Motorsport The Bend Raceway in Tailem Bend, South Australia on June 7-9!

jack atley 17/3/24 jack atley 17/3/24

TWO FROM TWO FOR TAUBITZ AT WINTON

After waiting over 10 years for his first victory in the 944 Challenge series, Mark Taubitz only had to wait less than 24 hours to get his second, as he made it two from two as he took a lights-to-flag victory in Race 2 of the 944 Challenge series at Winton Motor Raceway.

Taubitz leads Lewis Williams, Brewer and the rest on lap 1. PIC: Phil Wisewould

Following Taubitz across the line again was defending series champion Chris Lewis-Williams in the Tyrepower Benalla machine, though he didn’t appear to be able to mount a serious threat to challenge for the victory. Chris had to keep one eye on his mirrors from the mid point of the race on, as they were filled by the charging Cameron Beller in the rapid #55 machine as he came from the back of the pack after his Race 1 dramas to round out the podium with a fantastic third place finish.

Taubitz, Lewis-Williams and Beller in close proximity in the final stages of the second race. PIC: Phil Wisewould

Mark Verdino and Adam Brewer had an exciting tussle with Beller before the aqua car broke clear, to leave them to fight amongst themselves, with Verdino prevailing to secure fourth place from Brewer.

Lyndon Watson & Michael Westaway had relatively lonely races to come home in 6th and 7th places respectively, ahead of new drivers Nick Carpenter and Andrew Goldman who finished in 8th and 9th positions.after Dick Howe, who crossed the line in 8th, was relegated to 10th place after receiving a 15 second post-race penalty for crossing the Pit Lane Blend Line, with John Vainoras classified in 11th position.

Jamie Westaway took over behind the wheel of Tony Westaway’s #50 car, but slipped off the track at the sweeper, receiving a puncture which caused some damage underneath the car, ending the weekend for both cars #50 & #1. for the weekend early.

Also not making the finish were Josh Brisbane and Manny Mezzasalma, with some unlucky contact as Mezzasalma spun exiting turn 9, and just tagged Brisbane as he attempted to sneak past, ending the weekend early for both cars, while Jim Mitchell also pulled off the circuit early after 3 laps

jack atley 16/3/24 jack atley 16/3/24

TAUBITZ TAKES MAIDEN VICTORY - 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

An emotional MARK TAUBITZ has taken out his first race win in the Porsche 944 Challenge Series, claiming victory in Race 1, of Round 2, of the 2024 944Challenge Series at Winton Motor Raceway.

An emotional MARK TAUBITZ has taken out his first race win in the Porsche 944 Challenge Series, claiming victory in Race 1, of Round 2, of the 2024 944 Challenge Series at Winton Motor Raceway.

Taubitz leads Lewis Williams and Brewer PIC: Phil Wisewould

Taubitz has raced in the category for 10 years and claimed his first victory driving the No. 66 Pipecraft car.

The race was initially led by pole sitter and 2X champion Jamie Westaway, however he would suffer a clutch failure mid race and Taubitz seized his opportunity, having earlier claimed second spot in qualifying.

Mark Taubitz 13/3/24 Mark Taubitz 13/3/24

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 2 PREVIEW

17 Cars have entered for Round 2 of the 2024 944 Challenge Championship as the series returns to Winton Motor Raceway for its annual outing at the technical rural Victoria circuit. This round of the Championship is proudly presented by Don Watson Transport.

THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 2 PREVIEW

Jamie Westaway leads the field at Sandown Raceway

While the 2024 season has largely been billed and expected to see a battle to see who can be ‘the first to five’ with our two 4-time champions, Chris Lewis-Williams and Cameron Beller locking horns once again to see who can come out on top at the end of the year, at Round 1 at Sandown - Jamie Westaway (#28) threw down the gauntlet in his intention to be the next to get the three titles as he took a clean sweep of victories at the Melbourne circuit in February. Back in his championship winning car for this round, will Jamie be able to continue his winning ways this weekend?

Cameron Beller leads Chris Lewis-Williams in Race 1

Unveiling a new look at Sandown was reigning 2023 champion Chris Lewis-Williams (#37), with Chris coming out second overall for the weekend after improving a position each race, taking 4th, 3rd and 2nd place in the final race, the Baron of Benalla will be looking for a hometown advantage to put himself to the top of the points table at the end of the round.

Finishing third for the round was Cameron Beller in the familiar #55 car, and Cam will be eager to continue his incredible streak of 12 straight championship point race wins at the Benalla track, dating back to June 2019 when mechanical issues prevented him from completing a race that year.

Adam Brewer (#3) missed out on stepping onto the podium for the first time in a long time at Sandown. Although a 4th place finish with a pair of 5ths helped him to fourth outright in the season points following the round. Adam was also strong last year at Winton and will have his sights set on getting back onto the podium this weekend.

Sitting in sixth position in the championship heading into this round is club President Mark Taubitz, who will again be steering the #66 bright yellow Tim Wolfe owned Pipecraft machine this weekend. Mark took some time acclimatising to the unfamiliar right hand drive car at Sandown, with contact in race 2 hindering his progress as he limped home to the finish and started the last race from the back of the grid before rebounding to 5th position in the final race. Some familiarity with the car heading into thew weekend will see Taubitz looking to move up the order this weekend.

Returning to the circuit at Sandown after missing the second half of 2023 is series stalwart and 944 Challenge Life Member Dick Howe (#8) Having lost none of his enthusiasm in his time away, Dick struggled with some car issues in race 1 before improving in the other races to finish sixth in the final race, leaving him sitting equal 6th on points with Taubitz and Michael Westaway at the end of Round 1.

Michael Westaway (#45) was a welcome return at Round 1 at Sandown and had a solid if relatively uneventful weekend at Sandown, with a trio of top ten places helping him to also be sitting in equal 6th place heading into the second round with Taubitz & Howe.

Sitting in 9th position entering the Winton Round is Mark Verdino (#44) - a position not representative of his pace at Sandown where he secured second place in both races 1 & 2. In Race 3 however, he unfortunately found the Turn 4 wall while he was again sitting in second place, but the resultant damage causing him to score a DNF in that race. Mark will be eager to put that pain behind him and look for a good weekend to make amends for the points lost in the last race at Sandown..

Hailing his first outing in the 944 Challenge at Sandown as a success was Andrew Goldman (#333) Andrew only took possession of the car two weeks before the event, but a solid improvement with 13th, 11th and 9th place finishes leaves him sitting in 10th in the points going into the Winton round. Andrew will have familiarity with Winton having been around the rural circuit track many times, and he will have his eyes on some more top ten finishes this weekend.

Venturing onto another new circuit for the first time is Jared Campione (#88) Some further mechanical gremlins hampered Jared’s progress at Sandown where he secured a 9th place in Race 2 before a DNF in the final round. He has been chasing the issues in the break, and hopefully has them solved for the round this weekend.

Jim Mitchell (#46) looked to have secured his issues after two finishes in Race 1 & 2 before a DNF in the final race at Sandown - Jim has got the issues sorted and will be back on the grid at Winton sitting in 13th in the season points after Round 1.

Returning to Winton for the first time since scoring his only Pole Position and race win to date back in 2019 is Lyndon Watson (#5) in the Don Watson Transport machine. Lyndon got himself up to speed in Race 1 at Sandown and finished Race 1 in 6th position, but a touch with the Turn 4 wall in Race 2 put an end to his weekend as a broken wheel and stub axle ended his weekend early. Can he channel his 2019 performance and score another Pole position or get himself onto the top step of the podium this weekend? Time will tell!

An encouraging Saturday at Sandown for John Vainoras (#32) was curtailed by clutch issues on the outlap for the start of Race 2 with him not completing a racing lap on Sunday. Repairs in between the two rounds sees John saying the car has never felt better, and hopefully he will show some form at the tight Winton circuit this weekend as he looks to move up from 15th position in the series points.

Taking back the keys from his round 1 winning car is Tony Westaway in the Yellow & Black #50 machine. Jamie dominated at Sandown, and Tony will be hoping to show that its like Son like Father at Winton this weekend as he has his first outing fore 2024.

Meanwhile, having his first race weekend in any type of car is Nick Carpenter (#14) driving the Red ex-Peter Doherty car that was steered to a trio of podiums by the very accomplished Ryan Woods at Winton in 2023. Nick won’t have expectations of repeating Ryan’s efforts this weekend, but his test speed showed he will certainly be expected to be dicing amongst the pack this weekend!

Also returning for their first events of the 2024 season are Josh Brisbane (#56) in the stunning Viper Green machine after he missed Round 1 due to travel commitments, while Manny Mezzasalma (#10) also return after missing round 1 due to a clashing date with a wedding. Both drivers will look to have a solid weekend as they start their campaign this weekend.

Missing this weekend is Toni Andreevski (#27) who also has travel commitments preventing him from attending this round. This is a huge shame as Toni had a fantastic round at Sandown, his fuel issues largely solved, he finished the event sitting in 5th position in the Championship points. Toni will be back on track for Round 3 at the Bend in June.

A round to forget at Sandown for Joey Kellock in the #77 machine, contact in Race 2 with Mark Taubitz dropped him down the order but he regrouped to finish in 10th position, before a mistake coming on to the front straight in Race 3 ended his weekend early, with the right front wheel plucked out of the car, the repairs still requiring completion means Joey will be sorely missed from the grid this weekend but will surely be back form The Bend.

Making a very welcome return to the 944 Challenge grid at Sandown was Sam Rofe (#68) for the first time since 2017, however his return was met with teething issues, with the car overheating all weekend. A teardown in between rounds has uncovered some engine damage, resulting in Sam having to withdraw from the round to focus on repairs in time for Round 3 at the Bend.

Three more competitors missing from this round who will be in Adelaide this weekend are Andrew Jackman (#20) Carter Fox (#7) and Keith Marriner (#64) we expect to see all three at the Bend for Round 3 along with the returns of Ryan Woods (#17) and Andy Jones (#33)

jack atley 22/2/24 jack atley 22/2/24

WESTAWAY TAKES ROUND 1 HONOURS AT SANDOWN

James Westaway has claimed full points on the opening round weekend, with three race wins from all three races, during Round 1 of the 2024 season, at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

Westaway saw off strong oppostion from Sidelink driver Mark Verdino who claimed 2 second place finishes, fellow former champion Cameron Beller who grabbed podiums and reigning champion Chris Lewis-Williams who secured podiums - along with earlier pole sitter, Adam Brewer, home in fifth.

James Westaway has claimed full points on the opening round weekend, with three race wins from all three races, during Round 1 of the 2024 season, at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

jack atley 17/2/24 jack atley 17/2/24

WESTAWAY WINS SEASON OPENER AT SANDOWN

2X Porsche 944 Challenge Series champion James Westaway has taken out the opening race of the 2024 season at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

Westaway saw off strong opposition from Sidelink driver Mark Verdino and fellow former champion Cameron Beller who rounded out the podium, during the first race on Day 1.

Reigning champion Chris Lewis-Williams had to settle for fourth with earlier pole sitter, Adam Brewer, home in fifth.

2X Porsche 944 Challenge Series champion James Westaway has taken out the opening race of the 2024 season at Sandown Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

Westaway saw off strong oppostion from Sidelink driver Mark Verdino and fellow former champion Cameron Beller who rounded out the podium, during the first race on Day 1.

racing underway in the 2024 season at Sandown
pic by PHIL WISEWOULD

Reigning champion Chris Lewis-Williams had to settle for fourth with earlier pole sitter, Adam Brewer, home in fifth.

Race 2 and 3 begin at 9.10am and 1.05pm respectivelyon Sunday to round out the weekend

All races can be seen live and free to air here.