Racing hard for state supremacy

In the latest issue of AUTO ACTION magazine, we take a look back at the season that was across the major national championships, starting with the Victorian State Race Series.

By Steven Devries

With six rounds of racing on offer in 2023, racing in the Victorian State Race Series kept several titles undecided until the final rounds.

Proceedings started at Sandown in February with several eye-catching performances. Veteran racer Lee Partridge steered his Sabre 02 to an upset win in Formula Vee over eventual champion Reef McCarthy – his first win for 20 years. 

In a similar vein, former Sports Sedan driver turned Improved Production pilot Danny Timewell (Holden VF Commodore) ticked all the boxes on route to his first race and round wins in the category which would see him go on to finish third in the standings after two costly DNFs at Phillip Island and Calder Park.

Ballarat’s Joe Fawcett took a hard-fought win in the Formula Ford category. Images:Rebecca Hind Revved Photography 

Winton’s switch from the Winter months to an Autumn event in 2022 was retained and proved to be a popular decision. Cadel Ambrose announced himself in Hyundai Excels with not only a maiden win but a clean sweep of the weekend.

The teenager as always had his proud father and former Club Car driver Rohan Ambrose in his corner every step of the way throughout the season as he battled James Lodge and Harry Tomkins to secure the state title.

Three-time Improved Production champion Luke Grech-Cumbo (HSV Senator) provided an unexpected highlight after suffering a brake failure at the end of the front straight, leading to a Dukes of Hazzard-style aerial moment in the infield and a hefty amount of damage to repair before the next round.

Phillip Island and HQ Holdens always delivers fantastic racing, and the ‘Flying Dutchman’ Rod Raatjes stole the show on Saturday with a last-to-first drive on Saturday. The veteran’s performance even made several of the Toyota Gazoo 86 Scholarship Series drivers in attendance take notice!

Historically, Phillip Island in May often brings inclement weather, which tends to bring out the drivers that revel in challenging conditions.

While the only rain for the entire season lasted half a day, Formula Vee-regular Jake Rowe and two young Bendigo-based drivers (Ayrton Filippi and Charlee Richardson) showed their wet-weather talent as they pulled off several brilliant overtakes in the treacherous conditions.

944 champion Chris Lewis-Williams took a fourth title after several years away from the category.

A three-month mid-season break paved the way for August’s round at Sandown, where all eyes watched Sonic Racing’s Matthew Hillyer take a huge step towards the National Formula Ford title with Zak Lobko’s series of miscues all but taking him out of the championship picture as Joe Fawcett’s consistent season saw him take strides towards the Victorian title.

However, not even the presence of 31 Formula Fords could upstage the 40-car field of Saloon cars that descended on Sandown from all over the country to decide the 2023 National champion.

Super2-star Bradley Vaughan set a new circuit record on route to delivering the first title for a Ford driver in 12 years after holding off West-Australian Mason Harvey by less than a second.

Supercars star Thomas Randle wheeled out his Saab 93 Sports Sedan in pursuit of a September lap record at Phillip Island, but after a win on Saturday his efforts were cruelled by a flat tyre on Sunday, leaving eventual champion Francois Habib (Holden VZ Commodore) to bank valuable points before the Sports Sedan state title was decided at Island Magic in November.

Meanwhile, Adam Brewer shocked the 944 field with a maiden pole position, but unfortunately couldn’t convert it into a maiden race win, but duly announced himself as a driver to watch as he kept up with the perennial front-runners in the category.

The Formula Vees on show at the Calder return.

The return of racing to Calder Park after almost 15 years levelled the playing field with only a minority of drivers having ever lapped the circuit in anger.

While the fields were smaller than expected and some categories opted not to include it as part of their state championship, racing proved to be entertaining with only one major incident for the entire weekend.

After a series of mixed results for the season, South Australian Trevor Lindsay (Triumph GT6) walked away with the MG & Invited British Sports Cars crown despite not taking a win at the final round.

Mark Verdino took advantage of the level playing field with his first win in the Porsche 944 series and the round overall as three-time 944 champion Chris Lewis-Williams picked up his fourth title in his first year back in the categories after several years away. 

The 2024 Victorian State Race Series kicks off at Sandown on February 17/18.

Images: Rebecca Hind Revved Photography

FORMULA FORD

1st: Joe Fawcett (310 Pts)

2nd: Jake Santalucia (289 Pts)

3rd: Edison Beswick (275 Pts)

FORMULA FORD 1600

1st: Richard Davison (488 Pts)

2nd: Peter Fitzgerald (361 Pts)

3rd: Mark Zellner (228 Pts)

IMPROVED PRODUCTION 

1st:
Luke-Grech Cumbo
(HSV Senator) (481 Pts)

2nd:
Ian McLennan
(Holden Monaro) (408 Pts)

3rd:
Danny Timewell (Holden VF Commodore) (364 Pts)

FORMULA VEE 

1st: Reef McCarthy (548 Pts)

2nd: Lee Partridge (458 Pts)

3rd: Nicholas Jones (437 Pts)

SPORTS SEDANS

1st:
Francios Habib (Holden VZ Commodore) (400 Pts)

2nd:
Ben McLeod (Holden Commodore) (300 Pts)

3rd:
Cameron McKee (Ford AU XR6) (250 Pts)

SALOON CARS

1st:
Daniel Johnson (Ford AU Falcon) (375 Pts)

2nd:
Adam Lowndes (Holden VY Commodore) (370 Pts)

3rd:
Keven Stoopman (Ford AU Falcon) (346 Pts)

PORSCHE 944s

1st:
Chris Lewis-Williams (564 Pts)

2nd:
Cameron Beller (530 Pts)

3rd: Adam Brewer (470 Pts)

BMW E30s

1st: Jesse Bryan (352 Pts)

2nd: Royce Lyne (340 Pts)

3rd: Brian Bourke (337 Pts)

HYUNDAI EXCELS

1st: Cadel Ambrose (358 Pts)

2nd: Harry Tomkins (333 Pts)

3rd: James Lodge (310 Pts)

HQ HOLDENS

1st: Rod Raatjes (254 Pts)

2nd: Ryan Woods (232 Pts)

3rd: Gavin Ross (202 Pts)

MG & INVITED BRITISH

1st:
Trevor Lindsay
(Triumph GT6) (307 Pts)

2nd:
Michael Trathan
(MG Midget) (297 Pts)

3rd: Philip Chester (MG F) (282 Pts)

HISTORIC TOURING CARS

1st:
Darren Collins
(Ford Mustang) (192 Pts)

2nd:
Geoff Munday
(Chevrolet Camaro) (156 Pts)

3rd:
Peter Meuleman
(Ford Mustang) (155 Pts)

AUTO ACTION’s final issue of the year #1876 is out now in its digital form downloadable right here, and available in all good newsagents and stockists near you on Thursday, continuing on as Australia’s most trusted independent voice in motorsport. If you can’t get a copy locally, you can also subscribe to the latest issue of Auto Action print or digital edition of the magazine here.

Head here for more of the latest motorsport news.

The team at AUTO ACTION wishes all readers and race fans a merry Christmas and happy new year!

 On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!