Production Cars to fill SpeedSeries void

The Australian Production Cars will fill the vacuum left by the cancelled SpeedSeries event at Queensland Raceway next month.

Two SpeedSeries race meetings were set to be held at the “Paperclip” with the earliest being held on July 12-13.

However, just over a month prior to lights out, Motorsport Australia cancelled it due to low entries and squeezed all SpeedSeries events onto the later August 2-4 meeting.

But there will still be racing at Ipswich early next month with Australian Production Cars stepping in to stage a night race.

The event will be called ‘Fight in the Night’ and will see both Production Cars and Hyundai Excels produce on-track entertainment.

Proceedings will be led by the Australian Production Cars, which will stage qualifying on Friday before the centrepiece three-hour race on Saturday evening under lights.

General Manager of Production Car Racing Ltd, Troy Williams, said it was vital racing still took place on the July 12-13 weekend and was more than happy to step up.

“With just five weeks until the scheduled racing at Queensland Raceway, the last minute decision by MA to cancel the Speed Series event yesterday caught everyone – including the venue – by surprise and left a number of categories without an event,” said Williams.

“The announcement and lack of clarity as to what was happening with our racing was obviously disappointing for Production Car Racing Ltd and our valued competitors, who have already outlaid significant funds in entry fees, accommodation and travel bookings.

“Not only have funds been outlaid, but it must also be acknowledged that competitors schedule their lives around their racing schedules – booking time away from work, their families, and scheduling other important life events around their scheduled dates.

“So, when the team at Queensland Raceway called me and offered to make an extended three-hour Fight in the Night possible, we jumped at the chance.

“Creating this new event together means our racers can still enjoy this traditional race on our calendar in an even better format, while making sure they don’t lose out on the investments they have already made to attend on these dates.

“We look forward to welcoming all of our Meguiar’s APC competitors to the track for July 12-13 and to seeing them, the Excels, Monochrome GT exotic cars and more on-track for what should be a fantastic weekend.”

It will be round 3 of the Australian Production Car Championship and easily the longest.

Updated 2024 Australian Production Cars Championship calendar 

• Round 1 – Sandown Raceway – February 9-11, 2024 – Four 30-minute races
• Round 2 – The Bend – May 31-June 2 – Four 1 hour races
• Round 3 – Queensland Raceway – July 12-13 – 3 hour Fight in the Night enduro
• Round 4 – Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit – August 23-25 – four 1 hour races
• Round 5 – Sydney Motorsport Park – 18-20 October – Four 1 hour races
• Round 6 – Bathurst International – 8-10 November – Four 30-minute races

Image: Speed Shots Photography

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