Sports Sedans building up to SMP opener

2025 will see the National Sports Sedans continue its growth both on-and-off the track, with new sponsors, new machines (including a legendary Des Wall classic for the opener), and a strong calendar of suitable events and tracks, making for positive news all-round.

After last season saw a shake-up in the natural order of things with Peter Ingram claiming the title in his debut season in his Mazda RX7, fans of the series can expect more of the same in ’25.

And although there’s no Supercar events on the table for this year, the country’s most bespoke and dedicated “labour of love” race car builders and racers are in a sense more suited to being a standalone series with their own spotlight.

“There’s positives and negatives, we’ve moved away from it but the other events are more suitable and cost effective for us,” said category manager Micheal Robinson told Auto Action.

“No doubt there’s positives for being with Supercars, but the tracks are important for us and what states we go. Long distance events are a negative for us in terms of transport, and with visits to The Bend, QR, and Phillip Island, we’re very happy to be going to those tracks for those particular events.

The opening round at the SMP will see the Sports Sedans battle resume for the Des Wall Trophy: Image/Main Image: MPix

This year could also see up to six new machines (five new-builds) coming after Round 1, with a further injection of healthy variety on the way, and some very interesting takes on some staple race machines.

The brand new John Gourlay Audi which will be piloted by17-year old Cadel Ambrose (no relation) is of course one of the big comers, but there’s also SA’s Matthew Longhurst with a purpose built Nissan Skyline, the Frank Capo  purpose-built full space frame Sports Sedan with a Toyota 86 influenced shape, Brad Sherriff’s new build Skyline, Robinson’s own state-of-the-art Riverside Racing Mustang (built by Liam Hill), and Hill’s own V8 Hyundai, an Excel shaped machine, and Michael Rowell’s Mustang shaped IRC (joining the Lacey and Taunton’s GT SS’s), and finally, Tassie driver Tim Barwick is planning a full series in his own Skyline.

With numbers expected between 20-25 for the first round, where the series will kick off with its perpetual Des Wall Cup at SMP, there’s also the addition of Des’ 2009 title winning Corvette Sports Sedan, rebuilt by his son David Wall. That will provide yet another nice family touch for one of the series’ most coveted trophies.

The other major change is that the usual sponsor Precision has come to the end of its four year contract, with what was a good and fruitful relationship set to move on after the company changed hands. Robinson said that whilst there are several conversations going on, a new major sponsor is yet to be finalised.

The first national-state combined round (also the perpetual Des Wall Cup) kicks off at SMP on March 21-23.

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