Team TRTDORIC POWER RANKINGS: Phillip Island
THE NEW season of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships kicked off at the weekend – and what a weekend it was. Stunning weather, sensational racing across a broad spectrum of categories and a big crowd to boot.
Here’s the typical TRT Doric Power Rankings treatment for a spectacular weekend of motorsport at one of the most spectacular places in Aussie Motorsport..
HOT
1. Formula Ford
Back where it should be on the national stage, and absolutely bloody thrilling racing within the field of talented kids to boot. The more things change… the more Formula Ford stays the same. Never change..
2. Phillip Island
After a weekend of perfect weather seven days ago for the Phillip Island Classic, the weather gods once again came to the party. Seriously, this weather just never happens in this quantity at this location, which by the way, looked absolutely perfect. The lawns are manicured, no weeds, nothing out of place, everything is nicely painted and cleaned, it’s a venue we can be proud of.
While the crowd wasn’t as big as the Historics (only MotoGP and WSBK are), it was the biggest ever for a Shannons Nationals / Championships event and genuinely looked excellent. To our eyes, there were as many people there on Sunday as the last Supercars round at the venue..
3. Trans Am
Did Trans-Am things on the weekend. Pound for pound, it’s the best racing at a national level at the moment.
4. Fabian Coulthard
Turns out if you can drive, you can drive most things. Impressive how quickly Fabs has got up to speed in Wall Racing’s Stanmobile.
5. GT World Challenge
Great to see this category back on its feet and looking strong – Stephane Ratel’s involvement in the weekend shows how important it is to the broader World Challenge concept. Good racing, growing field and a Nissan GT-R, so you can’t ask for much more.
6. Joey Mawson’s Express Post Send
Man, this guy has some testicular fortitude. Went the full send around James Golding at turn one of the S5000 feature and nailed a race lead he’d never lose. S5000s are sketchy at the best of times, but on cold tyres on a dirty track at the ballsiest corner at the track… righto. Big.
7. Television of Things
Stan Sport’s broadcast hit all the right marks again with 12 hours of coverage over the weekend, a good mix of voices and a technically proficient show that you’d be hard pressed to split from other top level categories. The relentless nature of the show – race, quick chat, race, quick chat, race and so on – means it rarely gets dull. Nice to have Rusty’s dulcet tones back on our shores, too. Caruso a good add bringing his mix of comedy (below) and insight (GT races) throughout.
Seriously, if you like motorsport, this is worth the $25 bucks a Stan Sport sub will cost you per month – especially with the six-hour around the corner.
8. Stars Moonlighting
Back in the day when a driver from another field would turn up at a Shannons Nationals event, even just to visit the paddock, was a big deal. This past weekend saw Shane Van Gisbergen, Chaz Moster and David Reynolds star in the GT World Challenge, Will Brown in TCR and Andre Heimgartner in Sports Sedans. Plus chuck in guns like Tony D’Alberto, Michael Caruso, Fabian Coulthard, James Moffat, Christopher Mies and even Sam Brabham, you have a tasty race meeting by any standards. People attend Supercars events because of the stars, now the best of the best are double dipping.
9. TCR Qualifying
10. Sports Sedans
They got screwed around on the schedule by factors outside of their control, but it was just great to see National Sports Sedans back playing at a national-level meeting.
Bonus Hots
- Christopher Mies. Badass Racing Car Driver.
- Chaz Mostert. Same.
- TCR privateers punching at the front again.
- Tony D’Alberto accumulating his way to the TCR lead.
- Supercheap Auto Club Lounge activation. Sponsors activating on investment is good!
- Stephane Ratel traveling from Europe for a domestic GT round in Australia.
- Supercars’ Bathurst 12 Hour crew on site, interacting with ARG, SRO and GTWC Competitors. The sport working together? Surely not!
- Impressive new Shannons podium area.
- Thomas Randle in S5000 commentary on Saturday.
- Pino’s Restaurant in Cowes.
WHAT
It’s wild out there…
Many, many types of birds, a wallaby, possums and a bat. Go for the motorsport, stay for the zoo.
Attaboy TBA, finally getting a decent shot…
Punter hijinks
The beauty of the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit on weekends like this is that fans can park their car adjacent to the fence at their favourite section of the race track… and with so many built-up spectator mounds around the circuit, there are plenty of great vantage points. The Race Torque may have been the only person who was privy to one punter trying to launch their new-looking VW Jetta the wrong way up a cliff, nearly snapping their car in half. Spectacular action on and off-track!
Pyramid Rock
Another perk of spectating at Phillip Island is that fans perched on top of the spectator bank at Siberia also get a vista over to local tourist attraction Pyramid Rock. Click here for more info.
NOT
1. Adam Hargraves’ Off
Unfortunately, Adam Hargraves lost it big time at turn one near the start of Trans Am qualifying, which nullified the one lap time that was set up to that point. Outside of shortening his Camaro at both ends, the stack tore up a significant section of tyre barrier, which culled the Saturday race for the Sports Sedans and created a substantial hole in the program from about 10:15am til 11:20am. It also forced Sports Sedans into a highly compact three-race Sunday program – less than ideal for the high maintenance beasts. A major effort by the Hargraves’ team to resurrect the car for Sunday.
2. Kody Garland’s Wheel Off
3. Fabian Coulthard in qualifying
Dragged gravel all the way around the track for the opening S5000 race.
Special mention to all the other people who did exactly the same thing after, too.
4. Badly timed toilet breaks
5. S5000 Race Three Wad Up
6. S5000 Field
To be fair, Sunday’s feature race (Above crash aside) was a belter, but the category clearly needs more cars – and they know it, too. A 17-car field at the Grand Prix in a few weeks should be a sign of what the category is capable of. It’s fortunate there is depth in the field to put on competitive racing for the cars that are there.
7. Phillip Island curfew
For obvious reasons, the Phillip Island GP circuit has the strictest ‘loud’ times of any circuit in the country – even Sandown, though we’d say the penguins complain less than the residents of Dandenong Road, Springvale, about the sound of racing cars.
Still, the fact the 9:00am start gives some categories only five minutes to warm up before they hit the track is not ideal, and it means time certainty is a fact of life at the place.
It’d be fine, if you didn’t pay such a premium to race there..
8. Lapped traffic in GTWC
The story of the GT World Challenge races was the troubles the leaders encountered dicing with the slower cars. It was a theme in both races, but most noticeable on the Sunday when it very nearly cost Chris Mies and Chaz Mostert their races.
Next drivers’ briefing? a note for lapped traffic to hold their line and speed while being passed by those much faster than you..
9. Trans Am final race
After a wild pair of opening races and a sensational first three laps of the Trans Am finale’, the race fell flat. We only put this in NOT because usually there’s something going on in a TA race but this one just didn’t deliver in the end. It’s not a complaint, just an observation.
10. Things that come with scale, that aren’t there now
As the Shannons Motorsport Australia Champs and the ARG Speed Series categories grow, things have obviously scaled up – there’s more people attending, more people watching and more people interacting. As such, it won’t be far off the point where things like an event program and a big screen or two – things currently missing – will be a necessity at events like these.
Bonus Nots:
- Ben Grice’s horror season so far.
- Nick Carroll in TransAm. Badass fast, completely unlucky.
- Commentators curse killing Adam Garwood’s race on Sunday. Sorry..
- No bar at Turn one (see NOT #10). This could also apply for many other corners.
- There aren’t more Nissan GT-R GT3s racing these days.
- It’s still a month ’til the Bathurst 6 Hour.
TWEET
The little Shannons Nationals is all grown up now…
Nuggets Versus Hot & Spicy
For insurance purposes, you were “sightseeing on a scenic road”
We agree. Probably
A new and interesting off
