The fourth round of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship hit Sandown Raceway on the weekend, successfully filling out all of the available meanings of wild!

While the weekend kicked off with brilliantly sunny conditions, the Saturday action was marred by multiple incidents, failures and fence repairs, with the final races of the day significantly shortened in an effort to beat the 5pm curfew.

Sunday started cold and windy, before rain developed during the afternoon, but despite the trying conditions, competitors were largely well behaved.

This all said – if similar conditions prevail next week at the Supercars event, be warned, four layers of clothing won’t keep you warm – plan on wearing five!

One of the highlights of the event were the spirited Formula Ford races, which turned in a real mixed bag of results.

After Matthew Hillyer won the opening race, Jordan Sinni struck back in the second, with that race starting with Hillyer spinning at the top of the rise, with Matthew Holmes finding the fence in avoidance.

Hillyer then won the decider as Sinni brought out a safety car after losing a wheel at Dandenong Road corner.

The round overall went to Edison Beswick through a trio of podium performances.

In the Kent class, Richard Davison won the opening two races in his family’s RF95 Van Diemen, now in Alex Davison’s Wynns colours, while Brendan Jones won the last race, which saw the pair tie on points for the weekend.

The elbows were out in the Excels, although the racing was far cleaner than the season opener at the same venue.

Ethan Grigg-Gault was unstoppable in the two opening races, although he finished the final heat in the Dandenong Road sand trap, which allowed Hugo Simpson through for the race and round win.

Perhaps the biggest incident of the weekend for the class occurred at the end of the Saturday race, when Ryan Phillips clouted the turn three concrete, which required significant attention as officials reacted by fitting a fresh tyre barrier to the face of the wall.

The safety car also made an appearance in race two after the heavens opened and seven cars missed turn three on the opening circuit, with the frantic action topped when Will Longmore was turned in front of the pack halfway down the back straight.

In the Saloon Cars, Shawn Jamieson continued to do Shawn Jamieson things in taking a clean sweep, although he was pushed hard by Adam Lowndes.

The final race was slowed behind the safety car after South Australian David Lines lost a wheel at turn one, as per the header image of this story.

The first VicV8 race barely started when the ex-Eddie Abelnica XB Falcon Hardtop of Gary Finemore broke loose and rode up the pit wall, necessitating a significant Armco repair.

Remarkably, the car returned to the track on Sunday, although it didn’t make the race starts after completing a discretionary practice lap.

Greg Lynch breezed to the first Sunday race win aboard his VT HRT replica, while the sodden second race saw David Ratcliffe come through for the victory aboard another VT, as Brian Finn topped the point score for the day in his older-spec HRT replica Commodore.

James Westaway won the Porsche 944 round after claiming the first two races, although Chris Lewis-Williams made the most of the wet third encounter to be victorious in that outing.

Earlier in the weekend, the first race was curtailed after Andy Jones spectacularly barrel rolled after riding a wheel at turn one, with the driver reportedly able to vacate the wreck under his own power.

Improved Production was tight at the top, with Jarrod Tonks placing first overall after claiming the feature second race.

Adam Poole won the opener, while Luke Grech-Cumbo was dominant in the rain-swept third encounter, as Holdens dominated the outright placings.

Ben Schoots (SIN R1) took both of the Sports Car wins from Christian Fitzgerald (Porsche), including the feature-length 40min race on Sunday.

Reef McCarthy was the Sunday specialist in the Formula Vees, winning both races and the round after Jake Rowe was successful on Saturday.

The meet was rounded out by the BMW E30s, with Geoffrey Bowles on the top step of the podium after winning the feature second race, while Alex Jory was victorious in the first and third races.

The fifth and final round of the season is set for the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from September 23 to 25.