Team TRTPower Rankings: Sydney SuperNight/Late Arvo
The Repco Supercars Championship descended on Sydney Motorsport Park, with motorsport not only registering numerous HOTs and NOTs, but it also overdosed on WHATs and MEMEs.
So here goes with your Sydney Motorsport Park Power Rankings…
ABOUT THE RANKINGS: The TRT Power Rankings are compiled by your nominations from social media and edited by the TRT editorial team. They’re designed to give a balanced, as fair as possible critical overview of those things that excelled and those things that struggled at each event. It’s (mostly) a democracy, and what you nominate generates the order, so have your say next event via our social media channels, @theracetorque on Facebook, Twitter and Insta. Look for the call out each evening and get commenting!
HOT
1. Chaz Mostert
In the conversation throughout qualifying, jumped past Cam Waters in the opening leg of the race, then the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew turned him around in great order to claim the effective lead. However, with Payne running a one-stopper, Mostert had to methodically work his way into the lead proper and claim his second win for the year. On Sunday, he blasted into the lead half a lap in and was never seriously challenged before finally sweeping past the single-stopping Waters late. Now second in the points and only 105 points behind Brown, this is game on heading to Symmons Plains, which will be a true test of consistency for the WAU equip…
2. Touring Car Masters
Some truly next-level stuff. First up, Danny Buzadzic claimed his third trophy race win of the year, this time winning right on the line, passing Marcus Zukanovic to claim the chocolates by a margin of 0.0386sec. Race one was similarly a belter – Ryan Hansford took the win, but involved in the battle up to the final straight were Jamie Tilley, Adam Garwood and Rylan Gray. Race two was another blinder – Hansford somehow held on from Tilley, Garwood, Andrew Fisher and Joel Heinrich, with the top four able to fit under a blanket. The finale might not have had the same ridiculous blast to the finish line, but there were some mega battles up and down the pack, with Tilley claiming the W from Fisher and Hansford. The class has come under the microscope in recent times for a range of reasons, but the show on the weekend was as good as it gets.
3. Matthew Payne’s Turn One Move
Unreal.
4. Cam Waters
More pace after a big outing in Townsville. Registered the provisional Saturday pole and led a long-awaited Tickford front-row lockout, but was relegated in the race due to some slow fuel stops.
He claimed another provisional pole on Sunday, which he missed in the shootout by 0.000sec to Will Davison. Utilised the single-stop strategy on Sunday to claim second.
5. Matthew Payne
The Penrite crew has produced two big results in the last two events, using completely contrasting strategies. After dropping it in the Saturday Shootout, Payne started from tenth before settling in sixth for the opening exchanges. By choosing a one-stop strategy, he had a massive 28-lap run home from the 51-lap journey. Payne eventually had to cede the lead with four circuits remaining. Stopped twice on Sunday and was in the conversation finishing fourth. Fifth in the points, the young Kiwi is a serious player as we get to business time in the season and it’s scary to think what he and the hugely experienced Garth Tander could accomplish come Enduro season should the team continue this form.
6. Thomas Randle
Missed the Saturday pole by 1/100th when he was beaten by his teammate, with quality banter ensuing. He led the race away and was looking strong until Mostert jumped past at the first round of pit stops. Ultimately finished P3 after Payne’s single stop strategy nearly paid dividends. A Sunday qualifying faux pas saw him line up 18th, which was improved to tenth by the chequered flag. A huge turnaround after finishing 23rd and 22nd at SMP last year.
7. Will Brown
Sixth and third – on a weekend where the Bulls weren’t at their best, it was good damage limitation. Again.
8. Will Davison
Fourth Saturday, sixth Sunday, however the highlight was pole on Saturday, where he beat Waters by nothing. The 29th pole of career puts him ahead of team patron Dick Johnson on the all-time list. Will noted it was an important time to get the job done, with the silly season about to tee off in earnest.
9. Anton De Pasqaule
Fifth and fifth. Solid, if unremarkable.
10. Walkinshaw Andretti United
Five wins over the event: Matthew Hillyer 3/3, Chaz Mostert 2/2. Not a bad weekend at the races…
FURTHER HOTS
Sydney Motorsport Park Under Lights
We’ve said it before, but it continues to ring true: Sydney Motorsport Park under lights is simply a completely different racetrack when you turn the lights on. All racing at SMP should be at night.
Ford
Saturday saw a top-five sweep and one-two on Sunday. Just imagine how good they would be going if they got a parity adjustment after Darwin…
Format (at least, the racing)
Following the pretty mediocre shows at Perth and Darwin, the last two rounds have produced genuinely interesting racing, with tyre and fuel strategies playing out differently for different people. That generates great scraps through the field and outcomes like one driver hunting down another in the closing stages to win, which has happened in three of the last four races. It’s proof that a vast majority of Supercars races (outside of the GP – sprint racing is fine there because the circuit lends itself to it) need to have fuel and tyres in the mix. 200km-plus races have always been the best for this category and nothing that has happened on track this year suggests that has changed.
GR Cup
More great action after the class debuted its latest generation racer last time out. The opener was magic, with Matthew Hillyer kicking off a big night for the Walkinshaw Andretti United crew by leading Max Geoghegan by only 0.187sec. The mid-race battle in the second race was out of this world, with three and four-wide action commonplace. Ultimately, Hillyer registered three wins in a statement weekend.
Qualifying Closeness
Chaz Racing Cam
It happened briefly on Saturday, and it was great. The concept of the two clattering into each other was never out of the equation.
V8 SuperUtes
Another solid outing for the resurgent category. Cameron Crick claimed a couple of wins and the outright honours for the event, followed by Adam Marjoram, Aaron Bord and Jayden Wanzek. Entertaining stuff.
Harri Jones
It’s Harri Jones’s world, and we’re just living in it. Two poles, three wins, he served up yet another education in driving Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 992s.
Garth Tander
Outside of commentating up a storm, over the weekend GT:
- Live on commentatary from the driver’s seat during Carrera Cup Friday practice two called the reason why there was a red flag.
- Saved a dog from eating a battery on Saturday morning.
- Drove from nowhere to the top ten in race one and finished fifth in the finale, making up a total of 33 positions in a Carrera Cup weekend where passing was at a premium.
What did you do on the weekend?
Sports Sedans
Steve Tamasi won the opening two races in his Calibra, with Peter Ingram striking back in the finale aboard his Mazda RX7. Largely clean racing, a solid weekend.
Good Drivers Being Good
The top-ten in points coming out of SMP filled the top-ten places in both races, with the only interloper being Brodie Kostecki.
Ryan Wood
Won the Friday Practice Grand Prix, which was totally meaningless.
Lachie Dalton’s Wildcard Livery
Kayo wasn’t taken down by the Microsoft outage on Friday afternoon
THE DRIVER INTROS
A very cool piece of Americana, complete with all of the pyro, playing out in front of the punters on the main straight and in the grandstand. While it looked great, a little bit of execution could probably be worked on – as the drivers were called, some emerged in front of the crowd autographing a cap, before some seemingly got lost after giving it to a kid. NASCAR does this stuff nearly 40 times a year, and some of the venues do it better than others. If we’re going to pinch the concept, why not replicate one of the concepts that really works? If there is a stack of fans on the grass verge, why not get them around the drivers as they walk out? Why not get the crew guys in on the act too? There are options out there to give it a tune-up.
WHAT HALL OF FAME
James Courtney Accidentally Announced His Retirement
Also, see: How? Hall of Fame.
Also, see: Memes.
WHAT
Dale Wood’s Track Map
David Reynolds
David Reynolds’ Sydney Motorsport Park record: 4th in 2015 and 2020 (twice). In 2021 he missed two of the four SMP rounds following a COVID-19 NSW Health-mandated vaccination kerfuffle, while in 2024 he ran a Donald Trump tribute ear bandage during the driver intros.
You left the generator where?
It seems that a portable generator to assist with some extra illumination was left on the racing side of the wall at turn two. Imagine if someone popped into that… It would have definitely added to the pyrotechnics. Should not be allowed to happen.
Top Fuel Dragster Ring In
It appears that Steven Lacey’s IRC GT was so quick that it broke the speed trap loop. Impressive.
Context is everything
Craig Lowndes: It looks like a deflated tyre.
Chad Neylon: Craig has picked it like a dirty nose, it was a slowly deflating tyre.
Richard Craill: He has had one or two of those in his time… flat tyres, that is.
Huh?
Skippy in Sydney
NOT
1. 90min Practice/Format/Winter
A standing not—this week, we had prime-time weeknight practice for 90 minutes ahead of an 80-minute Saturday night race, which left for a strange Friday schedule where all the support categories had a) a lot of sessions and b) a lot of sessions some not split by a long time which made their lives a challenge.
Wouldn’t two nights of night racing be a treat?
The other side-effect of all that was the Saturday to Sunday swap over which saw some not get out of the track until well after 9pm, only to turn around and come back well under twelve hours later. At least we didn’t have a stupid Sunday morning practice session.. but still.
Another treat would be to host a race in western Sydney at night in a warmer month. While Saturday night’s crowd was okay – probably a few thousand down on the 2023 effort – we know for a fact some stayed away because of how terrible the weather was earlier in the day when people make a call about going out, or staying in. Sure, it was okay during the race, but while people can cop some rain, 100km/hr wind gusts (recorded at nearby Bankstown airport) and a negative-degree wind chill factor do not make for an enjoyable spectating experience sitting on a large grass bank in the middle of Western Sydney.
Having a night race in Sydney in the middle of winter is about as mad as going to Tasmania in… the middle of Winter.
The strong word on the street is that SMP will open season 2025, which would be a positive for all and sundry, especially if it’s run over two nights with all of it under lights.
2. Saturday Wind
Properly unenjoyable for those trackside, although it died down a bit by race time.
3. Ryan Humfrey Sports Sedan Shunt Friday Evening
Ugly, probably the biggest moment of the weekend.
4. Winterbottom on Jones
It appears that the Dewalt Chevy had a mind of its own at the second turn of the Saturday race and attempted to make a late-night trip to the Eastern Creek tip. Jones was lucky to continue trucking with a badly deranged wheel.
5. JLB’s Saturday
After earning a 15sec penalty for merging into the path of Andre Heimgartner in the pits, Jack added to the late evening pyro extravaganza with a flame and smoke show when his powerplant cried enough after 8,000km of use. Tough break.
6. Steven Johnson
Sadly, illness ruled Steven Johnson out just ahead of Friday’s qualifying. The upside was that John Bowe was able to make a super-sub return off the bench, which was great to see.
7. Broc Feeney
Ninth on Saturday, served off the road early on Sunday before winding up 11th, Broc now sits third in the standings, which wasn’t on the agenda.
8. Richie Stanaway
Once again behind the eight-ball relative to his teammate. 16th Saturday, 21st Sunday after some clutch woes. Trending the wrong way, looking forward to a reset at Symmons.
9. Brad Jones Racing
The Albury team is having a tough run of it at the moment. Andre Heimgartner: 12th and 19th, Jaxon Evans: 18th and 20th, Bryce Fullwood: 19th and 18th, Macauley Jones: 20th and 22nd. In 32 race starts since Taupo, the team has two top-ten finishes.
10. Blanchard Racing Team
The team made an engineering swing pre-event, although an immediate shift in results wasn’t forthcoming after promising speed on Friday. James Courtney: 21st and 23rd, Aaron Love: 23rd and 25th.
OTHER NOTS
Matt Payne Dramas
After not being allowed to do a burnout in Townsville, Payne suffered a busted tailshaft straight off the bat in practice, losing nearly the full first half hour of the session while the crew diagnosed and fixed the issue. Then on Saturday, he dropped it at the final complex on his shootout lap. Costly, but overcome by supreme strategy in the race.
Ryan Wood
Results of 13th and 16th are slightly behind where we expect him to be after some superstar performances earlier in the year, especially with Mostert out front dominating.
Carrera Cup Qualifying Outlap
Marcos Flack and Garth Tander tangled on the out lap, sending both to the back for the opening two races.
Ryal Harris’s Effing Steering Column was Loose
TCM Race 1 Coates Hire Sign Environmental Disaster
It will be raining polystyrene in Sydney for the next month after Heinrich and Fisher had a spectacular whoopsie on the opening lap of the first Touring Car Masters heat.
V8 SuperUte Biffo
Symmons Plains
…is four weeks away. And it’s in August, where it could actually snow in the pit lane.
SOCIALS
Please yell out if you need a search party…
Downtown, nicking tyres off a parked car
Ka-pow
Keen as mustard
Samuel once again topping the life leaderboard…
Just Larko Things…
Mobil-Penrite-Castrol-Shell
Good sport was a major distraction at one point on Sunday…
As Ian Maurice would say on the 12th Man – “Owch!”
Agreed
The reboot we didn’t know we needed…
So, it went well?
MEME
Literally Thomas Randle after getting done by Cam Waters in the Saturday shootout
Smart
