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2019 Season – Round 3 Preview!
One more sleep until the 944 Challenge field set off to begin Qualifying for Round 3 of the 2019 season at Winton Raceway. 18 cars and drivers are entered which bodes for a great weekend’s racing ahead. Let’s go through the drivers entered for the round. #1 Cameron Beller – Cameron has had two perfect rounds so far, but returns to the scene of what was to be his downfall in his quest for the 2018 Vic State Series Title in Winton Raceway. He will look to keep his perfect streak for 2019 going and avoid the dramas of last year. #3 Mark Taubitz – Two consistent rounds so far in 2019 sees Mark second in the pointscore despite struggling with power on the two high speed tracks. He will look to return to the podium this weekend at Winton where power is less of a top level concern. #28 Tony Westaway – Tony finished third outright for the weekend at Phillip Island which sees him move up the pointscore into third position outright. Tony had some issues at his Winton appearance last year, so will look to have a smoother run on his return to the regional circuit in his attempt to move further up the standings. #27 Toni Andreevski – Toni continues his strong start to the 2019 season which after scoring a top 5 result at Phillip Island, sees him up to fourth in the points. This will surprisingly be his first visit to race in the 944's at Winton Raceway, will he be able to get to grips with the tight layout to maintain his championship position? #64 Keith Marriner – Keith had an ordinary start to the weekend at Phillip Island, but improved for Sunday which sees him in fifth position in the points after the first two rounds. Winton was [...]
2019 Season – Round 2 Preview!
Less than one week remains until the 944 Challenge field set off to begin practice for Round 2 of the 2019 season at Phillip Island. 22 cars and drivers are entered, the highest field since Round 1 of the 2017 Season! #1 Cameron Beller – Cameron continued on his winning ways at Round 1 of the season at Sandown with a perfect result with 3 wins from 3 races Will he be able to replicate this performance at Phillip Island? #4 Ken Rowland – Ken showed impressive pace as he secured his first front row starting position and also his first podium finishes to make a strong start to the season after missing the first half of the 2018 season. Ken will be looking to keep the momentum up at Phillip Island, a track he historically has performed well at. #31 Adam Brewer – Adam performed extremely well at his first outing at Sandown raceway at Round 1, and will be looking to repeat the performance as he returns to a track he has competed at previously in Phillip Island. One driver who suffered cooling dramas in the heat of the Sandown weekend, he will look to have put those issues behind him and improve further on his pace. #3 Mark Taubitz – Mark was another who struggled with engine temperature and performance at Sandown which left him slightly off the pace he was expecting. He will also hope to have solved those issues for Phillip Island and will look to get onto the podium for the first time this weekend. #66 Tim Wolfe – Tim was the highest placed of the 944 rookies who had their first outing at Sandown and performed extremely well in his first outing. Some further comfort tweaks in the gap between Rounds 1 & [...]
2019 Season – Round 1 Preview!
On the eve of Practice before the first round of the 2019 944 Challenge season, we will go through a quick preview of the drivers entered for Round 1 at Sandown - with a higher number of entries than any round in 2018 a positive way to start the new year! #1 Cameron Beller – Cameron returns for 2019 after clinching his third consecutive 944 Challenge Series Championship - and will have his sights on Championship number 4 this year. #74 Mark Taubitz – Mark was able to win the unofficial 'over 20's' championship last year with third in the series behind Beller and Jamie Westaway. He will be looking to start his season strongly and will be aiming for podium finishes this weekend. #64 Keith Marriner – Keith had a strong 2018 season with fourth in the season standings at the end of the year - some further upgrades to his car in the off season have taken place to help him as he attempts to repeat this result for the 2019 Championship. #8 Dick Howe – Dick showed good speed at times throughout the year but was hampered by a couple of DNF's that stopped him from placing higher in the points. He will be looking to get the season off on the right foot at Sandown this weekend. #46 Jim Mitchell – Jim had another very consistent season and fought adversity with a number of mechanical issues to keep running all year - sixth in the pointscore a good reward for his efforts to keep the car on the circuit. With his best result of 2018 coming at Round 1 at Sandown, Jim will look to replicate that performance this weekend. #98 Pedr James – A good season for Pedr with a season result of 7th despite [...]
2018 Season – Round 5 Preview!
We are on the eve of practice as the 944 Challenge hit the track to prepare for the fifth and final round of the 2018 Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships! Here is the preview for this round as we look back to Round 2 of the series at Phillip Island in May this year as a form guide. #28 Jamie Westaway – Jamie holds a slender points for the Vic State Series heading into the title deciding round, with a trio of third place finishes will be enough to secure him the title regardless of what title rival Cameron Beller can muster. Will Jamie run a conservative weekend to take the title, or will he fight hard to turn the tables from the earlier visit to Phillip Island in May? #1 Cameron Beller – Cam has nothing to lose as he will have an attitude to repeat his earlier results from Phillip Island, and win all three races, and see what fate deals for the title results. #74 Mark Taubitz – Mark had a strong run at Phillip Island in May, earning his first podium finish and now sits in a comfortable third position in the points. A consistent weekend will ensure he secures that position for the State Season pointscore. #5 Lyndon Watson – Lyndon has shown plenty of speed and had some great results at Phillip Island in May, but some unreliability at Sandown has hampered his points tally, and he will need problems to befall Taubitz to have any chance of stealing third position in the points score from him. He will look for a strong result this weekend as a good springboard for season 2019. #64 Keith Marriner – Keith slipped back a couple of positions in the points after a [...]
Shannons Nationals Invitational Round – Race 3
The third and final Race of the 944 Challenge event at the Shannons Nationals was run as a reverse grid handicap race, again over 9 laps on Sunday afternoon, with the grid and handicaps set by the fastest laps set during Saturdays first race. Thus it was Jim Mitchell who would start from pole position, with Peter Doherty alongside him on the front row. The second row would consist of Manny Mezzasalma with Keith Marriner for company next to him in grid spot four. There would be a 15 second delay before the second group would commence, with Dick Howe, Michael Westaway and Mark Taubitz in that group, with a five second gap before the next group would head off, with that group containing Pedr James, Paul Crocitti and Tony Westaway. There would then be a further 15 second gap before the final group of Rob Holding, Chris Lewis-Williams and Cameron Beller rounding out the final group. Jim Mitchell took the lead off the start from Doherty, Mezzasalma and Marriner, though Doherty would make his way past Mitchell into the lead into turn three with Mitchell slotting into second position. Howe, Michael Westaway and Taubitz were all ducking and weaving for the first half of the lap as all three wanted to be at the head of the pack before Westaway took the lead of the group from Howe & Taubitz. A heavily patched up car of Crocitti took the lead of group 3 from James and Tony Westaway, while Lewis-Williams again got a great start to take the lead in the final group from Beller and Holding. The first position change was on lap 3 when Tony Westaway moved ahead of James for ninth position. Beller was desperately trying to find a way past Lewis-Williams, with Lewis-Williams defending just [...]
Shannons Nationals Invitational Round – Race 2
Race 2 of the 944 Challenge event at the Shannons Nationals was run as a reverse grid event over 9 laps on Sunday morning. As a result of Race 1's finishing order, Tony Westaway lined up on the pole position, with Keith Marriner lining up alongside him on the front row with Manny Mezzasalma and Jim Mitchell lining up on the second row. Peter Doherty and Pedr James would share row 3, with Dick Howe and Michael Westaway on the fourth row. Row 5 would be made up of Mark Taubitz and Paul Crocitti, with the race 1 podium finishers Rob Holding, Chris Lewis-Williams and Cameron Beller rounding out the grid. Jim Mitchell got his customary drag-car-like start off the line to split the front row starters and then dived to the inside of Tony Westaway to lead into Turn 1. Keith Marriner slotted into third position with Mezzasalma fourth, and Doherty and James side by side through the first corner complex. Getting a fantastic start was Chris Lewis-Williams, who took the outside line to follow Doherty and was in seventh position already, with Dick Howe on his outside on the run to turn 3. Crocitti also got a good start down the outside and was next, with Holding also moving up a few spots. The biggest losers off the start were Michael Westaway who got an ordinary getaway, and Mark Taubitz who was boxed in behind him - Cameron Beller also suffered stuck behind those who were slower away, though was able to take the inside run on Taubitz and then out-run Michael Westaway under brakes for turn 3 to move to eleventh position. Tony Westaway ranged up alongside Mitchell and took the lead under brakes into turn 3 with James pulling ahead of Doherty and into fifth position, [...]
Shannons Nationals Invitational Round – Race 1
Race 1 of the 944 Challenge event at the Shannons Nationals was on Saturday afternoon and the only chance for the fastest runners to lead from the start, with Sundays races consisting of a reverse grid, and then a handicap race to round out the event. Off the start it was Chris Lewis-Williams who led into Turn 1 after just edging Cameron Beller in the short drag racce off the start, with ROb Holding, Tony Westaway side by side behind them, with Mark Taubitz and Paul Crocitti side by side right behind them as they ran through turns 1 & 2. Michael Westaway was next edging ahead of Dick Howe, with Jim Mitchell in behind them, with Pedr James, Keith Marriner, Manny Mezzasalma and Peter Doherty rounding out the field. Lewis-Williams and Beller had a small gap while Holding took the inside line to sweep into third position. Taubitz tried to follow him through into turn 4 but had the door firmly shut on him by Tony Westaway - leaving him vulnerable to Crocitti. H0we moved back ahead of Michael Westaway, and then passed Crocitti into turn 9 to take the sixth position. As the field crossed the line to end lap 1, Beller pulled alongside Lewis-Williams and took the lead under brakes into turn 1, with Holding and Tony Westaway now right behind them. a small gap back to Taubitz, Howe, Crocitti, Michael Westaway, Mitchell, James, Marriner, Mezzasalma and Doherty. The top three were nose to tail, with Tony Westaway and Taubitz just off the back of the lead trio. Howe and Crocitti continued to battle with Westaway tagging onto the back of the pair. Doherty meanwhile took Mezzasalma for twelfth position. James was the next driver to make progress, as he moved ahead of Mitchell on lap 3 [...]
2019 944 Series
Current Pointscore
| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1st | Cameron Beller | 156 |
| 2nd | Lyndon Watson | 143 |
| 3rd | Tony Westaway | 141 |
| 4th | Ken Rowland | 132 |
| 5th | Mark Taubitz | 127 |
| 6th | John Kennedy | 114 |
| 7th | Toni Andreevski | 112 |
| 8th | Tim Wolfe | 110 |
| 9th | Keith Marriner | 102 |
| 10th | Adam Brewer | 101 |
| 11th | James Mitchell | 97 |
| 12th | Pedr James | 84 |
| 13th | Andrew Jackman | 83 |
| 14th | John Vainoras | 76 |
| 15th | Campbell Hammersley | 75 |
| 16th | Andrew Jones | 75 |
| 17th | Paul Crocitti | 71 |
| 18th | Michael Westaway | 66 |
| 19th | Clayton Sinclair | 64 |
| 20th | Marius Catrina | 63 |
| 21st | Richard Howe | 58 |
| 22nd | Paul Greer | 25 |
| 23rd | Peter Doherty | 0 |
2019 Vic State Championship
Current Pointscore
| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1st | Tony Westaway | 227 |
| 2nd | Cameron Beller | 200 |
| 3rd | Lyndon Watson | 178 |
| 4th | Ken Rowland | 166 |
| 5th | Toni Andreevski | 149 |
| 6th | Mark Taubitz | 143 |
| 7th | John Kennedy | 132 |
| 8th | Keith Marriner | 131 |
| 9th | Tim Wolfe | 128 |
| 10th | Adam Brewer | 125 |
| 11th | Pedr James | 101 |
| 12th | Paul Crocitti | 90 |
| 13th | Jim Mitchell | 89 |
| 14th | Michael Westaway | 77 |
| 15th | Andrew Jackman | 70 |
| 16th | Clayton Sinclair | 63 |
| 17th | Richard Howe | 62 |
| 18th | John Vainoras | 55 |
| 19th | Andrew Jones | 52 |
| 20th | Marius Catrina | 48 |
| 21st | Campbell Hammersley | 45 |
| 22nd | Paul Greer | 16 |
| 23rd | Peter Doherty | 0 |
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