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2019 Season – Round 4 Preview!
This weekend sees the fourth round of the Victorian State Race Series being held at Sandown Raceway, with the 944 Challenge again competing as one of the staple categories of the series - for the first time with the backing of Porsche Australia on board! Here is a preview of the competitors who will be on track this weekend: #1 Cameron Beller – Cameron had two perfect rounds to start the year, but WInton was even more of a horror for him than 2018 - this year returning zero points for the weekend. While he is able to fall back on the dropped worst round rule for the 944 series keeping him on top in that pointscore, he has slipped to second in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship Points with only two rounds remaining. He will hope to replicate his perfect Sandown performance from Round 1 as he looks to claw back the points deficit. #5 Lyndon Watson – Lyndon had a perfect Saturday at Winton, scoring Pole Position and the Race 1 win, but had to settle for second and third positions on Sunday. Nevertheless, he now sits second in the 944 points after factoring in the dropped worst round after his non attendance at Sandown at Round 1. Would this put him at a disadvantage this weekend against his rivals? #28 Tony Westaway – Tony had an outstanding weekend at Winton with two race victories securing him the Round win also - the first wins of his career. With a lead in the Vic State Series Pointscore, Tony will be holding nothing back as he looks to stay at the top of the points ladder at the end of the weekend. #4 Ken Rowland – Ken also had a great weekend at Winton, with a solid weekend ending on the highest point as he finished second in [...]
Porsche Cars Australia to support the 944 Racing Association in 2019!
Some very exciting news for all drivers of the 944 Challenge series with a new announcement surrounding a fantastic new sponsorship arrangement with Porsche Cars Australia! Porsche Cars Australia will include the 944 Challenge in the young driver development program for 2019. At the conclusion of the 2019 season (Vic State Race Series), the champion driver from the competition* will be offered a Porsche GT3 Cup Track Experience valued at approximately $7,000 each. The GT3 Cup Track Experience involves a full day behind the wheel of a current-specification Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car (Gen II), the same car used in highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup Championships campaigned around the globe. The GT3 Cup Track Experience is the perfect stepping stone for both young drivers seeking to progress their careers and more experienced drivers to elevate their racing to the next level. “We are pleased to expand our support of Australian Motor Sport to three exciting categories,” said Motorsport Manager for Porsche Cars Australia, Troy Bundy. “The Porsche 944 challenge is also the first step on the Porsche Motorsport pyramid and an affordable introduction for drivers of all ages to one-make Porsche racing. We are proud to support this great class.” “Porsche and our partners have made a significant investment into driver development locally and we are proud to expand that further this year.” The announcement increases an already significant investment in junior driver development within Australian Motorsport. Working with major partner Michelin, Porsche’s Michelin Junior Program supports a total of eleven young drivers competing in the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia and Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge this year, with approximately $300,000 in support and prizes on offer. As part of the program, Michelin Junior driver Jordan Love received a trip to Germany to experience the Formula E Berlin E-Prix [...]
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 [...]
2019 944 Series
Current Pointscore
| Pos. | Driver | |
| 1st | Cameron Beller | 234 |
| 2nd | Tony Westaway | 204 |
| 3rd | Lyndon Watson | 190 |
| 4th | John Kennedy | 185 |
| 5th | Ken Rowland | 169 |
| 6th | Toni Andreevski | 166 |
| 7th | Adam Brewer | 164 |
| 8th | Keith Marriner | 150 |
| 9th | Tim Wolfe | 142 |
| 10th | James Mitchell | 137 |
| 11th | Mark Taubitz | 127 |
| 12th | Richard Howe | 124 |
| 13th | Clayton Sinclair | 119 |
| 14th | Pedr James | 118 |
| 15th | John Vainoras | 114 |
| 16th | Marius Catrina | 104 |
| 17th | Andrew Jones | 85 |
| 18th | Andrew Jackman | 83 |
| 19th | Campbell Hammersley | 75 |
| 20th | Paul Greer | 72 |
| 21st | Paul Crocitti | 71 |
| 22nd | Michael Westaway | 66 |
| 23rd | Rob Holding | 15 |
| 24th | Peter Doherty |
2019 Vic State Championship
Current Pointscore
| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1st | Cameron Beller | 300 |
| 2nd | Tony Westaway | 297 |
| 3rd | Lyndon Watson | 238 |
| 4th | John Kennedy | 222 |
| 5th | Ken Rowland | 202 |
| 6th | Toni Andreevski | 199 |
| 7th | Adam Brewer | 194 |
| 8th | Keith Marriner | 161 |
| 9th | Tim Wolfe | 152 |
| 10th | Mark Taubitz | 143 |
| 11th | Richard Howe | 139 |
| 12th | Jim Mitchell | 115 |
| 13th | Clayton Sinclair | 115 |
| 14th | Pedr James | 101 |
| 15th | Paul Crocitti | 90 |
| 16th | John Vainoras | 78 |
| 17th | Michael Westaway | 77 |
| 18th | Marius Catrina | 74 |
| 19th | Andrew Jackman | 70 |
| 20th | Paul Greer | 55 |
| 21st | Andrew Jones | 52 |
| 22nd | Campbell Hammersley | 45 |
| 23rd | Rob Holding | 12 |
| 24th | Peter Doherty | 0 |
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