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Round 5. Mallala – Race 4
Race 4 was the final race for the weekend, and 11 cars fronted for the race start with Marius Catrina packing up early unable to make the last race. The two key protagonists for the round in Cameron Beller and Chris Lewis-Williams were even off the start as they went side-by-side through turn 1, with Beller edging ahead through turn 2. Lewis-Williams was able to get a good exit though and put himself in a good position on the run to turn 3, as the two cars were neck and neck all the way down the back sweeper on the way to the hairpin. Lewis-Williams prevailed with the inside line through the hairpin to emerge in the lead, with Beller slotting into second position. Tony Westaway was third, from Ken Rowland and Michael Westaway in fourth and fifth positions. The top two ran neck and neck down the back straight, but Lewis-Williams cleared Beller with the inside run to the hairpin corner. Ryan Woods and Dick Howe resumed their race 3 battle, with Howe initially moving to sixth as the pair were again side by side for sixth position. Toni Andreevski was up to eighth position, after rounding up Mark Taubitz who initially jumped well, but the car jumped out of gear, and he dropped back to ninth from his sixth position on the grid. In behind Taubitz was John Vainoras, moving ahead of Keith Marriner who was baulked by Taubitz on the run to turn one. As the field rounded turn three, Rowland had a slide on cold tyres which allowed Michael Westaway through to fourth position, while Howe also got a run on him and nosed ahead down the back straight. Being on the outside of the track however, he wasn't able to hold the position, and his compromised exit from the [...]
Round 5. Mallala – Race 3
Race 3 of the Mallala race weekend was a 10 lap event held at 10:30 on the Sunday morning, with Cameron Beller and Chris Lewis-Williams on a win apiece after the two Saturdays races. Sadly there would be only 12 cars taking the start, as Paul Crocitti encountered engine issues during his morning warm up, which would prevent his from taking the start from his well earnt fourth starting spot - a cruel blow. Cameron Beller yet again led into the first corner with Chris Lewis-Williams behind, ahead of Tony Westaway, with Ken Rowland jumping up to fourth position, aided by the empty grid slot in front of him thanks to Crocitti. Ryan Woods was next through ahead of Dick Howe, Michael Westaway, Mark Taubitz who slipped back after missing the start, Marius Catrina, Keith Marriner, Toni Andreevski and John Vainoras. Howe moved up to fifth position with a pass on Woods down the back straight, Woods clearly suffering from a shortage of horsepower onboard car #17. The top two yet again pulled a gap on the third place Tony Westaway who himself pulled a small gap of Rowland in fourth, who also found himself comfortable ahead of fifth placed Howe. The battle for fifth is where all the excitement was, as Woods was trying every trick in the book to move back ahead of Howe, while Taubitz managed to take the seventh position from Michael Westaway under brakes for the final hairpin on lap 3, and set about after Howe and Woods. Woods made a move on the inside of Howe at turn three on lap 4, but Howe was able to power past down the back straight to hold the position. The following lap Howe suffered the same fate though this time went off at the exit of the corner, allowing Woods, Taubitz [...]
Round 5. Mallala – Race 2
Late on Saturday afternoon, the field rolled out for Race 2 of Round 5 of the 2017 season at Mallala raceway less than two hours after the end of Race 1. Two cars who did not make it for the start, and were out for the weekend were Pedr James - his engine dramas unfortunately more terminal than what was hoped, and Jim Mitchell - whose clutch dramas put him out for the rest of the weekend also. Cameron Beller got the jump off the line again to lead into the first few corners, with the next few drivers remaining in grid formation behind him, with Chris Lewis-Williams in second, from Tony Westaway, Paul Crocitti and Michael Westaway in fifth. Ryan Woods jumped up to sixth ahead of Ken Rowland and Dick Howe, followed by Keith Marriner, Toni Andreevski, Marius Catrina, Mark Taubitz and John Vainoras. How made his way past Rowland under brakes for the hairpin for the first time, while Catrina and Taubitz both pulled the same move on Andreevski, dropping him back to twelfth position, and then thirteenth when Vainoras also passed him for twelfth. At the close of lap 2 Michael Westaway moved up to fourth position briefly, before some contact between he and Paul Crocitti saw Westaway come off second best and he dropped back to eleventh position behind Taubitz. Behind him, Andreevski made a pass back on Vainoras again to move back to twelfth spot while Howe made his way past Woods for the fifth position on the following lap. On lap 4, and drama for Beller as the car didn't pull up as he braked for the hairpin corner, allowing Lewis-Williams through to the lead of the race while Beller recovered to second position. A few seconds later there was deja vu as Dick Howe [...]
Round 5. Mallala – Race 1
Race 1 of the 4 races that made up Round 5 of the 944 Challenge was a quick 6 lap screamer held mid Saturday afternoon at Mallala Motorsport Park, the first race in 6 and a half years for the 944's in South Australia. Unable to effect repairs in time for the race start was Pedr James, but the team hoped to line up for Race 2. Cameron Beller led away from pole position to jump into the lead ahead of Chris Lewis-Williams, with Tony Westaway next from Michael Westaway and Paul Crocitti in fifth. Slow to get away from fifth on the grid was Mark Taubitz, moving away slowly and rolling straight into pit entry instead of taking the first corner to retire after he began experiencing a misfire on the warmup lap. This moved Ken Rowland and Dick Howe up to sixth and seventh positions, ahead of Keith Marriner, and Ryan Woods who burst through from his start at the rear of the field. John Vainoras was next through in tenth position, ahead of Jim Mitchell and Toni Andreevski, while resuming at the back after stalling off the grid was Marius Catrina. Crocitti moved up to fourth position with a pass on Michael Westaway when the latter missed a gear, while Howe moved his way past Rowland and up to sixth position, and Mitchell moved past Vainoras for tenth spot. Up front Beller and Lewis-Williams started building a gap, while Tony Westaway focussed on keeping Crocitti behind him, while Michael Westaway was trying to find a way back past for fourth position. Jim Mitchell meanwhile experienced some clutch issues and dropped to the back of the pack, before pulling off to retire on lap 3. Woods worked his way past Marriner on lap 3 and moved up to the [...]
Round 5. Mallala – Qualifying
Qualifying for Round 5 of the 2017 944 Challenge held at Mallala Raceway was going to be an unknown quantity with no recent form to go by at the Mallala circuit. It was Chris Lewis-Williams jumped to the top of the time sheets early on with a 1:20.7648, just edging out Cameron Beller with a 1:20.8520. Tony Westaway moved into third quickest with a 1:21.3722 ahead of Paul Crocitti with a 1:22.0231. Michael Westaway was fifth fastest with a 1:22.5203, with Mark Taubitz sixth on a 1:22.6499. Ken Rowland was seventh (1:23.5848) just ahead of Keith Marriner (1:23.5964) Marius Catrina was next with a 1:23.8525 ahead of Dick Howe with a 1:24.2414. Jim Mitchell was next (1:26.8225) followed by John Vainoras (1:26.8375) with Pedr James next with a 1:27.2440. Beller jumped to the top of the time sheets as he dipped into the 19’s with a 1:19.9278, as Crocitti improved with a 1:21.6777, which he would not beat for the remainder of the session. Ken Rowland jumped up to fifth with a 1:21.8418, ahead of Taubitz who improved with a 1:21.9136 but remained sixth, ahead of Michael Westaway who slipped to seventh despite improving with a 1:21.9620. Marius Catrina moved up to eighth with a 1:22.7783, with James up to tenth with a 1:23.7488, just ahead of Howe who set a 1:23.7740. Mitchell also improved in twelfth with a 1:25.9727. Beller improved marginally with a 1:19.9004, as did Lewis-Williams with a 1:20.5021, with Tony Westaway setting a fantastic 1:20.5432 for his fastest time for the session to be just behind Lewis-Williams. Howe improved to ninth with a 1:23.5349, just ahead of James who improved with a 1:23.5595. Lewis-Williams lowered the gap to Beller as he set a 1:20.2902, but he was unable to improve on that and would settle for second on the [...]
2017 Round 5 Preview – Mallala Motorsport Park
Mallala Raceway in South Australia was the venue for the fifth round of the 2017 944 Challenge, and a field of 15 drivers made the trek across the border for the first time in 6 years to roar around four races for the weekend, courtesy of Yokohama Tyres & Traction Tyres. Here is a quick preview of who entered: #1 Cameron Beller – Beller is leading the points race in his attempt for back-to-back 944 series titles, with 8 wins so far this year-and will be looking to add to that tally.. #37 Chris Lewis-Williams – Chris bounced back from his Winton disappointment with a round victory at Sandown including two victories despite qualifying a lowly eighth. He will need a consistant end to the year to vie for the series title after having used his mulligan.. #50 Tony Westaway – Another solid points weekend for Tony at Sandown, he will look to add to is podium tally at Mallala. #45 Michael Westaway – Michael was on track for another good weekend of points at Sandown before spinning off on the last lap of he weekend on his way to a DNF.. He will be looking to make up for that result at Mallala. #74 Mark Taubitz – Mark didn't compete inany of the racing at Sandown after his qualifying mishap, but with the car repaired and looking as good as new, the team will be making the trek over to SA to put the nightmare of Sandown behind him.. #32 John Vainoras – John makes the trek to Mallala and will bebouyed by the fact that he will have the same level of track experience as most of the field at the venue - and looking for some good results! #8 Dick Howe – Dick had a weekend at Sandown to put behind him, and [...]
2017 944 Series
Pointscore
| Driver | |
| Cameron Beller | 305 |
| Chris Lewis-Williams | 296 |
| Vince Misuraca | 282 |
| Tony Westaway | 262 |
| Michael Westaway | 226 |
| Mark Taubitz | 178 |
| John Vainoras | 162 |
| Lyndon Watson | 158 |
| Brad Winter | 156 |
| Richard Howe | 137 |
| Keith Marriner | 131 |
| Paul Crocitti | 127 |
| Ken Rowland | 123 |
| James Gallagher | 120 |
| Rob Holding | 117 |
| Robert Lange | 115 |
| Codey West | 113 |
| Marius Catrina | 112 |
| James Mitchell | 105 |
| Pedr James | 71 |
| Peter Doherty | 63 |
| Ben Raphael | 62 |
| Ryan Woods | 59 |
| Sam Rofe | 52 |
| Toni Andreevski | 49 |
| Andrew Jackman | 48 |
| Ross Millar | 39 |
| Paul Greer | 0 |
*Pointscore calculated with worst dropped round removed from total.
2017 Vic State Championship
Pointscore
| Driver | Total |
| Cameron Beller | 382 |
| Vince Misuraca | 347 |
| Chris Lewis-Williams | 282 |
| Tony Westaway | 281 |
| Michael Westaway | 202 |
| Brad Winter | 184 |
| Lyndon Watson | 151 |
| Mark Taubitz | 130 |
| Robert Lange | 120 |
| Codey West | 110 |
| James Gallagher | 104 |
| Rob Holding | 87 |
| John Vainoras | 77 |
| Paul Crocitti | 70 |
| Richard Howe | 69 |
| Jim Mitchell | 63 |
| Keith Marriner | 32 |
| Pedr James | 51 |
| Sam Rofe | 46 |
| Ken Rowland | 43 |
| Marius Catrina | 41 |
| Andrew Jackman | 39 |
| Peter Doherty | 38 |
| Ben Raphael | 34 |
| Ross Millar | 26 |
| Paul Greer | 0 |
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