A healthy field of 18 Cars have entered for Round 4 of the 2024 944 Challenge Championship as the series makes its return to the home of horsepower, Sandown Raceway in Melbourne.

This round of the Championship is proudly presented by Campione Electrics, and with only three points separating the top three in the points going into this round, all eyes will be on the front of the field to see if any of the top three on the ladder will move clear with some wins, or will the party be spoiled by others ready to pounce and close the gap to those up front?

Topping the Championship pointscore for tor the first time in his career is Adam Brewer (#3) after taking his first race win for the season in the final race at the last round at The Bend in June, Adam’s consistency has put him at the top as he has finished every race of the season so far in the top 5 positions.

Two wins at The Bend helped Cameron Beller (#55) move up to second position in the points, now sitting only 1 point behind Adam Brewer in the tally after three rounds, Cameron making a great recovery after being spun around at the start of the final race to charge back to second position in the final race.

After a lackluster round by his standards, Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) slips to third in the points from the lead after the Tailem Bend round.

Chris, however, again showed his ability to make the best from a weekend where things aren’t going his way to still come fifth for the round after he found himself on the back foot after a component failure during qualifying curtailed his running and chance to get some much-needed laps at the new circuit.

He will look to return to familiar territory this weekend at Sandown and to move back to the top of the points.

Now tied for fourth position in the points after The Bend is Mark Taubitz – a decent running with a collection of fourth positions all weekend was ruined in the last race when he spun in oil on the last lap of the last race which relegated him to tenth position for the final race. Handing back the keys to the Yellow #66 machine he has campaigned this year, Taubitz has entered with a new number and a new car ready to debut this round, he will hope it will help him stay add to the wins he scored at Winton earlier in the year.

Tied with Taubitz on points, only 21 points adrift on the points leader Brewer is Mark Verdino (#44) fresh from finishing third for the round at the Bend, Verdino was on the podium for all three race at The Bend and had two second place finishes last time at Sandown in February. Can he go one better and add to the debut race win that he scored last year and close the gap to those at the top of the points tally? He will certainly be doing all he can to do so.

Sitting in 8th position in his rookie season is Nick Carpenter behind the wheel of the #14 machine, as Nick heads to Sandown for his first race there after missing the first round at the start of the year, Nick will be looking to continue his learning and score some good points this weekend and see if he can move forward in the points battle.

Ninth in points despite missing the round at the Bend is veteran Dick Howe (#8) Dick is keen to return to the track with his rapid #8 machine at a track he has always been competitive at, and look to make up for missing the event with a strong points haul this weekend.

Also returning to the track after missing The Bend is Jamie Westaway aboard the #28 machine. Jamie scored a clean sweep with three victories when we visited Sandown in February, and he will have intentions of a repeat performance this round and look to make up for not scoring any points in the past two rounds and to move solidly back into the top ten in points.

A solid weekend at The Bend was just what Tony Westaway needed to get his season on track, sixth position for the round with the #50 car will be a result he will hope he can improve on this weekend as he competes at Sandown for the first time this year after missing Round 1 earlier in the year.

Ruing a distributor failure at the third race at The Bend when he was looking to inherit the lead is Joey Kellock in the revamped #77 1800Lasagne machine. Joey will be looking to consolidate and secure three solid finishes and clean races this weekend, and begin the recovery of his 2024 season and to move into the top ten in points by the end of Sunday.

Currently sitting in 14th position in the points is the #88 of our round sponsor, Jared Campione. Jared performed well at the Bend but unfortunately broke a driveshaft off the start line for the final race which left him with a DNF that would have otherwise likely seen him in the top ten in points going into this round. Jared will be looking for a strong performance at his second visit to Sandown this weekend and to move up to the pointscore with some strong finishes.

After one of his most encouraging rounds to date at Winton on his last race weekend at Winton, we welcome back the #32 of John Vainoras after he missed the cross-border journey to South Australia for the last round. John will be looking to replicate and improve on that performance at Winton and to get in the mix with the rest of the field this weekend.

Returning for the first time since Sandown at Round 1 is Toni Andreevski in the purple #27 entry where he had a strong weekend just off the lead battle pack all weekend. Can Toni edge closer to the top group this weekend to add another driver to the already strong lead battle pack? Time will tell, and Toni will be hoping so!

Having his debut run with the 944 Challenge at The Bend was Peter Grant behind the wheel of the #84 car, after easing himself in during qualifying Peter showed impressive pace on his first outing at the tricky SA circuit and scored two top ten finishes, including am 8th place finish in the greasy second race. We look forward to seeing how Peter will fare as he visits each of the Victoria circuits for the first time.

Getting some points on the board to make a start on his 2024 campaign at The Bend was Josh Brisbane (#56), after a weekend to forget at Winton, Josh improved as the weekend went on, culminating in an 8th place finish in the final race.

Josh will make his first Sandown start for the year and will want to continue where he left off at The Bend with some strong Sandown results.

Carter Fox had his first round for the 2024 season at The Bend aboard the #20 Poolmaster Bayside car of Andrew Jackman as he awaited parts to complete an engine rebuild, and had his strongest performances to date, securing a Top 5 qualifying position and finishing races 2 & 3 in the top 5 also after not being able to start the first race with a mechanical issue. Carter will again wheel out the #20 car as the engine in his usual #7 ride isn’t complete yet, and will look forward to another strong result. Can he replicate the Pole Position that the #20 car scored at this round last year with Taubitz at the helm? We look forward to finding out come lunchtime on Saturday!

Also scoring his first points for the 2024 season at The Bend after missing Sandown at the start of the year and having a Winton to forget was Manny Mezzasalma (#10) A Race 1 DNF prevented him from scoring more points but a strong Sunday with a pair of top ten results was a good way to end the weekend and will have Manny looking forward to a strong round at Sandown to add to his points for the year with some more top ten finishes the aim for this weekend;

Making a very welcome return to the 944 Challenge field this weekend is West Australian Andy Tudor aboard the #15 car, now sporting a fresh new look thanks to Pit Lane Clothing.

Andy is fresh from a breakout weekend about his Audi R8 last weekend at Phillip Island and we hope this weekend is the first of many he has back on track with the 944 Challenge series!

Unfortunately we are missing our 6th & 7th placed drivers in the points chase, with Michael Westaway (#45) and Andrew Goldman (#333) both overseas and unable to participate this weekend, along with Lyndon Watson (#5) and Jim Mitchell (#46) while Sam Rofe (#68) is also unfortunately not quite ready with his new engine , and Andrew Jackman continues his shoulder recovery, both these drivers have Phillip Island earmarked for a return in October.

If you like what you see on the circuit and want to get on board with the Porsche 944 Challenge series, the series is enjoying a resurgence with a couple of cars available for purchase and others returning to competition, along with some freshly built cars being finalised with some of those for lease, or sale.

Get in touch with the guys in the series if you would like to get on track and join in the action.