THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 3 PREVIEW

16 Cars have entered for Round 3 of the 2024 944 Challenge Championship as the series makes its second visit to the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park at The Bend after first visiting the South Australian circuit soon after its opening in 2018. This round of the Championship is proudly presented by EJM Advice.

Planting himself at the top of the 944 Challenge Pointscore after two rounds is reigning champion Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) in the Tyrepower backed 944, after taking round honors at the last round at Winton where he took two second places before securing his first race win of the year in the final race.

Adam Brewer pushing track limits to the extreme.

Consistency thus far has helped Adam Brewer (#3) to sit in the second place in the championship battle after snaring a pair of third place finishes at Winton, Adam has finished every race in the top 5 so far in the AVi Technology machine.

Sitting in third place in the points coming into Round 3 is our other 4-time champion, Cameron Beller (#55) Cameron has been on the podium four times from six races so far but yet to get onto the top step in 2024, a gearbox issue in the first race last time out at Winton allowing Brewer to move ahead in the points battle.

Moving up to fourth position in the championship points heading into this round is club President Mark Taubitz, fresh from his best ever weekend at Winton where he was able to secure two race wins, he will again be piloting the #66 bright yellow Tim Wolfe owned Pipecraft machine this weekend.

Mark Verdino experimenting with new methods to increase tyre wear.

Also moving up on the pointscore into fifth position is Mark Verdino (#44), a trio of fourth place finishes at Winton Raceway helping the Sidelink machine move up four positions after his Round 1 DNF in the last race at Sandown had him back in ninth place after Round 1. Mark will be jetting back and forth to South Australia over the weekend, so will be doing all he can to net some strong results from his commitment for his efforts this weekend.

Sitting just two points out of the top five in the points is Michael Westaway, (#45) having one of his best starts to the season Michael has finished every race in the top ten and also showing the benefit of consistency in the 944 Championship.

Also proving the benefit of consistency is Andrew Goldman, who sits in seventh position in the #333 Carpet Shed 944. Andrew has been on a solid improvement curve after finishing the Winton weekend with four consecutive ninth place finishes as he continues his acclimatisation to the 944.

Having his debut race weekend at Winton was Nick Carpenter (#14) driving the Red ex-Peter Doherty car, Nick had a solid weekend at Winton where he recorded a trio of eight places across the weekend as he had himself in the mix of the action across the weekend, and will look to take the opportunity of some of his rivals being absent this weekend and move toward the top ten in points.

Returning to the track after missing the round at Winton is Joey Kellock (#77), fresh with a new look to the 1800Lasagne machine this weekend, there will be no missing Joey as he looks to make up for the missing round and record a strong weekend to get his season back on track the weekend at Tailem Bend.

Also returning after missing the round at Winton is Jared Campione (#88) in the Campione Electrics car. Jared will be hoping that his engine misfire woes that hampered him at Sandown have been cured and that he can also record a strong weekend and score some top ten finishes over the weekend.

Back behind the wheel of car #50 is Tony Westaway, after letting son Jamie behind the wheel for Sunday at Winton after Jamie’s clutch failure in Race 1. With Jamie a late withdrawal and being away from the track this weekend, Tony should be able to finish all races behind the wheel of his own car, with his past experience at the circuit in his 944 something that will hopefully help him start the weekend on the right foot.

Looking to get their seasons on track after a point-less round at Winton are Manny Mezzasalma (#10) and Josh Brisbane (#56) after both drivers had the same misfortune befall them, with a Race 1 DNF for both culminating in contact when Manny unfortunately spun, just clipping Josh at the end of Race 2, ending both of their weekends early. They will both be wanting to finish all three races and get some solid points this weekend at The Bend.

Having his first venture out on circuit this weekend is Carter Fox, though he will be driving the #20 Poolmaster Bayside car this weekend instead of his usual #7 machine, as he waits for the final assembly of his engine which caused unreliability issues for Fox in the back half of the 2023 season. Carter will look to get some good results on the board this round as he prepares to get back behind the wheel of his regular mount at Sandown when Andrew Jackman will get back into his own car after some follow up shoulder surgery.

Two new entries for this weekend, with Damon Woods, nephew of Ryan taking over the #17 944 this weekend. Damon has proven his skill behind the wheel of Formula Fords over the last couple of seasons and will look to translate those to the 944 Challenge – while Peter Grant takes over the Red #84 944 as he ventures out for his first race weekend behind the wheel of his new car this weekend at the Bend.

A few drivers are missing this weekend, Jamie Westaway was a late withdrawal from the event , along with Dick Howe (#8) with both drivers expected to return at Sandown for Round 4 along with Andrew Jackman as Carter Fox gets back behind the wheel of his regular car, and Sam Rofe (#68) who just ran out of time to get the engine repairs to his car complete in time for this weekend.

Jim Mitchell(#46) and John Vainoras (#32) are also hopefully going to be back at Sandown, as well as Lyndon Watson (#5) Toni Andreevski (#27) and the return of Keith Marriner (#64) and Andrew Jones (#33) while the rumour mill is swirling that we may see the return of the West Australian cartel drivers in Tim Wolfe (#66) and Andy Tudor! (#15)

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.