THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 5 PREVIEW
16 Cars are entered for this round, the fifth round of the 2023 944 Challenge Championship as the series returns to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit a month after the last round of the series at Sandown.
The last time the series was at PI we experienced some topsy-turvey weather with a wet Sunday morning race dominated by Jamie Westaway who was on guest driver duties in the #46 normally piloted by Jim Mitchell, which prevented Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) from making it a perfect weekend, as CL-W took the other two race victories with a second place in the wet race.
After taking 2 of the 3 race wins at Sandown also, Chris leads the points standings heading into the fifth round of the championship with a small lead ahead of Cameron Beller (#55), who kept himself in the championship hunts with a win and two seconds at Sandown, but he is needing to take some race victories over CLW to haul back the points deficit.
Continuing his incredibly consistent season is Adam Brewer (#3), who sits in third position in both the 944 & State championships after scoring a trio of third places at Sandown, hot on the bumper of Beller & Lewis-Williams all weekend at Sandown.
Maintaining his 4th position in the State Championship battle is Joey Kellock (#77). A tougher weekend at Sandown for Joey after a huge moment in Race 2 meant he was only 7th outright for the round, but importantly gained points for finishing all races and will look to move up to fourth in the 944 points after this weekend and will have eyes on gaining his first podium finish this weekend.
The battle for sixth position in the points after this weekend will be on in earnest between Carter Fox (#7) and Mark Taubitz who is again behind the wheel of the #20 Poolmaster Bayside car this weekend while regular pilot Andrew Jackman continues his recovery from shoulder surgery. Carter and Mark are alternating 7th and 8th positions in the two championships, with Carter looking for another strong result this weekend and the team has hopefully solved some small niggling car issues.
Taubitz meanwhile showed plenty of potential after scoring a breakout Pole Position at Sandown for the first time (and two first time pole sitters in a row after Tony Westaway scored pole at Round 3!) but the damp track conditions caught him out at the start of Race 1 and the good work was undone as he entered Turn 1 in 7th position, and played catch up from there. His last visit to PI was filled with frustration and car issues, so this will hopefully see a turnaround in fortunes for him.
Returning after a round away, and back to the aforementioned site of his first pole position is Tony Westaway (#50) A new gearbox is installed after Tony’s attempt to capitalise on pole position was also hampered as a result of second gear that decided to leave the building, and he slipped back through the field by the time the field got to Turn 1 – he will be looking for redemption and an opportunity to also move back up the points ladder this weekend.
Also returning after a round away is Keith Marriner (#64) Keith had a test session at the circuit last weekend and was met with wet weather, so if the clouds roll in this weekend Keith might be able to capitalise on some recent wet weather running experience to help move him up the points ladder by the end of the weekend.
Sitting in 12th position in the 944 Championship Points battle is Josh Brisbane (#56) who will be looking to continue with an upswing in performance in the final race at Sandown where he finished 8th, and to improve his position in the championship tables.
A welcome return and having his second outing of the year is Lyndon Watson (#5) Lyndon showed his traditional strong pace at his only outing thus far at Sandown where he came up to finish the final race in fourth position despite not setting a qualifying time. If the weekend goes without issues, expect to see Lyndon up at the pointy end of the field this weekend in the striking Blue & White Don Watson Transport car.
Jim Mitchell (#46) is having his first drive at Phillip Island this year after Jamie Westaway was behind the wheel for the third round of the championship in May. Jim showed a good improvement in pace at the last round at Sandown before unfortunately coming to a halt at the start of the final race to end his weekend early. Jim will be looking to adopt some track tips from Westaway this weekend to ensure he is up the grid order this weekend.
Also making his first appearance for the year at Phillip Island after returning for the last round at Sandown is Manny Mezzasalma (#10) - Manny showed some good speed in his last appearances at Phillip Island last year and set a PB in testing recently, so he will have his eyes firmly set on being well inside the top ten this weekend.
John Vainoras (#32) was well under the weather at the last round at Sandown and was unable to make it for the Sunday events but will hopefully be fully recovered and fighting fit for this weekend at Phillip Island and getting a full weekend in behind the wheel and scoring some good points.
Another driver returning for his second outing for 2023 and first at Phillip Island is Toni Andreevski – Toni was chasing some fuel issues last time out at Winton so will hope this round proves they have been solved and will be a good chance to refamiliarise himself with the car and get in some solid laps this weekend, he will also have aims to be in the top ten this round.
Returning for the first time since Sandown 2022 is Michael Westaway who has had his car repaired and ready to hit the track again. Michael will no doubt be playing down his chances but will surely be as competitive as always – great to see Michael back on track again!
Making his first outing with the 944 Challenge this weekend is newcomer Jared Campione (#88) Jared is having his first foray into circuit racing and with the influence of his brother-in-law Adam Brewer, Jared has jumped in the deep end purchasing the ex-Clayton Sinclair machine. Having just completed his OLT, this will be a baptism of fire this weekend, but Jared looks to just have a clean weekend with lots oof learning and to bring the car home in one piece on Sunday night.
An unfortunate absentee this round is Mark Verdino (#44) with the Sidelink transport driver venturing overseas, this will put a dent in his points haul, thought fortunately will be able to drop this round for the 944 Challenge Championship score and may still be in a strong position at the end of this round.
Also missing this round after an adventure filled weekend at Sandown is Ryan Woods (#17), Ryan electing to give his new car a thorough going over before returning to the racetrack and given his speed, he will no doubt be in the hunt for title contention in 2024.
Andrew Jackman (#20), Andy Tudor (#15) are still recovering from their respective shoulder surgeries, as is Andy Jones (#33) – Andys new car is nearing completion and we may see back on track to return for Round 6 at Calder Park, hopefully along with his namesakes Jackman & Tudor, and the welcome returns of Sam Rofe (#68) and Pedr James who plan their returns after a number of years away from the racetrack.
Also out with surgery is Dick Howe (#8) missing his first round in a long time – Carpal tunnel procedures for Dick means a short time off track and may have to miss a round or two this year, while Vlad Kennedy (#23) continues his recovery from illness.
Tim Wolfe (#66) is also missing this round while he focuses on his Sprint Challenge commitments for the next couple of months, hopefully we will see Tim return for Island Magic in November.
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'd like to get on track and join in the action.
