THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ROUND 6 PREVIEW

13 Cars are entered for this round, the sixth round of the 2023 944 Challenge Championship as the series makes a long-awaited return to Melbourne’s Calder Park Raceway for the first time in 15 years. This round is also the final event for the Victorian State Circuit Race Championships and will see a new State Champion crowned for 2023.

With no recent history to call on, and only 2 of the 13 drivers having ever raced at Calder (Chris Lewis-Williams, and Tony Westaway) the form book may as well go out the window! With three first time pole-sitters in the last three rounds, could we see another first timer nabbing pole position this weekend?

After taking a three-peat of victories at the last round at Phillip Island, Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) heads into the Calder round with a 28 point lead in the Vic Championship over Cameron Beller (#55) who shadowed him across the line for all three races at PI. With 100 points on offer over the weekend, Beller will need some luck to nab the championship from CLW which will likely not be decided until the chequered flag waves to end the final race.

Sitting third on the State Championship points is Adam Brewer (#3) and he only needs to secure 12 points to lock in third place in the championship, but he sits 66 and 38 points adrift of Lewis-Williams and Beller respectively, so Adams focus will likely be to secure a race, or round win this weekend.

Also sitting fairly comfortably in his fourth position in the State points is Joey Kellock (#77). A solid weekend in fifth place for the majority of the round at PI for Joey, sees him an almost insurmountable 88 points behind Brewer in third, and 71 points ahead of his year-long rival Mark Verdino #44) who has slipped back in the points from Joey after missing the last round at PI. However,with only 17 points separating Joey and Mark in the 944 Championship points however, Joey won’t be able to rest on his laurels this weekend if he wants to retain a top 4 finish in both championships!

A strong weekend in fourth at Phillip Island has pushed Mark Taubitz into sixth position in both championships, and sits only 8 points behind Verdino heading into the weekend with an intention of nabbing fifth place in the championship as he gets behind the wheel of the Miami Blue #20 Poolmaster Bayside Porsche again this weekend for the final time before handing the keys back to Andrew Jackman for the last event of the year.

Slipping slightly adrift of Taubitz after the PI round is Carter Fox (#7) - Carter finished the weekend seventh overall, but a strong points haul for Taubitz opened up the gap to the current 28 points heading into the final round.

Sitting in ninth position in the state series points is Tony Westaway (#50) - the 60 point gap to Carter might prove a bit too much to haul in, but Tony would be looking to at least jump up one spot to eighth in the state points if he can leapfrog the absent Ryan Woods.

Making a welcome return to the circuit at Phillip Island was Lyndon Watson (#5) Lyndon showed his traditional strong pace in qualifying as he was due to line up fifth on the grid, but his weekend soured quickly after an electrical short on the formation lap saw him start Race 1 from pit lane, and things didn’t improve on Sunday, with a pair of DNF’s. If this weekend goes without any issues, expect to see Lyndon up at the pointy end of the field this weekend in the striking Blue & White Don Watson Transport car.

Also showing good pace at Phillip Island, but little to write home to in the way of results is Manny Mezzasalma (#10) - Manny will hope to stitch together some good results this weekend and continue moving up the field to prepare for a strong 2024 season.

An encouraging round for John Vainoras (#32) who finished all three races at Phillip Island, and dropped his lap times by 3 seconds over the course of the weekend - proving there is no substitute for track time. With his car now proving reliable, John is energized and keen to continue this improvement and look for some better results moving forward!

Jim Mitchell (#46) is returning after a weekend to forget at Phillip Island – a broken exhaust in the Saturday race wasn’t able to be repaired on Sunday and meant Jim had to sit out the two races. Hopefully no such issues this round for the Martini machine!

Having his first outing with the 944 Challenge at Phillip Island was Jared Campione (#88) - Jared had a great debut round, finishing 10th overall in the points for the round and getting his lap times in the final race to only 3 seconds off the front pack – a sensational effort on his first time at the challenging PI Circuit. With that sort of debut, it might not be long before brother-in-law Adam Brewer is checking his mirrors for the #88 car.

Unfortunately, there are a number of cars missing this round due to scheduling conflicts, with Josh Brisbane, Keith Marriner, Tim Wolfe, Andy Tudor, Michael Westaway and Toni Andreevski all away this weekend and not at the circuit, while Andrew Jackman is finishing his recovery from his operation and is set to return for Island Magic. Dick Howe is also missing from this round with surgery, while Andy Jones is earmarking a 2024 return after taking some time to test his new car in the off season, likewise Ryan Woods and Sam Rofe who will be back for 2024.

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.