THE PRESIDENTS REPORT - ISLAND MAGIC ROUND 7 PREVIEW
14 Cars are entered for this, the seventh and final round of the 2023 944 Challenge Championship as the series returns to Phillip Island for the famed Island Magic event.
Due to his strong consistency and strong results this season, Chris Lewis-Williams (#37) has put himself into an unbeatable position for his fourth 944 Challenge championship heading into the weekend, due to the dropped worst points rule employed by the series. Even if bad luck befalls Chris this weekend, this would become his worst round, and the points from the first six rounds is enough to seal him the championship.
Resigned to second position in the championship is Cameron Beller (#55) who will look to add to his win tally this weekend and finish 2023 on a strong note as he prepares for a title challenge in 2024. With a 24-point lead over third-placed Adam Brewer (#3) Adam would need to win all three races this weekend with Cameron failing to finish at least one race to take the second place from the 4-time champion.
A breakout weekend at Calder Park which saw him take not only his debut race win, but also the round win – sees Mark Verdino (#44) move up to fourth in the championship, albeit by only one point ahead of 1800Lasagne’s Joey Kellock (#77) who slips back to fifth. Joey showed speed and even moved into the lead in the second race but was cruelly denied a debut win with front suspension failure followed by a gearbox problem in the final race hurting his point tally.
Another decent haul of points at Calder Park has kept Mark Taubitz (#74) within reach of the battle for fourth position, 25 points behind Mark Verdino in the championship. We will see Mark back behind the wheel of his trusty #74 machine this round again after moonlighting behind the wheel of the #20 Poolmaster machine for the last three rounds as he tries to see if he can steal a top 5 position in the championship this weekend.
Returning after missing the last round is Josh Brisbane (#56) - a strong result this weekend could see Josh vault himself up to eighth in the championship behind Carter Fox who is sitting inseventh place in the championship. Josh had a consistant round last time at Phillip Island so he will hope to repeat that this weekend to take eighth position.
An encouraging round was had last time at Phillip Island for John Vainoras (#32) who finished all three races 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 some stronger times this weekend again
Returning to the seat for the first time in 6 months following surgery is Andrew Jackman (#20) with the Poolmaster car having been kept in action by Mark Taubitz over the last three rounds, Jackman will be easing himself back into action this weekend and looking for a good finish to the year to get him ready for 2024.
Having his second outing at Phillip Island with the 944 Challenge is 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. He continued his improvements at the last round at Calder and is showing signs of being able to compete in the front pack next year as he continues to get comfortable with his car.
Manny Mezzasalma (#10) showed good pace, but little in the way of results the last time at Phillip Island with a couple of DNF’s in the Sunday races. Manny will hopefully have some luck return this weekend and log three finishes for the weekend and get prepared for the 2024 season on the right foot.
Jim Mitchell (#46) is returning after a couple of weekends to forget at Phillip Island & Calder Park, a broken exhaust in the Saturday race wasn’t able to be repaired on Sunday which meant Jim had to sit out the two races, while a bent valve on Friday practice at Calder meant he had to sit out the weekend. Hopefully no such issues this round for the Martini machine!
A last-minute super-sub in the #50 Tony Westaway machine is none other than outgoing 944 Challenge champion Jamie Westaway, with Tony unable to compete behind the wheel this weekend Tony has again handed over the keys to see if Jamie can get another victory (or more) this weekend in the yellow black & white machine. With some wet weather looking likely, if Jamie’s 10-second win in the wet last time here is anything to go by, there’s a strong chance he might get maximum points for at least one race this weekend.
Michael Westaway (#45) also returns for only the second time this season as he prepares for his 2024 campaign after having the car off the road for the bulk of this season. Michael was strong however at that event scoring a collection of fifth and sixth-place finishes from the weekend, he is a strong chance to replicate or improve on that this weekend.
Unfortunately, there are a number of cars missing this round due to scheduling conflicts, with Keith Marriner, Tim Wolfe, Andy Tudor and Toni Andreevski all away this weekend and not at the circuit, while Tony Westaway will be doing crew chief duties for his son and brother this weekend. 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.
