Championship focus for Thomas at Morgan Park

Posted on 5 July 2023
Championship focus for Thomas at Morgan Park

A competitive TA2 field is set to return to Morgan Park Raceway for the first time since 2019 for Round 4 of the 2023 TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by HYTEK Steel Framing, headlining the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series on July 7-9. After Round 3 in Queensland Raceway, CXC Racing’s Dylan Thomas remains the championship leader, 23 points ahead of Pedders Suspension and Mudtamer Ford Mustang driver Jackson Rice. Thomas tested at Morgan Park last month, and has focussed his efforts on maximising the Morgan Park round to protect his lead over Haynes and Rice.

Young gun Josh Haynes sits third overall on 581 points, with reigning CIRCO Masters Champion Nicholas Bates back in fourth on 482 points.

Brad Gartner will return for Morgan Park after he experienced a frightening brake issue at 200km/h which resulted in a dramatic crash at Queensland Raceway. The impact of the crash caused significant damage to his #22 Castec Rural Supplies Ford Mustang and absorbed the energy incredibly well, leaving Gartner to walk unscathed from the wreck. The team at PBR Distributions have worked countlessly to get Gartner’s Ford Mustang prepared and looking new for Morgan Park.

Hayden Jackson had a strong run at Queensland Raceway taking home his best result in the TA2 Series as well as the Wildwood Big Braker award, despite not qualifying due to a clutch issue.

Gunnedah’s Greg Keam will continue his rookie charge in Morgan Park after taking home the Rookie of the Round at Queensland Raceway while series points leader for the Racetech Rookie of the Year Award Hayden Hume will compete in the Toyota 86 round at Townsville this weekend.

Russell Wright will return this weekend in his #55 Crew Commercial Ford Mustang to fight out the Circo Master Class against Robert Leonard, Mark Crutcher, Paul Hadley, Greg Keam, Matthew Mackelden and Nicholas Bates. Graham Cheney is looking for a solid result in his IES Camaro, currently fifth in the pointscore, only two points behinds the Bates Mustang. The reigning Northern Series champ is looking for a strong haul of points as we head into the halfway point of the championship. The weekend’s schedule will kick off with 4 Practice sessions on Friday. A 15 minute qualifying session will be held at 10:50am on Saturday followed by a Top 8 Shootout, which will set the grid for Race 1.

Four sprint races will be held across the weekend, three 12 lap races and a 20 lap finale. Race 1 will be held on Saturday at 2:05pm. Race 2 on Sunday morning will be live streamed via the TA2 Racing Australia and Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Facebook Page and Youtube Channel. Races 3 and 4 will be live and free to air on SBS and delayed live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

QUOTES Dylan Thomas, #68 CXC Racing Ford Mustang

“I've done quite a few rounds back in the day with Formula Vee. I should have won a Formula Vee national title there but speared it off the track all on my own, so that was probably one of my lowlights for when you look back at one that got away. “I did do a sneaky little test two weeks ago, the week after Queensland raceway, we ducked up there and took the TA2 up and just did a quick test. We had a decent test plan in place and we threw different items and setups at the car, even during the sessions we tried different ideas and philosophies. “We've sat down as a team, gone through video from the day and formulated a few other things to try when we hit the track for practice on Friday to see if it will help us.

“The reality is because we are leading, we're now in a position that we have a shot at the championship and although as drivers we always take it round by round, we are certainly thinking about the championship now. “In the big scheme of things, Haynes has been probably the quickest amongst us, and he’s had a DNF that really hurt him, but he’s catching us back round by round, and at the current trajectory he’ll be at us come Sydney Motorsport Park, so we need to try and stop the points lost to guys like him and Morgan Park is a really good opportunity to do that hopefully.

“This round will be heavily reliant on qualifying. We've always been pretty good in racing but qualifying has been a bit of a struggle for me so that’s what we’ve been focussing on. “Morgan Park will be challenging to pass, so qualifying is going to be very important. There's a new section with the sweeper which is quite grippy, while the other half of the track is quite slippery so it will be a challenge to setup for both of those, but if we can maximise the areas we need to maximise I think that’s all we can try and do and we’ll put our best foot forward to do that.”

SCHEDULE TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by HytekRound 4 - Morgan Park7-9 July 2023 All times in AEDT FRIDAY

Practice 1: 8:47am (20mins) Practice 2: 10:39am (20 mins) Practice 3: 12:31pm (20 mins) Practice 4: 2:23pm (20 mins) SATURDAY Qualifying: 8:30am (15 mins) Top 8 Shootout: 10:50am Race 1: 2:05pm (12 laps) SUNDAY Race 2: 10:23am (12 laps) Race 3: 1:08pm (12 laps) Race 4: 3:16pm (20 laps)

BROADCAST TIMES Live stream: Sunday 9:30am to 12:45pm (TA2 Racing Australia Facebook, Hi Tec Oils Super Series Facebook & YouTube) Speedweek: Sunday 1pm (SBS Viceland, SBS On Demand, Delayed Fox Sports, Kayo Sports) ENTRY LIST #4 Mark Crutcher (NSW), Ford Mustang - Crutcher Developments #7 Jackson Rice (VIC), Ford Mustang - Pedders Suspension & Brakes #13 Greg Keam (NSW), Ford Mustang - Debeers Refinish #21 Zach Loscialpo (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - Tempest Solutions #22 Brad Gartner (SA), Ford Mustang - Castec Rural Supplies/MVA Racing #24 Nicholas Bates (NSW), Ford Mustang - Sullivans #37 Josh Haynes (NSW), Ford Mustang - Beaches SEADOO #40 Robert Leonard (QLD), Ford Mustang - Access Linemarking Equipment/Municipal Works Australia #50 Paul Hadley (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - IES Motorsport #51 Graham Cheney (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - IES Motorsport #55 Russell Wright (QLD), Ford Mustang - Crew Commercial #68 Dylan Thomas (NSW), Ford Mustang - CXC Racing #81 Hayden Jackson (NSW), Dodge Challenger - MGW/Team RSG #99 Matthew MacKelden, Ford Mustang - Kubota Racing

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Northern Division Cheney’s Title on Debut

Posted on 29 June 2023
Northern Division Cheney’s Title on Debut

In only his first full year of circuit racing, IES Motorsport’s Graham Cheney scored his first circuit racing championship win with victory in the 2022 TA2 Muscle Car Northern Series.

Jett Johnson lead the way after the first round in Sydney, but with Johnson’s eyes set on the national title, he was absent from the standalone second round of the northern series at Queensland Raceway.

There it was Norwell Motorplex driver Chris Pappas who took the series lead after scoring his first TA2 round win as inaugural TA2 champion Russell Wright won both Sunday races.

Round 3 returned to Queensland Raceway saw Johnson back on top, but with Pappas out of the equation it was Cheney that emerged with the series lead after running a strong second to Johnson for the weekend.

Newcomer Nick Lange also had a breakthrough round to finish third. Crutcher came home strong to top the Northern Series runners for the final round, but a consistent weekend for Cheney was enough to win the Northern Series by 18 points from Crutcher and Lange.

IES Motorsport team owner Paul Hadley finished a fine fourth from national champion Jett Johnson.

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King of the West - Niall Claims the Crown

Posted on 29 June 2023
King of the West - Niall Claims the Crown

A two round Access Linemarking Equipment TA2 King of the West title in Western Australia saw back to back race weekends at Wanneroo Raceway Perth and Collie Motorplex to launch the new
TA2 Western Series.

East Coast competitors Peter Robinson, Mark Crutcher and Rob Leonard made the long haul across the Nullabor. Joining the TA2 field included well known Sprintcar star Jason Pryde, father and son dairy farmers Brock and Brad Boley, experienced international racer Brett Niall, Clint Rayner, Ron Moller, Greg Freeman, and Camarodriver Glen Melling.

Clint Rayner won pole at Wanneroo on a wet track, before he came together with Brock Boley early in the race causing a safety car. At the restart, Niall bolted early copping a 5 second post-race penalty.

Pryde, the only front runner to stay on wets made the move on Niall for the lead into Turn 1, however faded later in the race in a great three way dice with Brad Boley taking the win in the Camaro after Nialls penalty was applied.

Brock Boley scored the win from the back of the grid in Race 2, while Pryde won the final race from Niall and Robinson after Brock Boley didn’t finish.

Round 2 of the TA2 King of the West title moved to Collie Motorplex, built around an old coal mine west of Bunbury. Two new names joined the field in Marc Watkins in the ex-Nathan Herne Dodge Challenger, now owned by Peter George, the TA2 Category representative in Perth, and Mark Cates taking delivery of former TA2 champ Russell Wrights Mustang only days before the race.

Niall scored pole by 0.10sec from Pryde and Brock Boley. Race 1 was wet as Robinson rolled the dice as the only one who gambled with slicks on a drying track. Brock Boley was the first to go at the final corner, while Crutcher made it up to second before spinning. Moller was another victim of the wet track, spinning twice, while Robinson closed on Pryde for third before Pryde spun on the final corner. Niall went on to win from a fast-finishing Robinson and Moller’s Camaro.

Robinson and Pryde came together at in Race 2 off the start with Pryde into the back of the Dodge in greasy conditions. Leonard was another to spin at Turn 10, while Moller, Crutcher and Brock Boley all ran hard nose to tail with Boley getting by Crutcher for third on lap 5. Moller made the move stick on Niall for the lead at the final corner to take the win. The final race for the King of the West title was a four way stoush between Niall, Pryde, Robinson and Crutcher. Brock Boley, Ron Moller and Mark Crutcher claimed the top 3 spots in the finale.

In the overall King of the West pointscore combining both the Wanneroo and Collie events, Camaro driver Brett Niall claimed the title by six points from Pryde and Robinson.

 

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Nathan Herne | American Diary

Posted on 29 June 2023
Nathan Herne | American Diary

Nathan Herne made a lightning trip to the United States, with the support of TA2 and the series’ Technical Officer Cam Sendall. Herne was granted a wildcard entry for the final round of the American version of the TA2 Series at the Circuit of the Americas.

In addition to those racing commitments, Nathan also met with Chas Howe, the owner of Howe Racing Enterprises.

“I’ve had the chance to sit down and have dinner with the Howe family, which is pretty damn cool. I’ve been in contact with Chas Howe (owner of Howe Racing Enteprises who build all Australian chassis and my American chassis) since we started racing Trans Am in Australia, and he really has to be one of the nicest, smartest blokes I’ve met,” Herne said.

“He reminds me of a bloke from Lismore by the name of Danny Smith who helped myself and dad out a lot in the early days when it was just us working on the TA2 cars. Danny loved all Howe cars as they were similar to the cars he worked on in the States. So when we had our car in Lismore he was happy to help us out!

“Chas has some cool stories to tell about motorsport from all different points in history, he was telling me that the TA2 as a car has been sold in 20+ countries and has a running series in five of them. It’s pretty cool to think a formula like this has taken off so big around the world!”

Herne qualified 12th for the one hour race and made strong early progress to be in contention for a podium finish.

The two-time Australian Trans Am champion was battling for third place, only to make contact with his rival, damaging the front splitter and losing vital down- force. He soldiered on to finish fourth – an outstanding result amongst a 50+ car field.

“Well, that’s a wrap on the American trip! And damn, out of all of the racing I’ve ever done in my life, this American TA2 stuff – This is real motorsport!”

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Southern Division - Loscialpo’s Crown

Posted on 29 June 2023
Southern Division - Loscialpo’s Crown

Tempest Solutions Camaro driver Zach Loscialpo scored his first circuit racing championship win with victory in the 2022 TA2 Muscle Car Southern Series.

The first round in Sydney saw Kobelco Motorsport’s Michael Coulter lead the way after the night race in Sydney, finishing third overall for the round with Loscialpo fourth.

Coulter crashed out at The Bend during Round 2, while rookie Josh Haynes stole the show. He took overall round honours after a thrilling battle with eventual series champion Jett Johnson.

Former Toyota 86 and production car racer Dylan Thomas finished second with Loscialpo third of the Southern Series contenders.

Coulter was back on form at the third round at Winton to lead Nicholas Bates and John Holinger in the Southern Series, but Loscialpo’s consistency saw him head into the final round in Sydney in the lead of the points.

Loscialpo sealed the Southern Series at the final round in Sydney, when he scored his first overall round win ahead of Coulter and Bates, while Bates bested Coulter for second in the series.

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