TA2 Racing Australia management has today confirmed a six-round calendar for the 2019 TA2 Muscle Car Series.

The series will visit five seperate venues in four states, including the series’ maiden visit to South Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park, the recently completed state-of-the-art motorsport precinct at Tailem Bend.

The season will commence at the venue of the 2018 finale at Sydney Motorsport Park, supporting the opening round of the Australian Production Car Series promoted by Sherrin Motorsport.

The Bend’s visit encompasses one of three rounds headlining the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) program, with Morgan Park (round two) and a return to Sydney Motorsport Park for round five.

“We are excited that TA2 has chosen to increase their involvement with the AMRS in 2019,” said Lewis-Williams.

“To have a huge grid of V8 TA2 cars thundering around at selected AMRS rounds is great for the continued growth of the Australian Motor Racing Series in our second year.

“We are proud to be able to offer the kind of race meeting experience that the TA2 racers want and we see our relationship going from strength to strength in future years.”

The series’ sole visit to Winton will take place in mid-August at a state-level meeting at the regional Victorian circuit.

With over 32 cars now sold nationally, TA2 has expanded its roots from being a Queensland-centric series, to a true East Coast championship covering some of the best Australian motor racing circuits, and with a significantly higher profile talent bank of drivers, including former Toyota 86 Series regular Aaron Seton, Audi TT Cup racer Drew Ridge, Formula Ford graduate Nathan Herne and former Super2 and GT driver George Miedecke, .

“I’m so excited about TA2 in 2019. We had a great weekend supporting the Bathurst 12 Hour and hopefully that means our team will be strong championship contenders,” said Miedecke.

“The calendar looks great with some awesome circuits and lots of variation, I’m especially looking forward to heading to The Bend for the first time.

“The racing should be great too - with these young guys coming in and the established series regulars, I don’t expect Aaron Seton and I will have an easy time of it!”

The Queensland-born series has expanded from its roots at Queensland Raceway, dropping from three events to one at the Ipswich circuit, as the series books their first visit to Warwick’s Morgan Park raceway in April with the AMRS.

Queensland Raceway will play host to the final round of the series in November, with talks in place to hold a twilight endurance race on the Saturday evening, with the venue looking to install lights to enable night racing from mid year.

“We have tried to maintain the balance of lower cost racing, which has been the success of TA2 in its infancy, while expanding the series to include different experiences for the drivers, higher profile media coverage and variety in the race formats,” explained TA2 Muscle Car Series manager Craig Denyer.

“We are keen to do an endurance race of at least one hour, which may be double points during the season, and follow the progress of Queensland Raceway’s lighting programme which could offer something special for TA2 as a final round.”

Round One at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 1/3 will be streamed live through Blend Line TV and the ‘TA2 Racing’ facebook page, where drivers will once again be fighting for the ‘Performax Cup’ championship.

2019 TA2 Muscle Car Series Calendar

Round 1 - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (Sherrin Motorsport) - March 1/3

Round 2 - Morgan Park Raceway, QLD (AMRS) - April 5/7

Round 3 - The Bend Motorsport Park, SA (AMRS) - June 21/23

Round 4 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC - August 16/18

Round 5 - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (AMRS) - September 27/29

Round 6 - Queensland Raceway, QLD (RACERS) - November 1/3

The third and final race for the Skye Sands Combined Sedans, including 13 cars from the TA2 Muscle Car Series will be live streamed online.

Please find the link below, with cars on track at 3:50pm local time.

Australia: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/australia/

New Zealand: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/new-zealand/

Global: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/international-streaming/

A strong showing from the TA2 Muscle Car Series at the Bathurst 12 Hour concluded on Saturday afternoon with the third and final race with the Skye Sands Combined Sedans support category.

Dodge Challenger George Miedecke emerged as the clear pace setter in the 13-car TA2 contingent, with the former Super 2, V8 Ute and Australian GT racer firmly announcing himself as a serious title contender for the 2019 series.

After a strong run in the opening two races, Ford Mustang racer Ian McAlister’s weekend ended early after finding the wall coming over skyline on lap five while battling with Matthew Ingram’s Mazda RX8.

After ending race two in the gravel trap, Rusty French elected to sit out the final race of the weekend, leaving 10 of the 13 TA2 cars to start and finish every race of the weekend after Greg Willis’ fuel pump issue before race two.

Miedecke finished third outright in the final race of the weekend, leading home two-time American TA2 champion Gar Robinson in fifth, while Hugh McAlister finished third for the weekend after a seventh place finish in the final outing.

Russell Wright and Michael Kulig also scored top ten finishes in eighth and tenth respectively.

Peter Robinson and Anthony Tenkate enjoyed a race long battle, as the pair followed Kulig home just outside of the top ten.

Greg Willis drove a strong final race to climbing 20 positions from the rear of the grid to finish 25th, while Cameron Sendall, Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher all took the chequered flag after three consistent showings.

Reflecting on the weekend, Miedecke was impressed by the performance of the TA2 cars throughout the weekend which allowed him to battle at the front of the Combined Sedans field.

“I’m stoked to take the win this weekend. They say you can’t have too much of a good thing, but I don’t think you can have too much of TA2 at Bathurst!”

“I think we’ve got a pretty good grip on the car now. It would have been nice to have Aaron [Seton] here this weekend to give us a real gauge on how we were going but the lap times speak for themselves, the car was absolutely honking!”

After joining the series at the final round of the 2018 season, Miedecke praised the TA2 package and looks forward to his upcoming championship campaign.

“I’m not surprised by how this series is growing. These cars are just awesome and they’ve been Australian motorsport’s best kept secret for the last couple of years.

“Now people are starting to see them on the track, they see them lifting wheels and spitting flames and doing all this cool stuff, also the fact that these cars are very cost effective to run.

“Bring on the rest of the season, I don’t think i’ve ever been so prepared for a championship in my life, so to come here and grab a trophy and go home knowing we’re on the right track is a really good feeling.”

The TA2 Muscle Car Series will announce their 2019 plans shortly.

The 13-car TA2 field within the Skye Sands Combined Sedans continued to impress the crowd at the Bathurst 12 Hour following race two held on Friday morning, with a new fastest lap and some great racing through the pack.

A clean start amongst the pack saw all but one TA2 car make the grid, with Sunshine Coast racer Greg Willis’ Chevrolet Camaro not making the grid due to a fuel pump issue which has been rectified for race three.

George Miedecke continued to set the pace in the Miedecke Motorsport Dodge Challenger. Starting second, the Port Macquarie racer was passed by Tony Groves’ MARC Mazda 3 early in the race.

Miedecke lowered his previous benchmark to set a new fastest lap time for a TA2 car around Mount Panorama with a 2:15.7.

Starting fourth, Texan Gar Robinson got to within a car-length of Miedecke mid-race, before slipping back to fifth, ahead of Hugh McAlister who battles alternator issues late in the race to finish sixth.

Russell Wright climbed through the pack from 20th to 9th in the RoadBees Transport Mustang, with Ian McAlister following him to ensure five TA2 cars featured in the top ten.

Michael Kulig recovered from a spin at Murray’s Corner on the final lap to finish 12th ahead of Peter Robinson and Cameron Sendall in 13th and 14th respectively, after the pair swapped positions multiple times in the race.

After an early ace battle with Rusty French, Anthony Tenkate finished where he started in 17th, as French spun at turn one late in the race after dropping the right side of the car off the track in the braking zone to finish in the gravel trap.

Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher both improved with solid races to finish 24th and 32nd respectively.

Dodge Challenger drew first blood on the opening day of on-track activity for the TA2 Muscle Car Series in 2019, as George Miedecke lead the TA2 field and sat second outright in the Skye Sands Combined Sedans support races at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

The former Super 2, V8 Ute and Australian GT racer lowered the TA2 benchmark around the 6.12km Mount Panorama circuit to a 2:16.3640, three seconds quicker than the previous year’s best set by two-time American TA2 champion Gar Robinson. The Texan driver qualified in sixth with a 2:19.7, while 2017 champion Russell Wright scored a top ten start in ninth.

Outright category pole-sitter Steven Lacey failed to take the start in his Camaro Sports Sedan, leaving Miedecke to start the opening race from pole position, ahead of Geoff Taunton’s MARC car.

Miedecke battled through lapped traffic to take the chequered flag in second, as Robinson moved up two spots to fourth, while McAlister Motors driver Hugh McAlister climbed from 12th to sixth place.

Chevrolet Camaro racer Michael Kulig rose nine positions to 11th, as Ian McAlister and Peter Robinson followed in 12th and 13th respectively after a great battle in the mid-pack.

Rusty French, Cameron Sendall, Anthony Tenkate and Russell Wright secured top 20 positions, ahead of Greg Willis, Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher rounding out the TA2 pack.

Thursday’s top performer George Miedecke was pleased with his opening day performance while still chasing more from the Miedecke Motorsport Dodge Challenger.

“Steve Lacey unfortunately didn’t take the start and I got to lead the first lap which was pretty cool, but I was a sitting duck when the quicker Sports Sedans made their way through the pack so I just focussed on my own race and it was great to get second,” said Miedecke.

“I’m really enjoying driving these cars, this is a great chance to race at the mountain and in these TA2 cars they’re just awesome.”

With track temperatures rising, Miedecke hopes the cooler weather forecasted in the following days will bring lap times down further.

“I was absolutely cooking out there today, the soles in my race boots are starting to come off so it was definitely hot out there.

“Cooler conditions will certainly be better for lap times and we’ll see if we can go for that 2:15 lap tomorrow.”

The Skye Sands Combined Sedans field will take to the track at 8:05am on Friday for race two, and at 3:50pm on Saturday for the third and final race.

Saturday’s race will be live streamed via the Bathurst 12 Hour website, www.bathurst12hour.com.au.