The Repco Supercars Championship officially began its 2021 season at the Mount Panorama 500 over the weekend as a thrilling contest took place at the iconic venue.
However, it wasn’t only the Supercars in action, with many other national categories fighting for valuable series points, including the Dunlop Super2 and Super3 Series and Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series.
Dunlop Super2 and Super3 Series
Jordan Boys ended the opening weekend on top of the Dunlop Super2 Standings after securing his first series race win since 2019. It was an inspirational weekend behind the wheel for Boys - his victory a nice addition to the podium from Saturday’s race.
Finishing the weekend in second place behind Boys was Zak Best who produced a productive weekend of a fourth and third place respectively, while Broc Feeney had a mixed run of results– winning Saturday’s race and finishing third on Sunday – only to be handed a post-race penalty and demoted to ninth.
Angelo Mouzouris was another driver to have contrasting days, with a second place on Saturday turning into a Sunday 10th place.
As for the Super3 drivers, Jon McCorkindale currently leads the way after round one having backed up his Saturday race win with a solid second place finish on Sunday.
Race two winner Michael Anderson is currently occupying second place a further 36 points behind after a tough sixth place on Saturday, while two top five finishes for Brendan Strong sees him just three points behind Anderson in third.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series
Cameron Crick had a dream start to his 2021 campaign with a clean sweep of wins over the huge 31 car field.
Starting from pole position, Crick didn’t have it easy despite winning all three races as less than one second separated him and his closest competitor in each race.
One of those drivers to offer a serious challenge on two occasions was James Holdsworth after finishing in second place by three tenths in both race one and two, before dropping behind Aaron Borg in the final outing.
Borg also was a chance for victory himself in the final race but ended up crossing the line seven tenths slower than the Crick.
Following on from the weekend, Crick now holds a solid lead over Holdsworth, while Borg isn’t too much further behind, despite finishing fifth in the opening race of the weekend.
Photo: Cameron Crick Racing
Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters
The second round of the 2021 calendar offered some of the best racing in the series’ history as Cameron Tilley, Ryal Harris and Ryan Hansford all took out race wins throughout the meeting.
While Harris ended the weekend with two race wins, it was Tilley who started off strongest, steering his Valiant Pacer to the special trophy race ahead of Jim Pollicina and Harris.
Harris then claimed top honours over the next two races with an extremely tight victory over Steve Johnson in race one before pipping Marcus Zukanovic by one second in the second official race of the weekend.
Behind the wheel of the Holden Torana A9X, Hansford got his moment of glory on Sunday afternoon after a disappointing opening two races, beating Harris and his Camaro by a little less than two seconds.
Photo: Touring Car Masters
Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Series
The Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters (TCM) wasn’t the only category to enjoy thrilling racing over the weekend with very little separating the top two.
It was a Chevrolet Camaro that led the way at the end of the round as Nicholas Simmons grabbed two wins out of the three races.
Finishing the weekend in second place just three points behind Simmons was the only driver to place on the podium in every race, Ford Mustang pilot Craig Woods, while 2018 series winner Joel Heinrich ended the round in third.
It was a tough end to the weekend for race one winner Kody Garland, with the Mustang driver’s 10th place in the second race costing him any hope of a round win, despite bouncing back to fourth in the final race.
Photo: Aussie Racing Cars