Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series

Carl Cox Motorsport’s Michael Clemente claimed a breakthrough pole position to start the day in the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton.

Clemente took his Cupra Leon Competition TCR to a 1:24.8410, besting current series leader Bailey Sweeny’s Hyundai i30N TCR by just five hundredths of a second – the only two drivers to break into the one-minute 24-second bracket.
Clemente then converted his maiden pole position into a dominant lights-to-flag win later on in the afternoon.

The polesitter made a brilliant start to lead comfortably throughout the race and finish ahead of series leader Bailey Sweeny, who recovered after losing the position early to teammate Josh Buchan.

Zac Soutar rounded out the podium, a result that Team Soutar Motorsport will hope represents a turning point in what has been a tough 2023 season to date.

Buchan would claim fourth, ahead of Cox’s Peugeot, D’Alberto’s Honda, Bargwanna’s Peugeot, and Lachlan Mineeff in his older-spec Audi RS3 LMS SEQ.

The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series is back for two more races on Sunday at Winton, with Race 2 at 12:30pm and Race 3 at 4:10pm.

National Trans Am Series

AWC’s Lochie Dalton has put the series on notice after converting a National Trans Am pole position into his first series race win at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton.

The series first took to the track for qualifying in the morning, where Dalton led The Racing Academies Cody Gilles and All American Drivelines Ben Grice.

Dalton then ensured a perfect Saturday at the Winton Motor Raceway by crossing the line a second clear of Gillis at race end, claiming his first ever series win in the process.

A chaotic start to the race saw Elliot Cleary, Elliot Barbour and Brett Holdsworth all negatively impacted, while Tom Hayman and Tyler Everingham had troubles late on.

Finishing in third was Ben Rice Grice, while Kelly surrendered the podium position after a puncture in the final laps dropped the former Nascar driver all the way down to 12th.

The left-rear puncture to Kelly’s Ford Mustang promoted Jackson Rice into fourth in his return to the series with Dream Racing Australia – An incredible result for the young Wodonga product at his home circuit.

The National Trans Am Series will return for another two thrilling editions at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton on Sunday at 11:55am AEST and 3:15pm AEST.

S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship

ACM Finance.com’s Joey Mawson has etched his name into the history books as the first-ever winner in the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship at Winton following a dramatic late-race restart.

The series leader finished ahead of title rival Cooper Webster, while Nippy’s Versa Motorsport stablemate Blake Purdie took a surprise third having benefitted from the dramas ahead with James Golding and Aaron Cameron.

Golding qualified in pole position earlier on in the day but locked up into the first corner on cold tyres before making another mistake after a safety car was released when Mark Rosser sent his nose into the barrier.

Mawson made a fantastic restart for what would be a one-lap shootout to the finish, turning a second-place result in qualifying into a race win.

Cameron would drop to fifth after originally qualifying in third and will look to find his Friday form on the final day of action on Sunday.

The S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship returns for two more races tomorrow at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton at 9:50am and 1:55pm.

Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters

Steve Johnson has further extended his series lead after converting pole position into a Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters race win.

It was looking all good and well for Hansford in second place for most of the race, but issues in the dying stages of the race saw him fall down the order – later forced to pull over on the side of the track on the final lap of the race.

The issue meant Adam Garwood was promoted into second place for the second time today, but the Johnson, the series leader, was already far up the road and was able to cross the line comfortably in first by over two seconds.

Coming in third was Western General Body Works Danny Buzadzic, who was able to hold off Fisher after he was promoted into fourth – curtesy of Hansford’s Holden Torana A9X issues.

Earlier on in the day, Andrew Fisher had taken out the Trophy Race in convincing fashion.

The Jesus Racing entry finished just over three seconds ahead of Garwood in his Holden Commodore, while R&J Batteries/Action Motor’s Marcus Zukanovic rounded out the top three after returning from a 14-month absence due to injury.

The Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Series will return for another day of thrilling action on Sunday with the first of two races beginning at 10:25am AEST.

Kumho V8 Touring Car Series

Anderson Motorsport’s Jude Bargwanna has had a record-breaking day out after taking victory in the opening Kumho V8 Touring Car Series race of the weekend at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton.

The 18-year-old started his day off on the front foot by claiming pole position with an extraordinary 1:23.0913 in qualifying – a new lap record previously held by Taz Douglas dating back to 2016.

He was then able to get the jump on the line and hold the lead into the opening corners, with Notlaw Racing’s Jamie Tilley slotting in behind to hold his starting position in second, while ANT Racing entry Tony Evangelou lost his third place to Jim Pollicina.

After losing the place early on, Evangelou fought hard to take back the final spot on the podium but ultimately came up short, Pollicina picking up another big haul of points for his ambitions to win the series’ Kumho Cup.

While Bargwanna extended his series lead with the win, his ambitions to break the racing lap record will have to be put on hold until next time.

The Kumho V8 Touring Car Series will return for its second of three races on Sunday at 10:55am AEST.

Australian Formula Ford Series

Matthew Hillyer converted pole position into two race wins as the Australian Formula Ford Series kicked off the weekend racing action.

Some incredibly tight racing provided fans with brilliant battles for podium places throughout, but it was Hillyer’s Team Sonic teammate Jake Santalucia cruised his way into second place in the opening encounter.

The Tasmania round winner was looking like replicating the result in the second race before dropping positions in the dying stages to come home in 12th

Eddy Beswick rounded out the podium places but dropped to fourth place behind title contender Zak Lobko, who improved from a fifth-place finish in the morning race.

Altatek Racing entry Kobi Williams enjoyed a good day out after a fourth and second place finish respectively and will now have a race win in mind come race three.

The Australian Formula Ford Series will return for the third and final race of the weekend on Sunday at 9:20am AEST.

Precision National Sports Sedans Series

Tony Ricciardello has knocked off 2022 series champion Jordan Caruso in a shortened opening race at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton.

After qualifying in pole earlier in the afternoon, Caruso was unable to get the jump on Ricciardello as the West Australian started to pull away early.

Caruso was able to muster the fastest race lap in series history at Winton Raceway, but it wasn’t enough as Ricciardello picked up his first win of the season with the race ending prematurely behind the safety car after Nick Smith’s Mazda RX7 burst into flames.

After finishing third in both practice sessions on Friday, newcomer Josh Haynes found himself in familiar territory to round out the podium places.

Brad Shiels was one of the drivers of the day after working his way through the grid to finish in seventh after starting in 24th.

The Precision National Sports Sedan Series will return first thing Sunday morning for their second of three races at 8:45am AEST.