Collie Motorplex was in full throttle on the weekend, hosting the 2023 The Tyre Place Track Attack – Race and Time Challenge.  

Six state championship categories made the trip to the popular circuit in Cardiff, Western Australia for two days of jam-packed action, including the Historic Touring Cars (HTC), Excel Cup, Formula Classic, Formula Vee, Saloon Cars and Regularity.  

Also joining the busy schedule was the Street, Improved Production Cars and 3E Production Car class, while the circuit also hosted the Collie Motorplex Time Challenge.  

As one of the weekend’s headline acts, the Time Challenge gave competitors the chance to crack the fastest lapped time in five separate trial sessions, with each driver accumulating points for their individual trial performances.  

On the other hand, the state Regularity saw a handful of class winners along the way, those including Garry Utterson in HTC over 3000, Jamie Scott in HTC under 3000, Tony Michelson in Modern Cars, Stephen Brown in Production Sports Cars and Ivan Michelson in Sports Cars (Post 1977). 

While many of the racing categories spent their Saturday practice sessions prepping for Race 1, the HTC, Improved Production and Excel Cup jumped straight into the action.  

The battle for round honours went right down to the wire in the Excel Cup, with Dean Hill edging out Carlos Ambrozio by a single point at the conclusion of Saturday’s three races. The duo split the honours in Races 1 and 2, but it was Zane Rhodes who claimed the third race to seal the final podium position.  

A diverse entry list in the Historic Touring Cars meant there was plenty to look forward to in its three races, but nobody was able to get the better of Don Behets in the Ford two door Galaxie. Mitchell Evans would often come close in his Morris Cooper S but could only muster three second place finishes to take the second step ahead of Blake Watson in a similar entry.  

In similar fashion to Behets, Aidan Friel would dominate all three Improved Production races, with Nik Mitic consistently holding down second place. Rounding out the top three was Jarrad Caray, as he got the upper hand over his closest competitor in Lib Palermo.  

Kicking off Sunday’s racing action would be the Formula Classic category, and it was two Ralt RT4’s on top of the timesheets with William Norman and Arthur Abrahams in a class of their own, taking one and two respectively.  

While the Saloon cars were split into Pro and Pro-Am groups, there were similar storylines within each with Mason Harvey and Michael Koberstein taking round honours in convincing fashion. Chase Hoy was on the tail of Harvey throughout, but ultimately had to settle for second in the Pro class while Craig James was the next driver up for the Am.  

The Formula Vee category would enjoy a similar split format to the Saloons, but in this case, the round honours were split by only a matter of points as Ross Murray edged out Paul Moltoni in the 1200/1600 class, with Brett Scarey winning in similar circumstances ahead of Andrew Lockett in the 1200.