The fifth round of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships took to Phillip Island, delivering a mix of new and seasoned winners, as ten categories took to the circuit.

Formula Ford’s Matthew Hillyer once again delivered a masterclass in consistency, winning all three of the weekend’s races to win the round. Hillyer was ahead of Conor Somers and Jake Santalucia, who held onto second on third across the event.

Hillyer’s clean sweep also ensured he would claim victory for the season, securing the 2023 Australian Formula Ford Series crown in the penultimate race of the weekend.

Reef McCarthy’s run atop of the Victorian Formula Vee Championship continued at The Island, with round runner-up Nick Jones the only driver to get ahead of the championship leader in the weekend’s opening race. McCarthy returned to his winning ways though, with a further two victories securing another round win.

Heath Collinson was third for the weekend.

Achieving his first win of the season was James Lodge in the Circuit Excels, doing so with incredible skill as he topped all three races, outpacing category frontrunner Cadel Ambrose and Blake Tracey.

Sharing the stage with the Excels were E30 Racing, which saw Ashley Rogers take home the round win aboard his BMW E30 over Jesse Bryan and Brian Bourke.

Despite victory in the opening two races, championship leader Royce Lyne was fourth for the round after dropping to ninth in the Sunday finale.

Just missing out on a clean sweep was Porsche 944’s Chris Lewis-Williams, whose win on the weekend marked four out of five for the season.

Not straying from the season’s established order, the round saw Cameron Beller and Adam Brewer round out the podium, making for a season end no different from its beginning. 

This round of Improved Production Cars also saw Daniel Timewell top the podium, with season frontrunner Luke Grech-Cumbo settling for second for the weekend.

For MG and Invited British Sports Cars, it was Simon Elliott who finished on top with two out of three race win – with Philip Chester collecting the top number of points in a crash-affected opening race.

Darren Collins led the Historic Touring Cars with a clean sweep aboard his Ford Mustang over Glenn Miles and Jervis Ward.

Saloon Cars saw a mixture of winners, with the likes of Travis Lindorff, Jacob Prestipino, and Scott Dornan securing race wins. Ultimately it would be Doornan who would claim round honours over the consistent Daniel Johnson, and Keven Stoopman.

It was a clean sweep by Ryan Woods though in the HQ Holdens, with just two points separating the final two spots on the podium between Rod Raatjes and Steve Banks.

Featuring a cameo from Supercars driver Thomas Randle, ultimately it would be just two races that would decide the Phillip Island weekend for Sports Sedans.

Randle was eighth for the weekend, but the category’s regulars in Francois Habib, Ben McLeod and William Tymms rounded out the weekend’s podium.