Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge
Oscar Targett has claimed the 2024 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series, marking his first national racing title at 18 years and 10 months old. This makes him the second youngest one-make Porsche champion in Australia, behind Jordan Love, who won at 18 years and 4 months in 2017.
Driving for Earl Bamber Motorsport and supported by the Grove Racing Junior program, Targett also secured the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy, which is awarded based on performance in the longer 45-minute endurance races. Targett narrowly won the final round at ColorSpec Race Sydney, outperforming drivers like Clay Osborne and Ryan Suhle.
In the Pro-Am category, Ramu Farrell took the win over Lachy Harburg and Jacque Jarjo, while Daniel Quimby claimed victory in Class B. Harburg secured his second Porsche title by winning the Pro-Am class, having previously won the Class B title in 2022. This success led Earl Bamber Motorsport to claim both the Pro and Pro-Am titles.
Targett’s achievement caps a remarkable rise in his racing career, which began after a long stint in karting. His debut in the Porsche series was delayed due to open heart surgery, but he rebounded to finish third in the 2023 season. His 2024 campaign saw him dominate key races, clinching the title before the third and final race in Sydney. Brock Gilchrist finished second overall, while Clay Osborne claimed third in his rookie season.
Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series
Josh Buchan slashed his points deficit with a commanding victory in the opening race of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series weekend. The reigning series winner led the opening race at Sydney Motorsport Park from lights to flag, heading home Brad Harris and Dylan O’Keeffe.
With points leader Zac Soutar finishing a distant sixth, Buchan’s victory trimmed the margin down to 9 points with five races remaining in the season.
GRM’s Aaron Cameron encountered engine issues aboard the Peugeot as he headed to the grid. Instead of grid spot seven, he headed straight to the pits where the GRM crew investigated the issue, but Cameron hopped out of the car as the field headed off on the formation lap.
Buchan made a sharp getaway to lead into Moffat Corner for the first time, with Harris shutting the door on a fast-starting Tony D’Alberto to retain second.
The squabble allowed Buchan to build a small gap but lost it all with a big slide on the exit of Corporate Hill, allowing Harris to close right up onto the back of Buchan.
O’Keeffe demoted D’Alberto to fourth with a decisive dive at Bond Bend on lap three, Tom Oliphant trying to follow him through before making the same move stick on the Honda driver one lap later.
The other battle of the race centred around sixth place, with Ryan Casha working to hold off Will Harris, Jordan Cox and Ben Bargwanna. However, an engine problem struck the #79 Peugeot on lap eight, causing Casha to slip down to the tail of the field.
And that was the order to the finish, Buchan winning by a comfortable 2.02s from Harris, with O’Keeffe a further 0.7s away in third.
Glenn Nirwan crossed the line in tenth to secure pole position when the top 10 finishers are inverted for the Race 2 grid, while Casha limped his Peugeot to the finish despite lapping over six seconds off the pace.
First Focus Radical Cup Australia
The penultimate round of the 2024 First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series delivered an action-packed Saturday, setting the stage for a competitive weekend. The day began with an early morning qualifying session where Josh Hunt secured pole position for the second time this season.
In the first race, Peter Paddon took victory, starting from the front of the grid alongside his closest rival, Cooper Cutts. Both drivers made quick starts, battling for position throughout the opening lap. Paddon managed to pull ahead as they crossed the control line, gradually extending his lead over Cutts. Justin Tigani finished third after staying in close contention with the leaders. Mark Brame took fourth, and Jamie Day from Volante Rosso Racing rounded out the top five.
Race Two brought additional excitement and challenges. Josh Hunt initially led most of the race, but engine trouble with just two minutes remaining forced him to slow down, allowing Barton Mawer to seize victory. Hunt managed to limp home but triggered a Safety Car, leading to a one-lap sprint to the finish. Meanwhile, Stephen Champion faced issues early in the race when a spin and a broken starter motor forced him to retire.
Once again, Justin Tigani had a strong showing finishing fourth, with Sydney locals Mark Brame and Jamie Day in fifth and sixth. Jon Collins and Ash Samadi placed seventh and eighth, while Chris Reindler and Nick Kelly completed the top ten.
Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars
The PVS Sydney Stoush racing weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park kicked off with intense action, starting with Race One where Cameron Crick and Dean Campbell's BMW M2 secured the overall victory. Crick, fresh from a notable performance at the 2024 Bathurst 1000, led the podium, followed by Grant Sherrin in second and Simon Hodges in third.
Notable performances included Hadrian Morrall and Chris Sutton, who finished fourth and fifth overall, respectively. Despite a strong showing, Mick Rowell crashed into the wall, causing a Safety Car intervention and ultimately ending his race.
Race Two saw Dean Campbell again take victory, setting a new track record with a time of 1m 41.5131s. Grant Sherrin pressured Campbell but settled for second place, while Tyler Mecklem claimed third after a last-minute pass on Simon Hodges.
Inter-class battles added excitement, with Nathan Callaghan and Chris Sutton vying for positions. Courtney Prince and Karlie Buccini also had a heated exchange with Paul Buccini. The top ten concluded with Robert Vandepol in tenth.
Monochrome GT4 Australia Series
The first Monochrome GT4 Australia race of the weekend saw Tom Hayman and Marcos Flack clinch a crucial victory, edging closer to the Silver Cup title. Starting from outside the top 10, the duo navigated through challenging weather conditions to finish five seconds ahead of their nearest competitors.
Zoe Woods and Dan Jilesen won the Pro-Am category in a thrilling four-way battle, while Jacob Lawrence and John Bowe secured the AM class victory in their BMW M4, finishing five seconds ahead of Anthony Soole.
The race featured early drama, with Sam Brabham's Love Motorsport Mercedes suffering damage on the opening lap. Flack made significant progress during his stint, moving up to eighth before handing the car to Hayman. The latter then executed a key overtake on lap 24, passing George Miedeke's Ford Mustang to take the lead and maintain it until the finish.
In the Pro-Am class, Woods and Jilesen had to fight back from a lower position, with Woods ultimately securing the win on the penultimate lap. Lawrence’s performance put him in a strong position to claim the 2024 AM title, needing just one more point in the upcoming races.
Giti Australian Formula Open
The Giti Australian Formula Open opened their on-track action with qualifying on Saturday morning, with Ryan Macmillan claiming pole position, his third for the 2024 season. Teammate Thomas Gallagher placed his Dallara F308/11 next to Macmillan, in what was his first round of the season after joining the Royal Australian Air Force.
In a bumper field thanks in part to some New South Wales cars joining the grid, the scene was set for a fight into turn one from the two Tim Macrow cars. But, thanks to inclement conditions over Sydney Motorsport Park, it would be Kyle Evans that pounced from third on the grid to lead the field through turn one.
However, Macmillan’s pace was fast and he ended up taking victory from Gallagher and Evans. ‘Bully Zero’ ambassador, Jayden Hamilton, finished ninth in this F4 Tatuus T421 and Matthew Roesler rounded out the top ten.
Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS
The Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS was the jewel in the crown at ColorSpec Race Sydney, featuring a Superpole and a three-hour endurance race to round out Saturday’s action.
In Qualifying, the Audi of Will Brown and Brad Schumacher suffered an incident on Schumacher’s second flying lap, seeing the car nose into the wall, damaging both front rails. The car was ruled out of the remainder of the weekend. This allowed Garth Walden to take a surprise Superpole in his Mercedes-AMG GT3.
In the endurance race, the field started in the Sydney dusk, with Walden dropping down the order quickly. Contact and driver errors forced some off the track, which would later cause the Grove Racing entry to retire.
Contact with the Supabarn Mercedes-AMG brought out the Hyundai Safety Car, where Paul Lucchitti and Jayden Ojeda took advantage, managing to complete one of their mandatory stops after being waved past. This would prove to be decisive, as Ojeda took the chequered flag, holding off the hard charging Chaz Mostert and Brendon Leitch rounding out the podium positions.