17/05/2024
๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐!
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ: ๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฌ.
๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ง
308 days after Benny Tranโs triumph in the 2023 Pitcher Partners , teams and drivers return to Western Sydney, to Eastern Creek, and to Sydney Motorsport Park, to contest the fifth staging of the grassroots endurance motorsport, under lights, in prime-time, tomorrow night.
A lot has happened in 44 weeks. Itโs a long time in this game, but itโs actually the shortest turnaround, between two races, in the history of the Sydney event.
One thing that hasnโt changed in that ten months, though, is how popular this event is with competitors.
Interest in this race is at an all-time high, leaving organisers with a marvellous problem to haveโฆ not enough grid spots for the number of people who wanted to enter the 77-lap race.
Over 70 entries were lodged, and 60 of those came within 24 hours of entries opening, back on April 8, exceeding the wildest expectations of event promoters and operators, who werenโt expecting such a large number of entries to be lodged so quickly, in circumstances that left some drivers scrambling to lodge their entry, while others simply missed out on being involved in the 2024 race altogether.
Since then, however, as is always the case in grassroots motorsport, for a variety of different reasons, weโve seen several competitors withdraw their entry, but just under 18 hours out from cars hitting the circuit for official practice, there are still 62 cars entered for the fifth edition of the signature event of the Motor Racing Australia season โ one thatโs become a MUST DO on the calendar.
With the Sydney Motorsport Park track density being raised to 60 in 2024, that leaves two entries on the โreserves listโ, but both cars will be trackside, and will be drafted into the main show should any of the other 60 cars in the field withdraw prior to the race getting underway.
History suggests that thereโs a strong chance of that happening, given weโve never got to the start of the showpiece event with the full complement of entries that took to the circuit, for practice, at the beginning of the event.
The record-breaking field of 60 cars includes 10 drivers that are yet to miss a Pitcher Partners Sydney 300. Like the event itself, these gentlemen are lining up for start #5.
They include two-time outright winner, Todd Herring, the man with more starts in 300โs than anyone, Parry Anastakis, 2022 Wakefield 300 winner, Daniel Kapetanovic, last yearโs Sydney 300 winner, Benny Tran, his brother Jimmy, as well as Steven Head, Anthony Soole, Pitcher Partnerโs own Charlie Viola, and the father-son combination of Leigh and Gerry Burges.
No less than 37 drivers are lining up for their first start in the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, including Tim Colombrita Motorsport, whoโs having a 2024 to remember, having got married in February, before spending Easter in Bathurst, where he finished second overall at Mount Panorama, in the opening round of the new Circuit Excel Racing Association of Australia (CERA Australia) series.
Colombrita will co-drive with Michael Osmond, in a BMW M135i, which is expected to line up in Division C tomorrow night.
Former Karter, and APRA Series regular Dimitri Agathos is also gearing up for his maiden appearance in the Sydney 300.
These days, Agathos is behind the wheel of a Subaru WRX STI, and after a retirement in the recent Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour, he ventures to Sydney Motorsport Park hopeful of a far better result. Incidentally, itโll be his first start at a Motor Racing Australia event since March last year.
Agathos will be one of 13 drivers flying solo in this yearโs Sydney 300, which eclipses the previous record of seven, set just last year.
Other notables include Aaron Wemyss, whoโs no stranger to the concept, having competed in these races in Goulburn and Benalla over the years.
Having partnered with Glenn Townsend on multiple occasions in the past, theyโre getting the band back together in 2024, with Wemyss lining up for his first โ300โ under lights.
Townsend, meanwhile, is returning to the Sydney 300 for the first time since 2021, but the Lotus Exige driver hasnโt had much luck here in his previous two appearances. He retired 22 laps from home, when driving with Arthur Magatis in 2019, and then withdrew from the event, after qualifying in 17th position, back here in 2021. He was just one of three entries that failed to take the start of the second Sydney 300.
A late addition to the field was South Australian, Matthew Totani Racing โ brother of the TCR Australia category manager, Lisa โ whoโll be teaming up with Craig Thornton, in the Thornsport Toyota 86.
When not working behind the pit wall, as videographer, photographer, and front man of Dusty Media, the Circuit Excel S.A. racer has been dipping his toes in other toys over the last twelve months, with starts in both the Mazda RX8 Cup, and most recently, the TGRA 86 Scholarship Series.
Craig Thornton, is one of three drivers returning to the Sydney 300 grid for the first time since the inaugural race, in 2019. The others are Brendan Scotter, and inaugural outright winner, Andy Harris.
Harris returns to the Herring Racing stable, pairing up with Richard for 2024, as Todd will be flying solo for the fourth year in succession.
Scotter, meanwhile, is fielding a Mazda SP23 in this race โ after initially planning to run his RX7 โ and will be ably assisted by Greg Boyle, whoโs back on the grid for the first time since 2021, for his third crack at the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300.
There are 14 different manufacturers represented in the field of 2024, with Mazda the best represented (16 entries), ahead of Honda and BMW (8 each).
For the first time since 2019, thereโs a Lotus on the grid (Glenn Townsend/Aaron Wemyss), while Ford and Hyundai return for the first time since 2022, in the form of race debutants, Keven Stoopman and Kerran Pridmore (Ford Falcon), and Nicholas and Simon Agar (Hyundai Veloster), after they made their first start in this race last year, running in a Nissan Pulsar.
The Agar pairing become the first entrants to run a Hyundai Veloster in the Sydney 300.
Likewise, Wayne Movigliatti presence on the grid is historic, as he becomes the first driver to field a Lexus in the history of the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, and only the second entrant to run one in the history of the concept (Daniel Ross, in the 2019 Willowbank 300, being the other).
This year, more than any other, thereโs a huge emphasis being placed on the races within the race โ the five divisions that this record-breaking field will be broken into tomorrow night.
Why?
For the first time in the history of the Sydney 300, prize money is on the line, with thanks to the following, whoโve come on board to sponsor the event;
- Lendrive Finance (Qualifying & Division A)
- MJS Electrical Products & Supplies (Division B)
- Live & Learn Group (Division C)
- CTL Event Management- Transport Logistics (Division D), and
- Entconn (Division E).
Lendrive Finance will hand the fastest qualifier in each division $500. Then, each of the five division podiums will pocket their share of $1750, with thanks to their respective sponsor - $1000 for the division winners, $500 for the runner-up, and $250 for third.
Just as it was last year, Live & Learn Group Division C will be the most populated of the five, with in excess of 20 cars nominating to run the middle-range division in this field.
Within Division C, youโll find last yearโs Division D winners, Matthew and Jaxon Fraser, along with the pair that finished second outright here ten months ago, Iain Salteri and Cem Yucel, plus 300 regulars, Julian Burke and Matthias Herberstein.
Andrew Boydell and Jason Walsh, who were outright victors last September in Benalla, are also lining up in Division C, as is Jett Herring โ son of Todd โ who made his Sydney 300 debut last year. Herring led the race for a couple of laps, but unfortunately retired soon after, after encountering mechanical difficulties. Last year, the youngster raced alongside Verne Johnson, but heโll be flying solo tomorrow night.
After winning Division E here two years ago, Oskar Butt and Troy Derwent will run their Holden Astra in the Sydney 300 for the first time, and will do so in Division C.
Also worth noting, after winning Divisions D and E in consecutive years, Michael Ricketts and Josh Haynes will go out in pursuit of a piece of Sydney 300 history this weekend, as they attempt to become the first drivers to win a third different Sydney 300 division.
In the outright fight, Lendrive Finance Division A is set to be an epic contest in 2024. While not as populated as Division C, itโs shaping up to be a heavyweight fight, as Todd Herring goes after his third win, Benny Tran looks to go back-to-back, and Adrian Wilson is out to break the hoodoo, and score BMWโs first Sydney 300 win, and heโll have Marcus LaDelle and Anthony Soole to help him with that mission.
The unknowns in the fightโฆ Charlie Khouryโs return to the Sydney 300 marks his first start in Division A, and heโs engaged the services of Josh Buchan as his co-driver for the 77-lap contest, while Jackson Copeman is making his Sydney 300 debut, running in a Mazda MX5 alongside V8 SuperUte racer, Jimmy Vernon, who's making his second appearance in the Sydney 300.
In MJS Electrical Products & Supplies Division B, just when you thought you couldnโt get any more Herring Racing members on the grid, along come Aaron and Brad, driving alongside Tim Herring tomorrow night. That's SIX Herrings on the grid, all in Mazda MX5's, all prepared by the Herring Racing stable, who are primed for one very busy weekend at the race track.
The 2022 Wakefield 300 winners, Daniel Kapetanovic and Adam Thompson, are looking for redemption tomorrow night, after they failed to finish last yearโs race, in the Pinnacle Automotive BMW 328.
Mitsubishi is represented, in the form of Jamie Miller, and also 2022 runner-up Chris Sutton, while the Boys from Bathurst, Grant and Harry Inwood will field the second of the Subaru WRX entries in the field.
Jimmy Tran returns to where he was in 2021โฆ driving alongside Drew Hall. The BYP Racing duo bagged an outright podium finish last time they teamed up here in Sydney. Maybe thatโll be an omen for history to repeat itself tomorrow night.
In Division D, Charlie Viola and Ben Hanrahan will look to become the second pair in Sydney 300 history to win the same division twice, as they return to Division D for the first time since 2019, and speaking of firsts, they wonโt be running the Honda Integra that has served them so well over the years.
Ben Oldfield is on the grid for the first time, after being a pre-event withdrawal last year. He was scheduled to drive with Robert Giovenco, but Giovenco has been ruled out through personal commitments.
The RaceAway Track Time stable has two more new faces behind the helm of their MX5 โ namely Ronin Lindenmayer and Michael Buckley.
Matthew Thewlis will drive alongside Ashwin Dyall in a Toyota 86. Thewlis was originally scheduled to drive alongside David Bailey Motorsport, until Bailey relinquished his place in the field, after sustaining damage to his BMW E36 here at SMP, in another race meeting, just four weeks ago.
Bailey, of course, remains on the reserves list, after being able to get his car repaired in timeโฆ something he wasnโt sure would be possible initially.
Division E is where youโll find Bailey, driving alongside Aaron Lloyd, should they be drafted into the field, which will happen if two cars are forced to withdraw prior to the start of the race.
Elsewhere in Division E, Richard Baskus is back on the grid, alongside Jonathon Hovey. Baskus was a late omission in 2023, through injury.
Also running a Nissan Pulsar in Division E, are Parry Anastakis and John Taylor, Simon Kendrick and Jamie Craig, and the combination of Ian Green and Nathan Olssen.
We normally see the likes of Greg Boyle and Brendan Scotter in much faster machinery, but tomorrow night, theyโll be fighting for Division E honours, in the aforementioned Mazda SP23.
In the lead up to this weekend, there have been several late changes, to both sides of the entry listโฆ with some driver line-up changes, and some car swaps as well.
Most notably, after his Honda Integra caught fire mid-race here at Sydney Motorsport Park last month, Charlie Viola, and his co-driver Ben Hanrahan, will steer a Nissan Pulsar in this yearโs Pitcher Partners Sydney 300.
Brad and Will Harris were originally planning to field their Mazda RX8, that they took to Division C honours here last year, however the Harris stable will instead be running a Holden Commodore tomorrow night, and, in a very late change to the driving roster, Brad has withdrawn through illness, meaning Bill Harris (their father) will drive alongside Will this weekend. Bill hasnโt been on the Sydney 300 entry list since 2022.
Parry Anastakis, whoโs driving alongside John Taylor this year, was initially going to run a Proton Satria GTI for his 26th โ300โ start.
Had he done so, it wouldโve been the first time weโd seen a Proton vehicle on the Sydney 300 grid, but the veteran, who has an enormous love for these 300km races, whose association with the concept is well documented, will instead field a Nissan Pulsar this weekendโฆ one formerly operated by Michael Ricketts, no less.
There was also a late car swap for the only female in this weekend's main race, Kiara Zabetakis. Originally listed to run her Mazda MX5, she's instead lining up in a Mitsubishi Evo.
In total, 113 drivers are entered for the race. Within that cohort, 13 drivers flying solo, there are 48 cars fielding two drivers, while just two entries are running with a three-driver line-up in 2024.
The support bill is headlined โ as always โ by Series X3 NSW, in what will be a rather significant, and sombre day for the category. Itโs significant, as their third event of the season sees endurance racing return to their schedule for the first time in two years, and to the Sydney 300 undercard for the first time since 2019.
It's sombre, because theyโll be honouring one of their own, Jeremy Hodges Motorsport, who tragically passed away on the first weekend of April. Club members recently ventured to Forbes to attend his funeral service, and the field will race for the Jeremy Hodges Memorial Cup this weekend, over two 1-hour races.
Also on the support bill, the Mazda MX5 Cup, the Clubman Championship, and the combined class, encompassing VRA Alfa Romeo Racing and BMW E36 Race Series Club competitors.
All of those categories will run a three-race program, preceded by a 15-minute qualifying session.
The weather is set to spice things up, with early predictions for wet weather leaving all-wheel drive competitors licking their lips, with the prospect of a repeat of the conditions we were greeted with in 2022, when Dylan Thomas and Cody Brewczynski
Currently, the bureau is forecasting a 70% chance of a shower or two for race day, and a range of 11-16 degrees.
Unofficial practice commences at 6:30pm AEST this evening, running through until 10:30pm. Official practice for the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300 is scheduled to commence at 9:30am AEST tomorrow, with a second session scheduled for 12:55pm, ahead of 3-part knockout Qualifying from 3:55pm, ahead of the 77-lap race at (approximately) 7:30pm AEST.
For those who wish to venture trackside, spectator admission is FREE. For those who canโt get to the track, youโll be able to access LIVE timing via Natsoft Race Results & Events all day long, and race coverage on the Motor Racing Australia page from 2:45pm AEST.
The 2024 Pitcher Partners Sydney 300 is proudly sponsored by: Pitcher Partners, Lendrive Finance, MJS Electrical Products & Supplies, Live & Learn Group, CTL Event Management- Transport Logistics, and Entconn.
Motor Racing Australia events are sanctioned by the Australian Autosport Alliance (AASA), and proudly supported by Pitcher Partners, Live & Learn Group, ClubRacer Engineering, Liquid Clothing Co. & Track Day Club.
