With plenty to race for in the remaining months of 2022, take a look at how the seasons of our regular Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships categories are shaping up.
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It took a while, however the GC Marine Australia Prototype Series managed to complete the second round of its 2022 season this month, with the most recent proving to be nothing short of action packed.
The category was scheduled to race at Phillip Island in June as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships, however the event was unfortunately cancelled, leaving the series to wait more than two months between rounds.
It’s less of a wait for the third round of the season, with The Bend Motorsport Park to host the season finale next month.
Rounds so far:
Sydney Motorsport Park:
Race 1: Ricky Capo
Race 2: John-Paul Drake
Race 3: John-Paul Drake
Queensland Raceway:
Race 1: John Paul Drake
Race 2: John Paul Drake
Race 3: Ricky Capo
Upcoming rounds:
The Bend Motorsport Park 21-23 October
Current standings:
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- John-Paul Drake – 276 points
- Ricky Capo – 274
- Ryan Godfrey – 240
- Jason Makris – 158
- Xinlei Song – 157
- Phil Hughes – 118
- Neale Muston – 115
- Paul Trengrove – 88
- Peter Clare – 85
- Mark Laucke – 78
The season has provided fans with plenty of entertainment across both rounds, starting with the opening round in Sydney.
After claiming pole position by just four hundredths of a second, Ricky Capo then went on to win the opening race of the season in style.
Having dropped to third after a slow race start, the first-year driver had it all to do for the race, but was aided though a safety car intervention, which helped him make up the two positions again and claim the win over Neale Muston.
Capo wasn’t the only one to start the season slow, Jam Motorsport’s John-Paul Drake was forced to climb through the field to get a good finish, but the charismatic South Australian didn’t have to wait too long for his first win of the season – Drake took out the second outing of the weekend after race leader and debutant Ryan Godfrey received a five second time penalty.
Drake would make it two from three by the end of race three after once again beating Godfrey in the final laps of the finale after the latter was handed a penalty for breaching race start procedures.
If the opening round gave fans something to look forward to, round two exceeded those expectations as Capo picked up the outright Queensland Raceway in thrilling fashion.
Throughout the whole race meeting Capo performed strongly, finishing second in both race one and two behind the series leader in Drake. however, the round was ultimately won in the final race after Drake made contact with Jason Makris on the final lap, handing the race and round win to Capo.
It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Drake after winning the first two races. Drake was able to recover and finish fourth, whilst Makris was forced to DNF.
Despite the setback, Drake remains on top of the standings ahead of Capo, however just two points separate them at the midway point.
Godfrey’s stellar start to the season has continued, as he sits firmly in third place a further 34 points behind Capo, while Makris sits just one point ahead of another debutant in Xinlei (Dyson) Song after having a disappointing round in Queensland.
With one round of racing remaining, the GC Marine Australian Prototype Series competitors will put it all on the line at The Bend Motorsport Park on 21-23 October.
Click here to purchase tickets.
