Excitement is building for the final round of the Shannons SpeedSeries in 2023, and it all finishes with a bang at one of motorsport’s newest traditions – the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International.
Ahead of the biggest edition of the International to date, last year’s event certainly provided plenty of entertainment with a number of highlights to look back on.
There was a stack of action throughout, with title races being decided and champions concluding their dominant years, while some put on a show with a number of strong performances.
The season finale for Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series saw the title race go right down to the wire, where despite race wins from Bailey Sweeny and Will Brown, it was Tony D’Alberto who left the mountain as a champion.
Sweeny picked up the first race win of the weekend in a chaotic affair, crossing the line two seconds ahead of Dylan O’Keefe while four drivers ended with a DNF next to their name.
The second race was ultimately called off due to the weather, setting up an intriguing final race that saw a frontrunning Brown with the title in sights before the demise of Jordan Cox and Ben Bargwanna promoted D’Alberto to 11th – handing him enough points to pip Brown for the title.
A strong finish from Sweeny would see the current 2023 series leader claim round honours.
Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
World copyright: Daniel Kalisz _DKP2156.ARW
The narrative couldn’t have been any different for the National Trans Am Series, where champion-elect Nathan Herne took a clean sweep of race wins in a dominant display.
A thrilling opening race saw the Kiwi convert a pole position into a race win, one and a half seconds ahead of his closest competitor all year long, Owen Kelly.
The winning margin would then grow in the following two races, with a four-second victory over Brett Holdsworth in race two a prequel to a similar margin over Kelly in the final outing of the season.
Matching Herne’s efforts with a clean sweep of his own was Steve Johnson in Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters.
Much like most of the 2023 campaign, Johnson was the driver to beat at Mount Panorama with three race wins ensuring his best round for the season, with Ryan Hansford finishing the round in second after holding that position in three of the four races.
The other driver to claim second place was Andrew Fisher in race one, while George Miedecke impressed with a podium finish of his own later in the weekend.
Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
World copyright: Daniel Kalisz SS1_4663.cr3
The story was the same as it always was in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia with Ryan Wood and Tom Sargent going head-to-head and splitting the first two races on Saturday.
Sargent took victory in race one by just over one second before Wood returned serve with a two-second victory of his own in race two.
A second race win from Wood in the third and final outing on Sunday would ultimately hand him the round win, while Sargent had to settle for second ahead of Lachlan Bloxsom.
Triple Eight Race Engineering continued their love affair with the mountain after Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Broc Feeney took victory in the one and only three-hour endurance race of the weekend for Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS.
Very little separated the race winners and second place runners, Brad Schumacher and Tim Slade throughout the majority of the 78-lap race, with the gap at just 11 seconds at the chequered flag.
James Koundouris and Jordan Love would round out the podium places, finishing the race in the same position they had started in.
Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
World copyright: Daniel Kalisz _DKP4937.ARW
A huge field lined up for the Mobil 1 Australian Production Car Series and there were four different race winners in as many races.
Jayden Ojeda was the best of them all in race one, taking victory before his teammate, Simon Hodges picked up where he left off by winning the second race on Saturday morning.
The duo was unable to make it three from three later in the afternoon, which belonged to Grant Sherrin who finished ahead of Beric Lynton – who was consistent all weekend long.
One final race on Sunday rounded out the weekend, where this time it was Jimmy Vernon crossing the line first in a thrilling seven-lap affair that saw five DNFs.
Last but certainly not least, the Australian Prototype Series took to the track for three races in what was the first taste of the mountain for many in the open-cockpit category.
It was Kai Allen who would convert pole position into a race win in the opening encounter, finishing ahead of Neale Muston while Ryan Godfrey rounded out the top three.
The order would change dramatically in race two, with Ricky Capo taking victory ahead of 2022 series winner, John Paul Drake while Allen would have to settle for third place.
While third might not have been his desired position for that race, he would make it up by sealing round honours with a win in the third and final race.
