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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Despite the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia series managing to get one round of season underway for 2022, it’s the Michelin Junior drivers who have dominated so far.
The series is getting ready to resume its season at Queensland Raceway having missed out on the opportunity to do so in June, due to the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships event at Phillip Island cancelled.
With only two rounds having been completed last year, the series is still on track to run a solid five rounds in 2022.
Rounds so far:
Sydney Motorsport Park:
Outright Class
– Race 1: Ryan Wood
– Race 2: Ryan Wood
– Race 3: Thomas Sargent
Pro Am Class
– Race 1: Sam Shahin
– Race 2: Brett Boulton
– Race 3: Sam Shahin
Class B
– Race 1: Tom Taplin
– Race 2: Tom Taplin
– Race 3: Tom Taplin
Upcoming rounds:
– 5-7 August: Queensland Raceway
– 16-18 September: Sandown Raceway
– 21-23 October: The Bend Motorsport Park
– 11-13 November: Mount Panorama
Current championship standings:
Pro Series:
1. Ryan Wood 174 points
2. Thomas Sargent 168
3. Courtney Prince 144
4. Jason Miller 120
5. Aron Shields 104
Morris Pro-Am Series:
1. Sam Shahin 178 points
2. Brett Boulton 168
3. Andrew Goldie 138
4. Christian Fitzgerald 126
5. Indiran Padayachee 110
Class B:
1. Tom Taplin 180 points
2. Gerard Murphy 156
3. Jonathan Gliksten 132
4. Jacob Li 124
The opening round to the 2022 season saw two junior drivers enjoy strong starts to their campaigns.
Ryan Wood claimed victory in both the first and second race of the weekend after qualifying on pole position for both, while a fellow Michelin junior driver in Thomas Sargent capped off his weekend with a victory after claiming two podiums earlier in the round.
In the Pro-Am series Sam Shahin and Brett Boulton scored podiums across all three races, with Shahin claiming wins on either side of Boulton’s race two win.
The next event of the 2022 season will be held at Queensland Raceway in August, which marks the first time in three years that Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia series has raced at the track. It’s also the first time both the top two drivers have raced at the location also.
Last time the category raced in Queensland, it was Harri Jones and Max Vidau who enjoyed victories.
However with Boulton posting two Pro-Am class wins and Shahin the other, there will be plenty of interest surrounding who will come away from Ipswich with the class advantage.
Just a six point margin separates each of the top two drivers in both the outright standings and the Pro-Am class, Wood and Shahin understandably sitting first in the series after their solid opening rounds
With four rounds still to play out for the category, it should be an exciting back half of the year for the popular one-make series.
Tickets to the Queensland Raceway round are available for purchase and be done so here.