IT has been a tough start to 2023 for several Australian motorsport categories but there are a select few which are thriving more and more.
Field sizes were a major talking point leading into the weekend’s Shannons SpeedSeries round at Phillip Island, and not in a good way.
For S5000, there were just nine cars across three different teams. Four of those entries belonged to Garry Rogers Motorsport, whose director Barry Rogers is the largest shareholder in category promoter Australian Racing Group.
There only ended up being a field of nine in Round 1 of the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series, although there is genuine hope that figure will quickly increase.
And in TCR Australia, which remains the flagship category for the SpeedSeries, there was again a mere 13 cars (another four of which were GRM cars).
It’s also been a dire start for Touring Car Masters, with nine and 12 cars respectively at the first two rounds.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, as V8 Sleuth explores with the three categories below.
National Trans Am Series
Seriously, Trans Am very quickly needs to be given top billing at SpeedSeries rounds.
A 17-strong grid at Phillip Island was still somewhat below expectation but the on-track action well and truly made up for it.
All three races were highly entertaining, and that was pretty well the case at the Symmons Plains opener too.
Perhaps flourishing without the presence of previously dominant star Nathan Herne, there’s a good blend of recognisable names (James Moffat, Owen Kelly, Ben Grice, Brett Holdsworth) and up-and-coming stars (Nash Morris, Lochie Dalton, Tom Hayman, Jaylyn Robotham).
And the drivers are not afraid to get their elbows out, on or off the track.
This is a series which should only attract more interest sooner than later.
V8 SuperUte Series
Here’s a category that fans love to hate… but perhaps it’s time to reconsider.
After all, it’s coming off its biggest ever entry list last month at Wanneroo Raceway, where the rough and tumble racing made for quite the spectacle.
With the likes of Aaron Borg, Ryal Harris and Adam Marjoram duking it out, there’s plenty of hard-nosed racers to put on a show.
And while the cars mightn’t be quite as sexy as GT3 beasts, they are super relevant and boast manufacturer diversity with models such as the Mazda BT-50, Toyota Hilux, Holden Colorado, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton and more.
Best of all, they’re well suited to fan-friendly, aggressive door-to-door racing.
Finally, this category might be inching back towards its V8 Utes heyday.
Dunlop Series
Increased cost and potential lack of car availability had clouded how the Dunlop Series might look in 2023 but it has emerged as strong as it’s been for arguably a decade.
Much of the region’s brightest talent has flocked to Super2/Super3 and the future sure does look bright with Ryan Wood, Cooper Murray, Aaron Love, Brad Vaughan, Kai Allen and co.
Heading into the Newcastle season-opener, it seemed Zak Best might be an unbackable favourite to finally go one better and clinch the Super2 title – but he looks to have a serious fight on his hands now.
The class structure has worked out well too, with Super3 becoming a more popular platform for young guns to dip their toe into the world of Supercars (e.g. Jett Johnson, Mason Kelly, Cameron McLeod, Jobe Stewart and Matt McCutcheon).
It also still gives gentlemen drivers the option of racing on the big Supercars stages or retreating to the ARG-aligned Kumho Series.
Supercars has come to the party here too, bumping up the Dunlop Series’ racing window to 40 minutes to quell concerns about the lack of green flag laps.
