After a successful return to racing in June 2020 from COVID-19 related restrictions, the WA Sporting Car Club's season finale whilst welcome came too soon for most.
With over 100 competitors and 7 championships to be decided at this meet it was all eyes to the front of the grid as even the weather couldn't interfere with the close racing and action provided by the talented feel of West Australian motorsport competitors.
For motorsport fans, the close results show that for the most exciting on circuit racing there is no other place to be than trackside at Wanneroo Raceway for the 2021 WA Sporting Car Club series.
F1000 / Radicals
In the Formula 1000 and Radical categories, brothers Aaron and Jordan Love were on track for the first time competing together since their Karting days. Older brother Jordan has recently been competing in the Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup series in Europe which is one of the support categories for Formula 1 and has recently returned to Perth after the season wrapped up.
The F1000 championship was coming down to this race, but a late withdrawal by front runner privateer Stewart Burns meant Arise Racing's Adam Lisle just needed to win his first race to take out the top step for the championship which he easily did in the first race, despite being swamped by the Love Brothers in their Radicals.
The Love brothers provided a masterclass in driving in the Radical class, both brothers lead from start to finish of all races out pacing the F1000s which are traditionally the faster car on track. Aaron Love wrapped up the championship taking out the top step.
Excel Cup Car
Rob Landsmeer was assured of the championship but behind him was a squabble for the 2nd and 3rd steps with Jake Passaris taking out the 2nd step and 2019 Motorsport Australia Rising Star Cameron Atkins edging ahead of Jack Clohessy by just one point to finish 3rd. Amazingly Camerons' car was still being built on the morning of the nightmasters after his last car had to be retired due to an unfortunate incident at the October race meet.
The Excel Cup Cars proved popular in the wet conditions with the spectators lining the viewing areas out of their cars and cheering as they went bumper to bumper through turns 1 and 7 sometimes even giving each other little nudges in scenes reminiscent of a NASCAR race.
Formula Ford
The formula Ford championship was another of the down to the wire categories with Joshua Matthews and Mark Pickett squabbling for first and Craig Jorgensen and Andrew Malkin fighting for third place.
While Mark Pickett couldn't quite get the best of Andy Malkin in Race 1, he cleaned up the last two races however it wasn't enough for him to leapfrog Joshua Matthews into 1st place. Joshua Matthews only needed to finish 4th in all three races to keep Pickett at bay.
Holden HQ Racing
Despite Michael Woodbridge's cleans weep of the round, Michael Howlett still walked away with the state championship but this allowed him to secure the 2nd place step just one point ahead of Rory Sharp.
The HQs copped the brunt of the weather during their races with onboard footage from Michael Howlett's #7 car showing just how heavy the rain was coming down at points and how low the visibility for drivers was on track. This didn't deter the drivers of the metal giants as they lumbered around the track, slipping, sliding and racing each other hard to find that little competitive edge.
Sports Cars / Sports Sedans
A category that sees the "big boys" come out to play with their toys that spend probably more time in their sheds than on the black stuff, the sports cars / sports sedans category wasn't spared the weather with large "rooster" tails prominent in their last two races thanks to heavy rain fall.
With a field including a Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo, a Lamborghini Gllardo REX GT3 and a Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO, one would think they might hold back a little but again all the drivers pushed their vehicles to the absolute limits.
In the sports car portion of the category, John Roderick took out a convincing championship ahead of Richard Bloomfield and Arthur Abrahams while over in the sports sedans, Grant Hill was clearly ahead of Ron Moller in 2nd and Peter Callo in 3rd with sizable margins separating them all.
Street Cars
In a category with fluctuating numbers, consistency and showing up helped decide the championship with Paul Kluck finishing ahead of Wayne Hastie by 14 points with Kelvin Sharp running in 3rd.
The Street Cars were mixed in with the Sports Cars / Sports Sedans again with the latter keeping their noses clean and letting the Street Cars race and passing cleanly remember they were in a separate race albeit on the same track at the same time.
Saloon Cars
Exciting overtaking and close on track battles were on show for the trackside spectators when 25 cars took to the track split over two classes, the PRO (AU/VT) and the PRO/AM (EA/VN) in a classic Holden vs Ford battle.
Grant Johnson had already wrapped up the PRO series with a massive haul of points over the year, however Brock Boley, and Matt Martin had a fight on for 2nd with Boley edging out Martin by just 5 points by the end of the race meet for the WA Sporting Car Club championship, but on a state level Matt Martin edged out Brock Boley for the 2nd step.
Back in the PRO/AM class, Marc Watkins finalised the 2020 championship with Michael Holdcroft coming in 2nd, however behind him was a bit of a mix across the two championships with the WASCC championship showing Gary Conway third and Chase Hoy fourth, but the Motorsport Australia championship which includes other rounds not at Wanneroo Raceway showing Chase Hoy finishing in third.
After doing the calculations Chase Hoy and his team decided not to run in the changing conditions as they had just sold his car to help with a step up into the PRO series in 2021 and were far enough ahead in the Motorsport Australia championship not to be worried about losing third.
All competitors now will enjoy a break before the the 2021 season kicks off with a two day event at the end of February 2021.
QUOTES:
Jordan Love - 2019 Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australian Champion, 2017 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Champion
"Its nice to be home and nice to race against my brother. We haven't competed against each other competitively since the karting days. So its cool to be back here at Wanneroo Raceway just having a bit of fun and enjoying the sport that we love."
"We (Aaron Love and Jordan Love) haven't made any side bets as we'd probably end up in a massive accident and we're just here to enjoy the sport we love."
Aaron Love – 2020 Radical State Championship, 2019 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia - 2nd Outright, 2018 CAMS F1000 State Champion, 2018 3rd CAMS Payce Australian Formula 4 Championship
"It was a whole lot of fun today, to have my brother Jordan come along today and race with me made it even more fun. With the weather throwing curveballs at us today it kept us on our toes all day."
Grant Johnson – 2020 Saloon Cars Pro State Champion
"It was pretty sketch racing at night and in the rain. Racing in the rain is pretty hard to see, add a bit of darkness and yeh, but It was a lot of fun though."
"The competition is really strong, we have some really amazing up and coming drivers coming through as well as some old stalwarts. The amazing thing of the category is the cars are all the same so if you like Ford or Holden you can get a car and potentially run at the front if you've got the skill."
"The team has been fantastic, six in a row for us now. We are probably the benchmark here and nationally so if the local guys can give me a run then they know nationally they are in the money."
"2021 will be the same old same old but we might give the car a bit of a birthday as parts are getting a bit long in the tooth."
Paul Kluck – 2020 Street Cars Racing State Champion
"The 2020 season has gone pretty trouble free, I'm pretty happy with how the car has performed and I've lifted my game myself."
"I just hung in there today in the conditions. I knew it was going to be wet and just praying it didn't rain every single race. I was lucky to get a dry race for the last race."
"Once it became apparent that I was a contender for the championship it put the pressure on me today."
