Many categories to attend Calder VMRC round
Image: Niko French
A huge line-up of categories will take to the track for Round 2 of the Victorian Motor Racing Championship (VMRC) at Calder Park Raceway this weekend (April 18-19).
In total there will be total of seven categories from Australian open-wheel championships to state based one-make racing series.
The national category is the Hankook Australian Drivers’ Championship, it will be Round 2 for the Hyper Racer X1 drivers after competing at the opening Hi-Tec Oils Super Series round.
They will be joined on the bill by the popular Sports Compact, Vic V8 Series and Victorian Super TT. Additionally, there will be three one-make championships, one for BMW E30s, another for Alfa Romeos and a combined Hyundai Excel grid of Trophy and Masters competitors.
Despite not being at the opening round of the VMRC season, for the Australian Drivers’ Championship drivers it is also Round 2 of the year.
Round 1 took place as part of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series at the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park, and produced some of the best racing action the category has ever seen.
Calder Park has historically produced very exciting slipstream action for the Aussie built, ground-effect wings and slicks machines, expect Round 2 to be no different.
This round sees the return of former champion Dean Crooke, can he take the fight to Dean Crooke, Harry Strik and Round 1 winner Bradley Smith? The opening round indicated that 2026 is going to be a competitive season.
Sports Compact continues to blossom with so many drivers now capable of taking race wins.
All the usual suspects have entered Round 2, including the likes of Lynda Devlin who leads the championship by a solitary point from Nissan Bluebird driver and reigning champion James Harris.
With strong straight-line speed, Richard Gay in his Toyota 86 proved to be ultra-fast at Calder last year.
Nic Jones debuted his Volkswagen Scirocco in the opening round and bagged multiple top three finishes, and don’t rule out seven-time champion Steve Howard in his old-school Toyota Corolla.
If you love the old-school Holden and Ford rivalry, then you’ll love Vic V8s. The category consists of Aussie muscle cars with a big V8 engine up front.
Anything from an old XA Hardtop, XB Coupe and VH Commodore up to more modern machines including a VE Commodore.
As always, the Vic V8s bring variety and will unquestionably produce fantastic door-to-door racing.
Vic Super Tin Tops is open to almost all enclosed roof machines, cars already entered include a Mazda RX7, Mazda MX5 and Subaru WRX indicating the range within the class.
Once again, the young up and comers in Excel trophy and the elder statesmen and ladies in Excel Masters will share the track.
In the opening round the combined grid featured more than 30 cars and resulted in non-stop action across the four races, Calder will be no different.
The one-make BMW E30s series is back with the VMRC for Round 2 and contains a strong list of entries. The BMWs are always close and spring surprise results.
The Alfa Romeo Racing category joins the VMRC at Calder, for those that have not seen the series before, expect a large mix of cars produced from the historic Italian manufacturer.
There are the little hatchbacks of the 147 and Sud Ti, up to the slick GTV6s and Guilietta QVs.
You can enter the event by clicking here.
For fans, attendance at the two-day race meeting is free of charge. The schedule will be released shortly.
Those looking for discounted accommodation near the circuit, the series has negotiated an accommodation discount deal with the Quest Carolina Springs Hotel located 8km from the track.
Use the code is “QCSCORP15” for a 15% discount. Use the link below to book - https://www.questapartments.com.au/properties/vic/caroline-springs/quest-caroline-springs
To find out more information on the deal click here.