NSW State and State of Origin at Winton
Photos: Priceless Images
The New South Wales Motor Racing Championship travels south to Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria this weekend, it is set to be a fantastic weekend with eight categories including a national category and a couple of state of origin battles.
Yes, two of NSW categories, Improved Production and Sports Sedans have invited their Victorian counterparts to compete alongside them, creating a battle of the states, who will prevail, New South Wales or Victoria?
Other categories include the national RX8 Cup, NSW Formula Ford, Production Touring Cars and Formula Race Cars.
For Improved Production, Winton will play host to Round 3 of the NSW Series and Round 2 for the Victorian competitors with 36 cars entering.
Entries include reigning NSW champ Joseph Lenthall in his BMW M3. Regular Victorian front-runners will also be there including Danny Timewell Brett Lehmann and Ian McLennan.
Royce Lyne might be relatively new to Improved Production racing, but he is an incredibly talented youngster, he will be a threat for the win at Winton, as will fellow Victorian BMW driver Andrew Butcher.
Due to the incredible size of the field, the field will be split into two. The under two-litre cars will share the track all weekend, while the over two-litres will compete together. It is going to be an epic weekend for Improved Production fans.
The same can be said for Sports Sedans with a magnificent 23 cars on the entry list including both the reigning champions, from NSW Steven Lacey in his Innovation Race Car and Victorian Deam Camm in a Chevy Corvette.
The stacked entry list includes former National Sports Sedans series winner Darren Hossack in his brand-new Mazda RX7, Vic V8s driver Greg Lynch and perennial front-runners Geoff Taunton, Ben McLeod and John Ippolito, Sports Sedans is going to be a spectacle to behold.
Round 2 of RX8 Cup sees a very notable name on the entry list, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and 1995 Australian Touring Car champion John Bowe will be competing.
He has driven in selected rounds in the past, and Winton is one of those for the ATCC legend.
He will be joined by many of the series regulars including former Super2 driver Aaron Hills, Jackson Noakes, Maisie Place and Bailey Scott, all of which finished in the top 10 of the series last year.
Reigning series winner Robert Scott and Round 1 victor Stiaan Kriel will be the ones to beat.
NSW Wales Formula Ford features a field 10-strong, significant names include Winton Motor Raceway ambassador Tabitha Ambrose, Giuseppe Imbrogno and Lachie Mineeff.
The Production Touring Car Championship again has two one-hour enduros and two sprint races.
Some familiar Bathurst 6 Hour competitors will compete including Simon Hodges in the BMW he will share with Ryan MacMillan, while Matthew Holt will contest the round in his thundering HSV.
Other notable names include Andrew McMaster alongside Mik Hazelton, Zaki Wazir with Tom Shaw and One Raceway owner Steve Shelley.
Formula Race Car consists of 11 varying open-wheel machines, from Dallara F3 cars to Mygale F4 cars and everything in between.
Friday is a practice day; Saturday morning is qualifying and from Saturday afternoon onwards it is all about racing. Find the full schedule here.
Friday entry is free, Saturday $15, Sunday $20, while a weekend pass is just $30. Kids under 16 are free. Buy your tickets here.
The event will be streamed on Blend Line TV premium, while some categories will be streamed on Blend Line TV’s YouTube and Facebook pages.