“The first year was terrific! We are very happy with the way this year looking,” said category manager Brett Peters.
Last year the series was held over three rounds, Queensland Raceway in May, Sydney Motorsport Park in October and lastly at Calder Raceway at the beginning of December.
“We had a great start in Queensland, Sydney was good, but Calder was probably a touch too late in the year to get the numbers we had earlier.
“This year’s television coverage will be great with all races on Fox and Kayo, as well as livestream and live on SBS.”
There will be a tweak to the calendar in 2024 with the series starting at SMP, then QR and Winton for the Victorian round. There is also a to-be-advised possibility of a fourth meeting which may, or may not, be a points round.
The 2023 Australian Excel Series featured close racing at each round with numerous lead changes in each encounter. Cam Wilson won the QR round with four race victories where he had to fight off several challenges from Tyler Collins and Jaylyn Robotham. The other talent at the front end of the field included Jack Wood, Ryan Casha and Jarrod Hughes.
The first race in Sydney was taken out by Ryan O’Sullivan over Collins, Blake Tracey and Robotham. Collins won the next two but only managed 12th in the fourth which O’Sullivan won from Tracey and Robotham.
The series came down to the wire at Calder in what was a thrilling contest. Tracey won the first encounter over title contenders Collins and Robotham. Collins had a two-point advantage, but Robotham put them back on equal terms in Race 2. He finished third behind Brad Vereker and Tracey, and ahead of Collins.
It came down to the final wet race. It went the way of the Tracey when Vereker went wide at the last corner. Tracey crossed the line first, although he received a penalty post-race which gave the third round overall to Vereker. Behind Jack Wood, Collins finished 0.09s ahead of Robotham to take the title.
“Entries are looking good for 2024. We have young guns coming through that will spend maybe a couple of years in Excels, and then the older middle age fun group. It is also great to have Tyler who will attempt to go back-to-back,” Peters added.
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