The 2024 HQ Holden Nationals is on at Pepsi Max Baskerville Raceway, in the state where it all began in 1988. A group who wanted to get into racing, but were put off by the costs, came up with a class of racing that was affordable and exciting.
Thirty-six years down the track since, the category Nationals returns to Baskerville with a bumper field of 35, many from mainland Australia, entered to vie for the title. Over the years the Nationals have been contested once a year, in every state and at every circuit across the nation.
The last time the annual event took place in Tasmania was in 2015 at Symmons Plains Raceway. Prior to that, Baskerville hosted the event in 1997 and 2008, and before then, at Symmons Plains in 1993.
On that occasion it was a Tasmanian whitewash with John Talbot the winner over Roger Burdon and Adam Springer. The next time someone from the Apple Isle took the title was Phil Ashlin in 2022 at Hidden Valley in the Northern Territory.
Ashlin finished third last year at Morgan Park and will lead the locals to keep the titles in Tassie for the next 12 months or thereabouts. He will be backed up by multiple state champion Andrew Toth who was second in 2015, and ’87 Bathurst winner David ‘Skippy’ Parsons.
However, the one that will be targeted as the driver to beat is New South Wales’ Brett Osborn who has three Nationals crowns after wins at Wakefield Park (2016), Barbagallo (2017) and Morgan Park last year.
State compatriot Luke Harrison will be chasing his first after he finished second at the last two while there are strong entries from Victoria that include Ken Wright, Andrew Magilton and Ryan Woods.
Queensland will be strongly represented with the likes of Jake Madden and Joe Andriske and West Australian will have their state front runners Mick Howlett and Mick Woodbridge from the other side of the nation.
While it might be fresh or even cold, temperature wise, with a high possibility of rain, the action on track will be far warmer on the 2.01km circuit that opened in 1958.
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