Starting with the Legend Cars Nationals event at Sydney Motorsport Park’s ‘Druitt’ Circuit, the event marks the first foray into circuit racing for Clay-Per-View.
Complete with speedway-style heat races, last chance qualifiers, and an A-Main, the AASA Short Track Nationals events are expected to draw large entry lists.
A major cash prize is on the cards for the overall winner of the Legend Cars Australia A-Main at SMP, with high-profile names from the Australian motorsport landscape expected to be announced.
Adding to the speedway aspect of the series, the Sydney event will be contested by two Australian #1 holders from major speedway disciplines.
Sprintcar champion Jock Goodyer was approached by AASA competition and commercial director Marcos Ambrose about the opportunity.
“Being a Tassie guy, I’ve known Marcos [Ambrose] for a long time, and he approached me and asked, “would you be keen?” said Goodyer.
“Honestly, I don’t say no to many things. Any sort of racing I can do, I always take the opportunity.
“I think that this is just going to be cool to get out of my comfort zone.
“I’ve never done any circuit racing, so I’ve got an open mind and no expectations. I could go there and be terrible! But I don’t really care. I’m just going to make some laps and have some fun.
“It’s great to see Clay-Per-View expanding what they do. They’ve been a long partner of mine and my race team, so it’s cool to see them continue to grow and it’s awesome to bring two different disciplines of motorsport together.
“I have no doubt that the regular speedway viewers will jump on and have a look and see how us speedway boys are going. They’ll probably laugh at us too – trying to learn to drive on a circuit track.
“I think it’ll be good for both parties to bring two different audiences together and hopefully put on a good show.”
A field of 40-plus entries is expected for Sydney, including Super Sedans Australia #1 Joel Berkley, also making his circuit racing debut
“It will be a fair bit different for me,” said Berkley.
“There are a few more right-handers than I’m used to! But I know it’s going to be a lot of fun and a bit of a challenge, which I like.
“I have watched the Legends racing from The Bend and it looked fantastic. Plenty of passing and it was all really close.
“There are plenty of people saying great things about the class and the type of racing that Marcos is helping to produce.
“I saw Paul Morris’s social post, praising the AASA and Marcos, so they’re obviously doing all of the right things in their space.
“I know that the asphalt racers follow what we do, and we follow their stuff, but to do a crossover at a unique event like this, in my opinion, is great for the sport as a whole.
“I know there’s some talk that guys from Supercars might be racing too, and that will be an awesome thing.
“Having Clay-Per-View produce and broadcast the racing is also a good thing for the sport in general, opening up a new fan base for circuit racers and the dirt fan base.
“I’ve known Jock for a long time, and we do bits of work together outside of racing, but I don’t think we’ve ever raced against each other before. So I’m finally going to have an opportunity to get bragging rights on him.”
Clay-Per-View Manager Jarred Ash is eager to help bring speedway viewers into the circuit racing world.
“There’s already been plenty of interest in the event from both the speedway and circuit racing fraternities,” said Ash.
“We always see these two motorsport worlds intertwined, but this will be a nice little melting pot of both cultures together.
“The format and schedule for the event will certainly help keep the action coming thick and fast for our viewers.
“The shorter, sharper racing format will make the racing exciting to shoot and will probably align with something similar to a speedway format.
“With the likes of Jock and Joel already confirmed, I know there’s going to be some big interest from our current Clay-Per-View customers.
“We’ve got a wide reaching customer base across Australia and around the world, but I would say that many Australian speedway fans will be interested to see how the current Australian Sprintcar champion and current Australian Super Sedans champion will perform against some of the best circuit racing drivers.”
The inaugural AASA Short Track Nationals round will be held at Sydney Motorsport Park, headlined by Legend Cars Australia, from April 25-26.
Discussion about this post