Five national titles will be decided at Sandown this weekend as the Shannons Nationals season draws to a close.
Winners will be crowned for the Kumho V8 Touring Car Series, Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship, Kerrick Sports Sedan Series, Australian Manufacturers’ Championship and Swift Racing Series, while the already-decided Saloon Car Series will complete a busy weekend of racing action.
A 19-car field has entered for the Kumho V8s, where rising star Shae Davies holds a commanding 96 point lead over fellow Ford driver Terry Wyhoon.
Davies has been a consistent performer this season, finishing on the podium at each of the five rounds held to date.
Although a round win has proven elusive, Davies is firmly focussed on wrapping up a maiden national title.
“As much as I would really like to win a round and tick that box, winning the series and scoring enough points this weekend is my real focus,” said the 21-year-old.
“Winning this series was our goal at the start of the year and we’re nearly there but we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves.”
Third-placed Tony Evangelou is also a mathematical title contender, while fourth-placed Ryan Simpson is the favourite for Sandown honours having largely dominated since joining the class at the second round.
Category debutants this weekend are Erebus Academy’s Jack Le Brocq (MW Motorsport Ford), two-time and reigning Saloon Car Series winner Simon Tabinor (Tabinor Ford) and V8 Ute regular Gerard McLeod (THR Holden).
McLeod was only drafted into the ex-Team Dynamik Commodore on Thursday after the late withdrawal of fellow Ute racer Craig Dontas.
“I’ve always dreamt of racing one of these cars having grown up with my Dad (Peter) racing them in the 1990s,” said McLeod.
“I’ve done plenty of miles in V8 Superars on ride days with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport and a few other teams over the years, so I’m expecting that we can slot straight into the top 10 this weekend.”
In the Formula 3 battle, Tim Macrow holds a strong, but not unassailable, 34 point lead over Team BRM team-mate John Magro.
Macrow is gunning for his second title and will face a 10 car field that includes Formula Ford graduate and F3 rookie Simon Hodge.
The tightest points battles meanwhile will be seen in the Sports Sedans and Suzuki Swifts.
Five drivers are in contention for the former title, with just 57 points covering Bruce Banks (Mazda RX7), Shane Bradford (Chev Camaro), Tony Ricciardello (Alfa GTV) and Kerry Baily (Aston DB9) and Daniel Tamasi (Holden Calibra).
Reigning series winner Baily, who was excluded from two races at Phillip Island’s penultimate round for a technical infringement, will be absent from Sandown due to bushfires affecting his business interests.
The Swift battle is even closer with Luke Fraser and Ben Grice tied on 630 points heading to Sandown.
The event will mark the last for the one-make class as a stand-alone category before it merges into the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship field next season.
Garry Holt needs just one point from Sandown’s AMC finale to secure the drivers’ title, ensuring he can wrap up the crown in qualifying, which offers two points for pole.
A 16 car field will start Sunday’s three hour race, with three Mitsubishi Lancer Evos taking on two BMW 1Ms in the outright division.
Among the class contenders is former V8 Supercar and Australian NASCAR driver John Faulkner, who joins Michael Benton in the Racer Industries prepared FPV.
Practice for all six classes will kick-off at Sandown today.
