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The club is proposing a new national series which will encompass its home track, Sydney Motorsport Park (SMP), The Bend in South Australia, and Queensland Raceway.
The Australian Racing Drivers Club has been proactive to assist categories who may not have national rounds after the Shannons SpeedSeries’ promoter switched from Motorsport Australia to SRO.
The ARDC has already scheduled the opening round in early 2025 and are liaising with the two other circuits to offer a 2025 series for categories that may find themselves without enough rounds to race next year.
“We want to get on the front foot and put the good news for competitors out there now,” said ARDC CEO Glenn Matthews.
“The change in the SpeedSeries next year, with SRO becoming the promoter instead of Motorsport Australia, has created an opportunity for a new series. We believe there be a number of national categories that will be orphaned by the move and won’t be able to have a series. And we have the ability to do something about that.”
Matthews has spoken with SRO chief Ben McMellan and says the SRO series will have limited places for several of the categories currently racing with the SpeedSeries.
It appears that the SRO program will include Fanatec World GT, GT4s, the one-make Ferraris (for three rounds), and the Porsche Sprint Challenge. There will be very limited opportunity for other categories, or as many categories next year, to compete in a multi-round national series.
“I’ve had some initial discussions with Tony Quinn at Queensland Raceway, and Adam Brook at The Bend, and we are all keen to get these important categories some track time in a 2025 Series,” said Matthews.
“Adam and I have also spoken with [Sporting & Technical Director] Lisa Crampton at Motorsport Australia about the opportunity. She said they were doing a survey.
“But rather than wait for it all to come together, the ARDC are announcing an opening date for Round 1 next year, which is March 22-23 at Sydney Motorsport Park.”
It will be a test case and Matthews and the ARDC want to reach out to all the categories, including but not limited to Formula 4, Formula Fords, Sports Sedans, Trans Am, Radical Cup, Production Cars, and the TGRA Scholarship Series.
“We’re open for business, and we’re happy to be the first cab off the rank in March next year. We will really treat this as a test case and a proof of concept.
“We believe that we can host two rounds next year and speaking with Tony [Quinn] and Adam [Brook], they are happy to chat about [rounds at their own circuits].”
The Bend has already placed several national categories together with their state series, and knows the competitor and spectator pull the national competition can bring in.
“The introduction of National Categories like TGRA Scholarship, Formula 4 and Touring Car Masters has transformed SA’s State series into the largest competitor-series in the country,” said Brook who is The Bend’s Motorsport and Operations Manager.
“We’ve proven this is the best platform for the Trophy Series as it raises the overall profile of grassroots Motorsport while giving National Series access to race formats, pitlane garaging, hospitality and streaming that they might not otherwise have at a SpeedSeries event.”
However, Matthews would rather see the national categories together on the one program at SMSP.
“There’s already so much uncertainty going into 2025,” said Matthews.
“Some of the categories have got expressions of interest in with Supercars, and some have got them with SRO, but nothing has been finalised yet; those seasons haven’t finished, and they’re both focused on their remaining 2024 rounds.
“So, we just thought, let’s put a date out there, and clearly state ‘we’re here, and we have a track for you in 2025.’”
If it comes together, it would be logical to have two rounds at each venue to form the series. A second date, August 30-31at SMP, has already been set aside, and the series could even be expanded to incorporate Winton.
“If categories just express their interest to us, then we can get down to the nitty gritty. What does TV look like? Is there live streaming? Understanding what each category wants and needs is vital, so we can formulate the path forward.”
