The Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) has revealed a jam-packed schedule for this weekend’s penultimate round at Sydney Motorsport Park, with the program headlined by the first running of the Saloon Car Nationals since 2019.
Competitors will travel from as far as Western Australia to vie for the honours of National Champion in the six cylinder Holden versus Ford category, with Grant Johnson making the trek all the way across the continent as he tries to retain the coveted #1 plate.
Johnson was victorious in the last Saloon Car Nationals in 2019, but also has a distinguished history in a variety of other categories, including the V8 Utes Series which he won in 2007 and 2010.
Johnson’s main opposition is set to come from fellow West Aussie Rick Gill, along with South Australians Shaun Jamieson and Joel Heinrich, both of whom are previous Saloon Car Champions.
The Saloon Car Nationals will be joined on the program by a selection of core AMRS categories, including the TA2 Muscle Car Series. Following a dominant clean sweep in the last round at Queensland, combined with some problems for his key rivals, Jett Johnson has opened up a handy 126-point advantage in the standings, ahead of the consistent Graham Cheney and Nicholas Bates.
In terms of raw speed, Johnson’s nearest rivals in recent rounds have been talented Canberra racer Josh Haynes and experienced Sydneysider Dylan Thomas, but both drivers are further down the leaderboard due to DNFs throughout the season.
An interesting addition to this weekend’s TA2 field is Dean Lindstrom, who made two starts in the Bathurst 1000 alongside Melinda Price in 1999 and 2000, and also co-drove D’Arcy Russell’s Dodge Viper in the Australian GT Championship.
In the Australian Formula 3 Championship, Trent Grubel will again drive Gilmour Racing’s Mygale Formula 3 this weekend, with the engine in his Dallara F312 still not repaired after the problems at Winton earlier in the season.
Grubel desperately needs to beat Noah Sands this weekend, with Sands extending his championship lead to a commanding 41 points in the previous round at Queensland.
Making a welcome return to the AMRS program will be the Thunder Sports National Series, running as a combined grid with the Stock Cars.
The Thunder Sports category is aimed at enthusiasts and caters for a variety of modified race cars, while the Stock Cars class is open to American vehicles, similar to those that race in the NASCAR Series.
In the Thunder Sports class, the main contenders will include Peter Ryder in his V8-powered Nissan Silvia and Brent Edwards in his BA Falcon, while the Stock Cars class has attracted a healthy 14-car field, with Stephen Chilby and Brett Mitchell likely to be the front-runners.
A category renowned for entertainment and action is the Legend Cars Australia Series, featuring motorcycle-engined vehicles that can race in speedway events as well as on the tarmac. The previous Legend Cars round at Winton was won by Lachlan Ward after a close battle with go-kart graduate Jordan Shalala, with the consistent Scott Morgan finishing third overall.
Rounding out the AMRS Round 5 program will be the Series X3 NSW (Hyundai Excel racing) category, which will stage a 90-minute endurance race to close out proceedings on Sunday afternoon.
