HI-TEC OILS SUPER SERIES SATURDAY WRAP THE BEND

They say that sharing is caring and that may well have been the case during day two at the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Season 4 opener at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park.

The TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series presented by Maritimo made their 2026 debut at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park today with practice, qualifying and two races in a packed schedule of racing. Two young guns and series debutantes in Tyler Cheney and Tommy Smith shared the spoils across two incident filled races.

Smith and Cheney were joined by Pip Casabene and Ben Gomersall in a four-wide dogfight for the lead as the field headed into the opening corner. Gommersall sought to sweep around the outside of the trio, but it was Smith who held sway into Turn 3 from Cheney, Casabene, Gomersall and Buckley.

A spin for Brock Paine on the approach to Turn 8 had the Cure for Cystic Fibrosis Camaro pointed in the wrong direction and was collected head on by Danny Reidy, in a race ending clash for both cars. Reidy crawled back to the pitlane, while Paine’s car came to a halt at the edge of the circuit. Local yellow flags were soon followed by a full Safety Car period.

Smith ran wide at Turn 6 when the race resumed, which handed the lead to Cheney. Smith regained momentum and continued to follow the #116 but wasn’t able to get close enough to mount a challenge.

Cheney went on to take the win from Smith and the returning Jackson Rice in the Hi-Tec Oils supported #37. Ben Gomesall had held third but dropped to 17th at the finish as a mechanical issue crippled the #32 late in the race.

Smith learnt from his error in the opening race to take a flag to flag victory in Race 2. Smith and Cheney ran two-wide through the opening five corners before the former FIA F3 driver finally found himself as the clear leader at Turn 6. Whilst it was a happy hunting ground for the leader, the same couldn’t be said for Brock Paine who found himself turned around again, this time at Turn 6 and fortunately without further damage.

Danny Reidy, the other driver caught up with Paine in Race 1 was a non-starter after the damage from his Race 1 incident with Brock Paine caused steering damage which wasn’t a simple fix.

As the race progressed, local driver Joel Heinrich was able to split Smith and Cheney in second place and moved within a half a second of the leader over the final laps, though Smith dug deep to hold on for his first win in the TA2 Muscle Cars. Heinrich was second and Cheney third. Alice Buckley and Jackson Rice rounded out the Top 5. TFH Racing drivers Josh and Diesel Thomas were amongst six non-finishers, with Diesel forced into the pitlane after a hefty hit to the side door from Clinton Rayner during the opening lap. Rayner stopped on track with significant front end damage, while Kiara Zabetakis, Ben Gomersall and Cameron Laws were the other who were unable to greet the chequered flag.

A further round of qualifying precedes another two races for the TA2 Muscle Cars on Sunday.

Wins were shared between Jamie Rowe and Oliver Wickham across the first day of racing for the 2026 Yokohama AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship.

The opening race began with a five wide group of cars all attempting to take the lead into Turn 1. Jamie Rowe won that initial encounter and continued to hold off Isaac Demellweek and Seth Burchartz through the opening lap and three quarters of the race.

It was a tight contest throughout the field, which proved to be a little too tight as the second lap came to an end. Giuseppe Imbrogno was tapped into a spin at the final corner, with those cars behind forced into evasive action. Bradley James slowed to avoid the spin only to find teammate Rio Campbell suddenly flying over his head.

The impact brought significant damage to the right rear of James’ car and even more to three corners of Campbell’s Penrite supported Spectrum 012B. That led to the first Safety Car intervention as the cars of Campbell and Imbrogno were removed from the circuit.

Rowe eventually edged away to take the win as a four car war between Wickham, Demellweek, Salvatore and Burchartz waged in his mirrors. That became the final places as the quintet of formula fords greeted the chequered flag.

Campbell was a notable absentee from Race 2, while James was back on the grid and hoping for a better run.

Rowe once again led the field through the opening corners with Demellweek close to his gearbox. The pair opened up a small gap to Wickham, Burchartz, Salvatore and Belak as the field began to settle.

Giuseppe Imbrogno just missed the start of the race as his team finalised repairs to the #5 and joined the race a lap down on the leaders.

Demellweek then set the fastest lap of the race to that point as he surged past Rowe for the lead and quickly opened up a one second gap. Wickham also jumped the Race 1 winner for second place as Burchartz and Salvatore looked to do likewise in a four car freight train.

Oliver Wickham slowly ate into that lead, halving that advantage as the laps counted down. He eventually caught the tail of Demellweek and took the lead, holding off Demellweek and Rowe to the line. A five second post race penalty eventually placed Demellweek back in fourth and elevating Rowe and Burchartz to second and third respectively.

A further brace of qualifying sessions and two races round out the Formula Fords on Sunday.

The IRC category ran two races across Saturday with a morning sprint rounded out by an afternoon endurance race.

Lee Stibbs led the twelve lap sprint from start to finish with Geoff Emery second, some four seconds from the win. Daniel Stutterd rounded out the podium in the sixteen car field. Cameron Rees piloted his McLaren 650S GT3 to a 7th place finish and was the first amongst the non-IRC entries to cross the line.

Stibbs doubled up on his opening result to win the fifty minute enduro by seven from Stutterd and Emery. Jake Donaldson was the best of the non-IRC entries in 8th place, while Rees was a non-starter in the McLaren.

Stiaan Kriel took a brace of wins in the Formula RX8 series with Race 1 victor Cadel Ambrose second, reigning series champion Matthew Boylett in third and series co-founder Justin Lewis in fourth.

For Lewis and fellow founder Stacy Vickers, just being back with the AASA and Hi-Tec Oils Super Series was a win itself for the pair. The pair spoke with Velocity Motorsport Magazine and described the move back to the AASA sanctioned series as ‘coming home’.

The TFH Hire Legend Cars Australia had seen Ruban Dan take both race wins on Friday, but was unable to add to his tally across the two Saturday races. If Friday had turned to gold for Dan, then Saturday was a completely different product. The #111 pilot finished 26th in Race 3, having barely managed to extricate his car from the Turn 11 gravel after a loss of brakes caused his late race excursion. It went from bad to worse in Race 4 when Dan was caught up in an opening lap collision which eliminated him and three other competitors and brought out the Safety Car.

CXC Racing teammate Dylan Thomas won the final race of the day from Dean O’Brien and Tim Reed, while it was Chais Tippett who took the win in Race 3 from Riley Skinner and Ryan Pring.

The Legend Cars return to the circuit for a further three races on the Sunday schedule.

One category not running on Sunday is the Hankook Hyper Racer Australian Drivers Championship, which completed their four race program on Saturday afternoon.

Damon Sterling had set the track alight and taken the wins on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The reigning champions appeared set to take a clean sweep of proceedings after pole sitter Harry Strik had suffered a brief moment in Race 2 which dropped the #63 to fifth at the finish behind Bradley Smith, Justin Yuen and Lucas Stasi.

Strik fought back in Race 3 and harried Sterling throughout the opening six laps, before suffering a mechanical issue which brought an early end to his race. Sterling was not immune from problems of his own, which reared it’s head as Sterling approached the podium having taken the win from Smith and Yuen.

Flames flickered from under the bright res Ironclad ID, Kincrome #1 with Sterling quick to leap from his car. Some quick work by the race crew, marshals and Bob Sterling put out the fire, which was reportedly a battery related issue. That left a quick wash, dry and repair for the crew to complete before the final race of the round.

Sterling made it to the grid and once again stamped his authority on proceedings. His competitors were nowhere in sight as he negotiated the downhill Turn 9, with the race seemingly safe in his pocket.

That ultimately proved to be a rather premature assumption when Sterling came to a halt near Turn 5 with smoke billowing from the air intake of his Hyper Racer X1. Soon flames were clearly visible from the rear quarter of his car as Sterling gestured desperately for intervention. A fire crew arrived soon after and extinguished the flames as Sterling appeared to be holding his left hand.

Bradley Smith claimed the win in Race 4 from Hamish Leighton and Yuen, while he also took the round honours from Sterling and Yuen.

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