HI-TEC OILS SUPERSERIES FRIDAY WRAP THE BEND

2026 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series Season 4

Round 1 Shell V-Power Motorsport Park – The Bend.

Day 1 of the opening round in the 2026 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series kicked off at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park with action aplenty.

Amongst a sea of changes for season 4, the opening day, like the Australian Grand Prix the week before, was all about the support categories.

Whilst the main game teams and drivers in the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series Presented by Maritimo series continued their race preparation, it was the 2026 Yokohama AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship, IRC Racing Series, TFH Hire Legend Cars Australia Championship, Formula RX8 Series and the Hankook Hyper Racer Australian Drivers Championship which took centre stage.

The Legend Cars led the way with qualifying and two races across an action packed schedule for the 34 car field.

Chais Tippett claimed pole position for the opening race from former champion Ryan Pring and the CXC Racing duo of Dylan Thomas and Ruban Dan, but it was Dan who finished the day with both race victories.

The opening race was chaotic as drivers ran five wide on the approach to the opening turn. Some, such as the #97 of Ben Goodridge found themselves skating across the grass fringes of the circuit before two metres of the race had been run.

Joshua Benaud had been amongst that five car battle for the lead only to find himself watching oncoming traffic at the apex of the corner after Diesel Thomas had been hit from behind, locked his brakes and glanced into the side of the #300 machine. Dan had started from further back in the pack and had a first hand view of the opening melee. Thomas lasted just over a lap before snapping a driveshaft and coasted to a halt at Turn 1.

Maverick Kemenyvary and Brendon Hourigan had a more significant incident a lap later after the pair rode wheels down the front straight and slammed into the outside wall, Hourigan’s car losing a front wheel in the impact.

With both drivers still in the car, the Safety Car was dispatched a short time later to recover drivers and car. Kemenyvary had suffered a shoulder injury in the impact but later reported to Velocity Motorsport Magazine that the shoulder was still tender from the Hans device, but was otherwise okay. The same could not be said for his car which was sidelined for the weekend with chassis damage.

Dan took out the opening race from Hogan and Riley Skinner, with David Waldon, Kyle Young and Blake Hayne also ending the race on the sidelines.

Race 2 started in a more sedate fashion with Skinner leading Dan and Tim Reed through the opening corners. As the race progressed it became a five car dice for the win with Thomas, Hogan and Tippett joining in as Reed slipped back to 17th.

Dan took the win from Thomas and Hogan after a late incident at Turn 8. Scott Melville, James Brett, Greg King and John Houlder all recorded dnfs.

The  Hankook Hyper Racer Australian Drivers Championship completed their opening race of the weekend with 2025 champion Damon Sterling starting his title defence with a race win. Pole sitter Harry Strik recovered from a slow first lap to take second with Bradley Smith third in the 15 car field.

Cadel Ambrose scored pole position for the opening race of the Formula RX8 series and converted that to a race win after a lightning start saw him street the field early. A later caution period wiped away that advantage as he battled Stiaan Kriel and Jackson Rice for the win. Ambrose, the pilot of the John Gourlay Audi Sports Sedan in 2025 must have been pleased to record his first win of the year after a troublesome run of mechanical issues plagued his Sports Sedan debut the year before.

Geoff Emery and Lee Stibbs shared pole positions as practice and qualifying completed the Friday schedule for IRC Racing Series. Sixteen cars took to the circuit during the day in a grid which had ten IRC/Payce built machines joined by a handful of Porsche 991 GT3 and cup cars, with the sleek, black McLaren 650S GT3 of Cameron Rees adding to the cake.

Isaac Demellweek topped the seventeen runners in both practice sessions for the 2026 Yokohama AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship while Seth Burchartz and Samuel March also showed consistency in recorded the next best times.

Formula Ford has qualifying and two races on the program for Saturday, which will see the Hi-Tec Oils broadcast on free to air television and live steamed across the day as the headline TA2 Muscle Car series take to the circuit. IRC cars have their first races, while the action continues for the Legend Cars, Formula RX8 and the Australian Drivers Championship.

#TFHRacing
#Hi-TECoil
#formulaford
#FormulaRX8
#Legendcarsaus
#TA2musclecars
#IRCRacing
#Maritimo
#Yokohama

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