Italian Challenge Racing Series

[hammer]

Here's the media release for the 2014 Italian Challenge Racing Series. Round one's going to have a bumper field at Qld Raceway, with Alfas, Fiats, Ferraris and a Maserati going head to head.


   ITALIAN CHALLENGE RACING SERIES GOES UP A GEAR FOR 2014

A superb selection of Queensland's fastest Italian cars will grid up on the weekend of March 8/9 for round one of the Italian Challenge Racing Series.

Now in its second year, the Queensland-based intermarque Italian motor racing series will be run over four rounds in 2014, alternating between Queensland Raceway at Willowbank and legendary Lakeside Raceway (now known as Lakeside Park). The Italian Challenge Racing Series is believed to be the first multi-manufacturer, all Italian race series ever held in Australia.

Well over a million dollars worth of Italian racing hardware will line up for round one with a field of more than twenty cars already entered. Last year's series champion Charlie Clements will lead the charge in his gorgeous Ferrari 308 GTB. Clements was "Mr Consistency" throughout the 2013 season, taking a podium position in almost every race throughout the year with not one DNF to his name. Clements will have his work cut out this year though, with some very swift competition lining up to wrestle away the trophy.

Leading the chasing pack is Bruce Horey in the former World Touring Car Championship Maserti Ghibli. A twin-turbo rocket, the Maserati suffered from mechanical dramas early in the 2013 season, only to show a clean pair of heels once the internal gremlins were sorted. The owner of Horey's Mazza has brought in an experienced race engineer to make sure the twin-turbo weapon is in ship shape for 2014. Don't be surprised to see this machine crack 57 seconds around Lakeside.

Hot on the heels of these two leading cars will be the turbo Fiat trio of Sam Behan, Richard Shinkfield and Maika Ter Horst. Shinkfield's bright orange Fiat X-19 was very fast on its day last season but had too many DNFs to worry the scorers. An off-season of development should bring greater consistency and see this little Italian wedge at the pointy end of the field. Behan's Fiat 131 sports sedan could well be the dark horse of this series, with a long history of sports sedan racing in NSW and Victoria under previous ownership, where it was regularly in the thick of battle with the Chev V8 powered machinery of the day.

The Alfa Romeos will certainly not be left behind throughout this series either. Joel O'Farrell has rebuilt his gorgeous Alfetta GT, which was badly damaged in round two at Lakeside last season. O'Farrell's Alfa snatched several victories last year, keeping the Maserati honest and showing a clean pair of heels to the Ferraris.

Also proudly flying the Alfa flag and seriously looking for podium finishes will be Mark Jackson's Alfetta GTV, John Coleman's V6 Alfa 75, Brent Hampstead's Giulietta sports sedan, Greg Murphy's twin turbo 75 and Michael Heeremans' superb, V6-powered 105 special. Heeremans has built this 105 special from scratch in his Stanthorpe shed and it is a sight to behold. Based on an Alfetta transaxle platform, topped with a GTAm-style 105 body and packing a triple-carb, three-litre V6, this car will be seriously quick in its debut season.

A contingent of Alfa racers from Sydney's Veloce Racing Association is also scheduled to make the journey north for round one of the Italian Challenge Racing Series. Made up mostly of Group S and Group N historic machines, the Veloce stable includes some of the quickest Alfa Romeos in Australia. Last August Veloce put in a tremendous show at Queensland Raceway with their annual East Coast Challenge, leaving their drivers with a hunger for another taste of the deceptively challenging Queensland circuit.

The subsequent three rounds of the 2014 Italian Challenge Racing Series will take place on the following dates:

•   Round 2 - Lakeside Park on Sunday, May 18
•   Round 3 - Queensland Raceway on the weekend of, August 23/24
•   Round 4 - Lakeside Park on the weekend of September 20/21 (this final round will also double as the Festival Of Italian Motorsport, including a regularity category, Italian car and bike display and Italian swap meet)

Check out www.arocaqld.com and the AROCA Qld Facebook page for regular updates.

Italian Challenge Racing Series – Round 1
Saturday & Sunday, March 8 & 9, 9am-4pm
Queensland Raceway, Champions Way, Willowbank
Entry is $20 per person Saturday & $30 Sunday. Children 12 & under free

[Darryl]

Some pics are here

https://picasaweb.google.com/114857517066006883898/Italianchallenge2014

It includes a few pics of the other categories racing - and before you ask, no that wasn't a drift round - I hope Ross Grimes in the Camaro has a generous tyre sponsor...

In the Italian Challenge races there were a few high profile cars missing and a bit of mechanical attrition but plenty of close racing with battles all up and down the field.

Some very different cars made for interesting racing - at the pointy end there were a variety of battles across the races on the 2 days including, as just some of the diverse examples, Richard Shinkfield in the turbo X1/9 vs Alfio Musumeci in his Alfa 937 GT vs Peter Parianos' supercharged Sprint vs Constantinidis' 116 GTV vs Andrew Wilson in a 105 GTV.

[brook308]

Fantastic Darryl, Marcus will be happy with your capture of his signature spin