31/08/23: PRECISION NATIONAL SPORTS SEDAN SERIES & KUMHO TYRE NSW SPORTS SEDAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Sports Sedans are a category unique to Australia and have existed for more than 50 years in which vehicles are based on a production sedan. While the cars may look similar to road sedans, that is where the similarities end.

The front-running cars can only be described as MEGA. Big wings, big tyres and big performance. The rules allow great freedom in this category and as a result Sports Sedans are the most awesome form of tin top racing cars.

In Sports Sedan racing, power-to-weight is everything. To promote that power, body panels are often made of lightweight materials such as carbon fibre or fiberglass. Underneath their smooth skins, they are a pure race car, designed and built in many cases from the ground up to be fast, light, agile and stunningly effective racers. Construction methods vary according to a competitor’s budget. The front running Sports Sedans feature a fully fabricated space-frame chassis, with the engine pushed well back into the passenger’s compartment to aid in handling, leaving not a lot of room for the driver. Temperature within the cab can reach 60 Degrees Celsius.

With an engine capacity limit of 6 litres, Chev, Ford and Mopar V8s are a popular choice for the powerplant, throw in a combination turbo fours, twin and triple rotor powered race cars and the noise of a full field of Sport Sedans is something that never disappoints.

This weekend is a joint Round bringing Australia’s finest Sports Sedans together.

MasterBlast is Round 3 of Precision National Sports Sedans Series with reigning 2022 Champion Jordan Caruso making his first major statement for his 2023 title defence by winning Round 2 recently at Queensland Raceway. Caruso fended off­ 11-time champion Tony Ricciardello in an entertaining second round of the Series and a Sunday clean sweep did the job for the Audi racer. It was far from a straightforward weekend for Caruso, as an engine issue ensured he came a distant third on Saturday. He was unbeatable on Sunday, winning both entertaining races to edge out Ricciardello for round honours by just three points. Despite the round win, Winton’s Round 1 winner Ashley Jarvis still holds a nine-point lead in the Series over Caruso, having finished third at Round 2.

With an expected return to form from National competitor Steven Tamasi and a home ground advantage for the likes of Brad Shiels, Birol Cetin, Steven Lacey, Mark Duggan, Willem Fercher, the Ingram brothers of Peter & Matthew and Nick Smith, this weekend is sure to have all the ingredients for some fantastic racing.

Current Point Score:
Precision National Sports Sedan Series

1. Ashley Jarvis – 228 points

2. Jordan Caruso – 219 points

3. Tony Ricciardello – 214 points

4. Anthony Cox – 161 points

5. Michael Robinson – 147 points

Masterblast is also Round 5 of the Kumho Tyre NSW Sports Sedans Championship and like the National Series, there are points to be had in the Outright Championship and Division 1 and Division 2 classes.

The Outright Championship is currently led by Brad Shiels in a turbo charged Fiat 124 coupe, which recently lapped the SMSP Gardiner circuit in 1min 28.75 secs in qualifying, just 6/10^th off the Sports Sedan lap record held by Jack Perkins in the Audi currently driven by Jordan Caruso. With State competitors such Peter Ingram and Steven Lacey recently lapping in sub 1 min 30 secs, it’s fair to say the local State competitors will be mixing it with their National counterparts at the pointy end of the field. Based on recent form at Queensland Raceway, Mark Duggan in his Duggan Family Racing Aston Martin will be another to keep an eye on at both State & National level.

The NSW State Division 2 class is currently led by Rod Moynahan in his full-bodied production-based Monaro by the slightest of margins to Graham Smith in a Chev powered RX7.

Current Point Score – NSW Sports Sedans Division 1

1. Brad Shiels – 318 points
2. Steven Lacey – 250 points
3. Williem Fercher – 242 points

Current Point Score – NSW Sports Sedans Division 2

1. Rod Moynahan – 284 points
2. Graham Smith – 263 points
3. Ben Mannix – 171 points

The final race of the weekend will be in memory of Des Wall, a past NSW and Australian Sports Sedan Champion, with the winner taking home the Des Wall Trophy, which will be presented by his son David.

Most of Des’s racing career was competing in Sport Sedans. He was a member of the Sydney Technical Car Club competing in Lap Dashes, Hill Climbs and Dirt Circuit (Amaroo)

The Sports Sedans that Des raced included an EH Holden, Torana (“The Beast” an iconic Holden Dealer Team car), Supra (ex Monza) and his 2009 Australian Championship winning Corvette.
                         
Des raced in the Bathurst (1000) with the likes of Jim Keogh, John Leeson, Bob Tindal and Warren Jonsson. His best finish was P11.

He raced in Adelaide at the race of 1000 years in a Porsche as a co-driver to American Doc Bundy. Des also raced overseas at Sepang with his son David in the 12-hr race in a Mazda and in New Zealand with Paul Gentilozzi in a Corvette.

His Championship prowess included various hillclimbs, the 1984 NSW State Sports Sedan Championship (Torana), 1991 Toledo Tools Sports Sedan Series (Supra), the 1995 & 1996 O’Brien Aluminium Series (Supra) and the 2009 Australian Sports Sedan Championship. Prior to his passing from cancer in 2012, he led the 2012 Australian Sport Sedan Championship, at the age of 61.

Des had some 150 race starts throughout his career, with 61 podiums and was an integral part of the Sport Sedan family, as is the Wall family today.