Pitcher Partners Winton 300 and VMRC Round 3 Preview
The third round of the Victorian Motor Racing Championship takes place from August 9-11 along with the annual Winton 300 endurance event. The Pitcher Partners Winton 300 has a new title sponsor this year and with a capacity grid of 40 cars it is set to be an incredible 100 lap race.
“It’s amazing to have Pitcher Partners jumping onboard as the title sponsor of the event this year,” said Stephen Whyte CEO of Winton Motor Raceway.“We've had a couple of people that have been instrumental in doing that, Charlie Viola from Pitcher Partners of course, but I’ve got to thank John Boston, he’s been very integral to the event this year.
“The commitment from Pitcher Partners looking after not only our event, but the Sydney 300, that's a real synergy that we'd like to build on, fantastic for the event, for the sport and obviously for the competitors.”
As the name suggests the enduro is held over 100 laps with one, two or three driver combinations taking to the Nation’s Action Track during the race.
Almost all cars are eligible from Production Cars, Super TT, Production Sports, Improved Production, BMW E30s, Porsche 944s, Mazda MX5s, Hyundai Excels and Nissan Pulsars, basically everything except for Supercars and GT machines.
The cars are put into classes based on performance, Division A is for cars that set times between 1:26.0000 to 1:30.9999, in the race they must perform 2 x 5-minute compulsory stops during the race.
The lower the division the less time that must be spent in the pit lane. Division E is the slowest, they are for cars slower than 1:42.0000, they only need to serve 1x 5-minute stop.The capacity grid contains high performing BMWs from M4s and M3s to 328is, to Mazda RX-7s and MX-5s, Toyota 86s and even a Lotus Exige.
“This race dates back to 1985 and I think endurance racing is on the way back, with a full grid it’s amazing for the event,” Whyte explained.“This is a good stepping stone for us to have really good entries and we're really looking forward to a great event.
“We’ve got some past winners back, a lot of cars and from right around the sport, as well as a couple of local chances.
“All of the classes are going to be really well supported from Class A to Class E. In fact, we often find that some of the most entertaining battles are those Class E battles.“Right across the board it looks like it's going to be a great race and it'll be so much to watch. I'm really, really proud that we're able to continue the history of having long distance events here at Winton.”
Aside from the race itself, the competitors have three practices on Friday, a warm up and qualifying on Saturday before the Top 10 Shootout, and then a final warm up before the race on Sunday.Outside of the enduro itself there are many national and sate level categories to enjoy.
Notably the Australian Super Truck Championship is back for Round 2, with nearly a dozen Kenworths, Scanias and Mack trucks blasting around the tight and twisty club circuit.
The trucks are always shaking up the order with reverse grid races, and truck team races in which the mechanics jump behind the wheel. Across the weekend they have four races for the regular drivers and two for the mechanics.The Australian Drivers’ Championship will contest its third round of the season as part of the Winton 300 weekend.
The championship has come under the AASA banner this year with an open-wheel category which sees drivers compete for glory in identical Hyper Racer X1 machines.Similar to modern day Formula 1 cars, the Hyper Racer X1s stick to the road using ground effects, but they aren’t just quick in the corners.Powered by Hayabusa motorcycle engines, the lightweight open-wheel cars produce over 500bhp per tonne.
Across the weekend they have a qualifying session and a race on Saturday, followed by three races on Sunday.Stock Cars feature on the Winton 300 support bill this year, these machines all have thumping V8 engines.
From NASCAR to AUSCARS and TA2 Muscle Cars, this category has the lot, it is a head-turner and a real fan favourite.There will be two Excel categories, Trophy for the young up and comers and Masters for the elder statemen and women.
One category that really suits the Winton layout is the two-litre Sports Sedans, there is always fantastic racing with a large variety of machines up front. Super TT is another class with huge variety and rounds out a huge support bill.
“We’ve got the trucks, we've got the Australian Drivers Championship, Super TT, Two-Litre Sports Sedans, there'll be a million Hyundais in two different grids,” Whyte chuckled.“We’ll have racing right across the weekend, the 300 will finish after five, it'll just be a massive, jam-packed weekend of racing with something for everyone.”
Friday admission is free, Saturday tickets cost $15, $20 for Sunday, with a weekend pass just $30, children under 16 enter for free. Tickets available online and at the gate. If you can’t make it in person, all of the racing will be livestreamed on Blend Line TV’s website and YouTube channel.