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Open Wheel Racing

Motorsport

Thoughts on Liam Lawson missing out a Alpha Tauri 2024 drive after they retained both Daniel Ricciardo & Yuki Tsunoda

by Sports Benches

Image Reference: Lucas Reich via Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 International

NZ’s Liam Lawson may be underrated at the moment thanks to his fill-ins for the injured Daniel Ricciardo in the other Alpha Tauri-RBPT Honda race car recently. But he will have to spend the next Formula 1 season as their reserve driver for all races after they retained both Riccardo & Yuki Tsunoda unless Williams can loan him out from Red Bull to replace Logan Sargeant, which is going to be less likely to happen now.

He’s done so well in qualifying as well as his race results that includes his first points finish of 9th last weekend in Singapore. Now he still has one Super Formula round to try and win a championship there towards the end of next month, but then that round clashes with the Mexico City GP should Daniel Ricciardo still not recover from his hand injury. It would’ve been better if Danny moved onto Williams; Unfortunately he’s there to help Yuki and the team out over the next year at this stage. There is nothing bad about Liam where he’s so highly rated, especially when he’s our of our Aussie neighbours across the Ditch.

After the announcement today, I guess he will come back better regardless of what happens in the short-term. Once Sergio Perez leaves in 2025, then we will be able to finally see Liam back out on track every round for AT to make a more meaningful impact with results on the board before the team’s switch to Ford from 2026. It’s never been a better time where not only we can see an Aussie in Oscar Piastri & Danny Ric battling up front, but it’s also good to see a Kiwi doing well too in Liam.

Whatever you do Red Bull, don’t waste his talent and lose him to another series. Although I wouldn’t mind if he did race at the Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans (top hypercar class) next year for the occasion.

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Motorsport

2022 Australian S5000 Open-Wheel Championship last weekend’s Season-Finale: Three different youngsters win three different races while Joey Mawson goes back-to-back champion despite a podium-less end to the season

by Sports Benches

Looking back from last weekend in the S5000 Open-Wheelers, it’s awesome to see a couple of youngsters sharing the top of the podium with three different winners throughout three different races at Hidden Valley in Darwin, NT.

We’ll start with 17-year-old Cooper Webster – who was off to a fantastic start with an easy win from 2nd on the front row in Race 1. Yes, he was gutted earlier during Race 2 on Sunday when he put the brakes too hard before Webster spun off while running 4th with eight laps left. But he recovered well nonetheless back in 2nd to wrap up two amazing podiums in both afternoon races.

We also give a shoutout to Kiwi Kaleb Ngatoa; he too began the weekend in 8th, having been midway through the field except P2 from Practice 1. He did have an outstanding Race 2 though where Ngatoa jumped ahead of Webster for the lead straight away & never looked back ever since with the win. Sadly, he got a massive hit by Blake Purdie in the third and final race weekend that saw him home with a damaged right front-wing in 9th.

Then there’s Aaron Cameron in the No.18 Garry Rogers Motorsport Open-Wheel machinery alongside his usual TCR Australia also for the same GRM team. He began the weekend with the final podium spot in Race 1 before Cameron was left out of the Top 3 at P4 earlier on Sunday morning and responded to that Race 2 setback really well en route to 1st.

It’s not only youngsters dominating the field, but there’s some established stars who are setting the benchmark as well. A. Cameron’s team-mate James Golding also responded from his P7 finish from the opening race Saturday with back-to-back Sunday podiums (P2 in Race 2 & P3 in Race 3).

And Joey Mawson is your drivers’ champion for the second straight time this year – despite having a podium-less run in Darwin; P4 in Race 1, P6 during Sunday AM & Race 3 DNF. Congrats to Joey as he’s got the Tasman Series next in sights that will take place this late October-early November.

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Motorsport

2022 RD3 of the Australian Motor Racing Series: Jett Johnson and Noah Sands too good once again in their respective categories at TA2 Muscle Cars & Australian Formula 3

by Sports Benches

Who can stop Jett Johnson right now? He was simply outstanding all Sunday long with three straight wins out of four here at Winton Motor Raceway in the TA2 Muscle Car category. Every time he has the chance to start and re-start the race from top spot, he was just too good to hold off on his own from start to finish. There is one bright young talent in the making with huge potential from Jett, having came from the famous Johnson Racing family background via his dad Steven and grandad Dick Johnson.

Dylan Thomas came home 2nd in the No.68 Ford Mustang for CXC Racing. He would’ve love to have a close sniff at Jett and put pressure on the young kid when it comes to the top spot battle, but he never looked out of place nonetheless with three straight P2 finishes on top of P5 from Race 1. And how good was Josh Haynes also in the No.17 Elvin Group Chevy Camaro! He started from the back of the grid in around 13th following the stall of Michael Coulter just before the green flag waved; He too had a brilliant when Haynes made up so many positions up to third. Although he may not had enough time to chase down the Top 2, but he’s certainly a huge threat if Haynes was right up there side-by-side with Dylan and Jett.

Plus a couple of mentions with Jackson Rice’s rebound in 4th following a late wreck earlier today with Mark Crutcher; Kyle Gurton back in the Top 5 when his Race 1 win followed up with a late mechanical issue that saw him battle at the back end of the field during Race 3; And although Zach Loscialpo would’ve like to stay running within the Top 3, he overcame an early spin down at Turn 2 where he finished 10th.

Then we round off with one of Australian Motor Racing Series’s core categories in the Australian Formula 3 Series at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria. The opening lap was wild when Ethan Brown couldn’t get the clutch going, while Mitch Neilson fired off with the early lead. However, Neilson lost top spot when he overcooked it at Turn 1 that cost him two spots in the eventual P3 position, despite being given a 20-second penalty as he finished well ahead of his R-Tek Motorsports team-mate in Roman Krumins.

In the end, it’s Noah Sands once again with the win. He credits the patience that created plenty of pressure to any driver ahead of him before Sands was able to get past through the gate and the rest is history en route to the chequered flag. And Race 1 winner Ryan Astley would’ve like the full-race momentum after the last two races today in a bid where he couldn’t stop the dangerous Noah Sands, but an all-podium finish in 3rd and 2nd respectively in Races 2 & 3 still shows that his rivalry with Sands isn’t over when it comes to the overall championship.

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries RD4: A mix of opening lap dramas and an easier finish by the respective leaders round off the weekend in Race 3 of the S5000, Trans-Am and TCR Australia at Sydney Motorsports Park

by Sports Benches

What a Sunday afternoon it has been to close out the weekend here at Sydney Motorsports Park in Round 4 of the 2022 ARG SpeedSeries. We’ll start off with the S5000s where Tim Macrow fired off well from pole before he was spun off by Nathan Herne that cost him a few places, while race officials handed Herne a drive-through penalty at the same time.

As the race goes on, we saw a brilliant battle for 1st between Aaron Cameron & Joey Mawson before Cameron completed his payback with the win following his unfortunate opening lap DNF by Mawson into the wall from Race 2 earlier today. And James Golding finished his Sunday spell with two podiums in 2nd & 3rd, having made up lost time from a DNF Race 1 yesterday over a steering issue.

Then there’s the same opening lap drama over in the Trans-Am this time at Turn 1, when the No.67 of Nash Morris touched the wall before he collected Lochie Dalton in No.45 out of the park that led to the next couple of laps under caution. In the end though, Owen Kelly remained unchallenged from start to finish in 1st that followed up from an excellent Race 2 during the night session yesterday. Race 1 winner Nathan Herne became the biggest mover when it comes to track position from 22nd on the grid to 2nd, while Ben Grice rounds off the podium in 3rd.

And we finish our huge Sunday afternoon of ARG SpeedSeries with the TCR Australia category. Nathan Morcom adds another podium finish on top of an excellent Sunday performance from P3 earlier during Race 2 today in the No.11 Hyundai i30 N, but this time he takes home with the win which ended his drought on top of the podium since November 2019 at the Bend in South Australia. He did an excellent job getting around polesitter Jordan Cox on the inside line straight away from 2nd spot before he never looked back ever since, while team-mate Josh Buchan in the sister No.30 machinery completed a 1-2 sweep for their HMO Customer Racing team. And Cox would’ve liked to hunt down the HMO cars all race long, but he’s happy to prevent an all Hyundai Top 3 when he passed Luke King on the final lap for 3rd.

#SpeedSeriesAU #Motorsport #S5000 #TCRAustralia #TransAm #OwenKelly #AaronCameron #NathanMorcom #JoshBuchan #Hyundai #GarryRogersMotorsport #FordMustang #EasternCreek #HMOCustomerRacing

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries: Youngsters Jay Hanson (TCR Australia) & Cooper Webster (S5000) take out the win in their respective categories during Race 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park

by Sports Benches

It was an easy run from Jay Hanson who dominated Race 2 comfortably in the No.9 Audi RS3 for Melbourne Performance Centre here at Sydney Motorsports Park.

He did a brilliant job holding off a four-wide pursuit at the start which was incredible to watch, before he never looked back as the race leader upfront.

Joining Hanson was the two Hyundai i30s in Luke King (No.2 Moutai) & Nathan Morcom (No.11 HMO Customer Racing) in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Now King may have got in a bit of contact with Tony D’Alberto over in the No.50 Wall Racing Honda Civic earlier on but it didn’t affect him too much as he kept racing all the way in 2nd.

Then we go into the S5000s also in Race 2 with some drama at the start/finish straight when Joey Mawson sent Aaron Cameron over to the wall, as Cameron was unable to race on just moments after the race began. But the highlight though belongs to Cooper Webster in the No.37 Versa Motorsport machinery who was just too good unchallenged from start to finish; he too gets his first win of the year which is an incredible moment to remember from this teenager. And James Golding did a great job passing Tim Macrow for the battle for 2nd where Macrow overcooked it out wide at Turn 6 where that kind of patience paid ahead of him.

Can’t wait for Race 3 later this afternoon with a mix of S5000s, Trans-Am & TCR Australia.

#SpeedSeriesAU #TCRAustralia #Motorsport #S5000 #SydneyMotorsportsPark #JayHanson #Audi #Hyundai #LukeKing #NathanMorcom #CooperWebster #JamesGolding #TimMacrow #EasternCreek

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries, 9Gem to show the twilight Saturday event showcasing the TCR Australia live at Sydney Motorsports Park

by Sports Benches

I just read a source from Media Spy earlier this week that 9Gem will show live ARG SpeedSeries racing once again next Saturday on 5.30 to 7.30 pm at Sydney Motorsports Park.

There will be twilight TCR Australia in action as the main event to close it out under the lights alongside the Trans-Am muscle cars and S5000 Open-Wheelers.

All of these races for next weekend’s event via Free to air will only cover Race 1, but there’s no mention of the Sunday races which will most likely be a Stan Sport Exclusive & a two-hour highlights recap on 9Gem/9Go the following weekend.

It’s great to have some live motorsport on for free where we’ll get to see the TCR cars to race under the lights which is a huge must see event.

Hats off to Nine Entertainment for allocating that early Saturday evening slot for their free 9Gem digital channel to the organisers at Australian Racing Group, before Stan Sport & 9Gem heads straight off to the Super Rugby at Leichhardt Oval between the Waratahs v Blues in the regular-season finale clash before the knockout rounds begin on 3rd-4th June.

Although I’d personally love to attempt double duty by also heading straight from the track to the stadium in person myself, but I will be on-site as a spectator for the Tahs’ season-finale game v Blues.

However, I will be attending Sydney Motorsport Park for the Sunday races in person which is going to be a perfect way to finish my busy sports viewing weekend right in front of the action.

And we can’t forget the UEFA Champions League soccer Final on Sunday morning between Liverpool v Real Madrid, as well as the big Sunday of racing starting with Formula 1s in Monaco just before overnight, then the Indy 500 in the early hours of Monday morning & finish it off with NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on Monday lunchtime.

Let’s hope Nine and ARG can surprise us later this year with the Bathurst season-finale live on 9Gem like it was back in February with the season-opener from Symmons Plains in Tasmania, since the Bathurst 6 Hour and its support categories was a Stan Sport exclusive last month.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on when the ARG SpeedSeries highlights from Phillip Island was supposed to be on air this AM on 9Gem

by Sports Benches

I’ve tried to tune in to 9Gem this morning & watch a bit of the two-hour Round 2 ARG SpeedSeries highlights package from Phillip Island. However, I saw normal repeated programming instead, such as a quiz show named Pointless and a classic TV drama.

I don’t know what happened as to why Nine chose to remove from their schedule so late, but it’s still a lack of promise for the fans to those who don’t have the money to subscribe to Stan Sport.

Yes, it’s frustrating not to watch every ARG SpeedSeries race live like it was last season and 2019.

However, the need of $$$ to keep the series afloat amongst teams, drivers and organisers across several categories ARG runs for 6-7 events a year, has to be necessary at the end of the day, as well as benefitting an increase of genuine TV production coverage.

It’s these times we have to get used to it from now on where the good ol’ heydays of watching free-to-air motorsport non-stop are over.

Now I see two more viewing opportunities to watch the Round 2 highlights this Saturday (12.30-2.30pm) and Sunday afternoon (1.30-3.30pm) on 9Go.

But we already know the results from a week earlier by then as this isn’t a great idea to reach out to new audiences like that, especially when most of the content now is behind a paywall.

It’s better to go for a 90-minute highlights package of every other round on Tuesday night at 7.30 pm on either 9Gem or 9Go, as suggested last week.

That way, it’ll be a perfect time to help introduce a casual sports viewer to have a first look at this series, or a die-hard motorsport fan, who may not have a Stan Sport subscription, but can relive these moments from the weekend’s event.

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Motorsport

2022 ARG SpeedSeries Round 2 weekend review with the TCR Australia, Trans-Am & S5000 from Phillip Island

by Sports Benches

If the Australian Superbikes weekend at Queensland Raceway wasn’t enough to keep you excited, why not look back at four-wheel action over in Phillip Island for the ARG SpeedSeries.

We’ll start with the S5000 Open-Wheelers when James Golding enjoyed a fantastic Friday and Saturday run on-track. Not only was Golding 1st in all two practice sessions & qualifying, but he dominated Race 1 from start to finish. Although his Sunday spell wasn’t the same, at least he finished in the Top 5 all weekend long at 5th in Race 2 with four spots behind Tim Macrow & 2nd to Joey Mawson in Race 3. And 17-year-old Cooper Webster was again outstanding to stand on the podium all weekend long (3rd in Race 1 & 3). Webster was close to securing his first race win in this category earlier today on Race 2, but he’s sure he will keep his eye on the prize in a few weeks at Albert Park.

Next up is the Trans-Am muscle cars in a series of three wild races on show. We look back at this last-lap battle in Race 1 between Nathan Herne & polesitter Ben Grice for the chequered flag; when Herne benefited from these safety car restarts & overtook Grice on the inside line that sealed the winning move en route to victory lane. Meanwhile, we go into Sunday AM for Race 2 with Owen Kelly as the race winner. But it’s Herne who rebounded back on top of the podium in Race 3, which reflected his super weekend at Phillip Island in the No.1 Ford Mustang for Garry Rogers Motorsport.

And we round off with the Touring Car Australia category as this 18-year-old Jay Hanson is a bright whizkid in the No.9 Audi RS3 for Melbourne Performance Centre. He was fastest in Practice 1 and Qualifying before Hanson dominated the entire field from Pole in Race 1 against a mix of more experienced racers with the Saturday afternoon win. But Sunday is all about Fabian Coulthard in the No.24 Stan Sport Honda Civic Type R machinery for Wall Racing, where he collected back-to-back race wins through a fantastic display in Races 2 & 3. Also last but not least, well done to Ben Bargwanna with the rebound throughout Sunday in the No.71 Peugeot 308, after he finished on the podium twice (Races 2 & 3) for Burson Racing.

The S5000s will head off Albert Park in Victoria alone as part of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix support categories on April 7-10. We will see these open-wheelers re-join the ARG group on May 27-29 at Sydney Motorsports Park. On the other hand, TCR Australia and Trans-Am will be part of the Bathurst 6 Hour International schedule on April 15-17 at Mount Panorama Circuit.

If you’re lucky enough to pay $20 a month to watch Stan Sport or if you’re a subscriber right now, go and relive the highlights from this weekend and the previous round from Symmons Plains Raceway before waiting for the next race in Bathurst in a few weeks. Otherwise, the only opportunity to catch these midweek highlights for free is Wednesday from 10 am-12 pm on 9Gem.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on the ARG SpeedSeries free to air highlights on Wednesday morning next week on 9Gem

by Sports Benches

I just checked the TV guide today via the Foxtel website, where the free-to-air highlights of the 2022 ARG SpeedSeries season will be on Wednesday, March 23 at 10 am-12 pm on 9Gem.

Speedcafe reported before the season began last month that the ARG SpeedSeries highlights for the remaining six rounds on 9Gem throughout the year would slot during midweek on prime time, as a way to grow the series’ fanbase, as well as increase exposure to competitors, teams and advertisers.

Unfortunately, it’s going to play on a daytime morning which means most people would have to miss out due to work, with no on-demand content to view afterwards on the free 9Now streaming service.

Perhaps, it would be best slotted for 90 minutes between 7.30 to 9 pm on a Tuesday via 9Gem; that way, it would be a perfect time to help motorsport and causal sports fans reflect the high and low moments from the usual race weekend.

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Other Sports

Looking back at the 2022 IndyCar season-opener highlights race on 9Go, with Scott McLaughlin as the race winner for Team Penske

by Sports Benches

I just had the chance to watch a bit of the IndyCar highlights today on 9Go, where I took a few shots of Sunday’s season-opener round (Monday morning here) that was held from a street circuit in St Petersburg, Florida.

Hats off through a fantastic drive from Kiwi & 3 x Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin, who sealed his first IndyCar race win for the No.3 Penske Chevy, during Race 1 of 17 in the new season. Not only he dominated final practice and qualifying, where he started from pole but also on race day, having fended off a fiercely competitive battle against reigning champion Alex Palou in the No.10 Ganassi Honda, who hails from Spain.

And once he got into the podium/victory lane, we loved how he reached out to those back in Australia during the post-race interview, where they are experiencing a tough time right now with the ongoing floods over in Queensland and New South Wales. He also mentioned how he missed seeing his parents by his side from Cambridge, NZ, who were unable to attend his races or see their son in person right now for over two years due to COVID. Glad to see them chat once again via facetime, as McLaughlin not only hopes to bring home the famous Indy 500 in late May but also the series’ title.

Great race to reflect with Australia’s own Leigh Diffey calling the shots for NBC Sports, which is the host commentary feed we get for IndyCar globally.

This series is moving onto an oval layout now at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for Round 2 of 17, as the next race will be on Monday, March 21 (Sunday, March 20 over in the USA) at 3-4 am AEDT via paid streaming service on Stan Sport. You can either try out Stan Sport on a seven-day free trial or pay $20 a month on top of the basic Stan package. Otherwise, 9Go will be back airing highlights of Race 2 from Texas free of charge at 2-3 pm on Thursday, March 24.

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