Only a couple of weeks after their Sports Car prototype cousins raced at Le Mans, Round 3 of the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wale Supersports Championship takes place on Saturday 25th of June at Sydney Motorsport Park, with 25 Supersports cars Qualifying early in the day and racing through into the evening under the track’s $10M lighting system.
There are two classes in the Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship, and the points are equal for each class, so Class 1 (Radical SR3) drivers and Class 2 (CN, 6SR, and Group 2C) drivers have an equal shot to win the Championship.
With Mark Brame leading the outright pointscore in his Class 1 Radical SR3 on 88 points, then Peter White (Class 2 First Focus Radical SR3) on 83 points, and Darren Barlow (reigning Champion, Class 2 Stohr WF1) on 79 points, will both need to throw everything at each other in Class 2 to cross the line first in Class 2, which will be mandatory to keep Mark within reach.
Peter and Darren would be unwise to focus solely on each other in the pointscore race because their other Class 2 competitors have been slowly closing the speed gap as the last few Rounds have progressed.
Steve Roberts in his Austwide Freight Radical SR8 (74 points), Simon Copping in his rapidly accelerating West WX10 (62 points), Alex Kenny in his Regulator Automation/Sydney Composites Juno CN2015 (55 points), Paul Palmer in his Stohr WF1 (40 points), and Ryan Godfrey in his brand new carbon chassis Ready Set Reline Plumbing Wolf Tornado S.
Aaron Lee in his Class 2 West WR1000 (39 points) is returning after missing Round 2 last April with Covid, and he has since been upgrading his early generation West to make it even more competitive after audaciously challenging the front runners at Round 1 in February. Round 3 will also see the Supersports debut of Adam Brook in his Aurora Racing West WR1000 in Class 2.
Mark Brame of course will need to keep the nose of his Radical SR3 in front of his fellow Class 1 competitors to keep his outright points lead safe. However, Steve Shiels (Radical SR3) on 73 points, Jonathon Canavan (Radical SR3) on 70 points, and Stephen Champion (Champion’s Business Growth Advisors Radical SR3), are within reach of taking a haul of points if Mark falters.
A larger pack of SR3 drivers follow Mark, Steve, Jonathon, and Stephen, in the pointscore, many not having had the smoothest possible run in the first two Rounds of the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship, although still showing competitive lap times.
Craig McLatchey (52), Paul Royal (43), Kosta Pohorukov (40), Warwick Morris (39), Sue Hughes (37), Brad Nielson (37), Peter Clare (28), Audi GT driver Ash Samadi (20), Greg Kenny (17), Porsche GT driver Andrew Macpherson (12), and former V8 Supercar driver Brian Walden (9), are all regularly only fractions of a second apart with their fastest lap times.
Sue Hughes in particular has been on the verge of adding more speed to her usual consistency, and Sue could catch some Supersports drivers unawares if they aren’t at peak condition.
There are more than a few highlights for Round 3 of the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship, with Audi LMS driver, Nick Kelly, making his first appearance in the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship in Round 3, driving his new Roler Radical SR10. Nick always races near the front, and his long awaited return in the Radical SR10, will be an ominous dimension to the Supersports races.
Also, one of Australia’s best known Radical engineers and drivers, Josh Peacock of RA Motorsport, will be making a long awaited return to Supersports racing after his racing car preparation business commitments have diverted him from steering his own Radical SR3 in competition.
In addition, the usually dominant and feisty Neale Muston will be making his first appearance in the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship in his Radical SR8, while Tailem Bend’s JAM Motorsport will be returning to Sydney Motorsport Park for the third time in less than three months, with the always competitive Mark Lauke and John Paul Drake ready to fight for race wins in their Wolfs (Tornado and Mistrale).
The Le Mans prototype style Supersports cars are always the fastest field of cars at every NSW Motor Racing Championship race meeting, with speeds in excess of 250km/h down the Sydney Motorsport Park main straight, and with pole times generally faster than a V8 Supercar. Supersports racing is at the top level, and takes high levels of character and skill to get in the driver’s seat and drive fast, and this makes the 2022 Industrie Clothing New South Wales Supersports Championship a serious drivers championship.
The New South Wales Supersports competitors will be throwing their garage doors open at Sydney Motorsport Park on June 25 and will welcome anyone who wants to learn more about the Supersports cars – how they are just about the fastest closed wheel cars racing in Australia – and the competition.
For anyone interested in joining the New South Wales Supersports for the day and the night races, please contact Darren Barlow on 0439 044 128, or go to the New South Wales Supersports Facebook page and PM. New South Wales Supersports will provide tickets for you.
Also on the program with the Supersports are the patriotic HQ Holdens, Formula V, screaming Improved Production cars, exotic Production Sports Cars, everyday Production Touring Cars with a huge 40 cars, and the lightning quick Superkarts.
With racing going on into the evening, Supersports thanks Australian Racing Drivers Cub and all their officials for always putting on great racing meetings.
