The Phillip Island Circuit was certainly the place to be this weekend, with an eye-catching line up of cars taking to the track to race it out pedal-to-the-metal in round three of the Shannons SpeedSeries.

The jam-packed schedule featured six categories, all of which gave us lean, mean action across the entirety of the weekend: the Fanatec GT World Challenge, National Trans Ams, Supercheap Auto TCR’s, S5000’s, V8 Touring cars and the combined Production Cars/Monochrome GT4’s.

You've got to admit, there's nothing quite like feeling that crisp, cold morning air hitting your face, hearing the engines gradually start-up in the garages one by one, until they almost harmonise in a symphony of horsepower, powerful enough that you can feel it reverberate throughout your body, the stench of race fuel and exhaust fumes progressively getting stronger as the day goes by and gradually morphing with the ever lingering smell of burnt rubber - it's an atmosphere that can't quite be re-created anywhere else.

The Shannons SpeedSeries is an absolute treat for car fanatics, with such a plethora of on-track categories there's bound to be something for everyone, whether you're a fan of open wheelers, hot hatches or aggressive American muscle that just about breaks the sound barrier - it's guaranteed, you'll have a blast.

Practice sessions

Kicking off the event on Friday morning was the combined Production Cars and Monochrome GT4’s, with Porsche Cayman pilot Shane Smollen dominating the time charts, qualifying in pole position and taking the first race win of the weekend that same afternoon.

The Kumho V8 Touring Cars were next off the bat with New South Wales’ James Tilley taking the top timing spot in both practice sessions. The Ford Falcon driver managed to break away from the pack by more than a second that morning, he then proceeded to out-do himself in the afternoon’s practice session, claiming a fastest lap of 1:35.21.

As the Super 2’s returned to their garages the Trans Ams took to the track, to which James Moffat in his Ford Mustang claimed his fastest times during both morning and afternoon practice sessions.

Following on from the Trans Ams, the GT’s were quick to follow suit with Austrian, Maximilian Hofer driving his Audi R8 to a fastest lap time during the morning session. This however, was short lived with the M-Motorsport Mercedes AMG driven by duo Justin McMillan and Glen Wood claiming a time of 1:28.46 just hours later.

Sessions one and two of the S5000’s were a close claim to fastest lap time/s, with James Golding piloting his Garry Rogers Motorsport powered open wheeler to the top number during both sessions that were separated by just mere tenths of a second.

As the S5000 field headed back to their respective garages, the faint sound of turbo flutters could be heard reverberating across the track, one after the other. The TCR’s top timing results were claimed by Tony D’Alberto in his Honda Civic during both sessions, with session one leaving just under half a second of separation between second fastest on the charts, Zac Soutar in his Audi RS3. Session two left just over half a second between Tony and Bailey Sweeny, piloting the Hyundai i30N hatch.

Results overview

Fanatec GT World Challenge

Race one of the GT Challenge in the early afternoon of day two, saw first place taken by Porsche 911 driver duo Yasser Shahin and Garnett Patterson, Ross Poulakis and Jayden Ojeda piloted their Mercedes AMG to second place, along with father/son duo Brenton and Stephen Grove powering their Porsche 911 to third.

Race two, the following day, saw first place of the 36 lap race taken out by Geoff Emery and Max Hofer, following closely behind was Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross in their Audi R8, along with Yasser Shahin and Garnett Patterson taking third place.

National Trans Am Series

With the Ford Mustung’s dominating over the Chevrolet Camaro’s all weekend, it’ll come as no surprise that all three races’ podium winners were ‘Stang drivers, Owen Kelly took out top spot in race one, along with Nash Morris claiming victory in both race two and three, which saw a dog-eat-dog battle during race three alongside James Moffat who took out second place in race three by less than a tenth of a second.

S5000 Australian Drivers Championship

Race one of the open wheelers saw first place taken out by Joey Mawson, along with Cooper Webster and James Golding following closely behind in second and third. Race two and three saw Cooper Webster take a well-deserved double first place, James Cooper took second place in race two, and third in three. Whereas Joey Mawson took third in second, and second in third.

Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series

Saturday afternoon’s race was dominated by Josh Buchan in his Hyundai i30N who confidently took out first place, Lachlan Mineeff in the Forza Brakes Audi RS3 pulled second, along with Aaron Cameron in his Valvoline Peugeot who worked his way up through the field into third place.

Race two saw Michael Clemente push to first place in his Cupra, second and third place were taken out by Jordan Cox and Ben Bargwanna, both piloting Peugeot’s respectively. The final race of the weekend saw Josh Buchan once again take a race win, with Michael Clemente placing second, and Ben Bargwanna in third.

Mobil 1 Production Cars and Monochrome GT4 Series

Porsche Cayman driver, Shane Smollen dominated all four races across the entirety of the weekend, taking first place consistently. Race one saw Karl Begg and Tony Quinn take second and third place. Race two saw Tony Quinn in second and Mark Griffith in third, race three once again saw Tony Quinn in second, with BMW driver Steve Jukes in third, race four saw Steve Jukes in second and Tony Quinn in third.

Kumho V8 Touring Car Series

Both race one and two of the Touring Cars saw Jude Bargwanna take victory, steering his Ford Falcon to first place. Race three saw him place third to which Jamie Tilley took first place. Jim Pollicina in his Holden Commodore consistently took out second place in all three races along with Ray Hislop taking third in race one, and Antonio Molluso taking third in race two.