CAMS Offices (Sports House) Cnr. Caxton & Castlemaine Streets, Milton Q 4064. Meeting Start - 7.45pm approx. Pre Meeting Drinkies and Feed up at the Paddo Tavern as usual.
Queenslanders Lee Castle and Jake Camilleri will be looking to maximise their home-track advantage when the Australian Manufacturers Championship hits Warwick’s Morgan Park Raceway this weekend, in Round Seven of the Shannons Nationals.
Castle and Camilleri are front-runners in the Boylan Traffic Solutions-sponsored championship, one of seven categories taking part in Morgan Park’s first-ever national level race meeting.
A throwback to the formative years of the Bathurst 1000 which featured production cars in a ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ battle, the Australian Manufacturers Championship features a diverse crop of cars.
This weekend’s 20-car field at Morgan Park includes models of different shapes and sizes from Mitsubishi, Subaru, Holden, Ford, Mini, Toyota, Mazda and BMW, all hitting the track in a class-based format.
Gold Coast resident Castle and Brisbane’s Camilleri are both race winners in the championship, having dominated their respective classes in rookie campaigns last year.
At a new venue for the championship, prior experience for the pair could help them move up the championship standings after mixed starts to the season.
Castle led his class and was second in the outright championship heading to Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway a fortnight ago, but a mechanical problem sidelined his Subaru WRX STi in Race One.
He recovered to claim a pair of fourth-place finishes in the subsequent races, but slipped to second in class and fourth in the outright points.
“We’ve done a lot of laps of Morgan Park, so we want to capitalise on that this weekend,” Castle said.
“It will be the first time this year we’ve visited a track we know, and it will be a new circuit for most of the other drivers.
“The tight layout will suit our four-wheel-drive Subaru, so we’re looking forward to having a strong round and clawing back some points.”
Castle drives for Gold Coast outfit Wilson Brothers Racing - headed up by experienced local competitors Cameron and Benn Wilson.
The team recently became the official motorsport ambassadors for the Cure Cancer Australia Foundation, a cause close to the brothers, who lost their mother to cancer 20 years ago.
Camilleri was one of the revelations of 2008, punching above his weight in a Mazda 3 MPS - a previously unproven car in the category.
In his first season aboard a production car, Camilleri regularly finished ahead of more powerful vehicles to win his class and finish fourth in the overall championship.
While Camilleri leads Class B after two rounds, 2009 hasn’t been all smooth sailing - he’s sixth in the overall championship after a mechanical problem in Round One and a crash in Round Two.
"We’re looking forward to our home round, and hopefully a change of luck,” Camilleri said.
“All of the signs are good, we’ve got plenty of experience at Morgan Park and it’s a technical circuit, which won’t give the big V8s a chance to use of their power advantage.
“Even though we’re racing in one of the slower classes, we’re chasing outright race wins, hopefully we can get some more on the board this weekend.”
Sydney’s Garry Holt (BMW 335i) leads the championship heading to Morgan Park, ahead of dual Bathurst 12 Hour winner Rod Salmon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X).
The Boylan Traffic Solutions Australian Manufacturers Championship will be part of a seven-category program at Morgan Park this weekend.
They will be joined by the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Kumho Australian Saloon Car Series, CUE Production Sports Cars, Kerrick Queensland Sports Sedans, Rockpress Pacific Superkart Challenge and Holden Gemini Challenge.
On-track action starts at 8am on Saturday with racing from 1:20pm, ahead of a full program of races on Sunday from 8:30am.
Tickets are just $15 on Saturday and $30 on Sunday, or $35 for the weekend, while kids under 14 are free all weekend.
If you can't make it to Morgan Park, you can follow us on Twitter to receive live, trackside updates all weekend.
For more information about the 2009 Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships, visit www.thenationals.com.au.
