2021 Round 1 Preview
Following a frustrating and truncated 2020 season, the Brisbane Collision Centre Queensland Touring Car Championship returns this weekend, with Lakeside Park playing host to the opening round of the 2021 season.
It’s been five months since Matthew Haak wrapped up the 2020 title, and while there’s been a sizeable gap in the racing schedule, there’s been no shortage of activity, both on and off the circuit, as drivers and teams prepare for the new season.
For some, the work has been done behind closed doors, with repairs and maintenance the order of the day for the off-season, while others have conducted no shortage of testing, in a bid to work on their setups, or find some pace, ahead of this weekend’s season launch.
Currently, thirty-three entries have been received for the opening round of the new campaign - the first of six rounds this season, of which only two will be staged at Lakeside Park.
There’s significant change coming to the Queensland Touring Car Championship this season, including a small class restructure.
For the past three seasons, the field has been split into three classes: Group A1, Group A2 and Group B.
In an attempt to simplify that, for 2021, Group A1 becomes Group A, Group A2 becomes Group B, and Group B now becomes Group C.
Each group will be colour-coded in 2021, with three different colours of racing numbers to be displayed across competitors windscreens, in a move that will help spectators decipher who’s running in which class group.
Elsewhere, calls, from this category at least, for the return of two-day events throughout season 2021, mostly fell on deaf ears. Of the six scheduled rounds, just two (Rounds 3 and 4) will be run over a weekend, with Rounds 1, 2, 5 and 6 to be crammed into a single day – the latter three all on Saturdays at Queensland Raceway – and that in itself could end up having significant championship implications, for more than one reason.
Firstly, to accommodate the now crammed scheduling of these events, some rounds of the championship will only be contested over THREE races, instead of the traditional FOUR.
Elsewhere, as we know, Motorsport isn’t a cheap game. One-day meetings are fraught with danger, and can end up being a rather costly exercise.
One of the main benefits of two-day meetings in the past, is that if a competitor finds trouble at any point during Saturday, either the damage or mechanical issue can be looked at on the Saturday night, and, with any luck, the car can be back on the grid on Sunday morning, and you can attempt to salvage something out of the weekend.
With one-day events, you lose that opportunity, and if you find trouble early in the program, your day is done, and it becomes an expensive day at the office, with nothing to show for the investment you’ve made, especially when viewed as a ‘value for money’ situation.
These one-day events are high pressure days at the office, for competitors and crews alike, with limited turnaround time, between each on-track session, so by going from four races to three, it buys everyone a little more time for preparation, and hopefully saves some wear and tear on their very well prepared and presented cars.
Consequently, with less races comes more pressure, less points scoring opportunities, therefore less margin for error. Finishing every race has never been more important, if you want to consider yourself a championship contender in 2021.
On the subject of championship contenders, Matthew Haak enters 2021 as the man to beat, after a dominant display last year saw him crowned 2020 champion, and by a comfortable margin. It was sheer reward for consistency, patience and perseverance, after a difficult second-half of the 2019 campaign saw the A2 title slip from his grasp.
If there’s one competitor that’s expected to give Haak a run for his money this season, it’s Saxon Moyes, who claimed one round win in 2020, along with several races wins.
Getting on top of some mechanical gremlins will be the key to his success in 2021, as we know his BMW has the pace, on its day, to match it with the best.
Another BMW pilot, who proved consistency was king in 2020, was John Swarbrooke. Pommie John was second outright in the championship, at the end of the truncated, five-round season, just 205 points clear of Dean McMahon, although well behind Matthew Haak, who won the championship by an astonishing 2374 points.
After progressing through the ranks, both Cameron Haak and Simon Winters will feature in Class A – the outright class – this weekend.
Winters recently revealed his 2021 challenger, to much praise from colleagues and competitors alike. The former Track Attack Australia Excel Cup racer will sport a BOOST MOBILE livery this season.
Elsewhere, Steven Harris brings the Nissan Bluebird back to the grid, while Shannon Cane will be missing from this opening round, as work continues on her car, in readiness for a return to the grid in May.
In Group B (formerly A2), Rod Droder, Michael Woodcroft and Les Hanifin lead a Holden brigade desperate to the BMW entries in their place, and good to see another category favourite in Gary Anger back on the grid as well, in his purple and silver commodore.
In Group C, a couple of Italian Challenge graduates, in Ettore and Alessandro Vosolo join the grid. Ettore will be behind the wheel of a BMW E30, while Alessandro pilots a BMW 325i.
It's always a strong, competitive field, in the lower class, and 2021 is no exception.
Andrew Knight will, once again, be one to beat, while Mark Hyde is back on the grid, in a brand new Ford Escort, after being involved in a nasty shunt at Lakeside back in September, that saw the old one written off.
For fans that can’t be trackside, you’ll be able to catch all the action via the QLD Touring Car Championship Facebook page, and YouTube channel, plus Ipswich’s live and local online radio station, West Bremer Radio, will have comprehensive coverage from EVERY ROUND of the season, hosted by Zak Caban.
Competitors will hit the track for unofficial practice on Saturday, before Sunday’s track activity gets underway, from 9:30am local time.
For the Queensland Touring Car Championship, the program consists of one 15-minute qualifying session, and just THREE 8-lap races.
The opening round will therefore be contested over just 24 laps, or 57.84km of racing. The corresponding round last year was contested over four 12-lap races (48 laps | 115.68km) – exactly double the amount of racing competitors and spectators can look forward to on Sunday.
Because of the truncated nature of this program, as far as the number of races, and the length of them is concerned, the 15-minute qualifying session has never been more important.
