As we wind down for 2023 we'd like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, supporters and surfers who frequent our website. We hope you enjoy our images, views and opinions as much as we love compiling them.  Although we have never professed to be anything more than photographic enthusiasts, we trust you find our photography tips and camera exposure settings useful to assist you with furthering your photography. 
    We'd also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas. This time of year is a wonderful opportunity to give, share, reflect and above all celebrate the joyous arrival of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ into this world. Remember to be grateful for all our blessings and where they come from. To us the gift of family is the most cherished. We pray for all those struggling and enduring trying times. Our heartfelt best wishes go out to you. We'd also like to wish you all a very happy and exciting New Year.
    Thank you for your continuing support. It is greatly appreciated. We'll be back to commence our 13th year of publishing this website featuring our traditional opening to the motorsport year with our coverage of the Bathurst 12 Hour from Mt Panorama. What can be better than international GT3 spec motorsport at Bathurst? Remember if you want to drive fast, take it to the track and keep it on the black stuff. See you in 2024. God bless.
    
    

    As the motorsport season winds up for 2023 and we head into the Advent calendar approaching Christmas, we feel it's appropriate to acknowledge and celebrate some of the various winners of categories we follow and post photographs of on this website.
    Supercars crowned a new champion in Brodie Kostecki. Once a maiden win was acquired early in the season, he was the leading frontrunner throughout the entire campaign, winning a deserved title for the popular Erebus team. A future heavy hitter for seasons to come in Australia's premier category.
    Congratulations to Aaron Cameron for winning his inaugural Gold Star in S5000. The top prize in Australian motorsport for open wheel categories. A versatile racer who also competes in TCR Australia Series.
    Persistence exemplified in James Moffatt. A distinguished lengthy career in numerous categories has finally netted him his first national championship. This was achieved competing in National Trans Am.
    Kudos to Josh Buchan in wrapping up the TCR Australia Series title for HMO Customer Racing at the Bathurst International. Proving that's it's never over until the final chequered flag, he came from behind to defeat the unfortunate Bailey Sweeny and hold off a late offensive from defending champ Tony D'Alberto. We did however find it intriguing that the international drivers of the TCR World Tour heavily populated the podium at both Sydney Motorsport Park and Mt Panorama. We love it when the internationals come Down Under to bolster the racing ranks.
    Finally, are we witnessing something very special in Formula One? Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races securing both the constructor's crown and a 1-2 in the driver's title. Max Verstappen won an unprecedented 19 races to become a triple world champion. He has joined such illustrious names like Fangio, Brabham, Stewart, Lauda, Piquet, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton. Scary thing is, Verstappen is still only 26. Could we be watching F1 history in the making? To those that suggest that the current level of dominance demonstrated renders F1 a little lacklustre, we could be looking back in years to come asking, "Remember when....?"
      
    

    Formula One teams are in the business of racing. F1 drivers get paid to race. With the advent of the Sprint in 2021, we now enjoy more racing than ever over the course of a Grand Prix weekend. The Sprint is a third of the distance of the GP (100kms) and is contested on a Saturday. 2023 saw 6 events incorporate the Sprint. The majority of drivers are largely in favour. The teams seem to relish it as they only get one practise session and then straight into qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix, therefore rewarding the teams that are better prepared and able to react on the fly and exposing the lesser. The cream always rises to the top. But can the weekend format be improved upon?
    Delving into some research and mulling over our own deliberations, we also probed a few of our colleagues. The popular opinion is that 6 events with the Sprint is about the right number. Contrarily, there's conjecture as to whether there's enough build up to the Grand Prix itself? Has the value of a GP been diminished? Currently points are awarded in the Sprint down to 8th place and count for the Driver's and Constructor's Championships. Couldn't GP victory prestige be restored by simply awarding points in the Sprint only for the Constructor's Championship? The drivers would be reminded of who their employers are, and that F1 is a team sport. They would still race as hard as they are professional and the best in the world. Plus when the visor comes down....
    The other point that warrants debate is by the time the GP comes around on Sunday, can anyone remember from Friday who qualified where? Would a reshuffle of proceedings be more beneficial to intensify the build up to the GP? By that we mean moving qualifying for the Sprint, the Sprint Shootout, to Friday afternoon, the Sprint to Saturday lunch time, and keeping GP qualifying in its traditional Saturday afternoon allocation, with the GP of course on Sunday. This fully separates the Sprint from the GP. There's no doubt the current elimination style down to a top 10 final qualifying format is largely successful, but is the Sprint Shootout adopting the same format just too much of a good thing? We're not ashamed to say that we were fans of the old I hour free for all qualifying of a few years back. Remember when the top combatants would outdo each other by laying down benchmarks as track conditions improved, only for Messrs Senna or Schumacher to come out and blow them all away? To differentiate the Sprint from the GP, the Sprint Shootout could adopt such a qualifying format. To avoid a lack of running in the first 20 minutes like yesteryear, F1 can simply mandate that all teams have to attempt a minimum of one run every 15 minutes. 
    One thing's for sure. The Sprint is here to stay. At least for the short to medium term but with definite room for improvement. Now if only we can get drivers pushing all the time instead of managing tyres....  

    Early morning fog rolls down forming a shroud. As the rising spring sun mercilessly burns off the fog to atmospheric oblivion, something menacing, yet inviting is revealed. The Mountain! This weekend, Supercars marquee event, the Bathurst 1000 is on at Mt Panorama, Bathurst. If the mountain could talk, what tales of triumph and heartache it could regale.
    This year celebrates 60 years of The Great Race with the distance changing from 500 miles to 1000kms in 1973. We always wax lyrically at this time of year, as we love the intrigue of endurance racing, and we make no apologies for that.         
    Remember when Peter Brock and Jim Richards scored pole position, led every lap, fastest lap on the last lap and won by a mammoth 6 laps? What about Allan Moffat and Colin Bond's emphatic formation finish in their Ford XC Falcons? Perhaps you remember Kevin Bartlett's highly fancied Nine's Wide World Of Sports Camaro rolling at Reid Park? Or Tomas Mezera's or Fabian Coulthard's dramatic barrel roles at The Chase? Paul Radisich's violent incident at the exit of The Chase forced a reprofiling of the fence for future races, or John Cleland sliding to a race ending stop on the roof of his Falcon after crashing into a limping Jason Plato at the same spot. The internationals have certainly left an indelible mark.
​    One poignant moment was Jim Richards lambasting booing and baying punters with , "You're all a pack of #@*%" on the podium with a youthful Mark Skaife looking on. This was after the race was red flagged after multiple crashes in atrocious conditions including the Richards/ Skaife car, so the winner was declared from the previous lap, plus they just happened to be in a Nissan GTR, affectionately known as Godzilla. The Ford and Holden fans were unimpressed. This was also the same race we sadly lost 1967 F1 world champ Denny Hulme, of which Richards was only just informed of moments before the podium. What about the bust up between Greg Murphy and Marcus Ambrose after their coming together approaching The Cutting? Jamie Whincup attempting to redress after botching an overtake on Scott McLaughlin at The Chase with Garth Tander sensing an opportunity to pass resulting in a race changing incident that saw McLaughlin and Tander out and Whincup copping a penalty is one moment that stands out. What about Red Bull frantically telling Whincup over the radio to save fuel as he won't finish, only to be passed by Chas Mostert in his Falcon on the last lap to win the race. They started last and only led on the lap that counted. The image of Mostert's co-driver and renown hard charger Paul "The Dude" Morris reduced to tears is still with us. Craig Lowndes' 7 victories including 3 on the trot with Jamie Whincup impresses. Perhaps Peter Brock's record of 9 victories is the only statistic that matters. For us, the most evocative image is a highly emotive Craig Lowndes claiming the inaugural Peter Brock trophy in 2006 shortly after the passing of Peter Brock.
    This year sees the first race for the new Gen 3 supercar at Mt Panorama. 161 laps. Camaro vs Mustang. What's interesting is there are no compulsory pit stops, thus freeing up strategies. The tyre on offer is the soft compound. With the larger fuel tank capacity, tyre management is paramount as the soft compound won't last a full fuel tank. Championship leader, Erebus' Brodie Kostecki would love to open his Bathurst account. Plus it's Mt Panorama! You race the track as much as the other cars. It's a challenge all Supercar drivers can't resist. Come Sunday night, The Mountain would have revealed more and undoubtedly added more mountain moments. Settle in and enjoy The Great Race.
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    A precedent has been established in Formula One in 2023. Many will remember and still reminisce McLaren's dominating season in 1988 when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won the first 11 GP's on their way to winning 15 out of the total 16 races. Fast forward to 2023 going in to the mid season summer break, and Red Bull have claimed all the victory plaudits. All 12 GP's and the Sprints as well, leaving barely a crumb for their rivals, thus demoralising them in the process. Ten wins for reigning world champ Max Verstappen and two for team mate Sergio Perez. 
    Red Bull acquired the ailing Jaguar team in late 2004 and joined the grid in 2005. Once they enjoyed their first win in 2009, you could say that the floodgates have opened as Red Bull have become the fastest team ever to garner 100 victories in F1. Which got us contemplating the secrets of their success. Sure, they're funded largely by an energy drink world renown mega company taking the duress out of acquiring a budget. Sure, they have "the standard" in factory facilities. Sure, they now produce their own power unit in collaboration with Honda and soon with Ford. Sure, they have in their employ arguably the best designer in the business in Adrian Newey overseeing their design team. But has enough credit been afforded to team principal Christian Horner?
    Christian Horner was a competent racer who progressed to the then F1 feeder category, Formula 3000. Realising he'd reached his potential, moved into team management with his F3000 team, Arden. Wanting to move into F1, he looked into purchasing Jordan. When negotiations broke down, he was poached in late 2004 by the new Red Bull team to fulfil the role of team principal. He became the youngest ever F1 team principal at age 32, and quickly secured the expertise of the aforementioned Adrian Newey. They're both still there to this day.
    When Ferrari were dominating the championship 20 years ago with Michael Schumacher winning five driver's and the team six constructor's championships in a row, they had a wonderful team which included Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Paolo Martinelli. But it was team principal Jean Todt that deserves a massive amount of credit. Ferrari are an institution in Italy and the Italian media are relentless when Ferrari are underperforming. Jean Todt provided a buffer between the demanding media and the race team, allowing them to focus solely on racing. This is exactly what Christian Horner does at Red Bull. Whenever controversy ensues or conjecture surfaces, it's Christian Horner that fronts the media and deals with the tough interrogation. When rival teams raise allegations of car legality, it's Horner that goes into bat for Red Bull against them or with the governing body. You might say it's his job, but Horner often adopts the ethos of the best form of defense is attack, and happily shoulders the criticism. The race team can simply do what they're paid to do, race. When other teams are looking for band aid fixes by routinely changing personnel including team principals and upper management in a vain attempt to move to the front of the grid, Christian Horner has been at the helm of Red Bull since their inception. It's no wonder he's now the longest serving current team principal on the grid. Are we now entering another period of Red Bull dominance in F1? What price do you put on stability?
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    There are those that would profess that Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso's immense talent is deserving of ascending Formula One's zenith by amassing numerous championships. There are those that would suggest that by already being a double champion that this has already been achieved. Or others would conclude that Alonso has simply been at the right team at the wrong time.
    After debuting with backmarkers Minardi in 2001, Alonso became the then youngest F1 race winner in 2003 and the then youngest championship winner in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, thus halting Ferrari's phenomenal run and dethroning the great Michael Schumacher in the process. All started well right?
    A move to still front running McLaren for 2007 seemed an informed decision. However, the debut of Lewis Hamilton saw a contentious season unfold. Alonso felt team support was skewered towards the rookie despite famously stating that it was he who put 2 seconds on the car. It all came to a head during the Hungarian GP as the two sabotaged each other's  qualifying. Technical espionage was also exposed costing McLaren their championship points and $100m. This all resulted in Alonso leaving McLaren by mutual consent one year into a 3 year deal. He then returned to Renault for '08 and '09 only to skulk around the midfield. Next the lure of Ferrari proved too much and he answered the call of Maranello. Ferrari wanted Alonso to the extent of paying out the last year of 2007 champ Kimi Raikkonen's contract to make a race seat available. For reasons only Ferrari and Alonso know, they fell short of the ultimate plaudits. 5 years netted three 2nd places in the championship for Alonso during Red Bull's first period of dominance. Further championship success still eluded. 
    There's a operational perspective that to succeed in modern F1, a team needs exclusivity when it comes to powertrain supply. Plausible concept wouldn't you think? McLaren subscribe to this ethos and managed to entice Honda back as their exclusive powertrain supplier. This subsequentially lured Alonso back in 2015. Honda have always entered F1 and left F1 when it suits and they always taste success, but they traditionally take time. Alonso's second stint at McLaren was blighted by an underpowered, unreliable Honda which culminated in Alonso frustratingly badging it a "GP2 engine" over the radio at Honda's home track during the Japanese GP. If you want evidence of Honda's success post McLaren, you only have to see what they've now achieved with Red Bull. Regarding Fernando, time for a sabbatical. The Indy 500 beckoned. A championship and two Le Mans 24 Hour victories with Toyota in the World Endurance Championship, and even a crack at the Dakar rally. A return to F1 in 2021 for his third tenure with the Renault group now under the guise of their Alpine brand only saw Alonso collect one podium in his two year stint. Which finally leads us to 2023. Fernando Alonso is an Aston Martin F1 driver.
    Canadian billionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll acquired the old Jordan, then Midland, then Spyker, then Force India, then Racing Point team and rebadged it as Aston Martin F1. Mr Stroll recognised the team's heritage and potential and has invested astutely and reinvigorated the team. They've just moved into their new factory which was completely paid for before the implementation of the cost cap. It is now the benchmark standard with everything in house, including their own windtunnel and simulator. They've recruited wisely including hugely experienced Mike Krack as Team Principal and the widely regarded former Red Bull chief aerodynamicist Dan Fallows as Technical Director. Are all the ingredients now in place for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin to succeed? 8 races into the 2023 season and positive results already seem to be coming to fruition. Alonso has tasted podium champagne on six occasions, eclipsing the 100 podium milestone. He's not won since he was at Ferrari way back in 2013 however. Will he add to his 32 victories with Aston Martin? Can Aston Martin end Red Bull's second dominant run in F1? Has Fernando Alonso finally found himself in the right place at the right time? 
    
    

    Much fanfare surrounded the launch of the new Gen 3 Supercars for the 2023 Supercars Championship. The current iteration of Australia's premier category sees General Motors introduce the Chevrolet Camaro after the demise of Holden, and Ford competing with a new Mustang, both with the aim of resembling increased road relevance. With 3 rounds done and seeing them first hand at the Australian Grand Prix, they certainly look and sound the part. We found ourselves however contemplating Supercars medium to long term future.
    The world is proactive in reducing its carbon footprint and motorsport is expected to do its part by competing in a sustainable fashion. Numerous touring car championships around the world have changed or adapted their car specifications from big thirsty gas guzzlers to either GT3 format or the smaller, popular more efficient TCR format utilising sustainable fuels and introducing hybrid technology. Take German DTM, World Touring Cars and British Touring Cars for example. 
    So where does this leave Supercars? With the launch of Gen 3, Supercars took the opportunity to introduce a new sustainable fuel with greatly reduced emissions. The exclusive E75 racing fuel is comprised of in excess of 80% second generation fuel derived from renewable feedstocks mixed with premium 98. But how many are aware of this? Car manufacturers involvement in motorsport has always been sporadic. They traditionally come and go as they economically please. Now with climate change part of everyone's agenda, the manufacturers don't want to be perceived to be associated with the aforementioned gas guzzlers. Is there still a perception that because Supercars are V8's, that they conform to that negative connotation? General Motors have announced that they are ceasing production of the Camaro next year. However Supercars have committed to running the Gen 3 Camaro until 2026 with assurances from General Motors that they will continue to support Supercars onwards. Ford have announced that they wish to develop a GT3 spec Mustang and expand their rally division, with both marques continuing to collaborate with NASCAR  to develop a more sustainable future. So will we see a continuing General Motors versus Ford battle beyond 2026? Or, is this akin to the board of a football team offering 100% support for the coach only to unceremoniously inform the coach shortly after that their services are no longer required? 
    Supercars are uniquely Australian and the punters love them. Despite the fact that the category is highly professional, still Australia's premier category, produces intense racing, there's no doubt that GT3 and TCR is on the rise worldwide. The Bathurst 12 Hour continues to grow with the infiltration of international GT3 teams and the TCR World Tour are making a stop Down Under for two rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mt Panorama for the Bathurst International later this year. Therefore, are Supercars running the risk of racing down a proverbial one way street only to find it's a cul-de-sac? 

    A friend asked us, "How was the Grand Prix?" The only answer we had was "Totally crazy." An enthralling, captivating, unpredictable and thoroughly entertaining Grand Prix was served up to race fans at Melbourne's Albert Park. Formula One racing sometimes receives criticism for lacklustre races, but every so often dishes up something special and this time it was the Australian Grand Prix's turn. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull won an engaging GP and in our opinion was deserving as he was the dominant force for the majority of the weekend. Red Bull also ended their Albert Park drought as they have only won once before way back in 2011.
    The Australian GP was not without its conjecture though. No F1 race since its 1950 inception has seen 3 red flag stoppages, so the 2023 iteration will certainly not be forgotten quickly. We've read and heard a lot of punters saying that the red flags were not necessary, as first the early Alex Albon Williams crash, then the Kevin Magnussen Haas crash which was then the catalyst for the 2 lap shootout at the end which resulted in another crash at the restart bringing out the final red flag on the penultimate lap, could have been dealt with, with a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car. Certain team principals have since come out saying that we need clarification as to what incident constitutes a VSC, a SC or a red flag. Please tell us how this can be defined? All incidents and crashes result in debris on track. Do we say that if there's one piece of carbon fibre too many strewn across the track that that is the difference between a SC or a red flag stoppage? Remember it was the governing body, the teams and drivers themselves that were all in agreeance to race as much as possible and finish GP's under green flag conditions. Clearing up incidents, debris or even barrier damage takes much longer under VSC or SC conditions. Isn't it better to allow marshals and recovery crews to work more safely and quickly without losing racing laps by imposing a red flag stoppage? Can you imagine the controversy if your favourite team or driver suffers a last lap tyre puncture from debris while leading the race behind the SC?
    Opinions also differ regarding how restart grids are formed after a red flag. If race order can not be distinctly established, then the grid is set from the previous lap. In the case of the Australian GP for the final SC lap to end the GP, the cars had not passed the first sector marker on the penultimate lap after the crash before the red flag was called, and with GPS unreliable at best, there is no alternative but to go back a lap to when they crossed the start line.
    Finally, there's the question of penalties imposed on drivers and teams during a race. Was the 5 second penalty imposed on Ferrari's Carlos Sainz for causing the final restart crash warranted? The penalty pushed Sainz from 4th to last and out of the points at the chequered flag. Should it have been dealt with post race, thus allowing Sainz and Ferrari to plead their case? A 5 second penalty imposed by the stewards is actually one of the more lenient penalties available to them for such an incident. Would there have been as much rancour if it didn't happen with 2 laps to go? Would there have even been that final red flag if the Alpine of Pierre Gasly hadn't collided with his team mate Esteban Ocon when he rejoined the track after avoiding the Sainz and Alonso incident? Could the stewards have imposed a penalty on Gasly for an unsafe return to the circuit? Without the two Alpines crashing, we dare say the race would have finished under green flag. The big winner out of all this was that Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was able to retake his place at P3 for the final lap and collect his well deserved trophy on the podium. Debate still rages. Makes for an interesting episode of Drive To Survive don't you think?

   



    Welcome to 2023. Another season of motorsport beckons. As per this time of year, we like to inform you of the proposed events we hope to frequent this year. Already we've attended the Bathurst 12 Hour for GT cars at Mt Panorama. We trust you are enjoying our mammoth post. The rest of the year is as follows....
   



​    March 30th - April 2nd : Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne. Featuring F1 and supported by F2, F3, Supercars and Porsche Carrera Cup.
    April 7th - 9th : Bathurst 6 Hour at Mt Panorama. Featuring a record 66 entries for the 6 Hour Production Car race and supported by GT World Challenge and GT4/ Australian Production Cars.
    May 5th - 6th : Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway. Featuring Top Fuel dragsters.
    June 9th - June 11th : Sydney Classic at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMSP). Featuring Historic Racing.
    June 23rd - 25th : Speed Series at SMSP. Featuring TCR and supported by Trans Am and V8 Touring Cars.
    July 28th - 30th : Sydney SuperNight at SMSP. Featuring Supercars and supported by S5000.
    September 9th - 10th : Sydney Masterblast at SMSP. Featuring the Muscle Car Masters.
    November 10th - 12th : Bathurst International at Mt Panorama. Featuring TCR World Tour combined with TCR Australia and supported by Touring Car Masters and V8 Touring Cars.
    November 24th - 26th : Summer Festival at SMSP. Featuring Historic Racing.
    This of course is subject to change and we may well sneak in a couple of other events. See you in Melbourne.
    

    As 2022 begins rolling down, we find ourselves reflecting on the year's motorsport and the championships we like to follow. Congratulations to TCR Australia Series champion Tony D'Alberto for proving consistency pays off. Congratulations to Team BRM's Joey Mawson for winning yet another Gold Star in his S5000. Congratulations to Red Bull Australia's Shane van Gisbergen for winning the Supercar championship in dominant fashion. Finally congratulations to Red Bull's Max Verstappen in becoming a two time Formula One champion.
    This time of year also warrants reflection on the important things in life. We'd like to thank all our friends and surfers who frequent this website and for your continuing support. We are very appreciative and hope you enjoy the images and comments. We'd like to pass on our sincerest wishes to you all for Christmas. Family is important and remember where all your blessings come from. For those of you that are doing it tough, never lose your faith, and our prayers go out to you.  
    Have a happy and holy Christmas and we'll see you in 2023. We will be returning to Mt Panorama for the Bathurst 12 Hour with a full grid of GT cars including the returning international teams. The Red Bull F1 team will also be on hand performing demonstration laps. Lots to come. God bless.