Sydney ready for State of Origin TA2 Muscle Car Series

The TA2 Muscle Car Series has confirmed their return to racing, with a New South Wales ‘State of Origin’ event to feature at the second round of the Australian Motor Racing Series this weekend, 25-27 September at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The event billed as the ‘PROMAXX Performance Exhausts NSW State of Origin TA2 Muscle Car Series’ will see a grid of 11 New South Wales-based TA2 racers line up for four ten-lap sprint races at Sydney Motorsport Park.

A host of new talent joining the series this weekend will include Toyota 86 Series racer Zac Loscialpo in the ex-Cameron Sendall Camaro supported by Tempest Solutions and Pastro Ag.

The son of production car racer Anthony Loscialpo, Zac sampled the car at Queensland Raceway a month ago before bringing it back to New South Wales and completed a shakedown day last week at Sydney Motorsport Park in preparation for his series debut this weekend.

V8 Utes and Touring Car Masters racer Andrew Fisher will also make his first TA2 appearance in the second Dream Racing Australia Camaro alongside Craig Scutella.

Another debutant will see Sprintcar legend Barry Kelleher make his circuit racing debut in the TA2 Muscle Car Series after recently acquiring a Mustang from Carey McMahon.

One round of the PROMAXX Performance Exhausts TA2 Muscle Car Series has been completed so far in 2020, when former Toyota 86 Series racer John McLaughlin won the season opener at Winton in March ahead of fellow Queenslanders Murray Kent and Michael Kulig.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced series organisers to adapt their season and focus on ensuring competitors can enjoy track time in any means possible at local events or invitational appearances in other categories.

Several TA2 competitors, including have appeared in the Tin Tops all-comers support category to the Supercars Championship at Townsville and The Bend, with a seperate class recognising the TA2 cars competing.

Tin Top competitors at The Bend included the debut of Karl Begg in the motorsportsales.com.au Mustang, the Queenslander acquired the car from Tim Tritton as raced in the 2019 series. Fellow Queenslander Ben Walsh clean swept the TA2 class in the ex-Bill Robinson Mustang, with plans to join the Tin Tops again supporting the Bathurst 1000.

Queensland-based racers have also competed in local Sports Sedan events as invited entries, with plans afoot for a Queensland State of Origin event in late October at Queensland Raceway.

Event organisers have enabled this weekend’s event in Sydney to continue in accordance with government regulations in the ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic, while measures have been put in place to ensure social distancing laws are complied with.

No spectators will be permitted to the venue, while all nominated drivers and crew will be temperature tested before entering the circuit.

Outside of the outright round podium, a host of regular series awards are still on offer, including the PWR Pole Award, the Hypercoil Hard Charger Award, the Wilwood Big Braker Award and the Bowden’s Own Best Presented Award.

The PROMAXX Performance Exhausts NSW TA2 Muscle Car Series is set for practice on Friday, followed by qualifying at 11:10am AEST before two races on Saturday afternoon and two more races to finish on Sunday.

QUOTES Craig Denyer, TA2 Muscle Car Series Manager

“It will be fantastic to see the TA2 Muscle Cars back on track at Sydney Motorsport Park to give primarily the NSW based competitors some track time,” said Denyer.

“The event will be run within strict COVID 19 guidelines implemented by the AMRS, and hopefully we can back up the NSW event with another AMRS round at Queensland Raceway for TA2 cars next month.”

Zac Loscialpo, #21 Camaro, Tempest Solutions

“We had heard about the series and watched some footage and after talking to Cameron Sendall up in Queensland and driving the car we were excited to get involved,” said Loscialpo.

“It is a big change from the Toyota 86 Series but we thought it would be a good stepping stone and a new chapter for our family team.

“I think my old man wanted something he could drive as well, he loves the V8s and maybe we can have a two-car team one day.

"My first laps were mental, there’s a big difference from the Toyota 86 but once I got my head around it after a few laps I loved it and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

“It’s a purpose built race car with so much power and I hadn’t driven on slicks before so that was a new learning experience, and the four speed dog-box was a totally different concept of driving.

“We wanted something faster and a new challenge, it’s a proper race car so there are a lot of adjustments we can do to tune it up and we have already learnt so much from the couple of days we have had it on track.

“Our goals for the weekend are just to continue our learning of the car, improve each session and it will be great to go racing against some other TA2 cars.”

PROMAXX Performance Exhausts 2020 NSW TA2 Muscle Car Series

ENTRY LIST

#3 Barry Kelleher (NSW), Ford Mustang

#4 Mark Crutcher (NSW) - Dodge Challenger, Crutcher Developments

#6 Hugh McAlister (NSW) - Ford Mustang, Kubota Racing

#9 Ian McAlister (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro, McAlister Motors

#11 Michael Coulter (NSW) - Ford Mustang, Kobelco/Sydney Truck and Machinery

#21 Zac Loscialpo (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro, Tempest Solutions/Excelerate Motorsport

#49 Chris Formosa (NSW) - Dodge Challenger, Ranger Racing/Allgate Auto Doors

#50 Paul Hadley (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro, Illawarra Engineering Services

#51 Graham Cheney (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro - Illawarra Engineering Services

#555 Andrew Fisher (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro - Dream Racing Australia

#777 Craig Scutella (NSW) - Chevrolet Camaro - Dream Racing Australia

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY Practice 1 - 10:00am (20 minutes) Practice 2 - 12:15pm (20 minutes) Practice 3 - 3:10pm (20 minutes)

SATURDAY Qualifying - 11:10am (20 minutes) Race 1 - 1:30pm (10 laps) Race 2 - 4:00pm (10 laps)

SUNDAY Race 3 - 10:30am (10 laps) Race 4 - 2:15pm (10 laps)