The 2022 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship, known by its sponsored identity the Nulon S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship, was the second season of the S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship. Joey Mawson, last years reigning champion, won the title again, marking only the ninth time in 60 years of Gold Star competition where the championship was successfully defended.[1]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers were competing in the 2022 championship:

Team No. Driver Rounds Ref
Team BRM 1 Australia Joey Mawson All [2]
3 Australia Tim Slade 1 [3]
Australia Zane Goddard 2–3 [4]
Australia Tim Berryman 5 [5]
4 Australia James Davison 3 [6]
15 New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa 1–3, 5 [2]
Versa Motorsport 5 Australia Thomas Maxwell 5 [5]
8 Australia Shae Davies 2–4 [7]
24 Australia John Martin 5 [5]
37 Australia Cooper Webster All [8]
49 Australia Jordan Boys 5 [1]
Valvoline Garry Rogers Motorsport 12 Australia Adam Garwood 1–3 [9]
17 Australia Ben Bargwanna 3 [10]
18 Australia Aaron Cameron 3–5 [11]
29 Australia Nathan Herne 3–5 [12]
31 Australia James Golding All [13]
Amadio Motorsport / GRM 22 Australia Sebastien Amadio 3, 5 [6]
Tim Macrow Racing 23 Australia Tim Macrow All [14]
88 Racing 48 Australia Blake Purdie All [15]
88 Australia Josh Fife 1 [16]
Somers Motorsport 71 Australia Conor Somers 3 [6]
Matt Chahda Motorsport 81 Australia Matt Chahda 3 [6]

Race calendar

The second S5000 season was originally supposed to start in late 2021, but after multiple postponements and cancellations, the organizers instead decided to hold a revived Tasman Series over the end of 2021, and start the second S5000 season in January 2022.[17] In November 2021, it was announced that the S5000 series would take part in the 2022 Darwin Triple Crown.[18] On December 15, the full calendar was released for the Australian and Tasman Championships.[19] On 17 January 2022, Sydney was confirmed to hold the fourth round of the championship.[20] On June 2, 2022, the sixth round at Sandown Raceway, scheduled for September, was cancelled to avoid a three-month break between the last two rounds.[21]

Round Circuit Feature Race Location Date
1 Tasmania Symmons Plains Raceway John McCormack Cup Launceston, Tasmania 11–13 February
2 Victoria (state) Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Alfredo Costanzo Cup Phillip Island, Victoria 18–20 March
3 Victoria (state) Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne Grand Prix Alan Jones Trophy Melbourne, Victoria 7–10 April
4 New South Wales Sydney Motorsports Park Warwick Brown Cup Eastern Creek, New South Wales 27-29 May
5 Northern Territory Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin Triple Crown Darwin, Northern Territory 17–19 June

Race results

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning entrant
1 R1 Tasmania Symmons Plains Raceway 12 February Australia James Golding Australia Joey Mawson Australia Joey Mawson Team BRM
R2 13 February Australia Tim Macrow Australia Josh Fife 88 Racing
ME Australia James Golding Australia Tim Macrow Tim Macrow Racing
2 R1 Victoria (state) Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit 19 March Australia James Golding Australia James Golding Australia James Golding Valvoline Garry Rogers Motorsport
R2 Australia Joey Mawson Australia Tim Macrow Tim Macrow Racing
ME 20 March Australia Joey Mawson Australia Joey Mawson Team BRM
3 R1 Victoria (state) Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit 8 April Australia Joey Mawson Australia Aaron Cameron Australia Joey Mawson Team BRM
R2 9 April Australia Cooper Webster Australia Shae Davies Versa Motorsport
ME 10 April Australia Joey Mawson Australia Joey Mawson Team BRM
4 R1 New South Wales Sydney Motorsports Park 28 May Australia Joey Mawson Australia Joey Mawson Australia Joey Mawson Team BRM
R2 29 May Australia Joey Mawson Australia Cooper Webster Versa Motorsport
ME Australia Nathan Herne Australia Aaron Cameron Valvoline Garry Rogers Motorsport
5 R1 Northern Territory Hidden Valley Raceway 18 June Australia Nathan Herne Australia Cooper Webster Australia Cooper Webster Versa Motorsport
R2 19 June Australia Jordan Boys New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa Team BRM
ME Australia Aaron Cameron Australia Aaron Cameron Valvoline Garry Rogers Motorsport

Season report

The 2022 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship began in February at Symmons Plains, with defending champion Joey Mawson overtaking pole-sitter James Golding at the start of the first race and then leading him to the flag. Josh Fife won the second race, his second-ever S5000 race in the only round he competed in, leading home Tim Macrow, while Mawson retired. This meant his car had to be repaired for the main event, which was done with only seconds to spare. Macrow then won the main event as his closest competitor Golding ran off the circuit in the first part of the race. Mawson's tumultuous weekend meant Macrow led the championship by 13 points after the first round, ahead of Cooper Webster.[22][23]

As the championship headed to Phillip Island, Golding once again took pole position, this time he was able to hold off Mawson in the first race and became the fourth different winner in as many races. Blake Purdie started first in race two, but was overtaken by Zane Goddard and Macrow, with the former running off the road, handing the latter the lead and the race win. The main event was a close battle between Golding and Mawson, with the latter surviving a late safety car restart to come out on top. Macrow only managed fourth place in race three, which meant his championship lead came down to just a single point over Mawson, with Golding and Webster tied in third.[24][25]

The round in support of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park saw a surge in entry numbers, almost doubling to 16 drivers. It was still Mawson on top though, first achieving pole position in qualifying and then winning the first race - albeit only just, as new entry and reigning Tasman Series champion Aaron Cameron almost capitalized on a last-lap mistake by the leader. Shae Davies then won a shortened race two that ended under the safety car due to an incident involving James Davison and Goddard. Mawson was back on top for the main event, comfortably leading home Nathan Herne and Macrow and taking the championship lead in the process.[26][27][28]

Sydney was the host of the penultimate round of the championship, with only eight cars entered. Mawson continued where he left off in Melbourne, getting pole position again even though he spun in qualifying. He then beat Cameron to win a thrilling first night race in S5000 history as his closest championship rival Golding retired with a broken steering arm. Webster led from lights to flag in race two, achieving his second win in the category. Cameron then finally claimed his first Gold Star win in the main event, charging to the front after a collision with Mawson on lap one. Mawson left Sydney with a 55-point cushion to second-placed man Macrow, who was a further 30 points ahead of Golding.[29][30]

As the sixth round of the championship was cancelled, the S5000 debut at Hidden Valley Raceway turned into a championship decider. Herne claimed his first pole position in a qualifying interrupted by a heavy crash by Tim Berryman. His triumph didn't even last a single corner though, as Webster took the lead in race one and then won without being challenged again. Kaleb Ngatoa took his third victory in the category in race two, while a conservative sixth place for Mawson was enough to secure his championship defense. Cameron then won his second consecutive main event from pole, as Macrow lost third in the championship due to a non-finish.[31][32][33]

Golding, Webster and Macrow had no answer to Mawson's pace over the season, and in the end his advantage was over 70 points to Golding in second. Behind him, it was very competitive though, with only nine points between second and fourth. The upswing in regular entries that was hoped for after 2021 sadly didn't happen, as only five drivers competed for the full season, but the strong field for the Formula 1-supporting third round still showed that interest in the championship was steadily growing.

Drivers' standings

At each meeting, a qualifying session and three races were held. Meeting points were awarded to the fastest ten qualifiers in qualifying, where the grid for Race 1 was set. For Race 2, the top 75% from qualifying were reversed. The grid for the Main Event was defined by the points earned by the drivers across the weekend.[34]

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Ret
Qualifying 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0
Race 1 30 27 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 0
Race 2 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Main Event 60 50 40 32 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 0
Pos. Driver SYM
Tasmania		 PHI
Victoria (state)		 MEL
Victoria (state)		 SYD
New South Wales		 HID
Northern Territory		 Points
Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME
1 Australia Joey Mawson 2 1 Ret 4 2 2 3 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 6 2 5 4 6 Ret 428
2 Australia James Golding 1 2 3 5 1 1 5 2 3 8 6 5 3 Ret 2 3 7 7 2 4 375
3 Australia Cooper Webster 4 4 5 2 3 3 2 3 8 6 3 7 6 6 1 Ret 2 1 Ret 2 372
4 Australia Tim Macrow 5 5 2 1 5 4 1 4 6 5 4 3 5 3 3 5 6 10 3 Ret 366
5 Australia Aaron Cameron 2 2 7 4 2 2 Ret 1 4 3 4 1 278
6 Australia Blake Purdie 6 6 Ret 6 7 5 Ret Ret 10 14 2 6 7 7 4 4 10 6 7 6 234
7 Australia Nathan Herne 4 4 5 2 4 4 7 7 1 2 9 Ret 195
8 New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa 8 9 4 7 4 8 8 6 9 7 14 10 8 8 1 Ret 177
9 Australia Shae Davies 8 6 6 Ret 11 15 1 14 8 5 5 6 119
10 Australia Zane Goddard 6 9 4 5 5 3 Ret 8 107
11 Australia Adam Garwood 9 8 Ret Ret 9 7 7 7 14 10 10 13 91
12 Australia Josh Fife 7 7 1 3 80
13 Australia John Martin 3 5 5 5 64
14 Australia Jordan Boys 9 9 8 3 62
15 Australia Ben Bargwanna 7 9 8 9 42
16 Australia Tim Slade 3 3 6 Ret 42
17 Australia Sebastien Amadio 16 12 11 Ret 11 11 Ret 8 39
18 Australia Tim Berryman 12 DNS 10 7 28
19 Australia Conor Somers 12 11 12 12 24
20 Australia James Davison 15 Ret Ret 11 14
21 Australia Matt Chahda 13 13 13 Ret 7
— Australia Thomas Maxwell WD WD WD WD —
Pos. Driver Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Q R1 R2 ME Points
SYM
Tasmania		 PHI
Victoria (state)		 MEL
Victoria (state)		 SYD
New South Wales		 HID
Northern Territory

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Cameron claims Darwin as Mawson seals title deal at Hidden Valley". S5000. 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  2. 1 2 "Champion, Fast Kiwi Return in Team BRM S5000 Attack". 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  3. ↑ O'Brien, Connor (2022-02-07). "Slade joins Team BRM for Race Tasmania". Speedcafe.com.
  4. ↑ O'Brien, Connor (2022-03-07). "Team BRM confirms Goddard two event deal". Speedcafe.com.
  5. 1 2 3 "Territory's Thomas Maxwell added to S5000 Darwin grid". S5000. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Full grid set for S5000 Grand Prix return". australianracinggroup.com. 2022-03-23.
  7. ↑ "Davies to join Versa Motorsport for S5000 campaign". Australian Racing Group. 2022-03-19.
  8. ↑ "Versa Motorsport confirms 2022 driver". S5000. 2022-01-16. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  9. ↑ "LOCAL TASMANIAN JOINS GRM S5000 SQUAD FOR RACE TASMANIA". S5000. 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  10. ↑ "Bargwanna & Burson return for S5000 Grand Prix event". australianracinggroup.com. 2022-04-01.
  11. ↑ "GRM to Add Aaron Cameron to Australian Grand Prix S5000 Line-Up". S5000. 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  12. ↑ "Reigning Trans Am Series winner Nathan Herne details 2022 plans with GRM". S5000. 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  13. ↑ "Slade enjoys first S5000 laps at Symmons Plains". S5000. 2022-02-10. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  14. ↑ "Macrow confirms S5000 return, expansion potential". Australian Racing Group. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  15. ↑ Herrero, Daniel (2022-01-31). "88 Racing confirms Purdie signing". Speedcafe.com.
  16. ↑ O'Brien, Connor (2022-02-08). "88Racing confirms Fife signing". Speedcafe.com.
  17. ↑ "Iconic Tasman Series to return this summer with S5000". S5000. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  18. ↑ "S5000 to join Merlin Darwin Triple Crown in 2022". S5000. 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  19. ↑ "S5000 locked in for Albert Park, Gold Coast". Speedcafe. 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  20. ↑ "Sydney added to S5000, TCR Australia schedules". Motorsport. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  21. ↑ "S5000 Gold Star season cut short". Motorsport. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  22. ↑ richardrt (2022-02-12). "Mawson opens 2022 account with race one win". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  23. ↑ richardrt (2022-02-13). "Macrow prevails in Gold Star season opener". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  24. ↑ richardrt (2022-03-19). "Golding, Macrow split the wins at Phillip Island". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  25. ↑ richardrt (2022-03-20). "Mawson beats Golding in Phillip Island thriller". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  26. ↑ arggrant (2022-04-08). "Joey Mawson hangs on to win Albert Park Race 1 thriller". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  27. ↑ arggrant (2022-04-09). "Shae Davies wins Nulon S5000 Race 2 at Albert Park". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  28. ↑ arggrant (2022-04-10). "Joey Mawson delivers perfect display in final Nulon S5000 encounter". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  29. ↑ richardrt (2022-05-28). "Mawson adds to Gold Star record book with night racing masterclass". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  30. ↑ richardrt (2022-05-29). "Cameron claims dramatic Sydney S5000 showdown". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  31. ↑ richardrt (2022-06-18). "Webster dominates in Darwin debut". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  32. ↑ richardrt (2022-06-18). "Ngatoa takes Race 2 as Mawson takes title". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  33. ↑ richardrt (2022-06-19). "Cameron claims Darwin as Mawson seals title deal at Hidden Valley". S5000. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  34. ↑ "2022 S5000 Australia Series Sporting and Technical Regulations" (PDF). 2020-06-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.