Formula 500 Speedweek Review 2014/15

This years Speedweek was set to be one of the best yet, with cars coming from all over the country, the series was anyones for the taking.

I would personally like to thank all of our sponsors who have supported this years series, their contribution has been amazing and keeps the series to the standard and calibre it is today.

For the followers of Speedweek and the drivers, thank you. Our Facebook following has grown to over 2100 now as well as a post reach of over 15000 people. The website has seen great traffic and following over the whole series with the points and results being the main traffic driver to the site. I cant wait to look at the final figures once the dust settles.

Congratulations to every competitor on finishing the biggest week in Australian Formula 500 Competition.

Thank you to everyone that helped me out when I was not able to be at the track on the nights. Ian Aranyosi, Dalts at DK Race Parts as well as Chris & Maria. Thank you to Sprintcar Zone Photos and Dave Langley Photos for their help in covering the series the quality of photos is amazing. This year has also seen a relationship develop with the Warrnambool Standard, as you can see by the quality of stories in this Magazine. So to Aiden & Greg at The Standard, thank you. Last but not least, thank you to my wife and son, for hitting the road 10 days after having a baby and putting up with me at tracks (sometimes joining me) and in front of the computer for the week. I wish everyone luck for the rest of the season as well as next years series.

Brought to you byROUND 1

Brought to you byROUND 1 Well the sun was out for night one of the Victorian

formula 500 speedweek! In what is set to be another cracking competition, the teams filled the pits at western speedway Hamilton, brought to you by RnR Contracting! The Bellmans at RnR have been proud supporters of the class for many years now with both their boys, steering throughout the local Victorian series.

A dream start to the series for the Buckingham duo, taking out heats one and three, they both showed pure class as they held off some close competition! Ryan Okeefe took out heat race number two in the v48, with Steph Munn and Terry Rankin both hot on his heels!

An unfortunate Turn of events saw Josh Buckingham roll over loosing the whole front of his chassis unfortunately ending his night. Brooke Buckingham also had an unfortunate turn when his motor gave out! Let’s hope the boys can get it fixed and be back out for the next round!

Heats 4 and 5 went to a duo of edge chassis! The Victoria 50 of James Aranyosi and the Queensland 1 of Dale Shilleto took out the full points! Heat 6 saw the Western Australian Andrew Priolo take the win after a disappointing first heat race with a DNF!

The C main was all Trevor Cotteril, the Maxam printing v60 took the checkers making the first transfer spot into the B main! Followed by Rob Trewartha was second, Jesse Elston in third and Mathew Fleming in Fourth

Well, not everyone was racing when the b main was on, the Beasy Motorsport team were hurrying to put a new motor in after they hurt a motor in the Pitts after their heat race! The v10 made it in time to start out of p10 for the feature!

The B main was set to be a big one with the all important transfer spots up for grabs Ryan Okeefe took the win, closely followed by Andrew Priolo and Cody Maroske! The top three were out in front by about 3 seconds, where Lexi Underwood and Steve Vanginneken came home following.

The feature race was all Angelo Karoussis, it was a hard fort battle between the top four. Unfortunately Dylan Whilsher, lost his top wing late in the race forcing him to drop back to 8th Position when crossing for the checker. It wasn’t all fun and games as Andrew Rae and Steph Munn came together with the Edge Chassis doing its job protecting the driver as he walked away from what was a major crash. 0.3 of a second quicker than anyone else on a fastest lap basis, Angelo was going to take some catching. Terry Rankin put up a late charge who was then closely followed by Aranyosi and Shilleto, with Ash Sinclair to round out the top 5. An action packed night of racing with 5 more to follow as tomorrow night the drivers head to Mid Western Speedway Darlington to take on the Stoney Point 500 Round 2 of Formula 500 Speedweek.

GEELONG formula 500 driver Terry Rankin still considers himself a rookie but has started to dream of Speedweek success.

Rankin, 20, is a surprise contender for series honours after finishing runner-up in round one at Hamilton’s Western Speedway on Saturday night.

He finished behind Whyalla’s Angelo Karoussis in the 20-lap final but beat home a host of big names, including Bannockburn’s James Aranyosi who ran third.

Karoussis leads the series standings with 153 points. Aranyosi is second on 146 points, thanks to better heat results than Rankin, who is sitting third with 145.

Rankin said he was making ground on Karoussis in the closing stages but kept getting stuck in lapped traffic and “unfortunately we just ran out of laps”.

He was pleased to post back-to-back solid results, having almost made the podium in the Jack Willsher Cup at Premier Speedway seven days earlier.

“We came into it on a massive run of bad luck. It only turned around last week at the Jack Willsher, where we got fifth out of the 39 there.

“Last night was a shock. Coming off the Jack Willsher, we thought that was a good run but we got luck. But we backed it up for the first round of Speedweek.”

Rankin, the cousin of Simpson sprintcar driver Tim Rankin, said the return to form was a case of “just getting our heads around the car more than anything”.

“I was pretty down coming into the Jack Willsher and Speedweek,” he said.

“Now these two results have come in, the confidence is starting to get up. But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”

Rankin placed fourth in his two heats to start the A main out of position four. Karoussis had pole position, with Aranyosi joining him on the front row.

Warrnambool’s Dylan Willsher was out of position three but had a slider on his top wing break with six laps to go and finished eighth.

Drivers who failed to finish included Steph Munn and Andrew Rae, who were involved in a spectacular crash on the second lap.

Speedweek continues tonight at Darlington’s Mid-Western Speedway, where $5000 is up for grabs as part of the Stony Point 5000.

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ROB Trewartha can remember when he was a budding spectator watching formula 500s race around Laang Speedway on Sunday afternoons.

He’d be behind the catch fence as the best drivers the south-west had to offer would take to the clay, one day hoping he could do the same.

“You’d run around as a little kid looking up to people like Stephen Bell, Ken Willsher. Jack (Willsher) was even racing back then,” he said.

“Every weekend we’d go to Laang and the whole family would be out there. We’d have a ball.”

The 24-year-old Warrnambool racer is on the other side of the fence these days, piloting the V92 on tracks in Victoria and interstate. Bell is one of reasons why.

“I bought my car off him and motor through him. He’s always given me advice from the start, still to this day. It’s pretty crazy looking back.”

Trewartha is one of 36 drivers who have nominated for Speedweek, the annual formula 500 showcase which starts at Hamilton’s Western Speedway tonight.

The series heads to Darlington’s Mid-Western Speedway for round two on Monday, which doubles as the $5000-to-win Stony Point 5000.

Portland’s Southern 500 Speedway, Allansford’s Premier Speedway, Simpson Speedway and Laang Speedway also host shows.

Trewartha enters the hectic week having placed third in the Jack Willsher Cup. A top-10 finish is realistic, although cracking the top five is a burning ambition.

“Darlington has been the track I’ve been most successful at. That’s the main one I look at and think I’ve got a real good chance at,” he said.

“Even Simpson and Laang I’m usually pretty quick at. Up to date, I’ve been not that flash at Premier, but I’ve turned that around. I should be up there most nights.”

Curbing his optimism is the inclusion of interstate drivers in the fields.

Western Australian pair Mark House and Andrew Priolo, who filled the podium behind Brock Hallett at the 2014 Australian title, headline the raiders.

Queenslander Cody Maroske is also back after placing fourth in Speedweek last summer, although defending champion Charlie Brown has not nominated.

“It definitely boosts the class when you’ve got blokes from Western Australia and Queensland coming down. It does make it tougher,” Trewartha said.

Trewartha was a motocross rider for much of his childhood before turning his hand to formula 500s at age 20.

His father Peter contested the class for years and his son “always said to myself that’s something I’m going to do eventually”.

The best results of his career came two seasons ago - third in the Tasmanian title and victory in a Speedweek round at Darlington.

Beyond Speedweek, the Australian title at Rockhampton and Queensland title at Brisbane are on his radar, along with Victorian features.

“I’m pretty confident now I can get a decent win at some stage in one of the bigger races,” Trewartha said.

“I don’t think a state title is out of the question at all. It’s a matter of having a bit of luck on the night.”


Brought to you byROUND 2 The bounty from the richest formula 500 race in Victoria is

headed to Queensland.

Gold Coast young gun Cody Maroske upstaged a talent-packed field to claim victory in the inaugural Stony Point 5000 at Darlington’s Mid-Western Speedway.

Maroske started 10th but charged through the field to beat Bannockburn’s James Aranyosi and Scotts Creek’s Matt Symons in the $5000-to-win feature.

The result, in front of a bumper crowd on Monday night, lifted him to sixth on the Speedweek standings. He ran 12th on night one at Hamilton.

Aranyosi leads with 309 points after back-to-back podium finishes, from Angelo Karoussis (290) and Andrew Priolo (268). But the night belonged to Maroske.

The 21-year-old, who is into his second season racing formula 500s, ranked the win alongside his 2010 Australian junior sedans title at Latrobe, Tasmania.

“I don’t think they were too impressed I came down and took the bacon (at Darlington),” he said.

“It was good to come all the way down from Queensland and get something for all the work we’ve put in.”

Maroske placed fourth in his two heats but rued a missed opportunity in the second to finish higher after stewards sent him to the rear after a mid-race collision.

The points tally earned him a spot out of position 10 in the A main, with Aranyosi off pole and Western Australian Andrew Priolo beside him.

“I knew we were quick but I wasn’t sure how we’d go. I know James is very, very quick, he’s been on fire. I thought he’d drive away with it,” Maroske said.

But Maroske improved to fifth after two laps and benefited from early-race restarts, which kept the frontrunners within sight.

He had climbed to third by a restart with about 15 laps to go, reeled in Priolo soon after and caught Aranyosi with 10 laps to race.

“This year we’ve been struggling. his is our first feature win. I guess it was a good first feature win,” he said.

Maroske placed fourth in Speedweek last summer but came down “to learn about the car and get a few more laps under the belt”.

He is chasing results in his second campaign but is aware consistency, not aggression, reaps the greater rewards.

“Definitely coming down here this year we had higher ex-pectations of trying to get somewhere closer to the front,” he said.

“It’s all about consistency and keeping yourself level-headed. We can’t go for all the wins all week, we need to be consistent.

“I’m lucky a few cars last night didn’t get any points at all that were in front of me ... I should be up to the top 10 at least.”

Speedweek continued with round three at Portland’s Southern 500 Speedway last night, with results unavailable by deadline.

The series heads to Allansford’s Premier Speedway tomor-row night, Simpson Speedway on Saturday and wraps up at Laang Speedway on Sunday.


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Brought to you byROUND 3 Round three of the Formula 500 Speedweek series

was brought to you by Jettco Developments. Portland Speedway put together a fabulous track and worked tirelessly to ensure there was a great race track not only for the drivers, but for the fans!

Heat One saw Ash Sinclair take the lead, Ash showed poise to hold his lead away from Lethal Leigh Van Ginniken and Chris Bellman, both cars who have shown good speed throughout the week so far.

Heat Two saw a couple of Edge Chassis off the front row. A first lap altercation saw Aranyosi have a tire torn off the rim in the first turn of the heat race, ending his chase of points. Shilleto managed to re-fire and take the win.

Heat Three saw young gun Jack Bell take the win in front of Jesse Elston and the previous rounds winner Cody Maroske.

Heat Four saw Rob Trewartha take the lead, in front of up and coming racer Tyler Beasy, who has shown great consistency in the series so far. Shane Van Duynhoven saw out the top three for the fourth heat.

Heat Five was where Priolo stamped his authority on the nigh, taking the lead from eventual B Main winner Brad Stell, and Dale Shilleto. Priolo won by more than a second in a demanding race.

The last heat race for the night saw Patrick Merrett take the lead over established Formula 500 racer Dylan Whilsher. Closely followed by the two Bellman brothers who were hot on the tails of the top two!

The B-Main saw 21 cars take the field in what was set to be a cracking race. The top six cars settled into position, trading places and working there way through the field. Little did they know that Aranyosi had come from last in the field and had worked his way up to ninth position. The transfers where as follows: Brad Stell, Jesse Elston, Stephanie Munn, Mark House, Mathew Coates and Michael Macdonald.

This saw the A Main field set to go! After Dylan Whilsher had removed himself from the race with engine issues, it elevated first emergency Tyler Owen to the field. Then leaving Matty Symons and James Aranyosi as the two emergencies for the main event. The flag dropped only to see one of the biggest crashes speedweek has seen in a long time. Causing numerous rolls and cars to be pushed to the centre of the field. This elevated the two emergency cars into the field.

Once the dust had settled, it was Shilleto who took the lead for the majority of the race, with Priolo hot on his tail. A late pass by Priolo saw him take his Maiden Speedweek win! Hauling from Perth Western Australia, this was definitely going to help make the trip worth it, as he now has the series lead. Chris Bellman finished in third followed by fourth place in the young gun Jack Bell. Hard Charge of the night saw Aranyosi finish in seventh place, after he had come from deep in the B Main.

Well done to Andrew Priolo and his team on what was a great victory!

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BANNOCKBURN driver James Aranyosi is hoping lightning strikes twice.

The 22-year-old is looking to replicate his win in the Premier Speedway round of the formula 500 Speedweek series from last year when he takes on more than 45 rivals tonight.

“We won there last year so I am really looking forward to it,” he said.

He knows he needs a win if he is to claim a breakthrough first Speedweek series crown, having finished runner-up in the overall honours in each of the past two years.

Aranyosi entered Tuesday night’s third round of the series at Portland as the leader. But he had a tyre torn off the rim in his first heat, followed by a seventh placing in his second, that put him deep in the B main. He fought his way to ninth, narrowly missing a spot in the A main.

He was one of two emergencies for the final, with a first-lap accident promoting him to the back of the pack. He charged through the field to eventually finish seventh and salvage some crucial points.

“If we didn’t make it through to the final we would have dropped a lot more in the points,” he said.

Aranyosi sits fourth in the standings, 32 points behind leader Andrew Priolo, who won at Portland. Priolo’s victory jumped him from third to first, turning a 41-point deficit into a 22-point advantage over Dale Shilleto.

Aranyosi said the points could change quickly.

“Warrnambool and Simpson are probably two of my favourite tracks,” he said.

by GREG BEST, THE STANDARD

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Thank you to Dave Langley Photography for helping to capture moments in our series! He has been a great help along with Sprintcar Zone!

Brought to you byROUND 4 TWO trouble-free nights stand between Bannockburn

formula 500 driver James Aranyosi and a maiden Speedweek title.

Aranyosi, 22, lifted himself to the top of the Speedweek points standings with victory in round four at Allansford’s Premier Speedway on Thursday night.

The win, from Warrnambool pair Dylan Willsher and Tyler Owen over 20 laps, took him to 565 points for the six-round series.

He has a narrow lead from Andrew Priolo (564) and Dale Shilleto (553). The series continues at Simpson tonight and wraps up at Laang tomorrow night.

“We were 32 behind going in and we’ve now jumped him. It’s given us a fair bit of confidence,” Aranyosi said from the Premier Speedway pits on Thursday.

“Simpson is one of my favourite tracks, along with this place, and then we’ve got Laang where I ran second in the Australian title a few years ago.

“We’re pretty confident. We’ll just see how we go.”

Aranyosi was satisfied but also relieved after the win, which followed a horror night at Portland in round three.

He ran ninth in the B main but fortuitously salvaged crucial series points when a crash in the A main elevated him from emergency to starter.

From there, Aranyosi rose to seventh spot behind Priolo - a result which could prove its worth by Sunday. But his night at Premier was far more enjoyable.

He ran first and fifth in his heats to start the A main off pole and opened a handy lead from Willsher after 10 laps.

But lap traffic brought the pair together and sparked a sublime exhibition of driving in which the pair raced wheel-to-wheel without touching.

Owen joined them with eight laps to go, but Aranyosi was able to hold firm to prevail. He clocked 4.30.53, three seconds outside the 20-lap track record.

“I was getting a little bit worried, I saw Dylan’s nose a couple of times. It was good racing. I couldn’t be happier,” Aranyosi said.


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Brought to you byROUND 6 QUEENSLAND formula 500 driver Dale Shilleto still

can’t believe he clinched his maiden Speedweek title.

Shilleto rose from third to first on the standings after the series finale at Laang Speedway on Sunday, a result he was struggling to comprehend yesterday.

He trailed Victorian James Aranyosi by 31 points entering the night but overtook him and West Australian Andrew Priolo with a third-place finish in the A main.

Aranyosi, who was chasing his first Speedweek title after two runner-up finishes, and Priolo endured frustrating nights - stewards sent both to the rear in the final.

Aranyosi recovered to finish 15th, while Priolo grabbed 18th. Warrnambool’s Tyler Owen took the win, from Angelo Karoussis and Shilleto.

“I still don’t even believe we’ve won at the moment. It’s still not sinking in just yet,” Shilleto said yesterday morning.

“We’ve got back to Queensland. I haven’t had time to have a drink or party. We went straight to Melbourne last night and jumped on a plane this morning.”

The Speedweek title was the latest addition to a growing list of accolades for Shilleto, a 27-year-old diesel mechanic from Maryborough, near Hervey Bay.

He has won two Queensland titles (2010, 2014), a Victorian title (2010) and has two Australian title podium finishes to his name.

The first was in 2010 when he ran second. He backed up by finishing third 12 months later but hasn’t cracked the top spot yet.

Even so, Shilleto was unsure whether an Australian crown would top a Speedweek title, such are the demands of racing six times in nine nights.

“It is hard to be good for one night but to be good for six or seven nights in a row, that’s something pretty special too,” he said.

“I honestly don’t know how we won. We had that many nights where stuff went wrong. To still come out in front is just crazy.”

But for all that went wrong, much also went right. Shilleto finished 13th in round two at Darlington but was no lower than sixth in the other rounds.

He was involved in multiple crashes - including one at Portland when he was on the front row and lucky not to get penalised - but didn’t suffer any major damage.

“We had four years where we didn’t win anything, we couldn’t win a feature,” he said.

“We changed chassis to an Edge (midway through last season) and we’ve been winning almost everything we’ve turned up to this year.”

Shilleto had the “for sale” sign on his car before Speedweek but has changed his plans and will contest the Australian title at Rockhampton from April 3 to 5.

He is also contemplating a return to Victoria for Speedweek. Queenslanders have won the past two titles, with Charlie Brown triumphing last season.

“Even racing in Victoria for one race you know you’ve got the best guys in the country. To come away with the series is just incredible,” Shilleto said


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th9

Matthew Symons

th10

chris bellman

th9

Matthew Symons

th7

Ash sinclair

th8

Leigh Van Ginneken

th6

jack bell

th5

Cody Maroske

rd3

ANdrew priolo

th4

Angelo Karoussis

1st

DALE SHILLETO

nd2

JAMES ARANYOSI

1. What was the main reason you came to speedweek this year?

We travelled to speedweek this year because we know we are racing against a high quality opposition with a large field of cars. The series is always well run and is a credit to the Victorian formula 500 Association.

2. You have been going well at home and you brought that to the series, what is the difference between last year and this year?

Our preparation was a lot better this year. We like most other teams are continually trying to make our car go faster and work to get more from it. We have spent countless hours on the Dyno trying to squeeze that little bit more from these little engines.

3. There must be challenges in organising such a venture? Tell us about the preparation?

Going away at Christmas/New Year time is never easy for anyone with a young family. I took my whole family including my two children with me this year to the series and that took a lot of organising in itself. My parents drove the transporter down and the rest of the crew flew in on boxing day. Taking care of all our customers in our Diesel Repair business was also a big effort.

4. Expectations going into the series?

I wasn’t sure how we would go in the series but still had high expectations. I knew the opposition was high class and consistency was the key to success.

5. Highs of the week?

Highs of the week was obviously winning the series. It was so unexpected and just a great feeling, also being on the podium 3 out of 5 finals was great as well

6. Lows of the week?

I have never gone well at darlington any other year but I wasn’t going to let it beat me. We came in to hot in hot laps and then it all went backwards from there. We had to transfer through the B Main and then only being able to pass a hand full of cars I thought was a really poor effort on my behalf. Another year darlington speedway has got the better of me.

7. A bit of a summary on the week?

The series was full on for the whole week. I would like to thank my pitcrew Chris, Desley, Joel, Simion, Jess, JP, Kerry JNR.

Also my sponsors Maryborough Sports Club, The Butcher Shop, Klein Signs, Shilleto Diesel Repairs, Direct Diesel Repairs, DK Race Parts, Susquehanna Valley Speed Shop, Adams Performance, Dutchman Performance, DW Motorcycle Repairs, Jarrett Performance.

Without the support of my sponsors we would not be where we are today. They are all awesome people who have put in so much time, money and effort to help me in any way they could. I would also like to thank the Victorian Formula 500 association the series officials and organizers and the series sponsors who have made this event the pinnacle of Formula 500 Racing in Australia.

Formula 500 Speedweek Review 2014/15

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Transcript of Formula 500 Speedweek Review 2014/15