Championships won and Championships in the balance: Your week in Motorsport

Hayden Paddon win European Rally Championship

Hayden Paddon has been declared the winner of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), despite his unexpected exit from the Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Paddon is the first non-European competitor to win the ERC in its 70 year history.

Paddon, driving for BRC Racing Team, was on track to secure the championship title when a crash saw him lose his right-rear wheel. Although his closest competitor, Mārtiṇš Sesks, couldn't gather enough points to extend the title fight until the Rally Hungary finale in October, Paddon's victory was sealed. This made him the first non-European to win the ERC crown. The Kiwi expressed pride in his achievements and the team's efforts throughout the season, looking forward to future participation in the ERC.

Meanwhile, the Barum Czech Rally Zlín saw Jan Kopecký clinch his 11th victory on his home ground in the ERC. Kopecký, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Michelin tires, maintained his lead throughout the rally, despite some challenges with his car's setup. Miklós Csomós finished in second place, securing his first ERC podium. There were several other positional changes and battles throughout the event, with Filip Mareš, Adam Březík, and others competing for top spots.

Erik Cais, who had been in contention for a podium, experienced setbacks but managed to finish seventh overall in his home rally. The ERC season finale will take place in Rally Hungary from October 6 to 8. The event, based in Nyíregyháza, will conclude the championship season, with the results subject to confirmation by the FIA.

"What a year, what a team and what a championship!" Said Paddon on social media.

"Incredibly proud to wrap this one up with John and the whole BRC team who have done an incredible job. This weekend has certainly been a tricky rally and not the way we wanted to end things today, but the hard work we have done all season allowed us to be in a position to have a bad round. Thank you everyone for your support and the Kiwis that were here with us on event to share with us."

Giltrap and Van der Drift claim Lamborghini Squadra Corse Asia title

Chris van der Drift and Super Trofeo Junior driver Marco Giltrap have clinched the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia PRO championship title with Absolute Racing with two wins at South Korea’s Inje Speedium.

The pair braved not only sweltering 35 degree heat, but also the extremely technical 4.9km Speedium circuit, with 20 turns and plenty of undulation to claim victory in both races.

Qualifying P2 for the first race Giltrap started and maintained track position behind Dan Wells in the Pro AM entry with co-driver Oscar Lee. Wells would set the pace building a 1.4 second gap on Giltrap, but the Kiwi showed excellent pace in the later stages of the stint quickly closing the gap between he and wells to just a couple of car lengths.

The mandatory driver change saw veteran van der Drift then take the wheel against Oscar Lee who couldn’t match the Kiwi’s pace and it was an easy charge to the chequered flag from there.

The pair entered the second race with a 50 point lead in the Championship, a victory would seal the deal in the PRO category. Chris van der Drift started in P2, behind Johnathan Cecotto and Qiang Li, but knew he didn’t need to battle Cecotto in the opening sting, letting Giltrap instead challenge Li for the win following the driver change. And that is exactly what happened, Giltrap securing the win and – as reported by Lamborghini Squadra Corse  - have provisionally secured the Championship.

“Man, that was a hot one! 35 degrees ambient temp made for challenging conditions, but an awesome weekend in Korea with two more wins. It was a new track for myself and Chris, so very pleased to get this result and extend our lead in the Championship. We’ll enjoy this, but its still eyes forward to Shanghai next month.” Said Giltrap.

Frustrating Lap one crash for Lawson

Liam Lawson's debut race at Motegi was marred by a dramatic crash. Lawson’s weekend started well, with the Pukekohe-born racer qualifying third, but the hard work unravelled quickly on race start.

Kakunoshin Ota, starting in the front row, stalled allowing Lawson to move from third and challenge his teammate, Tomoki Nojiri, for the lead. Nojiri didn’t make life easy for Lawson, leaving the Kiwi wide through turn one. Rather than fall behind, Lawson persisted, but his car forced into the marbles and ripple strip area of turn one and lost the rear.

Lawson counter corrected but the momentum was to great and he spun back across track and several drivers, including Tadasuke Makino, Yuhi Sekiguchi, and Nobuharu Matsushita, collided with Lawson's car, with one car performing a barrel roll in the air and another ending up upside down against the barriers. Despite damage to his car, Lawson managed to return to the pit lane, and race control did not find Nojiri at fault for the incident.

Fortunately, all drivers involved in the crash were unharmed. Lawson rejoined the race after from the back of the field upon restart. Additionally, he received a drive-through penalty for a pit lane violation during the caution period.

Initially the Kiwi was fuming, suggesting Nojiri created the incident, but watching the replay and taking some time to gather himself Lawson conceded he could have tackled the corner differently.

“It’s a long corner, and from the entry of the corner, I had wheels alongside. As we went further round the corner, I continued to move alongside, I was gaining and gaining. But because it’s two races to go and [Nojiri] needed to make up points, maybe he was more aggressive today. To be honest, I didn’t expect it. Lap one, looking back, I should have just left it, but at the time I felt I had been pushed off.”

“You have incidents all the time when its not your fault, but you could have done something differently to avoid it. I didn’t drive myself off the track, but maybe I was too aggressive.”

Lawson remains second in the championship, but now trails Ritomo Miyata, who finished fourth, by 8 points.

SVG and Red Bull Ampol Racing on the back foot at The Bend

Shane van Gisbergen probably can’t wait for NASCAR after a challenging weekend at the OTR Supersprint at Tailem Ben Motorsport Park in Adelaide.

SVG qualified fourth behind the up and coming Kiwi, Matthew Payne, for the first race and seventh for the second race. He feels there is a major issue with his Car 97’s steering and the Red Bull Ampol team have been chasing the issue to no avail.

Erebus driver and championship leading, Brodie Kostecki was unstoppable this weekend winning both races while SVG claimed fifth in each race.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t the weekend we would’ve liked.” said Jamie Whincup, Team Principal of Red Bull Ampol Racing.

It felt like we were on the back foot all weekend. Shane did a great job, although he still isn’t happy with the steering on the car he pushed through all weekend and scored some valuable points. We’ve got some work to do once we get back to the workshop to make sure we are ready for the enduros coming up, kicking it off with Sandown.”

Despite his frustrations, van Gisbergen appreciates the effort behind his campaign this year.

“Again, I just want to say a big thank you to the team. They changed five steering racks this weekend, just to try and find the feeling that I am looking for in the car, which just isn’t there at the moment. We are trying so hard to fix problems and find that feeling but we are still struggling at the moment. All in all, we did get consistent points over the weekend but there is still a lot more work to do to understand what it is we’re missing in the car.”

Callum Hedge takes lead in Carrera Cup Championship

Callum Hedge has claimed victory in the final Carrera Cup race at The Bend, taking the championship lead from Jackson Walls. Hedge's win completed a weekend sweep, making it three wins out of three races for him.

Jackson Walls attempted a daring manoeuvre on the inside of a right-hand turn in the final race of the weekend, but he hit the curb and spun out. He managed to rejoin the race but finished 12th, losing a significant amount of points. Simon Fallon moved up to second place as a result, with Max Vidau securing the final spot on the podium.

Only seven out of eleven laps were completed due to a major crash on the first lap involving several professional competitors, including another Kiwi, Chris Pither. A spin in the middle of the pack caused multiple Porsches to collide, leading to a lengthy cleanup and leaving some cars stranded.

Another Kiwi, Fabian Coulthard finished in tenth place, while Chris Pither couldn’t continue after the first-lap crash.

The Porsche Carrera Cup will return during the next month to support the Sandown 500 event, followed by rounds at Bathurst, Gold Coast, and Adelaide to conclude the season.