PHOTOS: Timothy Wilson
The 2026 WA Sporting Car Club Championship season began in style at MotorMall Wanneroo Raceway across February 28 and March 1, with Round 1 delivering busy grids, clean sweeps in several categories and early championship statements from a number of drivers.
Across two full days of racing, competitors battled through multiple races in a wide range of categories — from open wheelers and historic touring cars through to modern sports racers and production machinery — all chasing the first championship points of the season.
Saturday’s program produced several dominant performances. Garry Hills secured the round win in the WASCC Saloon Car 3K PRO Championship aboard his Holden Commodore VZ, scoring a maximum 75 points. Marc Watkins claimed the 3K PRO-AM division in his Ford Falcon EA with 65 points.
In Holden HQ Racing, Ryan Davis took the Round 1 honours with 70 points, finishing ahead of Troy Kent and Brett O’Keeffe after a closely contested series of races.
Formula Vee produced two clean sweeps across its classes. Rod Lisson dominated the 1600 championship with a perfect 75-point weekend, while Andrew Lockett mirrored that effort in Formula Vee 1200 to leave Round 1 as the early championship leader.
The combined Sports Sedans, Sports Cars and WA Muscle Cars races showcased some of the fastest machinery of the meeting. Ryan Humfrey was untouchable in Sports Sedans, taking three wins to claim the round on maximum points in his Ford Falcon XE. Walter Epple delivered a similar performance in Sports Cars, guiding his Porsche 991.1 to a clean sweep of the class.
Historic Touring Cars provided plenty of spectacle as well, with Grant Johnson taking the round victory in his Ford Falcon XY GTHO after a perfect weekend ahead of Cono Onofaro and Malcolm Bowden.
Sunday’s racing shifted the spotlight to several of the championship’s other major categories. In the FSR field, Chris Reindler produced one of the standout performances of the meeting, claiming the round in his Radical SR3 XX with 95 points across four races. Andre Heimgartner finished second on 73 points, narrowly ahead of Clinton Hancock on 71.
Formula Classic was another category decided by a dominant performance, with William Norman taking maximum points in his Ralt RT4 to secure the round victory ahead of Simon Alderson and Peter Marsh.
The Excel Cup field also began its championship fight, with Craig Ferreira winning the Masters Championship on 75 points while Zane Rhodes topped the Trophy Championship with a perfect score of his own.
In the Time Challenge competition, Peter Dyball claimed the round win in his Ford Falcon AU with 63 points, finishing ahead of Peter Callo in the Nissan 350Z and Dale Pointon in the Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup.
Improved Production saw Joel Carrello take outright honours in his BMW 318is with 65 points, while Neil Pollard completed a perfect Under 2 Litre weekend in his Honda Civic. Production Cars went to Mason Legg in the Volkswagen Golf GTI Gen 7, who secured the round victory on 75 points ahead of Damien Croxon and Derek Burns.
With Round 1 complete, several drivers leave MotorMall Wanneroo Raceway with early championship momentum after maximum-point weekends, including Garry Hills, Rod Lisson, Andrew Lockett, Ryan Humfrey, Walter Epple, Grant Johnson, William Norman, Craig Ferreira, Zane Rhodes, Neil Pollard and Mason Legg.
The opening round once again highlighted the depth of grassroots circuit racing in Western Australia, with strong participation across a broad mix of categories and competitive racing throughout the weekend.
Attention now turns to Round 2 of the 2026 WA Sporting Car Club Championship as competitors continue their pursuit of this year’s titles.
