10/05/2025
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฌ: ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฆ & ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐!
: With race day now just ONE week away, let's revisit that historic night 51 weeks ago, when Herring Racing's Todd Herring secured his third outright win in Sydney... his fourth win in Division A, and his first of two outright 300 victories in 2024.
With a full field (of 60) contesting for the first time ever, there were plenty of talking points after a CRAZY 77 laps.
- 70 entries were submitted for this race, which was 11 more (18.64%) than the corresponding event in 2023.
- Following pre-event withdrawals, 62 cars arrived trackside, for unofficial practice at Sydney Motorsport Park, which was held on the Friday night.
One more withdrawal โ that of Dimitri Agathos โ reduced that number to 61 cars starting the official portion of the event on the Saturday morning โ a 22% year-on-year increase, on the 50 entries that started the 2023 meeting.
- David Bailey Motorsport and Aaron Lloyd became the first drivers in the history of the race to be all dressed up with nowhere to go.
As the second car on the reserves list (after the Mazda MX5 of Craig Barney and Andrew McLaughlin, which was drafted into the field following the withdrawal of the FullGas Racing entry), Bailey and Lloyd needed a second withdrawal just to get invited into the show, which, of course, didnโt happen.
- 60 cars started the 77-lap race โ a 25% increase on the field of 48 that greeted the starter (for the 2023 Sydney 300) 308 days earlier, and a 461% increase on the field that contested the last โ300โ on the calendar, which was held in September of 2023.
- The field consisted of 110 drivers.
10 drivers lined up for their fifth crack at the Sydney 300, a further 14 made their fourth start, while it was a maiden Sydney 300 voyage for 35 of the drivers in โThe Class of 2024โ.
Twenty-six drivers contested the Sydney 300 for the second time, while another 25 lined up for their third start.
- As a percentage, just 68.33% of the field saw the chequered flag โ the second-smallest finishing rate here in Sydney, but, conversely, despite the high amount of attrition, 41 cars still saw the chequered flag, which is the most finishers weโve ever had in the short history of the Sydney 300.
- Todd Herring's second Sydney 300 pole position was Mazdaโs TENTH in the history of the concept, which dates back to 2008.
- It was also a TENTH outright race win for Mazda, as Todd Herring won his third Sydney 300, and his fourth overall.
- Herringโs second win from pole position was a fourteenth outright win for a Division A (or 1) entry (fourth in Sydney), just the sixth time a 300 had been won from pole position, and the first time pole has been converted into victory in 1099 days (also Todd Herring, in the 2021 Pitcher Partners Sydney 300).
- Herring now has FIVE podium finishes in Lendrive Finance Division A, at the Sydney 300... Saturday night was the fourth time he's won the top division.
- It was longest Sydney 300 on record, running for 2:44:37.5757, at an average speed of 109.59km/h. Only the 2022 race (108.97km/h), which went time-certain, and fell two laps shy of its scheduled distance, has run at an average speed slower than that.
- Herringโs winning margin was 11.1510 seconds, which made it the third biggest (and smallest) winning margin in Sydney 300 history.
- Three different divisions featured on the outright podium for just the fourth time in the history of the concept, and itโs the second time weโve witnessed that here in .
- 7 cars finished on the lead lap, which is a NEW 300 RECORD, eclipsing the previous mark of 6, which was (also) set here in 2022.
- Within that, history was made in both Divisions B & C, with three cars from each division finishing on the lead lap of the motor race.
It's the first time in Sydney 300 history that more than two cars in ANY division have finished on the lead lap, comparative to not just the outright winner, but also the respective division winners as well.
- Todd Herring remains the only driver to feature on the outright podium in Sydney more than once, with both Matthew and Aaron Giuntini (Division B, Honda Civic), and Alex and Dieter Holzl (Division C, BMW 1M), registering their first outright podium finishes, and first division wins, in the Sydney 300.
The A & M Racing Honda became the first MJS Electrical Products & Supplies Division B winner to start the race outside of the top ten (21st), while the Holzl duo won Division C from 32nd on the grid โ surpassing the efforts of Brad and Will Harris in 2023, when they won Division C, and finished fifth outright, after starting in 28th.
Their respective podium finishes put them in extremely good company, as, prior to the 2024 race, only Todd Herring had made it onto the outright podium from beyond 12th on the grid (he finished 3rd, after starting 43rd, in 2022).
- Alex and Dieter Holzlโs charge to third outright saw them become just the second Division C entry to stand on the outright podium in Sydney, after Chris Sutton (2022).
They also now hold the record for the smallest winning margin in Division C, in the history of the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300 (+7.2575 seconds), after holding off Adam Gosling and Brent Howard (Honda Civic Type R), who finished fourth outright.
- Speaking of Live & Learn Group Division C, Christopher Stannard and Jon OโNeill now hold their own piece of Sydney 300 history, after finishing seventh outright, in the Porsche 944 S2.
It was the best finish for a Porsche in Sydney, with Porsche now the tenth different manufacturer to score an outright top-ten finish in a Sydney 300.
For Stannard and OโNeill, their previous best finish was 12th outright, 4th in Division C, back in 2023.
- On the subject of the top ten, it featured six different manufacturers in 2024 (one shy of the record) โ Mitsubishi and Honda were the best represented, with three each, while Mazda, BMW, Volkswagen, and Porsche featured just once.
- For the fourth time, just one Division A car finished inside the outright top ten. Division B was the best represented (5), just ahead of Division C (4).
- For the third time, the winner of Division D finished 11th outright. Grant and Harry Inwood equal the record set previously by Charlie Viola and Ben Hanrahan (2019, Honda Integra), and the 2023 winners, Matthew and Jaxon Fraser (Mazda MX5).
The boys from , in the Subaru WRX STI, finished just one lap down on Todd Herring.
At 76 laps, itโs the most distance covered, by a Division D winner, in Sydney 300 history.
- Same can be said for Division E. What a day out it was for Nicholas and Simon Agar.
Their appearance on the grid marked the first time since 2022 that a Hyundai vehicle had contested a Sydney 300, and it was the first time a Veloster had been entered in this event.
The Agar brothers took pole in Division E (51st outright), and much like Oskar Butt and Troy Derwentโs heroics in 2022, they converted that into division victory, with a very respectable 19th outright finishing position.
After Todd Herring (twice), Dylan Thomas/Cody Brewczynski (2022), and Oskar Butt/Troy Derwent, Nicholas and Simon Agarโs Division E win marked the fifth time in which the fastest qualifier had gone on to take out division honours at the Sydney 300.
In doing so, the Agar duo notched up a first division podium finish, let alone win, for Hyundai, in the short history of the Sydney 300.
They completed 74 laps, which is (technically) the most ever by a Division E entry, although the Butt/Derwent VW Polo was on track to clock 75 laps in 2022, before the race went time-certain.
- The Safety Car was deployed SEVEN times in last year's race, which equalled the 2022 record.
It took control of the field for 18 of the 77 laps, and word has it, that it was running light on fuel at the end of the night.
- In terms of lap recordsโฆ letโs not talk about the high number of breakouts, and subsequent division changes, we saw last year, but instead acknowledge that the BMW M4, driven by Adrian Wilson, Marcus LaDelle (Ninety9Motorsport) and Anthony Soole, now holds the practice lap record at the Sydney 300 (1:38.4599), while Todd Herring went to pole position with the fastest legal qualifying lap weโve ever seen (1:38.0592), before the Mazda MX5 of Jackson Copeman and Jimmy Vernon Racing clocked the fastest lap of the race, with a 1:38.0034.
They were one of five cars under Benny Tranโs 2023 race lap record, of 1:39.1220.
- Wayne Movigliatti steered his Lexus IS200 to a piece of โ300โ history.
Just the second Lexus to ever contest a 300 (the first time weโve seen a Lexus on the grid in Sydney), Movigliattiโs Lexus was the first to ever finish a 300.
He came home in 18th outright, 6th in Division D, and that was despite copping a 1-lap penalty.
- Family/sibling entries (Herring, Giuntini, Holzl, Inwood, and Agar) won all five divisions, in a Sydney 300 first.
- Division wins for Mazda, Honda, BMW, Subaru, and Hyundai marked the second time (after 2022), in which all five divisions had been won by a different manufacturer.
In total, ten different manufacturers were represented across the five division podiums.
- Race Control issued a record SIX 5-lap penalties in 2024, including one for the defending race winner, Benny Tran (BYP Racing).
- We had NINE different race leaders in the 2024 race, and there were TEN lead changes throughout the course of the 77 laps... BOTH of which re-wrote the Sydney 300 record books.
The Volkswagen Golf of Cem Yucel and Iain Salteri led the most laps (19), while Ben Oldfield became the first Division D driver/entry to lead the Sydney 300 outright EVER (Lap 45), before later receiving a 5-lap penalty.
We've only got to wait 7 more days, to see who'll create history, and who'll rewrite it, when the 6th running of the plays out, under lights, at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The 2025 Viola Private Wealth Sydney 300 is proudly supported by: Viola Private Wealth, and Lendrive Finance.
More Info: https://motorrace.com.au/event/2025-round-3/
Entries Close: Tuesday, May 13 (10am AEST).
Spectator entry is FREE
MRA events are sanctioned by the Australian Autosport Alliance (AASA), and proudly sponsored by: Viola Private Wealth, Live & Learn Group, ClubRacer Engineering & Track Day Club.
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