Sydney rising star David Wall will lead a pack of sportscars valued at almost $10 million to Eastern Creek Raceway this weekend, for Round Six of the Shannons Nationals. Wall sits atop the Australian GT Championship, the country’s premier sportscar class and one of seven national categories taking part in a massive weekend of racing in Sydney. The 20-plus car field features dream machines from Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Mosler, Lotus, Dodge, Maserati and Corvette. Driving for Sydney-based team PR Technology, Wall leads the championship by 51.5 points at the halfway mark in a Porsche GT3 Cup S, one of only two in the country.

Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway will join Lords Cricket Ground as the host of a sporting contest between Australia and England this weekend, in Round Six of the Shannons Nationals. Englishman Joey Foster and Australian Tim Macrow are fighting for the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, which features young aces in Australia’s fastest race cars. One of seven categories racing at Eastern Creek this weekend, Formula 3 is a class contested around the world, with Mark Webber among 17 of the 20 current Formula 1 drivers to have cut their teeth in the class internationally. With four of the eight rounds in the 2009 Australian Championship completed, Foster, from Cornwall, leads the way in his maiden season down under.

Geelong brothers Jason and Craig Domaschenz took out the Commodore Cup Endurance Challenge while the Formula 3 success was shared, in Round Five of the Shannons Nationals at Winton Motor Raceway. Six categories raced in the Shannons Nationals’ first ever visit to the Victorian circuit, which kicked off the second half of the 2009 season. The Domaschenz brothers won the Menzel Glass Commodore Cup Endurance Challenge and the Ashley Cooper Memorial Trophy.

Tony Ricciardello won the Clem Smith Cup for Sports Sedans in Round Four of the Shannons Nationals at Mallala Motor Sport Park, where South Australian drivers starred. South Aussies won three of the six classes in a big weekend of racing at the Adelaide circuit, with late rain challenging drivers each day. Ricciardello took his Alfa Romeo to victory in the marquee race of the Kerrick Sports Sedan Series, the Clem Smith Cup. In a dominant Race Two performance, Ricciardello claimed his second Clem Smith Cup, after winning the inaugural Cup in 2007.

Dual national champion Darren Hossack will be the busiest driver in this weekend’s fourth round of the Shannons Nationals at Adelaide’s Mallala Motor Sport Park, doing double duty in a Sports Sedan and a Superkart. In 2008, Hossack joined an elite group of drivers to win two Australian titles in the same year with his Kerrick Sports Sedan Series and Australian Superkart Championship success, with both classes featuring on Mallala’s six-category program this weekend.

With everything from a pair of 1958 classics to the latest racing machines, over 70 Porsches will hit Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit this weekend, in Round Three of the Shannons Nationals. From Australian motorsport legend Jim Richards to Melbourne young gun Kane Rose, the German machines will be raced by a diverse group of drivers in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Australian GT Championship and a Porsche Club Regularity.

Australia’s fastest racers, Formula 3 will be one of six classes in action at the fast and flowing Victorian circuit in Round Three of the Shannons Nationals. In May 2007, Tander created international motor racing history at Phillip Island, becoming the first female to win a Formula 3 race, going on to finish second in the Australian Championship. Tander finished second in the title race again in 2008 and has moved from driver to TanderSport team manager this year, but will compete in the V8 Supercar endurance races with Wilson Security Racing. In a one-off Formula 3 return, Tander will be re-united with the 2004-model Dallara she drove in 2007 and, while running in the National Class for older model cars, will be a dark horse.

While the 2009 Shannons Nationals will be contested over nine events following the cancellation of Round Nine at Symmons Plains Raceway, the series has announced plans to return to Tasmania bigger and better in 2010. Symmons Plains was scheduled to host Round Nine of the 2009 season in October, however the Australian GT Championship’s withdrawal from the round, along with the Shannons Nationals finale at Sandown, made the event unfeasible.

A group of Shannons Nationals competitors will combine their racing with a role in the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour, in a big weekend of double duty at Mount Panorama on 20-22 February. After racing in the opening round of the 2009 Shannons Nationals wraps up on Saturday afternoon, 22 drivers and numerous crew members will remain in Bathurst for roles as competitors and officials in Sunday’s production car endurance race. A total of 11 drivers will also participate in the 12 Hour, with five drivers from the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge trading their Porsches for production cars. Having finished second in the 2008 12 Hour, series newcomer Tony Quinn will be joined on the grid on Sunday by GT3 Cup Challenge rivals Max Twigg, Josh Hunt, Richard Howe and Dennis O’Keefe.

Almost a year to the day after he was injured in a serious crash, Matt Kingsley will return to the racetrack this weekend, February 20-22, in Round One of the Shannons Nationals at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Kingsley, 24, will race in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, one of five Shannons Nationals categories running in conjunction with the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour. On February 24 2008, Kingsley was contesting a V8 Ute race at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar event, when he was seriously injured in a multi-car accident. Nerve damage and severe concussion saw Kingsley spend several weeks in Adelaide Hospital, before undergoing extensive rehabilitation on the Gold Coast over the following months. “After the accident I had a lot of nerve damage,” Kingsley said.

The Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships will visit Queensland’s Morgan Park Raceway for the first time in 2009, following a change to this year’s schedule. Round Seven of the Nationals’ fourth season on 8-9 August has been moved from Queensland Raceway to Morgan Park, located at Warwick, 160km south-west of Brisbane. The Shannons Nationals will be the first national-level series to visit Morgan Park, which is currently undergoing upgrades and a circuit extension. “We were looking forward to returning to Queensland Raceway,” series director Rob Curkpatrick said. “Unfortunately, an issue between track management and CAMS was delaying things, and we needed to finalise arrangements to get on with our business.

British driver James Winslow won the 2008 Australian Drivers Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway today, while Leanne Tander took out the Tasmanian Formula 3 SuperPrix in Round Eight of the Shannons Nationals. Three national champions were crowned at the Launceston circuit over the weekend, as competitors put on exciting racing for spectators who braved wet and wild weather. Winslow entered the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship season finale with a one-point lead over Tander, extending that advantage to three points after topping qualifying on Saturday. The pair were battling it out in the opening race before Tander slowed with an engine problem which would eventually force her out of the race.

The first three series champions from the 2008 Shannons Nationals will be crowned at Symmons Plains Raceway this weekend, as the season enters its final three rounds. Round Eight will be the series’ annual visit to Tasmania, with the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and HQ National Series titles to be decided in a big weekend of racing. Headlining the event will be the Country Club Tasmanian Formula 3 SuperPrix - the final race of the Formula 3 season - which looks set to decide the 2008 Australian Drivers Championship, one of the most-prestigious prizes in domestic motorsport.

Just one week out from Father’s Day, six sets of fathers will race their sons at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway this weekend, aiming for top spot in Round Seven of the Shannons Nationals. Set to spark plenty of discussion over Father’s Day lunch the following Sunday, the family feuds will add extra spice to the on-track competition, with over 170 competitors doing battle across six categories.

The Australian Formula 3 Championship battle will shift up a gear in this weekend’s sixth round of the Shannons Nationals at Phillip Island, with Nathan Caratti and Leanne Tander entering the weekend sharing the championship lead. Phillip Island will host the penultimate Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship round of the year and the 150th race in the championship’s history, which is the nation’s fastest class with alumni including Indycar driver Will Power and impressive V8 Supercar rookie Michael Caruso.