The Shannons V8 Touring Car National Series makes its mainland debut for 2010 at the fourth round of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships at South Australia’s Mallala Motorsports Park on May 29-30, with local drivers set to star. The basis of V8 Touring Cars is to provide a home for older model V8 Supercars, with all of the cars competing in the series having pedigrees gained at the highest level of the sport in Australia.

Although the main V8 Supercar series now call the Clipsal 500 home, the Shannons V8 Touring Cars are perfectly suited to the demanding Mallala layout.

South Australian’s will be out in force, with Adelaide’s Chris Smerdon and the Barossa Valley’s Michael Bartsch flying the Ford flag against some quality Holden competition, led by another local in reigning series champion Adam Wallis.

“It should be quite exciting, Mallala is a fairly high speed circuit, it should provide for some good close racing for the fans,” Smerdon said.

“I really don’t know if my local knowledge will come into it, as I haven’t raced there in 12 months, so it should be fairly wide open.

“Terry (Wyhoon), Adam and Michael will all be very quick, but there’s also a few new guys who are out to impress.

“I was very impressed with Tony Evangelou on debut (in the class at the last round in Tasmania); he was right on the money straight away after having a break away from driving, so he will also be a definite chance also.”

For Bartsch, budgetary constraints may restrict his racing this year, so he looking to impress in front of a parochial local crowd.

“Hopefully we can go and do a few rounds this year, so our aim is to start strongly and get onto the podium at Mallala,” Bartsch said.

“The track is only 40 minutes from home, and it’s always enjoyable racing in front of family and friends.”

Two Western Australian’s will be making the long trek across the Nullarbor Plain, with Matthew Hansen and Dean Kovacevich set to make their Shannons V8 Touring Car series debut aboard a Falcon and a Commodore respectively, while New South Wales based Ben Eggleston and James Stewart are also slated to compete in Holden Commodores.

The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Mission Foods will also have a strong South Australian flavour, with four locals and an expat taking to the circuit for the third round of their 2010 series.

Regular series runners Mark Krashos and Gary Dann will be joined on the grid by newcomers John Goodacre and Jed Wallis, while Singaporian Yuey Tan will be having a homecoming of sorts, having spent his early years in Adelaide before moving abroad.

Queenslander Matt Kingsley will be looking to extend his championship lead after taking a clean sweep of the race wins at the previous championship round in Tasmania, while Roger Lago, Sven Burchartz, Jeff Bobik and Terry Knight will be looking to improve their championship standings.

Other classes in action on the Shannons Nationals program at Mallala include the Kerrick Sports Sedan Series featuring the Clem Smith Cup, the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, the Commodore Cup National Series, as well the South Australian Formula Vees.

Practice, qualifying and racing kicking off at 9:00am on Saturday (May 29), concluding with a 30 minute twilight race for the Commodore Cup, commencing at 5:15pm.

On Sunday, racing starts at 9:30, with gates opening both days to the public at 8:00am.

Saturday tickets are $20, Sunday admission is $35, and weekend passes are available for $50.

For more information about the 2010 Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships, visit http://www.thenationals.com.au.

About the Australian Six Hour

New for 2010, the Australian Six Hour at Eastern Creek on July 18 will become a new highlight on the Australian production car calendar. Doubling as round four of the Australian Manufacturers Championship, the world’s top automotive brands will be pitted against each other, with marques including BMW, HSV, FPV, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Renault and Alfa Romeo. Stay tuned to the Shannons Nationals website for details as the big weekend approaches