2024 Season Review

The 2024 Hi-Tec Oils Super Series saw the three feature categories go down to the wire, with three maiden champions crowned.

After finishing as the bridesmaid in 2023 Josh Haynes returned to win the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by Hytek Steel Framing.

In Formula RX8 youngster Brock Paine prevailed to become the inaugural series champion, while Ryan Pring cleaned up in Legend Cars Australia, taking both the national championship and national title.

TA2 Muscle Cars

After running as a privateer for the last two years, 2024 saw Josh Haynes run with Waltec Motorsport, competing in a Ford Mustang sponsored by Herzog Steel.

Across the season Haynes scored a total 14 race victories, but it was the relentless consistency that won him the title.

Only on one occasion did Haynes finish outside the top three, a mechanical DNF at Morgan Park.

Round 1 took place at Sydney Motorsport Park in which Bathurst 1000 winner Todd Hazelwood made a cameo appearance. However, it was Haynes who got the better of Hazelwood, taking pole and three of the four race victories.

South Australian Brad Gartner was keen to bounce back from disappointing Round 1 which for him contained two DNFs. At Morgan Park, he took a clean sweep of all four race wins.

Haynes was forced to settle for second in three races and recorded that DNF in the other.

At Queensland raceway Haynes and Gartner were locked in combat all weekend long, however, ‘The Man of Steel’ beat home Gartner on all four occasions to extend his series lead.

For the round at the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in South Australia, TA2 went into endurance mode, with competitors given the option of taking on a co-driver.

Josh Haynes won the two main driver solo races and Super2 front-runner Jarrod Hughes won the two co-driver races.

While guest driver Tom Haynes drove out of his skin to win both the enduro races as a solo driver.

In South Australia Gartner lost more ground to Haynes as he and his co-driver Tim Brook were both caught up in lap 1 incidents, he knew he had to go max attack in the final two rounds.

At Winton it was Haynes that won the opening affair; but Gartner threw everything at it on Sunday and recorded three wins.

Going into the final round Haynes had a healthy championship buffer over Gartner, but at One Raceway Haynes was the class of the field.

He not only took pole position and all four wins, he also took the lap record in the final race, capping off an incredible year for the Canberra based driver.

Formula RX8

Brock Paine was victorious in a highly competitive Formula RX8 category in 2024, the Queenslander matched outright speed with incredible consistency.

In a 23-race season, Paine took 11 race victories including nine in a row midway through the season. He crossed the line in all 23 races, finishing outside of the top two places just twice!

Round 1 at SMP was three races rather than the traditional four, and while Paine won the opener it was the local Rob Boaden that took the other two to win the opening round. This was a sign of things to come as Boaden and Paine would fight tooth and nail all year long.

Steve Devjak was a surprise victor at Morgan Park, taking all four wins. Paine scored three second places and his worst finish of the entire season, an 11th, this enabled Boaden to beat him in the round and extend his series lead.

At the ‘Paperclip’ Paine started his incredible race winning streak, he beat home Boaden in all four races and meant they left Queensland equal on points at the front of the championship.

The Bend in South Australia saw Paine again lead Boaden to the chequered flag in the quartet of races.

Changeable weather enabled three different drivers to take wins at Winton Motor Raceway. Paine continued his winning run in Race 1, he led home Geoff Connell with Boaden in third.

In a wet Race 2, Boaden finally ended Paine’s run of nine straight wins, but Paine was right behind him.

Neither Paine nor Boaden won the inverted grid race, that honour went to Thomas Derwent in what was his maiden victory in the series. Paine finished in second while Boaden could only move up to fifth.

Paine won the final encounter of the weekend, while Boaden again finished down in fifth, enabling the Queenslander to pull out a margin in the championship heading into the final round.

Boaden knew he had to win races and hope that Paine faltered to have a shot at the title. He did all he could, he won three of the four races while Geoff Connell picked up the other.

However, Paine played the round smartly, he finished all four races inside the top four positions, enough to take the title by 13 points.

Legend Cars Australia

Ryan Pring showed that consistency was key to taking the Legend Cars Australia Championship this year.

The man from Canberra may have only won five races of a possible 30, but impressively he won not only the national championship, he also won the national title.

Round 1 highlighted what a close and competitive season it was going to be, Sydney Motorsport Park produced three different winners. Lachlan Ward and Irishman Billy Finnegan won two races, while Robert Hogan won the other.

Despite not taking a win Pring ended Round 1 third in the series, the lowest he would be at any point.

Lachlan Ward dominated at Morgan Park winning all five races across the weekend. The following round at QR was much more competitive, Brendon Hourigan won two races, while Shane Tate, Scott Melville and Riley Skinner took one each.

By now Pring had made his way into the title lead, something he would not relinquish.

In SA Ward again dominated by winning four of the five races, while the bonkers inverted grid race went the way of Hogan.

Heading into the penultimate round of the series, Pring had still not won a race. At Winton he had to watch Hogan take two victories and Ben Goodridge win the other.

However, Pring would be victorious in five of the last seven races, kicking things off with a win in the penultimate race before Hogan snatched another to end the event.

While Pring was on track to win the Australian championship, the winner of the final round at One Raceway would take the national title. While many would have taken it easy to wrap up the championship, Pring did not.

He took four wins across the weekend and in doing so wrapped up the championship as well as the national crown. Hogan was the other race winner.