Throughout the history of the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, which will be staged at Sydney Motorsport Park for the fifth time later this year, a total of nine different entries have featured on the outright podium, representing six different manufacturers.
It’s a staggering statistic that highlights, without elaboration or illustration, just how difficult it is to achieve success in these races.
Only one driver has featured on the outright podium here more than once… the two-time winner, Todd Herring Racing.
Statistically speaking, Herring is the most successful driver in the history of the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300 to date, with three outright podium finishes, including two wins, and four podium finishes in Division A, including three wins.
His win here (with Andy Harris) in the 2019 race is one that will remain in ‘300’ folklore forever, after snatching the lead off Stephen Thompson and Ed Kreamer’s ailing Mitsubishi Evo, on the run out of the final corner, on the final lap.
Two years later, it was a commanding solo drive, as he converted pole into victory, in the first #Sydney300 to be staged under lights.
It was back-to-back wins for Herring, and the only victory we’ve seen from pole in the short history of this event.
In 2022, a blown head gasket saw him miss qualifying, and start from the rear of the grid. In a race plagued by inclement weather, and safety car interruptions, Herring charged through the field, to finish third outright, and win Division A for the third year in succession.
His run of outright podium finishes came to an end in 2023, in a race where (mechanically speaking) everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, for the Mazda MX5 pilot, but he still managed to get to the chequered flag, and finish third in Division A.
Elsewhere, BYP Racing and Developments/BYP Racing Honda FWD Race Cars has finished on the podium here twice, through Benny Tran’s win here last year, and a Division B win for Jimmy Tran and Drew Hall in 2021, which was good enough for second outright.
BMW entries have featured prominently on the outright podium in the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300… specifically in third place, on three occasions, and all from within Division B.
In 2019, Justin Ruggier and Mark Mackay (Targa Racing) were beneficiaries of a 5-minute penalty for the Daniel Kapetanovic and David Kruza Pinnacle Automotive BMW, to stand on the final step of the podium, in a chaotic, dramatic finish.
Despite winning Division C in 2019, with fourth outright, the Pinnacle stable would have to wait until 2021 to secure that elusive outright podium finish, when Daniel Kapetanovic and Adam Thompson came home in third outright.
That same combination would go on to win the Wakefield 300 (at One Raceway) in 2022.
Last year, 12 months after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, Anthony Soole and Adam Burgess finished second in Division B, and third outright, in the BMW M4.
David Loftus and Phillip Armour took their Mazda RX8 to 2nd outright in 2019. We’ve not seen them on the grid since then, and it remains the only time a Mazda RX8 has finished on the outright podium in this event.
Same can be said for current TA2 Racing Australia champion Dylan Thomas (CXC Racing) and Cody Brewczynski, who are 1 from 1 in the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, after a famous outright win, in the Mitsubishi Evo in 2022.
Thomas held off Chris Sutton (321 MotoFit) in a one-lap dash to the line, on that damp July evening, and Sutton’s second place finish remains the only time a Subaru vehicle has ever featured on a Sydney 300 podium. In fact, it was the highest ever finish for a Subaru in the history of the format, and secured Division C honours for him as well.
Last year, it was an historic second place finish for the combination of Cem Yucel and Iain Salteri, that saw them win Division B, and take a Volkswagen car to an outright podium finish for the first time in the history of the 300’s – the sixteenth different manufacturer to feature on an outright podium, dating back to 2008.
In the lead up to May 18, we’ll continue to look back on the previous four editions of the Pitcher Partners Sydney 300, including those who’ve enjoyed great success within their respective divisions, over the last five years.
