Nine cars for Winton S5000 – Motorsport.com

A nine-car field will contest the third round of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship at Winton next week.

The V8-powered series will make its debut at the rural Victorian circuit as part of the Race Winton event.

However for the second round running it will be a single-digit field with the same nine drivers from last time out at Phillip Island.

Garry Rogers Motorsport will be the best-represented team on the grid with James Golding, recently-confirmed Brad Jones Racing enduro driver Jordan Boys and Aaron Cameron all in the line-up.

The two title protagonists will also be back with Joey Mawson in his Team BRM/88Racing entry and Cooper Webster in one of two Versa Motorsport cars.

Webster was the round winner at Phillip Island with two race wins moving him to within 11 points of series leader Mawson.

Since then Webster has had success in the GB4 championship as well with three second places at Donington Park.

But while Webster has the momentum, two-time reigning S5000 champion Mawson is adamant his approach for Winton won’t change.

“It’s the same mindset as always,” he said. “We approach the weekend trying to go for victories, and if you are winning races, then the championship takes care of itself.

“The approach is always the same. We can’t afford to DNF or to take risks, and qualifying is crucial to seeing how each weekend will turn out.

“I don’t see myself as being the chaser. Cooper had a very strong round [at Phillip Island] and hats off to him, but at the same time, nothing changes, and I have the same approach. I think I’m in a better position than I was this time last year in terms of points.”

Winston Smith, meanwhile, will return to the S5000 grid following his debut at the Island last month.

“It was a really good experience,” Smith said. “It was great to meet the new team and they were really helpful throughout the whole process.

“The whole thing was a big learning moment – getting comfortable with the car was the big thing but also adjusting to track conditions and changes in the feeling of the car each race.

“I’m looking forward to getting a bit more of a result [at Winton] and building from everything I learnt at Phillip Island.”

Winton S5000 entry list