2022 S5000 Tasman Series

The 2022 S5000 Tasman Series, known by its sponsored identity the Shannons S5000 Tasman Series, was the 14th season of the revived Tasman Series, and the second Tasman Series using S5000 machinery and therefore the S5000 moniker.[1] It was held in October, and December of 2022.

Nathan Herne, driving for Garry Rogers Motorsport, won the title after winning four of the six races.

Teams and drivers

All teams competed with identical Rogers AF01/V8 single-seater racecars, Ligier/Onroak chassis powered by Ford Coyote V8 engines.[2] For the 2022 season, a Pro-Am class was introduced.[3]

TeamNo.DriverClassRoundsRef
Team BRM17 Mark RosserPAAll[4]
27 Joey MawsonAll[5]
56 Giancarlo Fisichella2[6]
Garry Rogers Motorsport18 Aaron Cameron2[7]
22 Sebastian Amadio2[7][8]
29 Nathan HerneAll[9]
49 Jordan BoysAll[9]
65 Noah SandsAll[10]
Vircura H1 Racing20 Brad Gartner2[7]
Tim Macrow Racing23 Tim Macrow2[7]
Versa Motorsport37 Cooper WebsterAll[11]
48 Blake Purdie2[12]
Bargwanna Motorsport71 Ben BargwannaAll[13]
79 Jude BargwannaAll[13]
88Racing88 Elly MorrowAll[14]
  • Shae Davies planned to enter the first round with Versa Motorsport, but did not take part in the event.[15]

Calendar

The 2022 calendar was announced on 15 December 2021.[16] After the 2022 Supercars Championship, which the Tasman Series supported, changed its calendar, the Sydney round was moved forward, resulting in it being dropped from the Tasman Series calendar. In June, it was clarified that the Tasman Series would have two rounds, while the addition of a third event would be investigated.[17] In August, it was announced that Adelaide would join the calendar as final round.[18] The second round of the championship, planned to be held at Mount Panorama Circuit, was later replaced by a series of non-championship demonstration runs.[19]

RoundCircuitLocationDate
1 Surfers Paradise Street CircuitSurfers Paradise, Queensland29–30 October
2 Adelaide Street CircuitAdelaide, South Australia1–4 December

Race results

RoundCircuitDatePole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning entrant
1R1 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit29 October Nathan Herne Joey Mawson Nathan HerneGarry Rogers Motorsport
R230 October Joey Mawson Nathan HerneGarry Rogers Motorsport
R3 Joey Mawson Nathan HerneGarry Rogers Motorsport
2R4 Adelaide Street Circuit2 December Aaron Cameron Joey Mawson Nathan HerneGarry Rogers Motorsport
R53 December Joey Mawson Joey MawsonTeam BRM
R64 December Aaron Cameron Aaron CameronGarry Rogers Motorsport

Season summary

The third S5000 Tasman series began with only nine entries at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. Nathan Herne set pole for the first race with the quickest lap ever around the track. Cooper Webster, who would have started alongside him, crashed late in qualifying, with his car not fixed in time for the race start. This meant Herne easily kept the lead, ahead of Joey Mawson and Jordan Boys. This top trio remained static until the end. A day later, Herne resumed where he left off, winning race two comfortably, once again ahead of Mawson, with Ben Bargwanna rounding out the podium this time. Race three was less smooth sailing for Herne: he almost collided with Mawson into turn one, with the latter then taking to the escape road and emerging in the lead. Mawson later had to give back that position, enabling Herne to sweep the weekend. Mawsons three second places saw him leave Surfers' Paradise 27 points behind Herne. Boys was once again third in race three and sat another 25 points back.[20][21][22]

The field grew for round two, with fifteen cars tackling Adelaide Street Circuit. 2022 champion Aaron Cameron set another lap record in qualifying to claim pole, before being overtaken by Herne at the start and then crashing and retiring. Herne turned his comfortable lead into a fourth straight victory, with Mawson behind for a fourth straight second place and Webster third. Race two saw some drivers mistake the formation lap for the race start, causing a crash and a red flag. Herne's gearbox overheated mid-way through the race, making him finish only eleventh, while Mawson won the race. Webster and Blake Purdie completed the podium, with Herne now only one point ahead of Mawson going into the final race. This race then saw a controversial end to the season: the title contenders collided on lap three, with Mawson retiring immediately and Herne finishing 13th with a damaged car. Cameron won the race after starting last, with the rest of the podium identical to race two. While thirteenth place was enough for Herne to secure the title, Mawson was then also deducted 15 points after the stewards saw him at fault for the crash. This promoted Webster to second in the championship.[23][24][25][26]

Drivers' standings

Each of the two rounds started with a qualifying session, awarding ten points for pole position down to one point for 10th. The grid of the first two races was based on this qualifying result, with 30 points being awarded to the winner. The last race of each weekend marked the most important one, with a grid based on points scored over all previous weekend sessions and 60 points on offer for the winner.[27]

Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15thRet
Qualifying1098765432100
First and second race30272422201816141210864210
Main event60504032262422201816141210860
Pos.DriverSURADEPoints
QR1R2R3QR4R5R6
1 Nathan Herne1111211113187
2 Cooper Webster2DNS453322166
3 Joey Mawson3222421Ret161[a]
4 Jordan Boys43736544158
5 Ben Bargwanna54347658154
6 Noah Sands755610975123
7 Jude Bargwanna6667111089105
8 Aaron Cameron1Ret6188
9 Blake Purdie973382
10 Elly Morrow98991514101270
11 Mark Rosser87881312DNSRet59
12 Giancarlo Fisichella54Ret652
13 Tim Macrow88Ret733
14 Brad Gartner141391130
15 Sebastian Amadio1211NC1024
Pos.DriverQR1R2R3QR4R5R6Points
SURADE

Notes

References

See also