The final round of the 2019 season like many years culminates at Sandown Park, the suburban circuit in Melbourne.
The championship is destined to go down to the wire once more after a tumultuous season that has seen a change in outright winners and class winners throughout the season.
Up front triple champion Philip Chester in the MontiPower MG B GT V8 holds a slender 30 point lead to Vince Gucciardo in the GB Galvanizing car. The pair have traded wins throughout the year, Gucciardo taking pole and two race wins at the Winton Festival of Speed although the ‘Home of Horsepower’ may make things a bit harder at Sandown.
“We are in with a shot, and anything can happen but Phil can play the long game and we can’t do much, its been a great year and we always wanted this to be a learning year before having a crack in 2020 anyway” Gucciardo commented.
The pair have built a lead of over 80 points to third place David Anderson who’s Group S MG B Roadster has become stronger as the season has progressed. The battle for Group S subclass honours will go down to the final race as David Anderson, Greg White and Darren Souter are just 60 points apart at a round that is consistently the best point scoring round for the Group S class each season.
The Modern field has Tony Vollebregt leading the way in his MG ZR, 5th overall and with a commanding class lead he can potentially jump Anderson for 3rd overall if he has a strong weekend while Souter will have his eyes on moving into the top 5.
The top 10 in the championship
Sponsor | Driver | Vehicle | Class | Cap | |
1 | MontiPower | Philip Chester | MG B GT V8 | Open 2 | 338 |
2 | GB Galvanizing | Vince Gucciardo | MG C GT V8 | Open 2 | 308 |
3 | Aussie Pools | David Anderson | MG B Roadster | Group S | 235 |
4 | Greg White | MG B Roadster | Group S | 217 | |
5 | Aussie Pools | Tony Vollebregt | MG ZR | Modern 2 | 210 |
6 | Aussie Pools | Darren Souter | MG B Roadster | Group S | 175 |
7 | Ultraglaze Detailing | Paul Vernall | MG ZR | Open 1 | 173 |
8 | Robin Bailey | MG B GT V8 | Open 2 | 139 | |
9 | Derby Works | Sean Herlihy | MG F | Modern 1 | 133 |
10 | Peter Rose | MG B Roadster | Classic 1 | 122 |