AFTER starting from the pole and leading all 30-laps Terry Rankin is the new Australian Formula 500 Champion after winning the 2026 Aero6Four supported event at the Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier.<\/p>\n
After getting the jump over fellow front row starter Liam Williams, Rankin was unchallenged as he went on to defeat New South Welshman Jac Laneyrie, who started on the fourth row, and South Australian standout Corey Jones.<\/p>\n
Following the top three was an impressive Luka Bussa, who was the real quiet achiever of the weekend, while Steven Ellement completed the top five.<\/p>\n
After starting outside the top 10 Queenslander Bailey Leeson stormed to a sixth placed result with Indy Rae, Dylan Willsher, Chad Bell and Dylan Anton completing the top 10.<\/p>\n
The Australian Championship result was a great reflection of what a National Title event represents with drivers from five mainland states making up the top 10.<\/p>\n
After running second for the opening half of the final Williams\u2019 attempt at a sixth National crown came to an end on lap 16, when he spun in turn four after bouncing through a rut. Williams would eventually finish twelfth.<\/p>\n
The restart following the caution would also see the demise of another leading contender as Ellement and Cody Turacchio got together on the front straight while they were racing for third, with the contact ending Turacchio\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
The only other caution of the race was for Western Australian David Sinagra, who rolled in turn four after contact.<\/p>\n
The night began with the third round of heats with Terry Rankin storming to the win in heat thirteen before Luka Bussa was a convincing winner in heat fourteen.<\/p>\n
Heat fifteen provided a great race to the flag as youngster Paddy Lewis just edged out Zac Stevens by 0.035 of a second. Tasmanian Matt Redpath, Evie Bell, who was fresh from singing the National Anthem in the pre-event ceremonies, and Liam Russell also collected a heat win during the third round.<\/p>\n
The only real incident of the third round of heats occurred in heat eighteen when Lauren Bowen and Bayley Wilson made contact in turn two, with Wilson rolling over.<\/p>\n
The final round of heats began with an easy win for veteran Tim Rankin while heat twenty resembled a hot lap session as Liam Williams cruised to victory ahead of Steven Ellement and Western Australian Champion Rhys Cumming.<\/p>\n
Chevette Muir became the second young female heat winner of the night as she held out Cody Turacchio by less than a second. Victorian Jackson McLean was the winner of heat twenty-two, while the penultimate heat was secured by Queenslander Seth Chellingworth.<\/p>\n
Heat twenty-three saw the red light come on shortly after the race began for youngster Kira O\u2019Shannassy, who spun and later fell over in turn one.<\/p>\n
The final heat of the weekend saw Terry Rankin put a full stop on the preliminaries as he secured the heat win ahead of Bayley Wilson and Matt Turner and in the process, he locked up the top qualifying position.<\/p>\n
With the last four spots available at the back of the Australian Championship final the B-main saw some desperate racing, with the result being a drawn-out race with a number of cautions.<\/p>\n
But after 20 gruelling laps Tim Rankin surged to the front to claim the win ahead of an impressive Bryce McGregor, Chad Bell and Glenn Carstairs. The race between Bell and Carstairs for the third spot was the highlight of the race. Western Australian Rhys Cumming just missed a transfer in the final along with Sonny Bell.<\/p>\n
Prior to the B-main the C-Main proved to be another marathon effort but after 15 laps Victorians Brock Rae, Brad Malone and Jarome Speed joined South Australian Dean Cottrell at the back of the B-main.<\/p>\n
The Blue Lake Cup for the Junior Formula 500\u2019s was also on the program in support of the Australian Championship with Hugo Chivell dominating the final as he led all 20 laps. Second across the line was Western Australian Tyler Pigdon, with Cody Malley getting the better of Lexi Hart late in the race to claim the final podium position. Fifth place went to Cruz Farrell with Queenslander Zack Hilder, Logan O\u2019Shannassy, Tait Owens, Cooper Dawson and Bordertown resident Max Cook completing the top 10 in the nineteen-car field.<\/p>\n
Words courtesy of Phil Michell Motorsport Media & photo courtesy of Rock Solid Productions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFTER starting from the pole and leading all 30-laps Terry Rankin is the new Australian Formula 500 Champion after winning the 2026 Aero6Four supported event at the Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier. After getting the jump over fellow front row starter Liam Williams, Rankin was unchallenged as he went on to defeat New South Welshman […]<\/p>\n