The two-time Bathurst 1000 winner has joined R Motorsport, driving alongside five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and DTM star Jake Dennis.

Dennis led the team’s attack on the 2019 Bathurst endurance classic, finishing second on his debut at Mount Panorama.

Kelly competed in the 12 Hour in 2014 and ’16, finishing second on the latter occasion, while Kiwi Dixon is lining up for his first crack at Bathurst.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be heading back to the Bathurst 12H and to be joining the R-Motorsport Team in the Aston Martin,” said Kelly.

“Since my last 12 Hour campaign in 2016 I have been keeping a close eye on the event with a keen eye to returning, it’s such a great event with many different challenges to what I’m used to in the Supercar at Bathurst.

“Most drivers would agree that visiting Bathurst just once a year isn’t enough, having the chance to push the Aston across the top of the mountain is something that I’m really looking forward to.

“In places where we are on the brakes in the Supercar, these guys are on the throttle. It’s going to be an awesome challenge!

“I have been working the R Motorsport Team in the background for several months now to piece this project together and they have been a real pleasure to work with, so I’m really looking forward to being a part of their Team at the event.”

Kelly tested the Aston for the first time in Portugal this week alongside Dixon and Dennis.

“Getting the chance to visit Portugal and test the Aston is a real thrill, especially having the chance to share the car with Scott and Jake, two world class talents that will be a great asset to us as we piece together our attack on the mountain early next year,” Kelly continued.

“I had to pinch myself when I saw the Aston for the first time with all three of our names above the door.

“Jake’s efforts last year were nothing short of impressive both in the race and also in qualifying, and I’m stoked to work with Scott again.

“We know him best for his Indy achievements but his efforts in our Supercar at the Gold Coast a few years back were outstanding considering he hadn’t driven that car before, so I’m sure he’ll be on top of the Aston in no time.”

The 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour will take place across January 31-February 2.

Michelisz finished the race – won by double World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson from 22nd on the grid – in fifth position, having eased off when Guerrieri dropped back after his Honda Civic Type R ingested grass while he defended the lead.

Guerrieri had been in a position to claim the title at that point, though, as polesitter Michelisz had slipped to fourth.

The title rivals matched each other off the line and ran side-by-side into the first corner, but Guerrieri braked later than his rival to snatch the lead at Turn 1.

Mikel Azcona also drove around the outside of Michelisz between Turns 1 and 2 to claim second, though that order would still have given Michelisz the title by a point.

The Hungarian appeared tentative on the opening lap, though, and ceded third to Kristoffersson when the Sebastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI driver got a better exit off the Turn 11 right-hander.

Guerrieri survived a robust attack from Azcona through Turns 1, 2 and 3 at the start of lap two, but held the position into Turn 4 as the safety car was deployed so Augusto Farfus’s Hyundai i30 N could be recovered from the gravel trap.

It took another three laps for the race to be restarted, with Michelisz immediately going on the attack in an attempt to unseat Kristoffersson and reclaim the third place he needed to guarantee the title.

Though that did not come off, the top four bunched up as Guerrieri struggled to contain the pack behind him.

Things came to a head out of Turn 11, when Azcona got a better exit than the leader.

As he went to nose his Cupra inside Guerrieri on the approach to the Turn 12 left-hander, Guerrieri moved across to close the door – with Azcona hitting the Argentinian as a result.

This sent Guerrieri skating along the grass, though he was able to keep his Honda on the road and in the lead, briefly, as the four leaders approached the penultimate corner side-by-side.

But Azcona got ahead out of the corner, with Kristoffersson launching an attack into the final corner – eventually making the position his into Turn 4 on the following lap.

That made Michelisz’s task far simpler, though he continued to hound Guerrieri as the Honda began to develop an issue.

Michelisz tapped his rival into Turn 11, and later made a pass stick, to move into third, with Guerrieri then forfeiting a handful of positions on the run to the final corner.

Guerrieri was told to “just keep going, we’re hoping for some miracle”, but visited the pits three times during a second safety-car period to have grass removed from his splitter.

He eventually finished 22nd, having set the fastest lap at the end of the race.

Safe in the knowledge Guerrieri was out of contention, Michelisz handed positions to Kevin Ceccon (Team Mulsanne Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce) and the Comtoyou Audi RS3 LMS of Frederic Vervisch in the middle of the race, and cruised to a comfortable fifth ahead of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini to seal the title by 21 points.

His success means BRC has run the winning driver to the title for the second year in a row, following Tarquini’s success last year.

While the title fight fizzled out, the battle for the race win ensured there was still an entertaining end to the race.

Azcona was still in the lead after the second safety car but had put up a strong defence to keep Kristoffersson at bay.

After an entertaining tussle between the top three – now featuring Ceccon – Kristoffersson made his race-winning move around the outside of Azcona at the final corner with four laps remaining.

The lead trio continued to squabble for the remainder of the race, though would ultimately stay in formation as Volkswagen ended its factory-supporting stint in WTCR with a victory.

Vervisch was a lonely fourth, while behind Michelisz and Tarquini the top 10 was completed by Guerrieri’s Munnich Motorsport team-mate Nestor Girolami, Tiago Monteiro (KCMG Honda), Cyan Racing’s Thed Bjork and the second Sebastien Loeb Racing VW of Benjamin Leuchter.

Azcona crossed the line in second, resisting a lunge from Ceccon at the final corner, but was penalised after the race for his clash with Guerrieri and had 30s added to his time, in lieu of a drivethrough penalty, which dropped him to 14th.

Ceccon, therefore, inherited second ahead of Vervisch, with Michelisz confirmed as champion in fourth.

Tarquini followed his team-mate home over the line but was later handed a 30-second penalty of his own for two safety-car infringements. This dropped him out of the points.

Result – 14 laps

The #7 Mustang will be primarily backed by NED Whisky in a multi-year deal, making for a largely white and black scheme.

Kelly Racing revealed the livery with a borrowed car, as construction of its own Mustangs continues to take place.

“It’s extremely exciting to announce a new major partnership between Kelly Racing and NED Whisky for Andre’s Mustang next year and beyond,” said team co-owner Todd Kelly.

“We’ve got a big season ahead with a lot of great opportunities made possible by the switch to Mustang so it’s fantastic to bring a new major sponsor onboard that we can share that with and start a new journey together.”

Next season shapes as a campaign full of opportunity for Heimgartner, who is coming off a strong 2019.

The Kiwi delivered a breakthrough run of performances, leading the team’s fleet of four Altimas on-track for the majority of the year and scoring two podiums along the way.

An incident-packed PIRTEK Enduro Cup plummeted him to 16th in the end-of-year standings, albeit still the lead Kelly Racing driver.

The move to the Mustang model that dominated the 2019 Supercars series presents an avenue to become a frontrunner for both Heimgartner and teammate Rick Kelly.

“It’s exciting and a big step in my racing career to have NED Whisky come onboard with a multi-year partnership for my new Ford Performance Mustang Supercar,” Heimgartner said.

“It is a fun brand and I cannot wait to represent them next year.

“Myself and the team here have the opportunity to be part of something pretty special with NED so we’ll be doing everything we can to serve them well into the future.”

Adem Karafili, chair of Top Shelf International – NED Whisky’s parent company – added: “Today is an important milestone for our growing business with the announcement of our first major partnership as a brand with Kelly Racing.

“It’s the perfect fit for what we stand for as a brand and we look forward to bringing NED Whisky to life in a number of different ways for millions of Australians across the country.”

Kelly Racing’s other entry for 2020 will be the Castrol-backed #15 driven by veteran Rick Kelly.

At the World Council meeting this week in Geneva, the FIA accepted the category’s proposal to give it additional Super Licence points. As a result, it will now offer 10 points to the championship winner, seven points for second place, five points for third, three for fourth position and a single Super Licence point to the driver who finishes fifth in the championship.

The Castrol Toyota Racing Series also gives up and coming drivers two chances to secure Super Licence points. That’s because the FIA now allows points from a maximum of two championships to be accumulated from a single calendar year, provided that the start date of the second championship falls after the end date of the first championship during the year in question.

The New Zealand series has once again opted for a Tatuus chassis for its new 2020 car – the FT-60 using the same chassis as the FIA has selected for regional European F3 championships from next season onwards, Formula Renault and the all female W Series. With Hankook tyres, five challenging circuits, a familiar chassis with a 285 horsepower engine on offer and competitively priced in terms of international racing championships, category officials are confident the Kiwi series will broaden its appeal even further. A full grid is expected when the championship begins next month.

“We have been on the radar for young drivers particularly this year with the announcement of the new car and engine package for the championship,” explained category manager Nicolas Caillol. “We will have a full grid of 20 cars for this season’s competition and having more Super Licence points will only help put us further up in the global pecking order and attract even more drivers in the future.”

Super Licence points are the ‘keys to the kingdom’ for any up and coming racer. The higher you go, the tougher the licence requirements from the FIA are, until ultimately if you want to compete in Formula One and are lucky to have been successful enough on the way to be considered, you are going to need an F1 Super Licence. To even test an F1 car, you need 25 Super Licence points and to get a race licence you need a whopping 40.

The 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series begins at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell in New Zealand’s South Island over the weekend of January 17-19. It stays in the South Island for the second round a week later, moving to Teretonga Park near Invercargill for round two.

The series then heads to the North Island for the remaining three weekends of racing. That will include the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, the New Zealand Motor Cup at Pukekohe Park and the final round, the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting over the weekend of February 14-16 at Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding.

2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series

17-19 January 2020 – Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell – Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy
24-26 January 2020 – Teretonga Park, Invercargill – Spirit of a Nation Cup
1-2 February 2020 – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato – Denny Hulme Trophy
7-9 February 2020 – Pukekohe Park, Pukekohe – New Zealand Motor Cup
15-16 February 2020 – Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding – New Zealand Grand Prix

Lawson was a sensational winner of the 2019 championship after a thrilling battle with fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong, which was only resolved in the final race of the championship, the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Following his breakthrough championship win, Lawson was snapped up by the Red Bull Junior programme and headed to Europe to compete in both the European Formula 3 Championship and the Euroformula Open Championship for Red Bull.

Despite a challenging year – which still saw him take two podiums in his debut season in FIA Formula 3 and four wins and seven podiums in his parallel Euroformula Open campaign – 17 year old Lawson’s circuit racing career statistics remain some of the best amongst the up and coming junior single seater drivers in the world today with 36 wins from 144 races. He finished his 2019 season on a high, with an impressive seventh place finish around the streets of Macau.

Lawson will be backed in his 2020 title defence by long-time partners Turners and Porter Group and is looking forward to being the man they all have to beat in the new-look series, which for 2020 uses a new Tatuus chassis, a 285 horse power Toyota engine and Hankook tyres.

“I’m really excited to come back and do another season of TRS!” said Lawson. “To be coming back to race again in New Zealand is awesome! A lot has happened in the last 12-months, and a lot of it off the back of TRS last season.

“It’s fantastic to have Turners and Porter Group back on board again, they’ve been huge supporters of us for a long time. Equally I’m proud to have all my other supporters on board and I’m really looking forward to representing them on the track.”

Lawson’s title defence will begin at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell in New Zealand’s South Island over the weekend of January 17-19. The championship stays in the South Island for the second round a week later, moving to Teretonga Park near Invercargill for round two.

The series then heads to the North Island for the remaining three weekends of racing. That will include the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, the New Zealand Motor Cup at Pukekohe Park and the final round, the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting over the weekend of February 14-16 at Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon in Feilding.

2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series

17-19 January 2020: Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell – Dorothy Smith Memorial Trophy
24-26 January 2020: Teretonga Park, Invercargill – Spirit of a Nation Cup
1-2 February 2020: Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, Waikato – Denny Hulme Trophy
7-9 February 2020: Pukekohe Park, Pukekohe – New Zealand Motor Cup
15-16 February 2020: Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding – New Zealand Grand Prix

The Commodore has been a staple of Australian motoring for more than 40 years, the family four-door locally produced for the majority of its lifetime.

Only the current Commodore is a re-badged import, the ZB built by Opel in Germany.

The car has also been a regular fixture in Aussie motorsport, the VB Commodore debuting in the Australian Touring Car Championship back in 1980.

It’s not set to disappear from the sport just yet, either, Holden confirming it will make good on a two-year factory commitment made earlier this year despite the changing road car portfolio.

The brand is also not ruling out continuing its Supercars programme beyond 2021 as well, when the new Gen3 regulations will be introduced.

“Holden recently re-committed to racing in Supercars through until the end of 2021, and that will happen with the currently homologated ZB Commodore race car,” read a statement provided by Holden.

“Racing is a strong part of Holden’s brand identity and we will assess our options as Supercars continues to evolve its rules for the next generation of cars currently due to be introduced in 2022.”

Triple Eight currently operates as the factory team and official Holden homologator in Supercars, while the other Holden teams – Erebus Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Team 18, Matt Stone Racing and Tekno Autosports – receive a modest support package including parts and access to road cars.

The season had originally been set to get underway at Highlands Motorsport Park on January 17 – 19 2020, with the intensive calendar being completed five weekends later after five back-to-back race weekends.

However, the decision has now been taken to postpone the series to later in the year, whilst also expanding to seven events, including a flyaway round to Australia at the Bathurst International event.

The calendar will also be more spaced out, going from a five-week duration to five months in total.

It is hoped that the change will prompt more entries, allowing for the arrival of more TCR machinery in the country in the meantime.

“The interest that we’ve had in TCR New Zealand has been extremely positive, however there have been some challenges securing the vehicles to launch at the level that we are comfortable with,” said Matt Braid, Director of promoter Australian Racing Group (ARG).

“Like TCR Australia, our intention has always been to ensure the championship launches with significant impact, and by making this alteration to the calendar, we know that TCR New Zealand will be a success in 2020 and beyond.”

Grant Smith, the Category Manager for TCR New Zealand, explained that the delay in arrival of cars into New Zealand was part of the decision to postpone the series.

“We have had a number of overseas competitors who would like to be part of TCR New Zealand but were having difficulty with the original calendar,” said Smith.

“The arrival delays of TCR cars into New Zealand has meant we would not be able to deliver the product we are aiming for.

“This revised calendar will offer competitors more time to prepare for the new season and enables us to get more TCR cars into New Zealand before season commencement in the second half of 2020.”

A revised calendar will be revealed in due course.

The 34-year-old moves into a co-driver role after 11 seasons as a full-timer in the main game, the last four of which have come at Brad Jones Racing.

Slade has replaced Frenchman Alex Premat in the Shell team’s line-up, set to be paired with two-time reigning champion and 2019 Bathurst winner Scott McLaughlin.

After a particularly tough final season at BJR, Slade is keen to chase wins during his limited 2020 campaign, but isn’t closing the door on a future full-time return.

Asked if he’d chosen the Shell Ford drive over a potential full-time slot elsewhere, Slade said: “There was nothing concrete, there weren’t two contracts on the table or anything like that.

“There were probably a couple of things where if I really, really wanted to, I could have tried to hustle a bit more and make it work.

“But I’ve done this for a long time now, this was my 11th year, and I’ve been in a fairly similar position for most of those years in terms of achieving results.

“I’m at the stage where I don’t want to be full-time just for the sake of being full-time. I don’t want to do something with someone just to make up the numbers.

“This is attractive to me because if all goes to plan, every race I’ll do next year I’ll have a genuine chance of winning, no matter which category I’m in.

“But it’s not like I’ve said I’m never going to race full-time ever again. If the right opportunity popped up then it’s something I’d definitely like to do again.”

Shell V-Power Racing’s signing of Slade followed Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander moving from full-time roles into co-driving positions for Triple Eight in 2019.

While both those veterans closed the book on their full-time careers, 2019 Tickford co-driver signing Michael Caruso was hopeful of scoring a seat in 2020, but found it difficult to get back in.

“I’m under no illusions you’re going to do the enduros and have people ring you up asking you to drive their car the following year,” continued Slade, who has two career Supercars race wins.

“It’s pretty tough at the moment, but if the right opportunity comes up in the future, it’s not like I’ve said I’m done full-time driving.

“I think I’m still capable of doing the job when everything’s right. If you look at the last race weekend, it wasn’t a win, but with where the competition is at at the moment, it was as good as.”

Slade finished third in the Newcastle season finale, scoring his first podium finish – and the first podium for BJR – since Albert Park in March.

The result came as part of a late-season resurgence that was said to follow the discovery of an issue with his car in an inspection conducted ahead of Bathurst.

Slade hopes to pair his DJR Team Penske duties with other racing commitments in Australia and overseas, with the latter likely to come with Asian GT outfit HubAuto.

He competed throughout Asia with the team in 2018, before this year contesting the Bathurst 12 Hour and California 8 Hours with the squad, winning the latter encounter aboard its Ferrari 488 GT3.

Clark has been busy since wrapping up the Chinese Formula 4 Championship in Shanghai. The teen has undertaken testing in the Asian Formula 3 series in preparation for a potential drive their in 2020.

The testing showed positive signs with Clark setting competitive lap times and demonstrating good ability to adapt and adjust to a different, bigger and faster car.

“The F3 test was a really good opportunity for us,” said Clark.

“I think we really made the most of it and it gave us a good understanding of the car and will be invaluable when deciding on our program for 2020.”

After a short break, Clark was off to Paris to be on hand to receive his trophy and be recognised for his achievements in China.

Once the formalities were done and a group photograph of all the FIA champions was being conducted Clark had an unexpected conversation with six-time Formula 1 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton.

“It was quite funny how that happened. It wasn’t planned or anything we just got into a group photo and I ended up next to Lewis which was very cool.

“I congratulated him, he congratulated me and that initiated a little conversation.”

Clark now returns home to New Zealand for the Christmas break where he and his team will be working hard to finalise their 2020 program. Clark and his family would like to thank everyone who has supported their journey so far.

Brendon Hartley, two-time World Champion Driver in the FIA WEC with Porsche, and 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours winner will go forward in his career with multiple programmes but without a Porsche contract.

Exclusively revealed earlier today on DSC, Hartley will continue into the 2020/21 season of the FIA WEC with Toyota Gazoo racing, and continues too in Formula E with GEOX Dragon, this in addition to F1 simulator duties with Ferrari.

Timo Bernhard is one of the longest serving Porsche Factory drivers, his link to the brand going back two decades to Junior driver status in 2000.

Those two decades brought an array of race and Championship wins:

Carrera Cup Deutschland 2001
Le Mans 24 Hours class winner 2002
Nurburgring 24 Hours class winner 2002 & 2003
Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona GT class winner

Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona overall winner 2003
Petit Le Mans GT class winner 2003 & 2004
American Le Mans Series GT class Champion 2004

12 Hours of Sebring class winner 2004
Petit Le Mans LMP2 class winner 2006
Nurburgring 24 Hours overall winner 2006-9 inclusive and 2011

American Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion 2007 & 2008

12 Hours of Sebring overall winner 2008
FIA World Endurance Championship Drivers World Champion 2015 and 2017

Le Mans 24 Hours overall winner 2010 (on loan to Audi) and 2017

More recently he has taken on the mantle as a team-owner and now Team Principal with Team 75 Bernhard, their Porsche-powered exploits including programmes in IGTC and ADAC GT Masters.

A statement this evening makes it clear that his driving days are ot yet done – he will still race in selected events/

Jorg Bergmeister too has a two decade link to the brand with again an array of significant race and Championship wins to his credit, almost his entire career with Porsche spent in GT racing (with the exception of a Championship-winning spell in Ford-powered Daytona Prototypes).

Carrera Cup Deutschland 2000
Porsche Supercup 2001
Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona GT class winner 2002, 2003, 2009
Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona overall win 2003

Le Mans 24 Hours GT class win 2004
ALMS GT2/ GT Class Champion 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
Grand-AM DP drivers Champion 2006

Spa 24 Hours overall win 2010

Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Am class winner 2019
FIA WEC GTE AM class drivers Champion 2019

It should be added at this point that all three are individuals of the highest character. Timo and Jörg will make fine brand ambassadors.