The 2023 Australian Formula Open - powered by Racefuels was a multi-event open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. This was the inaugural season of the championship, founded by two-time Australian Gold Star winner Tim Macrow as a direct successor to the Australian Formula 3 championship.
Drivers competed to win a S5000 test and free entry to a race in the S5000 Championship in 2024 or later.
Trent Grubel, driving for Tim Macrow Racing, won the overall championship and with it the AFO1 class championship, three points ahead of his teammate Ryan How. Matthew Roesler, driving for his privateer State Fleet Services team, won the AFO2 class championship, while AGI Sport's Kristian Janev was victorious in the AFO4 class.
Teams and drivers The championship was structured in four classes, albeit only three classes received entries through the season. AFO1 encompassed all Formula 3 machinery, with several chassis and engine manufacturers represented. AFO2 catered to Toyota Racing Series, Formula Renault and older F3 cars. AFO3 served all other invitational entries, but did not receive any entries, while AFO4 was reserved for Formula 4 cars.
AFO1 entries TeamNo.CarDriverRoundsGilmour Racing1Dallara F308/11 Mercedes-Benz Daniel Price1 Jon Collins2, 4–5 Kyle Evans617Dallara F307 Chris Gilmour4–5R-Tek Motorsport Services2Dallara F307 Opel Andrew Roberts1–3, 6Genesis Offices4Dallara F308 Robert Rowe6Sydney Photo Booth5Dallara F304 Renault Lawrence Katsidis6231–2Tim Macrow Racing8Dallara F308/11 Miles Bromley2–495–622Dallara F308/11 Mercedes-Benz Beau Russell5–6 Winston Van Laarhoven1, 3–424227Dallara F308/11 Mercedes-Benz Ryan HowAll74Dallara F312 Mercedes-Benz Trent GrubelAllRuff Racing9Mygale M11 Gerrit Ruff2116TWS Motorsport14Mygale M11 Trent Shirvington2–3, 5Formula Race Car Association17Dallara F397 Volkswagen Shayne Morrow1–2, 641Dallara F307 Opel Greg Muddle1–248Dallara F3 Ron Coath255Dallara F397 Glenn Lynch1–2CO Machining21Dallara F304 Opel Graeme Holmes 1–2Baker Motorsport / Team Penrite22Dallara F399 Rodney Baker2, 6CPL37Dallara F3 Ben Turner2Team Rod Anderson38Reynard 893 Toyota Rod Anderson1–2Douglas Barry Specials56Reynard 92D Holden Douglas Barry1–2, 699 Motorsport99Dallara F308/11 Volkswagen Ryan AstleyAllSources:
AFO2 entries TeamNo.CarDriverRoundsState Fleet Services3Tatuus FT50 Matthew Roesler243, 5AON Investments Pty Ltd19Ralt RT4 Arthur Abrahams6RMS Racing25Cheetah Mk7 Robert Sviderskas2TCM Race Services53Tatuus FT50 Matthew Woodland3Jetforms.com.au93Tatuus FT50 Christopher Slusarski3, 6DiBiase Carpentry127Tatuus FT50 Paul di Biase2–3, 6Sources:
AFO4 entries TeamNo.CarDriverRoundsAGI Sport6Mygale M14-F4 Brodie Norris2–640Mygale M14-F4 Tim Boydle 160Tatuus F4-T014 Jayden Ojeda262Tatuus F4-T014 Craig McLatchey 166Mygale M14-F4 Kristian Janev2–6771Mygale M14-F4 Peter Bouzinelos4–67Mygale M14-F4 Mark Wilson6711–2Tim Macrow Racing16Mygale M14-F4 Hanming Huang1, 3–6 25Mygale M14-F4 Thomas Gallagher4–6Patrizi Corse21Mygale M14-F4 Ryan McMillan4–6Formula Race Car Association51Tatuus F4-T014 Nathan Beer1–2, 6Sources:
Race calendar The 2023 calendar was first announced on 20 December 2022. It consisted of six rounds across six circuits all over Australia. RoundCircuitDateSupport billMap of circuit locations1R1 Winton Motor RacewayWinton, Victoria4 MarchNSW Formula Vee ChampionshipNSW Formula Ford ChampionshipNSW State ChampionshipsR25 MarchR32R1 Sydney Motorsport ParkEastern Creek, New South Wales15 AprilNSW Formula Vee ChampionshipAustralian Formula Ford ChampionshipNSW Formula Ford ChampionshipNSW State ChampionshipsR216 AprilR33R1 The Bend Motorsport ParkTailem Bend, South Australia10 JuneLamborghini Super Trofeo AsiaAustralian Prototype SeriesSouth Australia Tin TopsBMW Drivers CupR211 JuneR34R1 Queensland RacewayWillowbank, Queensland5 AugustMotorsport Australia Trophy SeriesTGR Australia Scholarship SeriesNational Sports Sedan SeriesRadical Cup AustraliaR26 AugustR35R1 Sandown RacewayMelbourne, Victoria9 SeptemberTCR Australia Touring Car SeriesV8 Touring Car SeriesTrans-Am SeriesGT4 Australia SeriesR210 SeptemberR36R1 Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitVentnor, Victoria25 NovemberIsland MagicHistoric Touring Car SeriesAustralian Formula VeeNSW Formula Car ChampionshipR2R326 November
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapAFO1 winnerAFO2 winnerAFO4 winner1R1 Winton Motor RacewayWinton, Victoria Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Trent Grubelno entries Kristian JanevR2 Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Kristian JanevR3 Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Kristian Janev2R1 Sydney Motorsport ParkEastern Creek, New South Wales Trent Grubelrace declared a non-event after multiple crashes at the startR2 Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Matthew Roesler Brodie NorrisR3 Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Paul di Biase Kristian Janev3R1 The Bend Motorsport ParkTailem Bend, South Australia Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Ryan How Christopher Slusarski Brodie NorrisR2 Ryan How Ryan How Christopher Slusarski Brodie NorrisR3 Ryan How Ryan How Christopher Slusarski Brodie Norris4R1 Queensland RacewayWillowbank, Queensland Ryan How Miles Bromley Trent Grubelno entries Brodie NorrisR2 Ryan How Trent Grubel Brodie NorrisR3 Trent Grubel Ryan How Peter Bouzinelous5R1 Sandown RacewayMelbourne, Victoria Ryan How Trent Grubel Ryan Howno classified finishers Brodie NorrisR2 Trent Grubel Ryan How Matthew Roesler Brodie NorrisR3 Ryan How Trent Grubel Matthew Roesler Kristian Janev6R1 Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitVentnor, Victoria Trent Grubel Trent Grubel Ryan How Ryan McMillan Christopher SlusarskiR2 Ryan How Ryan How Ryan McMillan Paul di BiaseR3 Ryan How Ryan How Ryan McMillan Paul di Biase
Season report The inaugural Australian Formula Open series kicked off at Winton Motor Raceway. A conjoined grid with the NSW Formula Car Championship saw 19 entries tackle the weekend, and Tim Macrow Racing's Trent Grubel took pole position for the first race. He converted that to a win ahead of his teammates Winston van Laarhoven and Ryan How. Grubel went on to sweep the weekend, with the podiums of both other races completed by 99 Motorsport's Ryan Astley and How. AGI Sport's Kristian Janev also took a triple win in the AFO4 class to take the class lead ahead of his teammate Mark Wilson.
Round two was held at Sydney Motorsports Park, again in conjunction with the NSW FCC. Grubel was once again on pole position for the first encounter, but multiple crashes at the race start led to the race being abandoned and later declared a non-event. Grubel was undeterred by that and went on to win the other two races, remaining as the only AFO1 winner of the season. How took both second places, with Gilmour Racing's debutant Jon Collings taking two third places. Janev and his debuting teammate Brodie Norris shared wins in AFO4, while the AFO2 class also took off, with privateer entries Matthew Roesler and Paul di Biase taking the honors.
The first half of the season closed at The Bend Motorsport Park. Grubel continued his pole position streak, but the formbook for the races was rewritten: How became the second race winner in the series as he was the fastest driver throughout all three races to sweep the weekend. Grubel held on to second ahead of Astley in races one and three, but only managed to finish fourth in the second race, with his teammate Miles Bromley third behind Astley. Brodie Norris continued his run of form to sweep the weekend in AFO4 and shorten his gap to Janev. Debutant Christopher Slusarski won all thee races in AFO2, while class leader Di Biase did not finish any of the races.
Queensland Raceway was up next, and How ended Grubel's pole position streak. He dropped to third in the first race though, allowing Grubel to take the win and Chris Gilmour, debuting for the eponymous team, into second. The second race proved even worse for How, as a bad start saw him drop off the podium and allowed Bromley onto it. How was back on top for the feature race though, but Grubel still extended his points lead. AFO2 saw no entries for the round, while AFO4 class leader Janev had an atrocious weekend with a retirement in the first race not allowing him to take part in the rest of the weekend. The chasing Norris took two wins and his teammate Peter Bouzinelous claimed one.
How took a second pole position at the penultimate round at Sandown Raceway. Him and Grubel finished 1-2 in the first two races, with Grubel taking both fastest laps to minimize the damage to his points lead. Their positions were flipped for the final race, but How still reduced Grubel's advantage to 20 points. Bromley took two more podiums to get closer to third place, with TWS Motorsport's Trent Shirvington also appearing on the rostrum. Roesler was the only entrant in the AFO2 class, so he took two more wins to extend his lead, while Norris and Janev continued their tussle in the AFO4 class, with Norris taking two wins to reduce Janev's lead to only three points.
How needed a perfect final weekend at Phillip Island to deny Grubel the title, and did everything he could by winning all three races and taking two bonus points for fastest laps. Grubel could only manage second, third and fourth in the races. Crucially though, he was able to take pole position and claim the fastest lap for the first race. That saw him take the overall and the AFO1 title by three points. Bromley took three podiums to narrowly secure third ahead of Astley. Both AFO2 and AFO4 were decided in absence of the champions, with Roesler taking the AFO2 crown and both Janev and Norris absent from AFO4 competition, allowing Janev to claim the title.
Opening up competition to more classes of formula cars proved to be a huge success, as the series' meetings regularly attracted deep grids. While competition in AFO1 and AFO4 initially seemed to be rather lacklustre, How and Norris were able to close up to the respective leaders Grubel and Janev to provide two close championship battles. With the series planned to be expanding in both round numbers and national and international coverage in 2024, the only question left open is if the championship will really be able to serve as a feeder series to higher-level competition.
Standings
Scoring system Cars classified as finished in race 1 and 2 were awarded points by the following structure: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th FL R1 PP Points1298765432111 The third race of the weekend, the longer Feature Race, awarded more points: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th FL Points201512108643211
Overall standings PosDriverWINSYDBENQLDSANPHIPtsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31 Trent Grubel111C112421122212342252 Ryan How333C221113411121112223 Miles BromleyC7543104235333221174 Ryan Astley422C463235RetRet44Ret6551125 Winston Van Laarhoven244C54595764776 Beau Russell6DNS4443417 Brodie NorrisC8Ret866878757DNSDNSDNS418 Jon CollinsC33655DNSDNSDNS399 Trent ShirvingtonC13Ret6543953910 Andrew Roberts555C67RetDNSDNS9973711 Kristian Janev667C11101188RetDNSDNS1066DNSDNSDNS3312 Chris Gilmour236DNSDNSDNS2313 Kyle Evans5661714 Ryan McMillan999DNSDNSDNS7781715 Thomas Gallagher12Ret10878131091416 Lawrence Katsidis886CDNSDNS16Ret131217 Christopher Slusarski7771113Ret1218 Douglas Barry141513C9888121119 Hanming Huang1110810111211101191091514141120 Matthew RoeslerC16Ret9109Ret810921 Graeme Holmes77DNSCDNSDNS822 Peter Bouzinelous1087Ret11RetDNSDNSDNS823 Rodney BakerC109101110524 Mark Wilson10910C19141415Ret425 Craig McLatchey911DNS226 Rod Anderson12139C1815227 Matthew Woodland121211028 Tim Boydle151211029 Greg MuddleRetDNSRetCRet11030 Ben TurnerC1212031 Nathan Beer161612C2017171615032 Paul di BiaseC1716RetRetRet121211033 Shayne Morrow1314RetC15RetRetDNSDNS034 Glenn LynchDNSDNSDNSC14130— Gerrit RuffCDNSDNSDNSDNSDNS—— Daniel PriceDNSDNSDNS—— Robert RoweDNSDNSDNS—— Arthur AbrahamsDNSDNSDNS—— Ron CoathCDNSDNS—— Robert SviderskasCDNSDNS——PosDriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PtsWINSYDBENQLDSANPHI