The lead up to today has certainly got things buzzing around here. The qualification standings to make it in to the championship were insanely close but here we are hours before the opening round.

How will things play out over the season? Only time will tell but there are a lot of interesting things going on to take a look at. 

Firstly our Season 4 and Season 5 Gold Champions are both in the new Ford Mustang. With it only just being released, will this turn out to be the new OP car? They will definitely need to use every single horse under that bonnet to fend off the mass attack from the Swedish Wolfpack who are sure to be hunting in numbers. But, just take a look at the pace of this Gold class with the likes of the Marsh in the 992, Raits in the BMW and Cookie in the plucky underdog Bentley looking to split the onslaught of McLarens with only one not from Sweden as Shawn will be trying bring ‘Merica! into the fold. Adam O was slow to get his side view up but will be super quick in his BMW on track. It is going to be tasty and that is just Gold!

Silver is offering up a more mixed bag of manufacturers and is going to be just as fierce. Colin returns in his McLaren and Garry, Simon and Trev have all gone the same way this season and will be super quick! Justin back in the Aston is going to be up there as long as his internet holds up. The 3 Ferraris of Damian, Simon and Andy will be consistent but can the 992s with the BoP hugely in their favour have a big say in who is on the podium come the chequered flag? The straight line speed of the BMW is good so Chris and Pedro will be looking to capitalise but is the straight line speed of the new Mustang going leave them with tread marks on their face(s)? Adam will deny it, of course, but him and Dave have the experience to really make headway. James throws the Lambo around very quickly and will be leaving myself far behind in the plucky underdog Bentley. Get ready for fireworks!

As if that wasn’t enough, we then come to Bronze. A good number here were showing their worth in Group 2 last season and smashed it in the qualifying process! How do you pick an early favourite from this talented bunch? Nothing between them. The McLarens of Carl, Derek, Andy, Jordan, Jorge, Mike, Neil and Paul are going to be putting in times in and around the Silvers. The Ferrari’s of Phil (who got the call up late last night and will want to make his mark!), Gero, Bunny, Mark and Steve all have the pace to take the overall honours but who can hold their nerve? Paul in his BMW will be testing them every inch of the way with Alex in his Aston with his calm demeaner ready to capitalise on any mistakes. The other Lambo on the grid will be driven hard by Hamburgler whose hot lapper pace will be invaluable to smash quali. But who will come out on top?? If I was a betting man I wouldn’t know where to start. Too close to call.

The only thing left to do is race. It is going to be fierce. It is going to be messy. It is going to be AWESOME.

Good luck to every single driver. Race hard, race fair and have a lot of fun.

See you on track!

Craig