Tassie Racing

Tas Racing
Full Name	Tassie Racing
Base	Hobart, Australia
Founder(s)	Matthew Saoea
Team Principal(s)
Technical Director
Current Drivers	Akira Yamamura Tomo Kazama
Other Noted Drivers	Connor O'Heagan Jiri Komárek Template:BEL Sam Baromono
Debut
Races	0
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race Wins	0
Podiums	0
Points	0
Pole Positions	0
Fastest Laps	0

Tassie Racing was a mysterious racing team that competed in the 2018 season of the AutoReject World Series, along with appearances in the RTCC, International Pro Car, and F3RWRS. They were based in Tasmania, and were the first team in an RWRS-sanctioned competition to hail from the island.

Formation

As Symmons Plains was reintroduced into the V8 Supercars calendar for 2004, there were talks about a Tasmanian team to compete for the first ever time. Names were thrown out left and right, with the public saying this was a bad move for the state, but a team was formed regardless. They were named Devil Motorsport in deference to the nomenclature of the famous state animal, the Tasmanian Devil.

V8 Supercars

2004-05: Debut in the enduros

With their V8 Supercars application accepted they began with only a one car team. They went on the search to find 2 drivers, so called up Owen Kelly and Luke Youden to be their first competitors. The pair struggled in their two races together as they could only muster up a DNF in both endurance races.

2005 was the same as they only competed in the enduros for the second time running with the same pairing of Luke Youden and Owen Kelly. The team had shown with Owen Kelly getting the team into the top 10 shootout, but a puncture during their shootout lap would cost their chance of a pole. That where it ended as a 24th in Sandown and 22nd in Bathurst.

2006-07: Switch to full-time

2006 was a massive change as they were accepted to be a full time team. They went straight into driver negotiations, gaining signatures from Jamie Whincup and Dean Canto. The first few rounds they struggled to live up to their billing as a full-time team with the best result being a 20th in Ipswich. That was until the Enduros came as it started to get better. They went into attack mode as a 10th in Sandown would get the ball rolling as Jamie Whincup took pole position for the team. It would be change they needed as late form bloomed with a first victory in Bahrain when Jamie Whincup came from behind to win and proved the team had what it takes to compete at the top.

In 2007, Tassie Racing dominated the first 6 rounds as they won the first 18 of the 20 races, with Jamie Whincup winning 12. After Oran Park where they had their first DNF of the season, the enduros came with great success as the team won both Sandown and Bathurst by 20 seconds. That would be their last win as the team could only manage 4th in Philip Island as their subsequent highest result. They still won both championships easily, with Jamie Whincup just taking the championship by 2 points. It would be the end for Tassie Racing as they left the sport for a new challenge.

Hiatus

2008-14: No racing in the top flight

After leaving the V8 Supercars, the team shut up shop as the only memory of the Tassie Racing was at the Symmons Plains Raceway where the hairpin was name after the team as the Tassie hairpin. Staying quiet, they still raced but only in the smaller classes in Tasmania, as they were called Ulverstone Racing for the six years in Tasmania. Not much else was known about the team during this time.

Return to motosport (F3RWRS) (2015)

2015 was a breakthrough year as Tassie Racing were reborn. They were a surprise entry in the Spa SuperPrix as one of the wildcards. However, their F3RWRS debut was a shocker as both cars weren't up to speed by any stretch; the mix of an underdeveloped Suzuki chassis and a pair of inexperienced drivers ensured the team would not be competitive. Rookie brothers Fidel Edwards and Barry Edwards finished 47th and 48th with the car being the ROTR. It got worse in the Surfers Paradise SuperPrix weekend; it ended early as both drivers didn't get through qualfying. Although they lodged a team application for a future berth in the series, the team were renowned for being several seconds off of the pace.

F3RWRS gone, other championships in

2016

2016 was a brand new year for Tassie Racing as the extension into other competitions. Tassie Racing appeared in the entry lists of the Rejects Touring Car Championship and the F1RICS, everyone thought why with the disasters of F3RWRS would strike the team. With Fidel Edwards and Barry Edwards splitting, it was Elinor Yurko who would fit into the number 57 for the 2016 F1RICS season. After the retirement of the opening two races, Yurko scored his first points for Tassie Racing in Homestead Speedway. He would only score two more points in the final race at Fontana. In RTCC, Fidel Edwards entered alone and scored 13 points during the season with his best result being a 11th in Spa.

2017: Minimal Racing

With the V8 team now back up and running as Kiwi Racing, 2017 was only preparing for F1RWRS with FRENCH. With the main base being in Suzuka, the team finished in 5th overall with the teams debut win at the oval aspect of Motegi. The team would enter a Formula 4 team in the third edition of the Australian F4 Championship with the hope of bringing local Tasmanian drivers into the spotlight. The results coming, with two wins from Logan Johnson and Lucia White in Ipswich and Surfers Paradise.

Debut into ARWS

2018

With five teams leaving the series, Tassie Racing got an opportunity in compete in the main AutoReject competition as RWRS died out and spilt into two categories. It took a turn for the better with Tassie Racing joining the series for the first time. They would become the eighth team to join the ARWS (formely F1RWRS). After the opening two rounds when Tassie Racing DNPQ in Australia, the rain at Monza enabled both cars pass pre-qualifying for the first time as they became the last team of the new ones to escape. After a DNQ from Kazama, Akira Yamamura made in it to the race where he would retire from a puncture.

Complete Results

Bathurst 1000 Results

Year	Number	Chassis	Drivers	Position	Laps
2004	412	Holden	Luke Youden / Owen Kelly	DNF	121
2005	111	Holden	Luke Youden / Owen Kelly	24th	136
2006	47	Holden	Jamie Whincup / Luke Youden	15th	161
	48		Dean Canto / Owen Kelly	DNF	14
2007	47	Holden	Jamie Whincup / Dean Canto	1st	161
	48		Allan Simonsen / David Reynolds	DNF	1

F3RWRS Results

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Drivers	1		2		3	4		5		6		7	8		9		10	Points	CC
2015	Suzuka PF-15	Fiat Tipo 3/15			AUS		TUR		MON	USA		GBR		GER		BEL	ITA		JPN		SUR	0	N/A
			175	Template:AUS Fidel Edwards												47					DNQ
			185	Template:AUS Barry Edwards												48					DNQ

RTCC/AutoReject Super Touring

Season	Car	Class	#	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Points	TC/DC
2016	Toyota Carina	I
					AUS	ENG		AUT	SCO		FRA	GER		NED	BEL	ADR	JAP	NED	13	23rd
			4	Template:AUS Fidel Edwards	Ret	Ret	15	12	20	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	18	21	13

Rejects Rallycross Championship results

Season	Car	Number	Driver	1				2				3				4				5				6				7				8				9				Points	TC
				INT				SOS				MID				CHA				BLY				BRA				SPA				LYD				CRO
				H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F	H	Q	S	F
2016	Ford Escort	77	Template:AUS Barry Edwards	36	DNQ			17	DNQ																															2*	21st*
		78	Simon Bourne
				34	DNQ			12	DNQ

Indy Championship results

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Pts
2016	Swift 027.c	Ford	57		SAO	ARG	HOM	GAT	LBH	CAM	POR	INDY	MIL	DON	EUR	WGI	NHA	MIC	TOR	ROA	KEN	POC	MON	LAG	SUR	SUZ	TEX	FON
				Template:FIJ Elinor Yurko	25	21	11	17	DNQ	30	29	29	13	25	19	28	DNQ	30	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	18	DNQ	20	DNQ	26	11	4	32nd
			58	Template:BEL Sam Baromono								DNQ																	0	=50th
				Jiri Komárek												25	23	34	22	27	25	16	19	DNQ	DNQ	16	18	13	0	36th

SANDWICH

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TC	Pts
2016-17	Swift	Honda			AUO	OKY	SUZ	YEO	MOT	SUG	MOT	FUJ
			13	Connor O'Heagan	12	Ret	2	Ret	1	7	5	Ret	155	5th
			14	Template:AUS Joel Melrose	20	4	DNQ	7	Ret	12	11	15

ARWS Results

Year	Chassis	Engine	#	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pts	CC
2018	Tassie TR-18	Audi AF1-5			AUS	NSW	ITA	MOR	CAL	USA	CAN	GBR	AUT	GER	SCA	BEL	MON	RSA	BRA	ARG	JPN	CHN	0	20th
			33	Akira Yamamura	DNPQ	DNPQ	Ret	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ
			34	Tomo Kazama	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ
				Hans Einhrin									DNPQ
				Hiroto Tojo										DNPQ

• * Season in progress
• † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

*Season in progress