While he hasn’t had the season he would have wanted, local Production Touring Car driver Matt Shylan wants to end the year on a high when he races in front of thousands of spectators, including some motorsport legends, at this weekend’s Muscle Car Masters.
The Muscle Car Masters, held at Eastern Creek on October 28 and 29, is one of the biggest events on the Sydney motorsport calendar. Celebrating Australia’s muscle car heritage and the drivers that raced them, the two-day event at Sydney Motorsport Park attracts thousands of spectators from around the country.
For the first time, NSW Production Touring Cars have joined the Muscle Car Masters program and will race across the weekend.
The opportunity is enormous for drivers like Glenmore Park’s Matt Shylan, who can’t wait to hit the track in front of some of his racing heroes.
“I’ve been to the Muscle Car Masters as a spectator every single year since it began, I haven’t missed one, so it’s really exciting to be a part of it this time,” Shylan said.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to race in front of some true legends of the sport, many who I looked up to as a kid. It’s pretty cool.”
While the 32-year-old is excited to be in the driver’s seat this weekend, it hasn’t been the best year on the track for Shylan.
Competing in the NSW Production Touring Car Championship, Shylan’s season got off to a horror star back in April when his Honda Integra suffered suspension failure which caused a world of drama.
“It’s been a tough year for us, we’ve had a few issues with the car over the course of the year,” Shylan said.
“We had some really left-field issues, like suspension failure in the very first race of the season, but we managed to work through it and ended up finishing fourth in class and 18th outright from 58 cars.
“It was good to be able to claw back some points and some ground, and we finished with a pretty good result all things considered.”
The Muscle Car Masters is on this weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park in Eastern Creek.
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.