The 2021 Boost Mobile Super Trucks season will begin this weekend with six drivers battling in the Tasmania SuperSprint weekend at Symmons Plains Raceway. The entry list features four drivers returning after racing during the one-weekend inaugural season in 2020, while two are newcomers.
Paul Morris, who won the 2017 Stadium Super Trucks championship and oversees operational duties from his Norwell Motorplex, is unsurprisingly entered in the #67. A three-time SST race winner, he finished sixth, third, and fifth in the Boost Mobile Super Trucks’ maiden weekend in the 2020 Adelaide 500.
However, perhaps the bigger story in the grid is his 17-year-old son Nash Morris, who will make his SST début in a truck modelled after Repco Supercars Championship driver Brodie Kostecki‘s car; Kostecki’s cousin Jake, who also races in Supercars, competed in SST in 2017. The younger Morris races in the Dunlop Super3 Series, where he currently sits third in points after the first two races. The Morrises will be the second father/son duo to race against each other in SST after Robby and Max Gordon at Road America for the American counterpart in 2020.
“I think Nash should be ganging up on his dad,” series manager Nathan Cayzer quipped in an Instagram story published by Norwell.
Another new face in the trucks is Dave Casey, who has experience in the Australian Off Road Championship and ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championship. Casey became intrigued by the stadium trucks during their maiden visit to Australia in the 2015 Adelaide 500, but he had to wait until June 2020 before he could finally get a chance to pilot one in a test session at Norwell.
Paul Weel, Shaun Richardson, and Shae Davies make their returns to the series after last racing in the 2020 Adelaide 500 weekend. Richardson boasts the most SST experience with starts in 2016 and 2017 prior to 2020; he scored a podium finish at the 2016 Gold Coast 600 Race #2. He finished eleventh, ninth, and eleventh again at Adelaide.
“We’re back and excited to start another year out on the track! This year is set to be massive with us racing in the Stadium Super Trucks, TA2 Racing & Australian Racing Group Series,” Richardson posted on Instagram. “Look forward to seeing you all!”
Weel last raced competitively in the Supercars in 2008 before driving again at Adelaide, where he finished fifth, fourth, and seventh.
Davies broke through in his SST début weekend when he won Race #3 after finishing fourth and tenth in the first two rounds. He raced in Supercars on a limited basis from 2016 to 2017.
“It’s been a while,” Davies began in his Instagram story prior to practice. “[…] Let’s see if I remember how to do this.”
No drivers from the American side are in the field due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks season will kick off on 23–25 April with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“The earliest any of the stateside SST staff or drivers can travel to Australia / New Zealand will be late October (according to Qantas Airlines),” the series explained on Twitter. “So at least we can attend the New Zealand and Gold Coast races”.
Three races will take place in Tasmania with the first on Saturday, 17 April, and two the following day. It is the first time that SST races at Symmons Plains, and will be the first of seven weekends on the 2021 calendar.
Entry list
Number | Driver | Sponsor |
12 | Shaun Richardson | Road Rage Industries |
50 | Paul Weel | PWR / KMC Wheels |
67 | Paul Morris | Hulk 4×4 |
88 | Shae Davies | Darwin Triple Crown |
94 | Nash Morris | Boost Mobile |
121 | Dave Casey | SWL Racing |