For the grand finale of the 2025 THRacing Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, the intercontinental touring car championship that took drivers back to the final days of Group A in 1992, the choice was obvious. The Adelaide Parklands Circuit is an icon of touring car racing in Australia that traditionally hosted the season finale of the ATCC, and remains a pillar of the V8 Supercars calendar nowadays.
It marked the end of a spectacular season. Between the TTM and its second-tier support series TCTM, a whopping 80 drivers found themselves in the cockpit across the six rounds of the season. On top of that, the Clio Rookie Trophy accompanied the TTM throughout the entire season on Thursdays and also delivered action-packed racing with double-digit entry lists every single week, giving novices a taste of early 1990s touring car racing as well. A huge thanks goes out to every single one of you, both on track and behind the scenes, because this season was special.
At Adelaide, the teams of Nissan, Ford and Holden rejoiced at the weather forecast. While the early week saw incredibly hot temperatures of up to 45°C, the weekend cooled down considerably. That netted mild race conditions at a sunny 25°C with a south-southwesterly wind of 19 km/h with gusts of up to 37 km/h.
Unlike earlier rounds of the season, a cut penalty system was implemented to limit how much drivers benefitted from cutting the raised curbs in the Senna chicane. For every cut lap that a driver finished faster than their current average, a warning was issued. Every driver had a generous allocation of 12 warnings (without the first lap) before receiving a drive through penalty.
The final round of the season, once again commentated fantastically by touring car expert Microlin100, was won by Holden driver Adam Celárek ahead of pole sitter Marc Orós and Ford driver HappyKojot, who clinched the drivers title and cemented the Side Heart Motorsports duo's title defense in the teams championship. Despite having had the grid shrink to 25 cars after the cars of Willphaizer, pitman and Kuba Palubicki remained unoccupied, the manufacturers championship turned into a nail biter that was only decided during the final few laps.
Qualifying: Simruina Locks out the Front Row
For the final round of the season, the team that had lost the lead in the drivers and teams championships at Bathurst gave it everything they had once more, and locked out the front row. The star driver of Simruina Racing Team III, Marc Orós, drove to pole position in 1:38.113, beating his team mate Ayrton Titos by 0.062 seconds.
Third place on the grid went to Jacopo Hrynecko in the BMW of Linder Rennsport. After an unlucky race from pole position in Wellington, he sat out Round 5 at Bathurst but returned to a finale where his team mate Kuba Palubicki withdrew from the race shortly before the start due to fatigue after having travelled from Poland to the Netherlands on race day. Having already missed the round in Wellington, this cost the lead driver of Linder Rennsport the chance to bag the drivers championship.
The second row was completed by Holden ace Adam Celárek, who went into the final round of the season running sixth in the drivers championship. Attila Diner's Alfa Romeo and the BMW of the dethroned 2024 TTM Champion Jaroslav Cerny made up the third row. Boby Vakuinof and FMG qualified on the fourth row, and the Top 10 were completed by the Fords of HappyKojot and Florian Masse.
Four newcomers joined the grid for the finale. Having won the second-tier TCTM championship the previous night, Tomi Väänänen was invited to the TTM finale and qualified his #24 Mercedes from the NCB RaceTech team in 11th place. His runner-up team mate Niko Barnes (#23) joined the party as well, but started from the back after registering too late to set any qualifying laps. Also new on the grid were Max Scheidter (#38 Holden, from 13th) and Johannes Berger (#72 Nissan, from 21st), both of whom had impressed the organizers enough in the TCTM finale to be invited to the TTM round as well.
The best Nissan was qualified in 8th place by FMG. Audi sought redemption, with Viasa Racing driver Akira scoring a 15th place grid position.
Race
Highs and Lows of Lap 1
Off the start line, Ayrton Titos got a better launch than his Simruina team mate Marc Orós who got under attack from Jacopo Hrynecko's Linder BMW. Alfa Romeo privateer Boby Vakuinof caught a poor start that forced HappyKojot to go around whereby he lost the boost of his turbocharger, costing the Ford driver momentum. From 12th on the grid, Valentin Knechtel in the second Jolly Club Alfa Romeo had a fantastic start that allowed him to outaccelerate the freshly-baked TCTM champion Tomi Väänänen and the two Fords of HappyKojot and Florian Masse before entering Turn 1 alongside Vakuinof.The Mercedes-Benz duo from Simruina Racing Team III was able to defend their 1-2 through the Senna chicane, but it was Ayrton Titos who took the early lead. [Photo: Florian Masse]
Marc Orós managed to stack the trio of Adam Celárek, Jacopo Hrynecko and Attila Diner behind himself, which allowed his team mate to open up a huge gap almost immediately. Trailing them were Jaroslav Cerny and FMG, followed by the Alfa Romeos of Valentin Knechtel and Boby Vakuinof. The Bulgarian stuck his nose in alongside FMG entering Wakefield Road but had to back out of it, and lost 4 positions.By the time he arrived on Hutt Street, Marc Orós had managed to stack his pursuers into a 3-wide situation. The Spaniard promptly opened up a gap over Adam Celárek, Attila Diner, and Jacopo Hrynecko who got under attack from Jaroslav Cerny. Meanwhile, Valentin Knechtel had passed FMG, and the championship leading Ford of HappyKojot was next to attack the British Nissan driver.Coming onto Rundle Road, Hrynecko ran wide once again, allowing Knechtel to slip through to 6th place. Meanwhile, FMG had been relegated to 10th place by the Fords of HappyKojot and Florian Masse. HappyKojot jumped into 7th position at Brewery Corner after hitting the apex curb with all four wheels.The first run through Dequetteville Hairpin proved to be unpleasant for the Jolly Club team. In the foreground, Attila Diner was passed for third place by Adam Celárek. In the background, his underprepared team mate Valentin Knechtel voided his strong start by losing control in the braking zone with a too rearward brake bias while attacking Jaroslav Cerny, and buried his ambitions for a podium in the drivers championship by losing 13 positions.In the Race Course section behind the paddock, the blue-tailed Side Heart Pepsi can of Jordi Sumoy tapped the rear of FMG's Suntory Nissan and sent him sideways, blocking the path of Jacopo Hrynecko and passing both of them for 8th place in the process.Having resumed the race in 19th place, Valentin Knechtel became the cue ball for D Weller (#6 BMW) to snooker Potatohedron (#67 Ford) into the gravel trap in the same curve.The first lap ended with a huge lead for Ayrton Titos over his team mate Marc Orós, but that's not the whole story. That shade on the ground next to the 6th-placed Ford of HappyKojot was the TV car, which got stuck on the grid just like in Wellington. Marc Orós clipped it yet again but got luckier than last time, and Attila Diner was lucky to get away with clipping it as well. Meanwhile, the Audi of Akira threw little clouds of smoke across the track after the Venezuelan lost his connection to the race server, rounding out a rotten season for the man who had represented Audi alone during the first half of it.
Battles throughout the field
Adam Celárek quickly emerged as the strongest challenger to the fast pair of Mercedes-Benz 190Es from Simruina Racing Team III. Behind him, Attila Diner did his best in a daring experiment to make Medium tyres last a whole race, and defend 4th place from last season's champion Jaroslav Cerny who finally made it through an opening lap unscathed again.FMG reopened the challenge against Jordi Sumoy for 8th at Wakefield on the second lap. The British driver kept the heavy Nissan alongside the Spaniard's agile BMW all the way to Hutt Street where he completed the pass going into the fast chicane.Sumoy launched his next attack immediately afterwards and entered the Jones Straight alongside the Nissan, but FMG made use of his 490 hp engine to fend him off. In the background, the #24 Mercedes of the freshly-baked TCTM champion Tomi Väänänen had already arrived in the Top 10 in his first ever TTM race.The NCB RaceTech driver found an opportunity to gain a position at the end of the Brabham Straight, when he outbraked Jordi Sumoy at the Dequetteville Hairpin. The white Holden Commodore with questionable sponsorship in the background was the #37 car driven by Max Scheidter from Germany, another TCTM participant who was invited to the TTM finale after a strong and consistent performance throughout the season.The cheeky BMW driver from Spain struck back on the Race Course section, though, where he forced Väänänen wide enough to get under attack by the Alfa Romeo of Boby Vakuinof. In the background, the second NCB RaceTech Mercedes of TCTM runner-up Niko Barnes has come into view with black mirrors.Marc Orós began his third lap with a crucial mistake in the Senna Chicane. After running wide, his car got launched high up in the air on the second curb, and snapped sideways upon landing.The Spanish Mercedes driver brushed the concrete wall on the outside as he entered Wakefield Road, gifting second place to Adam Celárek in the Holden VL Commodore.Following some mutual paint exchange in Foster's Corner, Väänänen was clear while Vakuinof fought to stay ahead of Hrynecko, followed by another drag race between the Alfa Romeo of Nat Stevenson and Max Scheidter's Holden Commodore, as well as Mercedes driver Christoph Mües and his former team mate (2024) Valentin Knechtel in the second Jolly Club Alfa Romeo.Vakuinof and Hrynecko displayed total commitment through the Senna Chicane by catching plenty of air after the three Alfa Romeos from the previous picture won their respective duels.Valentin Knechtel ran wide on the curb after the tail stepped out in turn 8, allowing Christoph Mües to retake the 15th position.Niko Barnes in the second NCB RaceTech 190E debuted following his runner-up finish in the TCTM championship and kept Rolf Biber (Swiss Buddy Racing Alfa Romeo) busy by holding 17th place. In the background, Johannes Berger debuted in a Nissan Skyline and challenged the BMW of D Weller for 19th position. While the BMW driver from the United States defended the position here, the Austrian Nissan driver went through on the front straight.After HappyKojot got a good run on Jaroslav Cerny down the Brabham Straight, the two of them entered the Race Course side by side.Although the defending TTM champion from the Czech Republic did his best to hold on to his position, he ended up having to surrender 5th place to the championship leader behind the paddock.Meanwhile, Boby Vakuinof went 3-wide with Tomi Väänänen and Jordi Sumoy at the Dequetteville Hairpin, but it was the Finnish Mercedes driver who managed to grab 9th place.In the battle for 15th place, Knechtel managed to pass Mües again. The SG Stern driver tapped his former team mate from behind in the hairpin, causing both of them to get sideways without further consequences.The battle for 9th continued, and Jacopo Hrynecko decided he wanted a piece of the cake again as well when he made a move for 11th again at Foster's Corner.On the next lap, Florian Masse powered past Jaroslav Cerny's BMW on the Brabham Straight.The reigning champion struck back on the brakes at the Dequetteville Hairpin ...... and the battle continued all the way to the Race Course, with Cerny reclaiming the position on the run to the Foster's Corner.While Tomi Väänänen's Mercedes quickly solidified 9th place by escaping into the distance for the time being, the battle between Sumoy, Vakuinof, and Hrynecko heated up behind the paddock.The Bulgarian spun off the road after his Alfa Romeo was hit from behind by Hrynecko's orange M3 in the braking zone for Foster's Corner.Meanwhile, the lead of Ayrton Titos was gradually melting away, and the threatening sight of Adam Celárek's Holden Commodore got bigger and bigger in his mirrors lap after lap.Florian Masse then attempted his next attack on Jaroslav Cerny, but the reigning champion repelled it around the outside on the brakes at Dequetteville Hairpin.Max Scheidter inherited 12th place from Nat Stevenson after the British Alfa Romeo driver had missed the apex of the same corner, and Boby Vakuinof captured 14th from Valentin Knechtel.Moments later, Vakuinof sent his car down the inside of his British stablemate at Foster's Corner.By the end of the front straight, 13th place was in the hands of the Bulgarian.Knechtel sensed an opportunity against Stevenson at Wakefield Corner but ended up in the grass behind the curb in the braking zone with his left tyres.Up front, Adam Celárek made his first attempt to grab the lead on Brabham Straight, but Ayrton Titos defended the inside line the brakes.The Spaniard visibly got nervous and ran wide behind the paddock, but he managed to block Celárek from making a move on the run to Foster's Corner.Jacopo Hrynecko grabbed 10th place from Jordi Sumoy when the Side Heart Pepsi driver ran wide at the Dequetteville Hairpin.The Linder Rennsport driver from the Czech Republic then rapidly caught up with Tomi Väänänen ...... before completely overshooting the Dequetteville Hairpin while trying to advance to 9th place. With Jordi Sumoy slipping back through as well, Hrynecko found himself back in 11th place again.The next lap brought another successful defense of the lead by Titos against Celárek.More shenanigans in the battle for 10th place: Jordi Sumoy in the #55 car attempted to make a move on Jacopo Hrynecko (#19). While Hrynecko overshot the corner but kept his position, Sumoy lost the rear and got passed by both Max Scheidter and Boby Vakuinof.Knechtel outbraked Stevenson to capture 14th place.The time was running out for Titos, and the Side Heart Motorsports Commodore was even glued to his rear bumper on Hutt Street. Jones Straight was next, and that meant it was time for Celárek to pounce.The new leader rounded Brewery Corner with two wheels off the ground before extending the gap on the run down the Brabham Straight.Titos attempted to challenge for the lead once more at the Dequetteville Hairpin but overshot the corner.After the early leader repeated his mistake behind the paddock and ran wide again, Celárek escaped into the distance and Titos's team mate Marc Orós was right behind him.Time was running out for Attila Diner to make the most of his Medium tyres, but this spectacular run through Brewery Corner set him up ...... for an attack on the third place of Marc Orós who had to go defensive on Brabham Straight and then dive bombed his team mate Ayrton Titos at the Dequetteville Hairpin to defend his position against the Alfa Romeo driver.Simruina team orders were applied after the exit of the hairpin, with Titos allowing Orós to advance to 2nd place while he defended third place against the Jolly Club car.Diner immediately attacked Titos and entered Foster's Corner alongside the Spaniard.Despite falling behind with turbo lag coming onto the main straight, the German managed to get his nose ahead before the Senna Chicane and promptly used up one of his cut warnings, priming Alfa Romeo for a strong chance to grab the manufacturers championship.Boby Vakuinof challenged Max Scheidter for 11th place around the outside at Wakefield Corner.The Alfa Romeo driver lost the rear while drifting across the exit curb and nearly hit the concrete wall on East Terrace before bumping into the passenger (left) side of the Holden.Jordi Sumoy did not need a second invitation and immediately went alongside the Bulgarian, who squeezed him onto the exit curb coming onto Flinders Street.Vakuinof got a better exit onto Hutt Street and defended the position before escaping the Spaniard.Two laps later, Ayrton Titos tried to recapture third place from Attila Diner at the Foster's Corner, but the Alfa Romeo stayed ahead.The race of Christoph Mües looked good until just before the end of Lap 12. While rounding Foster's Corner in 16th place, the German heard a loud bang from within his PC and shut it down as a safety precaution. His graphics card remains under investigation to this day.Reigning champion Jaroslav Cerny in the BMW stayed right on the tail of the championship-leading Ford driver HappyKojot in the battle for 5th place, but struggled to find opportunities to make a move. They were gradually beginning to melt down the gap between themselves and Titos, who remained just outside of striking distance to the Alfa Romeo of Attila Diner.Shortly before the halfway point, Jordi Sumoy was under increasing pressure from Valentin Knechtel. In the background, Nat Stevenson missed the braking point for the Dequetteville Hairpin and bumped into the wall.When the Spanish BMW driver made a crucial mistake on the brakes behind the paddock, the Jolly Club car advanced to 13th place - Knechtel's last position gain of the season in a very disappointing race given the championship podium ambitions that he had gone into the final round with.In the meantime, Jacopo Hrynecko had caught up with Tomi Väänänen again and reopened the dispute over 9th position.At the halfway point, Adam Celárek held a comfortable lead of several seconds over Marc Orós, and nobody else was anywhere near them anymore.Attila Diner continued to hold third place at the halfway point, but Ayrton Titos continued to follow him like a shadow. HappyKojot and Jaroslav Cerny lurked just outside of striking distance, and Florian Masse in the blue Ford gradually started to catch up to them after a silent first half of the race.Titos tried his luck again at the end of the lap at Foster's Corner, but had to back out of it.The Spaniard caught the German off-guard on the next lap with a well-timed divebomb in the same corner, but slightly overshot the apex.With a better exit and 2.2 bar of boost, the Jolly Club driver reclaimed third place on the run down the start/finish straight ...... before applying for a Rallycross cockpit when he ran wide at the Senna Chicane.The Spanish Mercedes driver's tail snapped sideways on the exit curb coming onto Flinders Street, providing plenty of breathing room to his German rival.NeckR888 had started the final round of the season from the pit lane behind the rest of the field due to the large penalty points score that he had accumulated since joining for the second half of the season. After just under 34 minutes, he was running in 20th position when he smashed his Nissan Skyline 2000 GTS-R into the exit wall at Brewery Corner, and abandoned the race.Daan Vanderstukken's Audi is about to wave by the battle for 15th place between Potathoedron in the Ford Sierra RS500 and the Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione S1 of Nat Stevenson whom he had just passed on Brabham Straight.On the following lap, the British Alfa Romeo driver sent his engine to the angels with a money shift from 3rd to 2nd gear while accelerating out of the Senna Chicane, and ended his season in the escape road at Wakefield Corner.Jacopo Hrynecko remained all over the back of Tomi Väänänen but struggled to find a way past the Finnish Mercedes-Benz driver who continued to hold 9th position.While Jaroslav Cerny remained glued to the back of HappyKojot unable to find a way past for 5th place, Florian Masse closed the gap and turned the battle into a 3-way fight.The reigning champion from the Czech Republic had to go defensive on Brabham Straight when the fast Frenchman launched his first attack after 40 minutes, but the BMW driver prevailed on the brakes at the Dequetteville Hairpin.The battle for 9th place carried on: following a mistake by the NCB RaceTech driver at the Senna Chicane, Jacopo Hrynecko was able to stick his nose in alongside Tomi Väänänen at Wakefield Corner.They remained side by side coming onto Flinders Street ...... before exchanging some paint when Hrynecko completed the pass coming onto Hutt Street.The battle for 6th place quickly turned into a no-holds barred fistfight. Jaroslav Cerny made contact with Florian Masse while trying to squeeze the French Ford driver back over to the left in the braking zone after having defended the inside on Brabham Straight.On the following lap, he defended yet another attack by the French Ford driver here.Another lap later, it was time for Ayrton Titos to show his ambitions once again. From more than five car lengths behind, the Spaniard launched an impressive dive bomb against Attila Diner at the Dequetteville Hairpin, which he rounded alongside the German.The Simruina driver launched another attempt in the following braking zone but had to back out of it. Attila Diner remained on course for Alfa Romeo to seal the manufacturer's championship by a hair's width.Jaroslav Cerny went through a Groundhog Day experience: lap after lap, the reigning TTM champion defended 6th place against the hard-charging attacks by Florian Masse in the Ford Sierra RS500 at the Dequetteville Hairpin.
Nail-biting Finale
With less than 15 minutes left on the clock, disaster struck Attila Diner. The German's plan to move ahead on Medium tyres and defend the third position looked like it might pay off until Ayrton Titos ran wide into the grass approaching the braking zone for Foster's Corner behind his Alfa Romeo.The Spanish Mercedes-Benz driver slammed into the back of the Jolly Club car ...... and sent Diner skidding into the run-off zone.The precious few seconds that had split the duel for third place from the battle for 5th place evaporated in an instant, and Ayrton Titos was immediately passed by the Ford of HappyKojot.That made the task for Attila Diner a whole lot more difficult, as he had four cars all over his tail now and the closest one of those was also the most powerful one of the lot. Florian Masse and Jaroslav Cerny are pictured with two wheels off the ground while running through the Senna Chicane nose to tail.An unbelievable scene unfolded at Wakefield Corner: Florian Masse managed to outbrake the ABS-equipped BMW M3 of Jaroslav Cerny after the reigning champion had struggled to put the power down after hopping across the curbs at the Senna Chicane.Cerny immediately launched an over-under counterattack on East Terrace and entered Flinders Street on the outside of the Frenchman's Ford ...The BMW got sideways under power coming onto Hutt Street, and had to yield the position to the Ford.Following a relatively silent first three quarters of the race, Max Scheidter managed to pass Tomi Väänänen for 10th place on the Brabham Straight, despite the Finn's counterattack around the outside.Behind the wheel of the blue Suntory Nissan, FMG drove a silent race and maintained 8th place while getting up on two wheels at Turn 5 that took him from East Terrace onto Flinders Street.Alfa Romeo's hopes in the manufacturers championship were hanging on for dear life on Attila Diner's aging Medium tyres approaching the final 10 minutes of the race ...... when the German outbraked himself and got sideways at the Dequetteville Hairpin, while Ayrton Titos overshot the entrance in his defense against the Ford of Florian Masse.Both pairs of cars accelerated out of the hairpin side by side.While Diner managed to defend 3rd place for the time being, Florian Masse got sideways exiting the tight left-hander behind the paddock and ended up behind Jaroslav Cerny's BMW again.The championship leader sent his Sierra down the inside of Attila Diner at Foster's Corner and captured third place, knocking Alfa Romeo off of the predicted throne in the manufacturers championship that was now tightly contested between BMW and Mercedes-Benz, depending on where Jaroslav Cerny would finish while Marc Orós was comfortably holding on to 2nd place in his 190E.BMW matched Mercedes-Benz in the forecast for the manufacturers championship after Jaroslav Cerny forced Florian Masse to swerve in the braking zone at Wakefield Corner, leading the Frenchman to spin out while barely missing the rear bumper of Ayrton Titos's Mercedes-Benz.The fans cheered as the Ford driver got back on track in a cloud of tyre smoke.This was the moment when BMW grabbed the predicted lead in the manufacturers championship! In the #6 BMW M3, D Weller from the United States was shown blue flags but the lapped backmarker decided to go for the apex of the Dequetteville Hairpin while both Titos and Cerny were alongside each other directly behind him in the battle for 5th place. Weller blocked the Mercedes-Benz driver in the process, handing 5th place and one crucial extra point to BMW.With the US-American driver still not yielding to the battling duo behind the paddock, Cerny backed out of a dive against him at Turn 13. Titos mirrored the same maneuver against Cerny, but approached the corner so tightly in the process that he ended up repeating his earlier mistake and ran wide at the exit.As Weller still ignored the blue flags upon arrival at the Foster's Corner, the reigning champion took matters into his own hands and barged his US-American stablemate out of the way.The reigning champion quickly caught up with Attila Diner, who was biting his teeth off on the 3rd-placed Ford of championship leader HappyKojot.When the German Alfa Romeo driver ran wide at Turn 13, the BMW ace from Asahi Motorsport managed to get alongside him with five minutes left on the clock, but Diner managed to defend the position on the inside at Foster's Corner.Ayrton Titos was eventually caught by Florian Masse again, who sent his Sierra down the inside of the Spaniard at the Dequetteville Hairpin. The Simruina driver caught the better exit and stayed ahead - and with the battles ahead, the 5-car train battling for the last spot on the podium was reforming again.Attila Diner launched another attack against HappyKojot around the outside at Wakefield Corner with just three minutes left on the clock.The Polish driver continued to make his Ford as wide as possible as he backed up his rivals behind him coming onto Flinders Street.After Ayrton Titos ran wide onto the grass exiting Turn 9, Florian Masse was all over the Simruina 190E's rear bumper through Brewery Corner and effortlessly flew past to grab 6th place on Brabham Straight.Seconds later, Jaroslav Cerny launched a dive bomb against Attila Diner while braking for the Dequetteville Hairpin.The action was compounded further by Florian Masse, who lost the rear of his Sierra on the brakes and skidded into both Cerny and Diner sideways.With the reigning champion getting back underway from the chaos more quickly, 4th place went to him, and Alfa Romeo suddenly found itself predicting to be tied with Ford in the manufacturers standings, unless Cerny would manage to find a way past HappyKojot's Ford.In a matter of a few corners, the reigning champion was glued to the back of the championship leader again, and eager to find a way to finally get ahead of the youngster from Poland.At the same time, the battle for 10th place became a 3-way fight after Boby Vakuinof had caught up to it. He sent his Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione S1 down the inside of Tomi Väänänen's 190E at Wakefield Corner.After running down East Terrace and Flinders Street side by side, the Finn turned in too early for Turn 6 that leads onto Hutt Street, and ran wide after bumping into the driver side of the Alfa Romeo.At the end of the penultimate lap, Ayrton Titos attempted to reclaim 6th place from Florian Masse around the outside at Foster's Corner. Although the Frenchman ran wide, he was able to defend the position.The Spaniard went into the final lap suddenly having to watch his rear view mirrors when the translucent cat eyes on the SEV Marchal logos of FMG's illuminated headlights began to stare him down.Seconds later, Boby Vakuinof attacked Max Scheidter on the brakes at Wakefield Corner ...... and captured 10th place on the final lap.When Tomi Väänänen then decided to get involved as well and tapped the left rear corner of Scheidter's Holden VL Commodore into a skid at Turn 5, the decision for the last spot in the Top 10 was cemented.In the final race of the season, Adam Celárek finally managed to release the shackles on his kangaroo. After a strong qualifying, the Czech Holden ace kept his nose clean during the opening laps when his strongest rival of the day made his crucial mistake, and then calmly hunted down the early leader before controlling the rest of the race. In the Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV, he scored Side Heart Motorsports' third race win of the season, defended their 2024 TTM Teams Championship trophy in style, and climbed onto the podium of the drivers championship!Having started from the front row alongside his team mate Ayrton Titos with his second pole position of the season, Marc Orós and Simruina Racing Team III gave it everything they had in the final round of the TTM 2025. But bogging down on the grid and a crucial mistake on Lap 3 put the Spaniard behind the Holden of Adam Celárek, whose race win denied Mercedes-Benz the manufacturer's title by a hair's width.The task of HappyKojot looked very difficult after qualifying the car on the 5th row. He had a decent lead in the drivers championship over Marc Orós, but the Spaniard started the race from pole position on a track that suited his car very well. However, the Side Heart Motorsports driver crucially stayed calm and controlled when it mattered, despite spending most of the race defending against the attacks of the dethroned 2024 TTM champion Jaroslav Cerny. To top it all off, the Polish youngster drove the Ford Sierra RS500 onto the podium at a track where only few believed that this was even possible.
Official Top 5 Race Result
Adam Celárek (Holden Commodore) - 1:01:32.614 - best lap 1:39.001
Marc Orós (Mercedes-Benz 190E) - +7.680s - best lap 1:39.019
HappyKojot (Ford Sierra RS500) +39.349s - best lap 1:39.820
Jaroslav Cerny (BMW M3) +39.681s - best lap 1:39.384
Attila Diner (Alfa Romeo 75 S1) +40.839s - best lap 1:39.458
Final Championship Score
HappyKojot has delivered the goods! With a strong final race that saw him climbing from 9th on the grid to the last step on the podium, the Polish youngster rescued a 7 point lead across the line and deservedly crowned himself the 2025 TTM Champion. A strong finale saw Marc Orós climbing to the runner-up position by taking second place in Adelaide, and Adam Celárek advanced from sixth to third place in the drivers championship by winning the final race.
Drivers Championship, Top 10
HappyKojot (176 points, 2 wins)
Marc Orós (169 points, 1 win)
Adam Celárek (163 points, 1 win)
Attila Diner (154 points)
Valentin Knechtel (151 points, 1 win)
Jaroslav Cerny (143 points)
Ayrton Titos (141 points)
Boby Vakuinof (140 points)
Kuba Palubicki (139 points, 1 win)
Florian Masse (124 points)
In the Teams Championship, Side Heart Motorsport had already arrived at Adelaide as the favourites. Although Simruina Racing Team III was off to a great start with the front row lockout and a superb first lap, it wasn't enough to challenge the defending Teams Champions who ended up scoring the final win of the season, along with third place. However, the Spanish duo managed to knock the German Alfa Romeo duo from Jolly Club off of the second step in the final round of the race with a solid team performance, while Knechtel lacked the pace to make it back into the Top 10 after his early spin. Once again, Side Heart Motorsports have been the team to beat, and won the 2025 season by 29 points.
TTM 2025 Teams Championship, Top 10
Side Heart Motorsports (339 points)
Simruina Racing Team III (310 points)
Jolly Club (305 points)
Asahi Motorsport (242 points)
Linder Rennsport (225 points)
Side Heart Pepsi (172 points)
Team Suntory (135 points)
Simruina Racing Team II (132 points)
SG Stern (101 points)
Side Heart HIFI (86 points)
The Manufacturers Championship concluded with an absolute nail-biter!
Jaroslav Cerny's 4th place in the final race of the season gave the brand from Munich the 2025 title, beating Mercedes-Benz by just two points. Another two points behind them, both Ford and Alfa Romeo scored 198 points, with 3rd place going to Ford with two race wins against one by Alfa Romeo. The Italian manufacturer went through a roller coaster of emotions in its TTM debut season and already had a hand on the manufacturers championship trophy, but ended up empty-handed after falling off of the championship podium in the final minutes of the race, highlighting just how close of a championship this was.
Holden's strong late charge brought them within spitting distance of the top four manufacturers, but the inconsistent results of Adam Celárek and Adam Keefe throughout the season made the difference. For Nissan, the season proved that their aging Skyline 2000 GTS-R is due for a replacement. In Ingolstadt, meanwhile, Ferdinand Piëch's engineers at Audi have quite the task on their hands. Might they be able to find a loophole in the rulebook by twisting an untreated crankshaft into a flat-plane configuration, or will they bow out entirely? Time will tell!
HappyKojot was the man to beat in the 2025 season. Who will it be next time?
Finally, we'd like to thank each and every one of you for an amazing season and every contribution that it took to make it happen. The TTM 2025 was more than just a vintage touring car championship on a simulator - it was an experience to behold.
