Ferrari Challenge Australasia
Aemel Nordin and Rick Armstrong were sent to the rear of the grid due to red flag infringements in practice and qualifying respectively.
Enzo Cheng qualified on pole position in his first event competing in the outright Trofeo Pirelli class, and held the lead from the start for a lights to flag victory.
Cheng was closely stalked by Antoine Gittany and Jim Pollicina for the entire length of the race, with the latter pair battling for second position at the midpoint.
Armstrong set about a recovery mission from the rear of grid starting position, quickly passing five cars on the opening lap.
Richard Moore held ground in the older spec 488 Challenge, staying in the top five for the majority of the race.
While the three front runners ran away from the pack, Armstrong, Moore, and Rod Wilson set about an almighty battle for positions four through six, almost coming to blows on more than one occasion.
Cheng took the victory ahead of Gittany and Pollicina, while Armstrong made one final divebomb move on Wilson at the final corner to take position four.
Ferrari Challenge returns for another qualifying session at 9:20am AEDT, ahead of its second and final race of the weekend at 3:30pm.
Duggan Family Hotels Combined Sedans
Following an incident in qualifying involving a wallaby, Lee Stibbs was able to take the start of the opening race, however the damage sustained to Tyler Cheney’s car was too much, leaving him on the sidelines for race one.
After qualifying on pole, Shiels in the Rotary-powered Fiat 124 Coupe Sports Sedan easily got the jump at the start over Steven Lacey’s IRC GT SS.
Nathan Herne and Blake Tracey in a pair of TA2 Mustangs fought hard to chase down Shiels at the front of the field, catching over the top of the mountain before the Fiat stretched its legs down Conrod Straight.
The first safety car period came on the opening lap, when race sponsor Mark Duggan came to a halt at The Cutting with mechanical issues in his Aston Martin Sports Sedan.
Lacey worked his way past the TA2 entries of Herne and Tracey on the restart lap, using the superior top speed of the IRC to make the move on Conrod Straight.
Seth Burchartz brought his Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car to a halt on the inside of Reid Park, drawing the second safety car of the race.
On the restart lap, Blake Tracey encountered issues over the top of the mountain, bringing his brand new TA2 Mustang to rest halfway down Conrod.
John Goodacre narrowly avoided being collected at Hell Corner, the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series regular spinning at the beginning of the final lap.
Shiels was able to bring the Fiat home for the win 3.157s ahead of Lacey.
Ben Gomersall brought the ex-Scott McLaughlin championship winning Super2 Falcon home in third position, the highest finisher in the Chassis Class.
Nathan Herne finished fourth in his TA2 Mustang ahead of Jordan Miller’s Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, the first of the Sportscar Class finishers.
Combined Sedans returns for the second of three races on Saturday at 7:25am AEDT.
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