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Two close results came with the first two one-hour races in Monochrome GT4/Mobil 1 Production Cars at The Bend’s third round of the Shannons Trophy Series.
The slick tyre shod GT4s part were won, narrowly by Shane Smollen and Ricky Capo (Porsche Cayman 718) and then John Bowe and Jacob Lawrence (BMW M40). Coleby Cowham (Class A2 Ford Mustang GT) and Grant Sherrin (Class X BMW M4) took out the Production Cars.
The first race had two Safety Cars, the first before the CPS window for the Chris Holdt B2 HSV Commodore stopped with low oil pressure. The next came much later when the Mick Rowell/Cameron McLeod Mustang had the battery die.
Smollen stretched out to a handy lead in the opening stanza with Mark Griffith (GT4 Mercedes-AMG) second ahead of Lawrence while Karl Begg (GT4 McLaren) carved up the order from 12th. Chris Lillis (A2 HSV Clubsport) briefly led Production Cars before he was passed by Sherrin and Cowham.
After the mandatory stops, it was Bowe in front with Capo a distant second until the second Safety Car. When the race went green, it was a four-way GT4 fight, only resolved when Capo slipped under Bowe at Turn 18 on the third last lap.
Bowe held second while Griffith edged out Begg for third. In Production Cars, Cowham took the honours and fifth outright. Sherrin was next after a second stop for a tyre while. Lillis was next ahead of Ray Hislop (in Michael Stillwell’s Mustang), Chris Sutton (A1 Mitsubishi EVO X) and Brian Callaghan (Clubsport).
Iain Sherrin (M4) followed, having two extra stops for tyres, ahead of Karla Buccini/Courtney Prince (B1 BMW 135i), Liam Moyse (Class D Toyota 86), Chris Gunther (Class C BMW 130i) and Trevor Symonds (Clubsport) who had a second stop for a brake issue. The Tony Levitt/Luke King A2 Mercedes C63 had a late stop with a puncture.
The second race ran Safety Car free. Smollen led from Begg, Griffith and Lawrence. Grant Sherrin headed the Production Cars from Lindsay Kearns (in for Cowham), Nathan Callaghan (in for Lillis), Sutton and Iain Sherrin who elected to start rear of grid. He would work to second of the Production Cars before a second stop to address a puncture.
After the round of pit stops it was Capo leading over Paul Morris (in for Begg), Bowe, Griffith, Grant Sherrin, Kearns, Callaghan and King.
With six minutes remaining, Capo pitted with a puncture before resuming fourth. Morris had the lead but three minutes from the hour, pitted for fuel. On the last lap the McLaren stopped on track with a further fuel issue.
Bowe won by 0.36s over Griffith with Capo across the line third, well clear of Grant Sherrin. Kearns and Callaghan diced throughout and finished 0.4s apart, and ahead of King, Rowell/McLeod (Mustang), Sutton, Symonds, Paul Buccini (BMW M140i) and Hislop.
