AUSTRALIAN DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
A late qualifying flyer put reigning champion Damon Sterling in pole position. He went on to take out the first race. He beat Hayden Crossland and inaugural champion Dean Crooke with the three nose-to-tail in the end.
Niko French was best of the rest, he led home Lucas Stasi, Hamish Leighton and Adam Nicolson. The race was under safety car conditions for five laps while the stranded Josh Gardiner car was retrieved from Turn 11.
Sterling had a narrow lead over Crossland from the start of Race 2 and extended it to 2.2s by the end. French held on for third just in front of Stasi. Then followed Hamish Leighton with a big gap to Brenton Davey, Peter Nowlan, Zachary Catlin, Adam Nicolson and Bastien Treptel.
Crooke was an early casualty, spun at Turn 1 from contact from French, followed by retirement some laps later with a broken CV.
Any chance of a Sterling whitewash, dissipated in Race 3. He led early but Crossland pulled off a masterly passing move on Lap 3 through Turns 1 and 2.
Crossland maintained the lead for the remainder and was 0.4s ahead at the finish. Third place went to Stasi who just held off the charging Crooke from his 19th starting position. There was a brief safety car when Nowlan stopped off track out of Turn 5.
An all-the-way win in the final race by Crossland consolidated the round win where Sterling and Crooke shadowed him to the flag. Leighton placed fourth just in front of French while Stasi was next ahead of Nowlan and Nicolson.
AUSTRALIAN IRC RACING
A rough and tumble first round went to Geoff Taunton over John Goodacre and John Holinger – all in IRC GT cars.
It was a spicy Race 3 which was won by Goodacre (IRC GT) just in front of Taunton (IRC GT) with Tim Leithhead (MARC I Focus) third.
Geoff Emery (IRC GT) was the polesitter but was swamped by Danny Stutterd (IRC MGT) and Goodacre after the red lights went out. It took several laps for Emery to pass Goodacre after which he set his sights on Taunton.
For several laps, Emery hounded the leader and lost his bonnet at Turn 7 after contact with the rear of Taunton’s IRC. There was damage on the latter which eventually caused a rear tyre to let go.
Both pitted with damage and Donaldson (MARC II Mustang) was also in after contact with John Hollinger (IRC GT) who also pitted.
Jon Crossing (Focus) finished fourth after a near race-long dice with Leithhead while Donaldson, Emery and Holinger returned to finish the race.
Taunton led the last race from start to finish. Second went to Goodacre with Donaldson third after a barn-storming start. Sidelined on Saturday with a broken gearbox in his Focus, Darren Currie took over Stutterd’s IRC MGT.
His and Emery’s races only lasted three laps for they both went off and collided at Turn 5. Holinger finished fourth ahead of Leithhead and Crossing.
SUPER TT
The opening round was won by Mark Tracey in his Chev-powered BMW after he won each of the four races. He led at the start of Race 1, before passed by Matt Sims in a similar car. But the new race leader spun at Turn 7 and had a subsequent off-track excursion at Turn 1.
He salvaged second ahead of Brent Edwards (Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo) who had a long battle with Merrick Malouf (Falcon) who ultimately spun and finished behind fourth placed Tony Saint (Mazda RX7/Chev).
Tracey led all the way in the second race for another win ahead of Sims with Edwards a distant third in front of Saint and Daniel Natoli (Audi TT). The race was called early when Mallouf had a brake failure and slammed into the Turn 3 tyre wall.
In the third encounter Tracey led throughout and was hard pressed Sims in the concluding laps. Edwards was a distant third and well ahead of Saint and Matt Holt (HSV Clubsport).
After Tracey led the last early, he was passed by Sims who went on to finish first. However, he had a 5.0s start line infringement penalty and was sufficiently in front to claim the win.
Edwards failed to make the start due to a power steering failure. Josh Robins (Lotus Elise) finished third in front of Holt and Ryan Bell (Nissan 370Z).
TFH HIRE LEGEND CARS
Four out of five race wins ensured Robert Hogan took the first round ahead of Ryan Pring and Dylan Thomas.
Hogan won Race 1 by just over a second from Pring with Thomas third as he edged out Aiden Williams, Brendon Hourigan and Askr Sendall.
Hogan led Race 2 until he dropped to fifth due to a broken gear shifter. Pring passed him at Turn 3 and held on to the victory, Thomas was second ahead of Williams and Hourigan.
The top 10 finishers were reversed for the start of Race 3. It took just two laps for Hogan to take the lead off Riley Skinner and then build up a clear lead.
Pring ultimately worked his way to second and finished ahead of Skinner. Thomas was fourth across the line but a 5.0s penalty relegated to seventh behind Ben Goodridge, Tate and Hourigan.
Hogan took out Race 4 after some lead changes with Pring who finished a close second. Thomas was also in the mix but lost touch with the leading pair with a slight miscue at Turn 7 with a couple of laps to go.
Fourth for much of the race was a three-way scrap where Skinner won over Tate. Askr Sendall was between them until a moment at Turn 1 and was ultimately pipped at the line by Hourigan, on recovery from spearing off at Turn 1 on Lap 3.
The last race was led throughout. He narrowly led Pring and later Thomas split the pair for second place. Skinner was next ahead of Williams and Tate.
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