Lee and Brett Holdsworth claimed a special victory today, scoring the Ashley Cooper Memorial Trophy in the Commodore Cup National Series during the fifth round of the 2010 Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships at Winton Motor Raceway.
After setting the pace throughout the opening race, the Holdsworth brothers had to settle for seventh at the conclusion of racing, but they bounced back strongly, cruising to the feature race win.
“It was pretty sweet to win today, probably even more so after the stuff up with the Safety Car and the pit stops yesterday,” V8 Supercars driver Lee Holdsworth said.
“We had a 13 second driver change today, which was even quicker than what we practiced it in.
“Coming out of the pits, I had a gap over Steve (Owen), but there wasn’t much chance of him getting by me, I just had to bring it home.”
Steve Owen, paired with Ross McGregor drove hard to finish second behind the Holdsworths, another combination that bounced back after spinning at the first corner of the first race.
Third place went to Beechey/Crosswell (who also took out the round honours thanks to their victory yesterday), while drama hit the combination of Scott Andrews and Tim Shaw after they were penalised for not completing their compulsory pit stops within the designated window.
The Shannons V8 Touring Car National Series had its best round to date, with 14 former V8 Supercars hitting the track.
Tony Evangelou took the round victory, after dominating practice, qualifying, Time Attack, and winning two out of the three races.
“We made some changes to the car from Mallala to keep up with Terry (Wyhoon) in the dry, and since we took the car off the trailer on Friday it’s been a rocket,” Evangelou said.
“It’s excellent having a strong field here at Winton, we had a meeting today with the car owners to see what we have to do to keep the momentum going from here.
“It’s going to take a lot of effort, but there’s strong interest, and hopefully we can keep it going into Eastern Creek.”
Second overall for the weekend was Dean Neville, ahead of Chris Smerdon.
Simon Tabinor walked away from Winton with his first-ever Australian Saloon Car Series win, after technical infringements had an impact on the results sheet.
Reigning champion Shawn Jamieson won the first race, but post-race scruitineering saw his second race win wiped from the records, and he failed to start the finale.
Series leader Tim Rowse fought back valiantly after registering a non-finish in the first heat after getting bogged in the sodden outfield, to be placed second in the final race.
There were emotional scenes in the HQ Holdens, with the final race for the weekend dedicated to the memory of category stalwart Dallas Crane.
Bruce Heinrich was set for a clean sweep of the weekend’s four races until an off track excursion in the final contest saw Andrew Williams come through to take the all important feature race victory.
Prior to the race, Crane’s famous green car led the field for a pair of parade laps.
In the CUE Production Sports Car Enduro Championship, Justin Levis and Bill Pye won a battle of attrition in the one-hour long race aboard their Lotus Elise HPE, comfortably heading home another Elise piloted by Garth Walden and Arthur Magaitas.
Earlier in the weekend, Ivan Klasan (Porsche GT3 Cup) and Pye won the single-driver sprint races.
The Shannons Nationals now gear up for an all-new hallmark event for the championships, with the running of the inaugural Australian Six Hour at Eastern Creek Raceway on July 17-18.
The event will pit production car drivers from the Australian Manufacturers Championship against each other, with support races to include the Australian Saloon Car Series, HQ Holdens and the Mazda MX5 Challenge.
