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There were two races for Monochrome GT4 and Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars in their fourth round at Sandown, where Shane Smollen and Grant Sherrin were the respective winners in both.
Smollen’s victory in the first 30min race was a narrow one. From pole position, he led the combined field away with Karl Begg (Mclaren 570s GT4) in close pursuit. The latter took the lead on when Smollen had a moment at Dandenong Road Corner and almost bunkered.
Begg managed to establish a small gap before he, too, had a miscue, at Turn 11. However, he held on to the lead narrowly, right up to the final lap, where Smollen dived under him at Turn 1 and went on to take the win.
Mark Griffith (GT4 Mercedes) held the third spot until minor contact with a lapped car spun him at Dandenong Road. That enabled Steve Jukes and Grant Sherrin to battle it out for third outright in their respective GT4 and Class X BMW M4s, which went the way of the latter.
Griffith recovered for fifth ahead of Coleby Cowham (Class A2 Ford Mustang), who wrestled sixth off Cameron Crick (A1 Mitsubishi EVO X) late in the race. Then followed Jacob Lawrence (GT4 M4), Tony Levitt (A2 Mercedes C63), Iain Sherrin (Class X M4) and Paul Buccini (A1 BMW M140i).
Begg had contact with a lapped car on the last lap, which caused radiator damage and ruled him out of Race 2. Renee Gracie had clutch issues, and her GT4 Ginetta was also a non-starter, along with Mick Rowell (Mustang, clutch) and Alan Jarvis (VW Polo, brakes).
If Smollen thought the pressure was off in Race 2, it wasn’t. After an early Safety Car to recover the stopped Buccini, Smollen was under challenge from Jukes for several laps before he consolidated his second victory of the day.
Grant Sherrin held third until late in the 30min race when Griffith slipped past at Turn 1 to secure third outright. Lawrence finished fifth while Lindsay Kearns (in the Mustang Cowham drove in Race 1) overtook Iain Sherrin towards the end for sixth.
After that, it was Brian Callaghan (A2 HSV Clubsport) ahead of Levitt, who recovered from a spin at Turn 1 after the race resumed from the Safety Car. Michael Stillwell (Mustang) was next ahead of Chris Holtz (B2 Commodore) and Hadrian Morrall in an ailing EVO X that Tyler Mecklem used in Race 1.
