It was a busy program that went thought to the night under lights with qualifying for eight categories and 25 races to get through by the ARDC.
PRODUCTION TOURING
In outright results, it was the realm of Class A2 HSV Clubsports. Supercars Eseries Champion Madison Down was quickest in qualifying before fellow VF driver Matt Holt beat him in Race 1. Matt Kiss (A1 Mitsubishi Evo X) was third in front of Michael Osmond (BMW M135i), Trevor Symonds (VE Clubsport) and Simon Hodges (Class X BMW M4).
Holt led Race 2 until the final lap at Turn 7 where after continual pressure, Symonds was able to grab the lead and win. Down was third from Hodges, Chris Sutton (Evo X) after he was turned around in Race 1, and Kiss.
In a close Race 3 finish, Holt held off Down by 0.0037s while Kiss was third from Symonds. Hodges was next in front of Chris Millett (Class X HSV GTS), Peter O’Donnell (B1 BMW 335i) and Sutton who was again caught up in an early incident.
SUPERSPORTS
Phil Hughes relished the conditions and crossed the line first in each of the three races. He qualified third and in Race 1, split the front pair to lead virtually from the outset and win in his Radical SR8. In their SR3s, Mark Brame and Sergio Pires were in powerless on the long straight to do anything but chase Hughes to the flag.
Hughes led throughout Race 2 but was penalised 15s for a restart infringement. The Safety Car was out due to Pires who was unable to restart after a spin. Brame picked up the win ahead of Paul Palmer (Stohr WR1) and Peter Paddon (SR3). Hughes quickly charged to the front to win Race 3 from Brame, Palmer, Pires and Paddon.
IMPROVED PRODUCTION
The under and over 2.0lt cars were combined and it was the former that starred. Matt Giuntini (Honda Civic) won the firs race ahead of Michael King (Mitsubishi Evo 8), Luke Grech-Cumbo (HSV Senator), Matt Birks (Toyota Corolla) and Ben Sheedy (Holden Commodore VE).
King took out Race 2 before he missed the last due to a dodgy wheel bearing. He won ahead of Joe Lenthall (BMW M3), Grech-Cumbo, Steven Engel (Evo 5), Birks, Sheedy and Giuntini. The latter won Race 3 from Sheedy, Grech-Cumbo, Lenthall, Engel and Danny Castro (Nissan Silvia).
SUPERKARTS
Lee Vella totally dominated the four outings in his Avoig Elise 125cc Superkart. He won the first from Jock Dos Santos (BRM) and Tony Moit (Woodgate Evo). In the second Laurie Fooks (Raider) was runner up with Santo and Russell Jamieson (Anderson) next. The latter took second ahead of Santo in the third encounter before Fooks and Santos filled the minors in Race 4.
SERIES X3 EXCELS
The round went to Connor Cooper over Jackson Faulkner and Monique Sciberras. Blake Tracey passed Cooper on the final lap of Race 1 to cross the line first. Tracey was penalised 5s for exceeding track limits and relegated to third behind Faulkner. Tracey beat Cooper and Faulkner in Race 2. Caleb Hefren was fourth, after a DNF where he crashed with Nik Hough in the first race. Cooper won the last ahead of Hefren and Faulkner as early leader Tracey was a DNF.
FORMULA VEES
Unusual in the category, Craig Sparke (Jacer) was a tearaway winner in each of the three races. Second for the round and in each of the outings was Luke Collett (Jacer). Angus McDonald (Jacer) was third in Race 1 before Michael Cooke (Stinger) beat him to third in the second and also scored third in the last.
SPORTS SEDANS
Driving Joe Said’s Fiat 124/Twin Rotary Turbo, Brad Shiels blew away the small field in all three races. Steve Lacey was second in each outing aboard the Steve Viguers Chev Camaro. Chris Jackson (Calibra/Chev) came through to take third in Race 1 from Nick Mantikos (MARC II) but stopped at Turn 3 in Race 2. Mantikos was third in front of Glenn Pro (Toyota Supra Turbo). In the last it was Jackson third from Pro as Mantikos was a non-starter.
FORMULA FORDS
After he crossed the line fourth in Race 1, which then became third, Liam Loiacono (Mygale) went on to win the following two races. Eddie Beswick (Spectrum) took the lead off Lachie Mineeff (Mygale) on the final lap of Race 1 but was penalised 5s breach of track limits. Mineeff took the win over Adrian Sarkis (Mygale) and Loiacono while Beswick was relegated to fourth.
Sarkis was second in Race 2 from Beswick while Mineeff had contact with the wall out of Turn 3. Beswick had another second in the last where Sarkis was next in front of Imogen Radburn (Mygale).
Round 5 of the NSW Motor Race Championships will also be at Sydney Motorsport Park in a two-day meeting on August 3-4.
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