Words by Garry OBrien
Pics by Andrew Ryan
It was a huge program at Sydney Motorsport Park for the third round of the NSW Motor Racing Championships with ten categories racing over the May 27-28.
The mega meeting was bolstered by round three of the national RX8 Cup Series which joined nine other categories vying for points advantage in this mid-season outing on the popular Gardner layout.
Two-time title winner Ryan Gorton who missed a year and the first round this year, continued his successful comeback to the RX8 Cup Series with the third-round win. He won the first two races before beaten away in the third by Brad Harris.
Harris qualified last, finished eighth, then second, and won the third. Gorton beat him in the fourth. There were good scraps going on for third overall with Tom Shaw who ultimately took the final podium place ahead of Jack Pennacchia and Justin Barnes.
Justin Lewis was next, although he DNF’d the last when he crashed into his spun brother Terry. Jackson Noakes was also involved in a clash with Luke Webber in race three, which caused a lot of damage to the Noakes Mazda.
The round for Production Touring Cars comprised three sprint races. Simon Hodges (BMW M4) won all three races. The first came ahead of Chris Sutton (Mitsubishi EVO X) and Matt Holt (HSV Clubsport) before Sutton was relegated to third with a penalty. Anthony Soole (M4) was second before he retired with a wayward turbo hose.
The latter fought back to third behind Sutton and just ahead of Holt in the second encounter before he finished ahead of the pair in the third. Michael Auld (M4) was next best ahead of Alex Bryden (Mercedes A45) and Brent Howard (BMW M3). They were split in one race by Andrew Miedecke in the Ford Mustang which had computer problems in the others.
The three races in the Industrie Clothing Supersports were won by Alex Kenny in his Nova Proto NP-01. In race one he finished clear of Nick Kelly (Radical SR8), Justin Tigani and Chris Perini in RX3s. Jonathon Canavan (SR3) didn’t get off the line while Paul Palmer (Stohr) and Steven Shiels (SR3) had contact and didn’t finish.
Tigani was second in the next encounter from Kelly, Gardner (SR3) and Canavan, and followed up with another second in the last. Garner was third ahead of Perini, and a tight finish between Kelly, Sergio Pires (SR3) and Canavan.
In the leadup to the Yokohama Improved Production Nationals in June, South Australian Adam Poole brought his Holden Monaro over to NSW, easily won the three Over 2.0 litre races, and broke the lap record twice. Ben Algie (Nissan 200SX) scored three seconds and Ben Sheedy (Holden Commodore VE) edged out Steven Engel (EVO) for third overall.
Kurt Macready (Nissan Silvia) accounted for the Under 2.0 Litre field each time where in close contest for second, Matt Birks (Toyota Corolla) finished ahead of Charlie Viola (Honda Integra), Graham Bohm and Aaron Giuntini in Honda Civics.
In Formula Fords, Kaleb Belak (Spectrum) took the Formula Ford outings. In the first he beat fellow Duratec runner Jason Liddell (Van Diemen). The latter had a moment in the race two which allowed Will Lowing (Historic Van Diemen) to get the first of two seconds ahead of Thomas Kalamakis (Kent class Spirit). Dan Holihan (Spectrum) was next but spun out in the last after contact from Christian Read (Spirit).
Racing in Formula Vees was at its usual competitive best over the three races between dual race winner Darren Williams (Sabre), race two victor Tyron Wiseman (Checkmate) and Craig Sparke (Jacer) with William Pym (Jacer) not far behind. In the older 1200s Stephen Butcher dominated.
Reigning HQ Holden champ Chris Molle dominated with three big wins. The fight for the minors was much more fanatic where David Proglio was second three times but relegated four spots in race two with a penalty. Jason Molle was third overall while Dave Allan and Jarrod Harber finished equal fourth. Jeff Mulligan was on for a good result before he ran into a (helped) sideways Proglio in the last.
Doug Barry netted his first Formula Race Car round win after two firsts and a second. In his Reynard 92D Formula Holden, he toppled AGI Sport prodigies Brodie Norris and Kristian Janev in Mygale F4s. Barry led all the way in the first, passed Norris on the final lap in the second, lost several places at the start of the last before he finished second to Norris in the last.
Production Sports had several additions over the previous round and George Miedecke won both half-hour races in a Bentley Continental GT. The minor places went to Porsche drivers Jacque Jarjo and Tom McLennan with a second a third each while Geoff Morgan (Porsche) withstood numerous challenges for a pair of fourths.
The NSW Motor Race Championships will return to Sydney Motorsport Park for round four, a day/night meeting on July 8.
