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Wednesday, 06 September 2006 |
David Ryan Motorsport has won the 2006 Australian Production Car Championship at Queensland Raceway last weekend, and in doing so gave Ford its first Production Car title since 1993.
It was a record breaking run for David Ryan and the team's Ford Falcon BF XR6 Turbo winning 14 of the 18 races contested so far, capping that off with three from three at the just completed QR round. Again the combination qualified on pole - for the eleventh consecutive time – having not missed the top spot since Mallala in 2004.
Ryan paid tribute to his brother Daniel and the boys at Armour
Automotive in Penrith, who prepare the team's XR6 Turbo, putting in
untold hours this year producing the fastest and most reliable
production car in the country.
“Dan oversees all the preparation in-house, except for engine tuning,
which is handled by Jim and the boys at Croydon Racing Developments,
who have also done a great job for us,” Ryan said.
“Dan, team manager Gary Merlino, Andrew Solness, Ian Shinfield and Mike
Craig are as professional as any team participating in any form of
motorsport in Australia. Their commitment is unrivalled and we
couldn't, and wouldn’t, do this without them.” Ryan added.
The team would like to thank Armour Automotive, GAM Electric, Soltronic
Systems, IVS Electrical, Croydon Racing Developments and Shell for
their support this season.
“It may have looked easy but that certainly wasn’t the case – it was
hard work,” the new champions admitted after the sixth round. That was
accentuated in the last race at QR where his diff was all but shot and
he nearly didn’t make it.
Ryan also settled the Class A issue, securing the title as did Colin
Osborne with Class B, successfully defending the title but relenting
the overall title he won last year. Class C was also wrapped with
Darren Best taking the title.
In the first race, a ten lap scratch event, John Houlder (Falcon XR8)
gained the initial jump and led until Ryan slipped by. The XR6 Turbo
was not threatened for the duration despite a safety car period when
Chris Delfsma (XR8) speared off.
Houlder kept Nick Dunkley (XR6 Turbo) third and Leigh Mertens (Holden
Commodore SSZ) trailed the duo to the flag. Osborne (Toyota Celica) was
fifth, just in front of Trevor Keene after Trophy Class’ Phil Alexander
made the early running ahead of the team mates. Behind the Alexander
Toyota MR2 was Allan Shephard’s Celica, Brendan Cook’s BMW and the
Class C winning Ford Focus of Best.
The first of the handicap races was stopped two short of its duration
after two Trophy cars crashed at turn three, an incident where Brendan
Cook tagged the back of Beechey. Prior to that Ryan had carved his way
through the classes to win overall from Class A rivals Houlder and
Dunkley.
Osborne was fifth behind the scratch man Best and just ahead of
Shephard while Alexander won Trophy. Merten’s challenged evaporated
when the Commodore went into “safe cycle”.
Despite a greater advantage in the second handicap, Best would still be
run down by the faster cars. He was relegated five positions on the
13th tour as Ryan assumed the lead. Osborne filled second whilst
earnestly pursued by Shephard.
It was not long before Mertens was through to second and Dunkley made
it a Class C three having relegated Houlder who dropped well down the
order. Osborne was next ahead of Alexander as Shephard suffered a last
lap glitch that nearly allowed Keene past.
All the latest news is on the website www.pcaa.com.au, and for information regarding the 2006 Shannons APCC, contact Garry Mennell - Series Administrator - on 02 4577 2779
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SHANNONS AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND SIX RESULTS - Race One (10 laps)
| Pos. |
Driver |
State |
Car |
Class |
Time |
| 1 |
David Ryan |
NSW |
Ford Falcon BF XR6 Turbo |
Class A |
15:55.6057 |
| 2 |
John Houlder |
NSW |
Ford Falcon BF XR8 |
Class A |
15:57.8344 |
| 3 |
Nick Dunkley |
NSW |
Ford Falcon BF XR6 Turbo |
Class A |
15:58.2697 |
| 4 |
Leigh Mertens |
VIC |
Holden Commodore VZ SSZ |
Class A |
16:00.4198 |
| 5 |
Colin Osborne |
NSW |
Toyota Celica |
Class B |
16:20.2858 |
| 6 |
Trevor Keene |
NSW |
Toyota Celica |
Class B |
16:20.4547 |
| 7 |
Phil Alexander |
NSW |
Toyota MR2 |
Trophy Class |
16:22.3167 |
| 8 |
Allan Shephard |
NSW |
Toyota Celica |
Class B |
16:24.6497 |
| 9 |
Adam Beechey |
TAS |
Honda Integra Type R |
Trophy Class |
16:28.5277 |
| 10 |
Brendan Cook |
NSW |
BMW 323i |
Trophy Class |
16:38.4689 |
| 11 |
Darren Best |
VIC |
Ford Focus |
Class C |
16:55.8335 |
| 12 |
Chris Delfsma |
NSW |
Ford Falcon BF XR8 5400 A 9 |
|
16:38.8418 |
Race Two (17 laps) Red Flagged
| Pos. |
Driver |
Time |
| 1 |
Ryan |
27:41.7394 |
| 2 |
Houlder |
27:42.7282 |
| 3 |
Dunkley |
27:43.7915 |
| 4 |
Best |
27:44.2962 |
| 5 |
Osborne |
27:45.7236 |
| 6 |
Shephard |
27:46.5822 |
| 7 |
Alexander |
27:47.4121 |
| 8 |
Keene |
27:48.5526 |
| 9 |
Delfsma |
27:49.9810 |
| 10 |
Beechey |
27:51.0454 |
| 11 |
Mertens |
27:52.5084 |
| DNF |
Cook |
14 laps |
Race Three (20 laps)
| Pos. |
Driver |
Time |
| 1 |
Ryan |
30:46.2164 |
| 2 |
Mertens |
30:54.9167 |
| 3 |
Dunkley |
30:57.3253 |
| 4 |
Osborne |
30:59.4678 |
| 5 |
Alexander |
31:10.9859 |
| 6 |
Shephard |
31:11.3809 |
| 7 |
Keene |
31:11.4035 |
| 8 |
Best |
31:16.6304 |
| 9 |
Delfsma |
31:26.2047 |
| 10 |
Houlder |
31:31.0717 |
| DNF |
Beechey |
17 laps |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 December 2006 )
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