A full testing and sorting agenda after Phillip Island’s second round put Garry Holt and his Eastern Creek Karting/2UE BMW 335i Turbo back at the top of the Shannons Australian Production Car Championship pack following Queensland Raceway’s fourth round on May 26-27.
“We did a lot of work with the suspension and I now know how to get these things off the line,” Holt said despite a hiccup with his second race start.
Second overall and first in Class A was Luke Searle in the BMW 130i which for most of last week leading up, was undergoing significant repairs following a heavy crash at Winton the weekend before, mainly around the left front of the car. It was a delightful result for the resource stretched SAE College team and . . . “BMWs seem to a good car for this category,” he quipped.
The Midwest Multimedia Mini Cooper S of Trevor Keene continued to build
on a sizeable Class B lead and finished third overall. “We certainly
had tyre dramas here but as we learn more about the car, it gets better
and better,” he enthused.
Holt made a good start in the first race – a short eight lap scratch
race on Saturday afternoon – and led Leigh Mertens in his G & D
Performance Holden Commodore HSV throughout. Holt’s team mate Barry
Morcom shadowed the HSV until the Rondo BMW overheated and went into
limp mode. “I tried to get out into the cooler air with the warning
came,” he said. By switching off the car and restarting he was able to
reset the computer, losing five seconds in the process but not third.
The battle for fourth was also the race for top Class A honours and
Garth Walden’s Hunter Commodore SS managed to hold off Searle while
Steve Briffa (Paul Wakeling Holden Commodore) could not hold out the
energetic Chris Delfsma in his Century 21 Ford Falcon XR8 specially as
the Holden had an air sensor issue.
James Parish in his first visit to QR brought his SP Trophy Mazda RX7
home next ahead of the Class B Trophy BMW of Mike Fitzgerald and
Keene’s Cooper S.
The latter two started the first handicap race as the scratch cars,
with Class A and SP off 61 and 74 secs later. Fitzgerald claimed the
lead after laps of close dicing with the Mini while Walden tried vainly
to wrestle the lead away in Class A.
In SP Mertens got the jump on Holt who said “The traction didn’t work
off the start,” and couldn’t find a way around the HSV as they treaded
their way towards the front and ultimately first and second by the end.
Briffa had a better run to be sixth and third in Class A behind Searle
and Walden, while Morcom endured fuel surge throughout this time but
still managed to chase down the early leaders. Delfsma finished ninth
and Parish brought the Mazda home in tenth position.
In the last with slightly adjusted handicapping (68 and 78 seconds
respectively), Fitzgerald and Keene again duel before the BMW won out.
Walden beat Searle away this time but was soon in trouble with a
suspected kill switch problem which was cutting the engine in the right
hand corners.
Holt won the SP fight off the line and chased down everyone for the
win. Mertens vainly tried to stick with the flying Bimmer but lost out
getting through the traffic. Unfortunately he was robbed of a potential
outright second, retiring when a drive belt let go and cooked the
engine.
Fitzgerald just held second over a closing Briffa and they crossed the
finish line astern, as Morcom rounded up Keene and Searle. Delfsma was
the next one across the line, from Parish, and finally the crippled
Walden Commodore.
All the latest news is on the website www.pcaa.com.au
SHANNONS AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND THREE RESULTS
Race One (8 laps) Scratch
1 Garry Holt (NSW) BWM 335i Turbo - Class SP - 11:33.5980 2 Leigh
Mertens (Vic) Holden Commodore VY HSV - Class SP - 11:34.4250 3 Barry
Morcom (NSW) BWM 335i Turbo - Class SP - 11:40.2623 4 Garth Walden
(NSW) Holden Commodore VY SS - Class A - 11:46.8400 5 Luke Searle (NSW)
BMW 130i - Class A - 11:47.2095 6 Chris Delfsma (NSW) Ford Falcon BF
XR8 - Class A - 11:53.3554 7 Steve Briffa (NSW) Holden Commodore VZ SSZ
- Class A - 11:56.3297 8 James Parish (NSW) Mazda RX7 SP - Class SPT -
12:02.5540 9 Mike Fitzgerald (NSW) BMW 323i - Class BT - 12:14.2243 10
Trevor Keene (NSW) Mini Cooper S - Class B - 12:28.2862 Fastest lap:
Holt 1:24.2145
Race Two (15 laps) Handicap
1 Mertens 22:43.0750, 2 Holt 22:43.4914, 3 Searle 22:57.5473, 4 Walden
22:59.7622, 5 Briffa 23:00.5366, 6 Morcom 23:03.1623, 7 Fitzgerald
23:05.9280, 8 Keene 23:07.1621, 9 Delfsma 23:11.5999, 10 Parish
23:44.2267. Fastest lap: Mertens 1:24.7802
Race Three (15 laps) Handicap
1 Holt 22:53.9359, 2 Fitzgerald 23:00.2317, 3 Briffa 23:01.7515, 4
Morcom 23:03.3663, 5 Keene 23:08.0505, 6 Searle 23:19.7017, 7 Delfsma
23:34.2120, 8 Parish 23:39.5827, 9 Walden 24:11.0309, DNF Mertens 12
laps. Fastest lap: Holt 1:24.4389
SHANNONS AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round three)
OUTRIGHT: Garry Holt 192, Barry Morcom 157, Luke Searle 149,
Leigh Mertens 147, Chris Delfsma 122, Trevor Keene 116, Steve Briffa
113, Garth Walden 104, Peter Kelly 103, Andrew Moffat 82, Trevor Keene
116, Steve Briffa 113, Garth Walden 104, Colin Osborne 67, Andrew
Bretherton 62, David Mertens 57, Alan Letcher 52, David Turner 52,
Nathan Callaghan 52, Alan Shephard 50, Iain Sherrin 47, Grant Sherrin
47, Peter Conroy 42, Kean Booker 37, Adam Graham 32, Brain Walden 28.
Class SP Holt 262, Morcom 226, Mertens 145.
Class A Luke Searle 245, Grath Walden 224, Steve Briffa 207,
Chris Delfsma 198, Peter Kelly 149, Alan Shephard 116, Andrew Moffat
96, Nathan Callaghan 77, Alan Letcher 77, David Turner 77, Brain Walden
69, Adam Graham 67.
Class B Trevor Keene 271, Colin Osborne 96, Andrew Bretherton 88, David Mertens 82, Leigh Mertens 82, Peter Conroy 77.
Class C Iain Sherrin 96, Grant Sherrin 96.
Class D Kean Booker 96.
|
News 
