INTERSTATE FORMULA VEE BATTLE WARMS UP PHILLIP ISLAND RACEWAY
| Attachment 16446 | Adam Proctor (NSW) and Shane Hart (QLD) battling it out at Phillip Island in the Citywide / Challenge Recruitment Formula Vee races.
(Steve Duggan - www.sdpics.com) |
With Rugby League’s State Of Origin approaching, New South Wales’ Adam Proctor and Queenslander Shane Hart took the rivalry to the racetrack, sharing the spoils in the CityWide / Challenge Recruitment Formula Vee races at Phillip Island Raceway.
Competitors from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria battled it out across three typically close races, in Formula Vee’s CAMS National Racing Series debut.
In Qualifying, each state was represented in the top three. Hart (Excelite Jacer) set the fastest time, 1:53.6542, earning him pole position by a scant .0476 of a second ahead of Proctor (Swarfega Jacer), with Victorian Daniel Reinhardt (Australian VW Performance Centre Sabre) third.
When the racing got underway, the 30-car field turned it on.
Hart won the opening race ahead of Proctor, but wet weather in Race 2 threw the form guide out of the window. Mal Asker (MTA On Site Construction Fasteners Sabre) used local knowledge to take the early lead, but was passed by Proctor, who made the race his own.
He took the win, while Hart finished fourth. With the circuit drying, Hart returned to his winning ways in the final race, taking the lead from Proctor on Lap 2 and going on to take the win.
“It was a pretty good weekend,” Hart, the current Queensland Formula Vee points leader, said. “Pole position and two wins, I can’t complain too much about that.
“It was my first time at Phillip Island in six years. I ran the Super Series down here in 2000 in a Vee [when the class was all 1200cc-engined]. This time, I was in a totally different car, so I had learn the track again, but we had a good weekend.”
Proctor settled for second place, but leads the Formula Vee CAMS Invitational Challenge pointscore after a strong weekend.
“We came into the weekend with the frame of mind that it’s a two round pointscore, so we tried to be consistent,” he said.
“It was my first time there in a Vee and I couldn’t get there on the Friday due to work commitments, so in qualifying, I went out there and just went for it, really. Even in the first race I was still learning the track I felt.
“It was very wet,” he said of his Race 2 win. “I had a slow start and dropped in behind the local Victorian guys, because I figured they’d know their way around there pretty well. Then I found a groove and was able to pass them, put two hard laps in to build a gap and just maintained it.”
Asker and Reinhardt were the pick of the locals in Race 1, finishing third and fifth respectively, sandwiching 2005 NSW Champ Ryan Simpson (Parramatta Smash Repairs Jacer). At the end of a race-long battle for third, the trio were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Reinhardt improved to second place in Race 2, with Asker and Simpson also scoring top six finishes, before their fortunes took a turn for the worse in Race 3. A Lap 1 incident accounted for Asker and Matthew Pearce (McDonalds Penrith Sabre), Simpson retired with engine problems, and Reinhardt faded to finish 11th.
Phillip Kilworth (Bent Steel Sabre) was third in Races 2 and 3, and ended the weekend as the best of the Victorian drivers. It was a strong effort after qualifying in 16th place for Race 1.
“In the first race managed to make up a few positions to finish sixth,” he said. “After that, in the second race, obviously it was a wet race so it was anyone’s guess as to what would happen, but once again we did OK.
“I managed to get another three positions to finish third and in the last race I started third and finished third. It was a pretty good result, I’m pretty happy.”
He headed one of the many multi-car battles of the weekend, in the form of a seven-car dice for third place.
| Attachment 16444 | Queenslander Shane Hart won two of the three Citywide / Challenge Recruitment Formula Vee races at Phillip Island.
(Steve Duggan - www.sdpics.com) |
At the end of the race, Kilworth, Terry Kerr (Sabre), David Frith (Dimension Data Sabre), George Panagiotidis (www.bcomponents.com.au Irwin), Drew Beacham (Creative Machining Jacer), Guy Lingard (Ken Lingard Truck Repairs Jacer) and Stephen Macfarlane (Cash Back Australia Jacer) were all covered by 1.3 seconds.
Macfarlane was among the big movers in Race 3, coming through from 21st to ninth, while Ian Chivas (Sydney Truck Sales Jacer) was 10th, having started 18th.
Nicholas Jones (www.webshops.com.au Sabre) finished 12th, ahead of Liam Gretgrix (Australian Personal Solutions Jabiru), who started 31st after a rollover on the formation lap of Race 2.
In the 1200cc class, local drivers Peter Panayiotidis (Melville Bodyworks Spectre), Mark Wandin (Racer Franklin), Glenn Smith (Campbellfield Truck Services Scorpion) and Eric Irvine (D & L Plastering Spectre) battled throughout Race 1 and were eventually split by just over half a second.
It set the stage for the remaining two races, in which Wandin and Irvine each scored a class win ahead of Smith.
Formula Vee Category Manager Chivas was delighted with the class’ debut weekend on the CAMS National Racing Series.
“Everything this weekend has gone really well,” he enthused. “All the cars have been turned out brilliantly, the racing has been pretty crazy but everyone has kept it pretty clean.
“I think we’ve accounted ourselves pretty well down here and we’ve been accepted very well by the National Series.
“Phillip Island have really looked after us, so I’d like to thank them, and also send a big thanks to Citywide and Challenge Recruitment for their support this weekend.”
The next round of the Formula Vee CAMS Invitational Challenge will be Round 6 of the CAMS Nationals at Eastern Creek Raceway on July 8/9.
In the meantime, racing from the Citywide and Challenge Recruitment Formula Vee races at Phillip Island will be shown on SBS’ Speedweek, and Inside Speed on Fox Sports in the coming weeks.
Race 1 Results
| Pos. | Driver | State | | 1 | Shane Hart | QLD | | 2 | Adam Proctor | NSW | | 3 | Mal Asker | VIC | | 4 | Ryan Simpson | NSW | | 1200cc- | | 24 | Peter Panayiotidis | VIC | | 25 | Mark Wandin | VIC | | Fastest Lap - Drew Beacham (VIC), 1:54.0027 |
Race 2 Results
| Pos. | Driver | State | | 1 | Adam Proctor | NSW | | 2 | Daniel Reinhardt | VIC | | 3 | Phillip Kilworth | VIC | | 4 | Shane Hart | QLD | | 1200cc- | | 14 | Mark Wandin | VIC | | 15 | Glenn Smith | VIC | | Fastest Lap - Adam Proctor (NSW), 2:10.9449 |
Race 3 Results
| Pos. | Driver | State | | 1 | Shane Hart | QLD | | 2 | Adam Proctor | NSW | | 3 | Phillip Kilworth | VIC | | 4 | Terry Kerr | VIC | | 1200cc- | | 17 | Eric Irvine | VIC | | 19 | Glenn Smith | VIC | | Fastest Lap - Shane Hart (QLD), 1:54.9420 |
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