The Shannons Nationals return this weekend with the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park. The meeting will feature the opening round of the new TCR Australia series and Friday practice saw the Hyundai i30N of Michael Almond who set the quickest time in both practice sessions.Second overall went to the Ashley Seward Motorsport-prepared Alfa Romeo of Porsche Carrera Cup driver Dylan O’Keefe with International sportscar driver John Martin putting his Honda Civic Type R into third overall.
Nathan Morcom was the fourth fastest driver in his Hyundai ahead of experienced V8 Superar veterans Tony D’Alberto (Honda) and Jason Bright (Volkswagen).
Rik Breukers (Audi), Andre Heimgartner (Subaru), James Moffat (Renault) and Alex Rullo (Holden) rounded out the top 10.
In the CAMS Australian Formula 4 Championship recent In Pit Lane guest Luis Leeds set a time to beat in the first session with 1:31.03. Fellow Victorian Antonio Astuti was second fastest with Lachie Hughes (QLD) just a fraction of a second behind with 1:31.58.
After a good turnout at Albert Park for the first round of the series, the numbers have again fallen badly with only seven cars fronting for Friday’s practice.
Mark Short driving a Prince LSR was the fastest of the Sports Prototypes across both practice sessions with his fastest lap being 1:27.68. David Barram (QLD) came close to closing the gap between himself and Short with 1:27.71. Third fastest Prototype driver of the day was John-Paul Drake who posted 1:28.04.
15 cars have entered for the weekend so while not a big field, certainly enough cars to provide a bit of variety anf hopefully good racing.
The Radical Australia Cup is pretty much an NSW benefit with the top three times secured by New South Welshmen and only 4 of the 14 entrants from outside the home state.
Christopher Perini established himself as the fastest of the day and was the only driver to crack the sub 1.30 mark with a 1:29.84. Oliver Smith set the next fastest time posting a 1:31.21 during the first practice session. Peter Paddon wasn’t far behind with 1:31.43.
Another NSW special is the Alfa Romeo Challenge. Daniel Gatto from New South Wales set the benchmark for the Alfas in both practice sessions. His fastest of the day being 1:48.29, which he set in the category’s first outing. Michael Aarons (VIC) was the second fastest with a best of 1:50.93 and Darren Harris (NSW) was a little over two seconds behind with a 1:52.93.
The Shannons Nationals will be streamed live around the world while the TCR races will be seen free to air right across Australia on SBS Saturday and Sunday.
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