Bob Pearson has had a very good day at Sydney Motorsport Park, claiming two of today’s Australian Production Car Series races at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Pearson in the #33 Pro-Duct Mitsubishi Evo X took out both race victories outright today, in a very strong performance despite the absence of star co-driver Rick Bates this weekend.
Tyres would prove a real issue for the field over the opening one hour race, with the last lap seeing the #18 BMW M4 and the #6 Mercedes A45 limp across the finish line with flat tyres while race winner Pearson was only laps away from tyre failure himself. Pearson crossed the line with a commanding lead over second-placed Mark Eddy (#2 Mark Eddy Racing Audi TT RS) and third-placed Dimitri Agathos (#66 FullGas Racing Subaru WRX Sti).
Pearson’s win came after a strong race-long effort where he pitted early and was in the best position possible to take advantage when Antunes pitted later in the race to hand over to his co-driver Salmon.
The Scott Gore/Patrick Galang #48 BMW135i took out Class B1 (7th outright) while Class C went down to the very last lap with the Aubin Brothers Racing Renault Megane taking the win from the #31 Osborne Motorsport Megane of Tyler Everingham. The Disc Brakes Australia Kia Proceed locked out Class D, while the FullGas Racing Pulsar took out Class E.
The race two grid would be set by the race one results, although the FullGas Racing Pulsar and the #31 Osborne Motorsport Renault Megane would start from the rear of the grid due to having new tyres marked.
In race two, a late pit stop for the Sherrin Rentals BMW M4 handed Pearson a second victory, with his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X winning comfortably ahead of Eddy’s Audi TT and the Salmon/Antunes Mercedes AMG A45.
Pearson ultimately won by 14 seconds, with Eddy another 17 seconds in front of the AMG A45 after another race free from safety car interruptions. The diversity at the pointy-end of the grid was showcased with five different brands filling the top five spots in the second race today.
The #19 Michael Sherrin/Steve Champion BMW M135i took the Class B victory and finished 9th outright, while Tyler Everingham powered his Osborne Motorsport Renault Megane to the Class C win in a strong 7th outright.
Michael Gray and Ellexandra Best took the class D victory after issues saw the King / Walsh Hankook Australia Kia ProCeed GT drop more than 15 laps from the lead, while the Wilson / Stephens Nissan Pulsar SSS won Class E.
Races three and four of the Tyreright Sydney Challenge will be held at Sydney Motorsport Park tomorrow, Sunday 9 July, at 11.12am and 3.10pm respectively. Qualifying will be held at 9.00am.
All of Sunday’s action will be streamed online live and free thanks to the Shannons Nationals.
In other races on the card, Jordan Love has taken his Jim Richards Endurance Trophy win count to two, after claiming the opening race of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Love, who currently leads the outright standings in the series, held off a fast Brenton Grove, in what was a challenging race for the West Australian.
Grove finished a close second by .9s, while Anthony Gilbertson was third outright and first home in the Elite class. South Australian Sam Shahin was fourth, ahead of Brett Boulton, John Morriss and John Steffensen.
Crossing the line in eighth was Shane Barwood, with David Greig and Marcel Zalluoa rounding out the top 10 in the 30-lap race. Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge returns tomorrow for a further two sprint races.
Mark Laucke has taken the first win of the round in the Australian Prototype Series, continuing his strong pace from yesterday’s practice sessions.
Laucke qualified fourth in his West WX10, however stormed to second on the opening lap to put himself into contention early in the 9-lap affair.
Polesitter Jason Makris led early, however dropped back through the field when his car developed gearshift issues – stuck in sixth gear with a broken gear selector.
Laucke then assumed a short-lived race lead, Radical SR3 racer Michael Shaw passing him for the lead on the third lap.
Shaw led for the next three tours before Laucke was able to work his way back past and into a lead he would ultimately never lose; hanging on to take the victory by just under one second.
The result, coupled with low scores for nearest title rivals Phil Hughes and Terry Peovitis, sees Laucke draw to within 30 points of the series lead as it reaches the half-way point of 2017.
Peter Paddon has taken the first victory for the round in today’s 50-minute Radical Australia Cup race.
The current series leader although had to fight to cross the line in first, after a quick Michael Shaw was on a charge with minutes to go in the race.
Shaw made his way past at the time a second-placed Oliver Smith, and was closing in on Paddon with minutes remaining on the clock.
Smith has continued his strong consistent run in the series, and crossed the line third.
Brad and Mitchell Neilson had a strong finish in fourth, ahead of Phil Anseline and an impressive Sue Hughes.
Greg Kenny was seventh, with Rowan Ross rounding out the top eight.
And the suitably named Enzo Piazza has turned his pole position into a race win, as he and his Alfetta GTV6 2.5 V6 stormed to race victory in the Veloce Alfa Challenge.
Piazza led the 24 car field, setting the lap record in the category along the way.
Doug Selwood raced hard to second, whose times also fell under the existing lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park.
David Capraro completed the podium, while Frank Carigliano, Metodia Karanfilovsk and Michael Musumeci rounded out the top six.
Piazza was the first Nuovo B car home, while Capraro took out Nuovo B.
Urs Muller claimed the Classico A win, while Classico B went to Darren Harris.
The Veloce Alfa Challenge returns tomorrow for two more races at Sydney Motorsport Park.
With Shannons Nationals & APCC Media Releases
