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[NATIONALS] The sun shines on Morgan Park
by Sean Henshelwood
pic| Sean Henshelwood
The sun shines on Morgan Park
Rnd#5 Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils
Morgan Park, QLD - 12 August, 2011
After suffering the elements during practice for the most recent rounds of the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils, competitors and officials were greeted by bright sunshine and warm conditions for day one of action at Morgan Park for round five of the national motor racing championships.
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia led the way with the return of 2009 champion Matt Kingsley (Action Tyres & More 996) and he was all smiles after day one, despite dropping to third in session two, behind arch-rival Roger Lago (Falcon Property Group 997) and the man who donated Kingsley's 'new' car Jon Trende (Boston Kennedy 997).
Lago found more than a second between sessions to be just eight tenths off Kingsley's 2010 pole time, with Trende and Kingsley - wo topped the opening session - just two tenths behind.
"To be honest I didn’t expect too much from the first practice session this morning," Kingsley admitted. "We just wanted to make sure the car was handling all right, and when we looked at the time sheets we were up the top.
"This car is a lot tighter than my old car. Now we have to tune it into a proper race set-up. At the moment, it’s a one lap wonder.
"We’re not too way away from an ideal set-up. It’s a fair bit stiffer than the old car, but we’re making good progress and I can’t imagine it being too long before we get the car right."
Despite having never seen the Morgan Park venue's extended version, pre-event favourite and Kerrick Sports Sedan points leader Tony Ricciardello (B&M Ricciardello Alfa Romeo GTV/Chev) was quickly on the 2010 benchmark pace set by Darren Hossack and James Sera. After two sessions, Ricciardello had set the fastest time (1:14.2388), more than three seconds up on Scott Butler (Menai Blinds Camaro/Chev), so he elected to sit out session three to do a 'spanner-check'.
"I love the layout," Riccciardello said, "but it's pretty bumpy and as we didn't take the car home after Eastern Creek, so I wanted to just double-check everything and take my time doing it."
Without Hossack and Sera in attendance, Ricciardello is expected to have a comfortable time at the front, although the six-time champion admits that tyre wear could be a concern. "We're trialling the new Dunlop that Darren [Hossack] used at Eastern Creek, and we've also got the Michelins, so we'll do a bit of back-to-back running tomorrow and use it as a test session. I'm also pretty keen on that lap record too.."
Whilst Ricciardello was clearly pleased with the days progress, Sports Sedan regular and early front-runner Bob McLoughlin was having a tough time with a failure in the right front suspension tucking the front wheel under the guard. The team were busy rectifying what appeared to be a bolt failure as the sun started to set on the day, the Commodore pilot still quick enough though to be inside the top four.
Shane Bradford (Aston Air Conditioning Camaro/Chev) in the end came out on top in the final session, his best of 1:17.6848 still more than three seconds in arrears of Ricciardello.
Radical Australia Cup has been a fantastic addition to the 2011 Nationals, and sadly, Morgan Park signals the final round of their 2011 season.
Championship points leader Ed SIngleton (MPA Project Group) is taking things easy so far, whilst his [distant] title opponents Peter Opie and Simon Haggarty are doing everything they can to maximise their points haul from the weekend.
Opie was the standout today, setting a lap time in the final session (1:14.2216) more than two seconds faster than Eastern Creek runner-up Tony Palmer (Radical Events), and Radical Australia's Byron Smith.
Down 60 points on Singleton, Opie knows his only real chance is to win.. everything - and he is certainly on track to do just that.
"What a circuit," he beamed after the final session. "The car is great too, but it's only Friday, so it really doesn't count for too much!"
Singleton too was relaxed about his Friday performance knowing that a finish inside the top five would give him his maiden Radical title.
John Magro trails championship leader James Winslow by 25 points coming into this weekend’s fourth round of the F3 Australian Drivers Championship - at Warwick’s Morgan Park - but he says he wants to be the one to make the most advantage of Winslow’s absence.
Today, Magro made the best start possible - topping both practice sessions in his Magro Motorsport/Go Auto Parts Dallara F307. His best time of the day - 1:08.6930 - was eight-tenths quicker than the outright track record.
“It’s my first run here and the car has been perfect since we unloaded it out of the truck this morning,” Magro said. “We haven’t changed a thing on it. Today has been about getting to know the track and working it all out so we can attack tomorrow but I’m really pleased with how it’s gone. The car feels sensational.”
“It’s bumpy [the track] and a challenge but it’s a drivers circuit. There are plenty of technical corners and some quick stuff which is good fun. I don’t think there will be much between Bryce (Moore), Chris Gilmour and I here this weekend but hopefully we can be the ones out in front!”
Gilmour was second fastest in the first session - just two-tenths behind Magro - but a loose wheel in P2 cost him track time. Moore, meanwhile, finished the day with third and second-fastest times, respectively in his R-Tek Dallara.
Steel Guiliana topped the National Class and Forpark Australia Scholarship times but it was a stunning performance by local driver Roman Krumins who was the talking point of the afternoon.
Krumins took his Cosmetic Medicine Centre-sponsored BF Racing Dallara to second in class in both sessions today, both times just a few tenths behind his younger rival. Josh Burdon was not far behind in the second R-Tek car.
Stuart Kostera started his Morgan Park weekend, much the same way he left the circuit in 2010. On top of the Australian Manufacturers Championship timsheets.
Kostera and team-mate Inky Tulloch (TMR Lancer EVO X) set a strong pace in the two practice sessions ahead of the weekend's two one-hour enduros, although admitted to understeer on old rubber. "It's not too much of a drama," Kostera admitted, "we're only just dialing ourselves in on the old tyres, we'll bolt green tyres on tomorrow and see how we go, but at this stage, we're good."
One driver who wasn't good was the man many expected [including TMR themselves] to threaten the leaders, 2010 Morgan Park sensation Jake Camilleri. Despite having a potent new Mazda 3 at his disposal, Camilleri was unable to improve on fourth - behind three EVOs - and was almost two seconds a lap down on Kostera, prompting a lot of activity in the Grand Prix Mazda camp.
Behind Kostera, Greg Symes and Dylan Thomas traded positions two and three in their EVO 9s.
Reigning Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car champion Tony Evangelou (salooncars.net.au VT Commodore) was the pace-setter in Saloon Cars, despite running without a Dorian timer, as did 'new' championship favourite Matt Lovell (Batteries Direct AU Falcon), with Queensland front-runner John Van Gilst (Wood Tech Group AU Falcon) in the mix.
They are expected to be the pace-setters tomorrow when all games are set aside and the timekeepers are able to record ALL lap times.
On home turf, the fledgling Swift Racing Series was hoping for a good turnout at Morgan Park, but sadly they were again plagued by dramas as points leader Rex McCutcheon struggled to finalise a sponsorship agreement prior to opening practice, forcing the kiwi teenager to return home without having turned a lap.
With title rival Jesse Dixon electing to miss the round, that opening the door for Brooke Leech to step up and make her mark on the one-make series, and she was staggered to find at the close of the three practice sessions that her name was on top of the timesheets (1:36.8105). "I'm stoked," she laughed afterwards.
"I was braking a lot earlier than the boys in a lot of areas, but that gave me more track speed where I needed it, so I was surprised to see I was on top, that's awesome..!
"I've changed my mind-set this weekend, and it really seems to be paying off." Having turned some serious miles on the Morgan park layout during the AMC event at the Nationals 12-months ago was certainly playing into the Queenslanders hands, but don't expect Haber and Allan Jarvis to let her have it all her own way, and watch out too for V8 Ute regular Steve Robinson who will be in for one hell of a surprise when he turns his first lap of the circuit tomorrow.
Action starts tomorrow from 8:15am with the Swifts first on track for practice, before qualifying starts at 9:30 and the first race of round five begins at 1:35pm for the first of the two Radical Australia 12-lap sprint races.
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