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[NATIONALS] 24 hours to go..
by Nationals Media
24 hours to go..!
Rnd#7 Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils
Phillip Island, VIC - November 5
Despite thick fog enveloping the Island at first light, conditions were almost perfect for the penultimate day’s competition for the final round of the 2011 Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils at Phillip Island.
Today was Q-day, with qualifying and a handful of races setting the scene for the season finale. Despite the number of classes yet to determine their 2011 champions, the Kerrick Sports Sedan Series and the Australian Saloon Car Series champions are both decided with Tony Ricciardello earning his seventh national title with the iconic Alfa Romeo GTV/Chev Sports Sedan, whilst in Saloons, South Australian Matt Lovell has an unassailable lead.
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia series too is all but a done deal, with reigning champion Roger Lago needing only to keep his nose clean to take back-to-back titles ahead of a move to GT competition in 2012.
Intent on keeping out of trouble, Lago (Falcon Property Group 997) was not the pace-setter in practice, with previous round winner Jon Trende (Boston Kennedy 997) leading the way, the Victorian also recording the fastest qualifying time, but it was Ivan Klasan who would emerge victorious from race one with a dominant win.
Second was Steve Kepper (Industry Marketing 997), from Jeff Bobik (Creative Colour 997), Phil Morriss (Morriss Racing 997), and Lago. 2009 Champion Matt Kingsley (Action Tyres & More 996) was quick early but retired before full race distance with a broken gearbox, he may not reappear for the remainder of the weekend.
In the 996 Cup Class, Terry Knight (Strandwood Building Solutions 996) has wrapped up the series win after finishing eighth today.“We’re all very happy with how we went in the race,” said Knight. “I managed to drive my way through the field and had great pace which I am happy about, especially seeing as our qualifying was rubbish earlier in the day.
“I’m also stoked with the 996 Cup Class title win. I’ve done four years in the 996 Cup Class so I’ve served my apprenticeship and have had some great people around me to help secure the class win.”
A series of dramas has brought the final round of the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series alive with local driver Terry Wyhoon and Commodore pilot Scott Loadsman set to take the title decider down to the wire.
After qualifying second to Loadsman, Wyhoon took valuable series points by topping Time Attack, before sneaking through for victory in the first race, fortunately just before it was brought to a premature end.
Two laps from home Aaron Tebb (VY Commodore) had a tyre failure on the run to the final corner, spearing off into the barriers which necessitated a red flag. Fortunately Tebb was able to walk away, but the ex-GRM Commodore has seen better days. That left Wyhoon the victor of the shortened race, with Loadsman declared second.
The race started with Loadsman assuming the lead over series debutant Shawn Jamieson (Commodore) while a slipping clutch relegated Wyhoon to fourth. He soon fought his way back up the order to take over the lead just before the red flag.
“I know I had pace on him (Loadsman) in some sections and I was mindful of the right front tyre in particular. So once I hit the front, all I wanted was a small gap and then maintain it,” Wyhoon admitted.
The title fight though has come down to just two cars after Chris Smerdon (BA Falcon) lost his round four points from Sandown due to a technical issue regarding valve lift. He also suffered a puncture during the race while Nathan Garioch (BA Falcon) who was third after Jamieson spun at turn four, retired with a bearing failure.
His brother Justin [Garioch] finished third ahead of Michael Bartsch (BA Falcon) and Bruce Heinrich (AU Falcon) while Matt Hansen recovered from a slow start to bring his VY Commodore home ahead of Chris Delfsma (AU).
With former champions Darren Hossack (Audi/Chev) and Dean Randle (SAAB/Chev) rejoining the Kerrick Sports Sedan field at Phillip Island, newly crowned champion Tony Ricciardello was always going to have his work cut out for him.
Hossack topped opening qualifying with a blistering 1:31.4381 but Ricciardello struck back in Q2 to lower the benchmark to 1:31.3746, with Randle too finding pace to move into third (1:35.3390) after taking P2 in the second session. Shane Bradford was next best, the Camaro driver getting the better of Dean Camm (Corvette Trans-Am) to start off row two alongside Randle.
Reining champion Adam Beechey (Donut King) and Matt Hayes (San Marco Italian Restaurants) will start from scratch in their battle for the 2011 V8 Commodore Cup series presented by Western General Bodyworks after Hayes evened the ledger by taking pole position today.
The one bonus point Hayes scored for scoring the top spot drew him level with Beechey ahead of tomorrows’ three races, making it a winner-take-all finale with the pair locked together on 629 points.
Hayes logged his quickest lap on just his second flyer when his tyres were at their best, and was unchallenged from there - taking pole by four-tenths of a second over his championship rival.
“I’m really pleased. The car feels good and we’ve found more speed as the weekend has gone on,” Hayes said.
“It’s completely level with Adam for the championship so all we have to do is finish in front of him in every race, though it won’t be easy. It’s going to be really competitive but we’re in a good position.”
Donut King racer Beechey will start race one from second with Matt Chick (Renaissance Homes) third and former champion Michael Tancredi (Top Shelf Fruits) fourth.
Last year’s Australian Saloon Car Series winner Tim Rowse has qualified fastest for the final round of this year’s series in his only appearance for the year. Rowse posted a first session best of 1:50.5176 and missed the second session to prepare an engine for a fellow competitor, however there was no improvement to the benchmark time.
Rowse out-pointed the Coffey Ford AU Falcon of Andrew Nowland and new series title holder Matt Lovell in his Batteries Direct AU which will share the second row for race one (of three) with the Commodore of Gavin Ross. Queensland state champion Lindsay Kearns (AU) will start from position five, inside of Tony Evangelou who has switched from a Commodore to a Falcon for this end of year hit out.
Harley Phelan’s Commodore suffered further engine dramas after practice as did the Falcon of Dennie Rumble whilst Simon Tabinor’s Commodore has been withdrawn after it blew an engine on Friday.
James Winslow has closed the margin to F3 Australian Drivers Championship leader Chris Gilmour after taking pole position and a tense race one victory at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit today.
Winslow dominated qualifying in his R-Tek Motorsport Dallara and took pole position by nearly six-tenths of a second - however this afternoons’ first 10-lap sprint race was a completely different affair.
The British driver jumped to an early lead and sprinted away before John Magro - who made his best start of the season to jump to second - began closing the leader down, all the while bringing third-placed Gilmour along with him.
On the eighth lap Winslow lost time entering the long main straight, allowing Magro to get in his slipstream and began a proper battle for the race lead that culminated in a wheel-to-wheel dice at turn one the following lap. Winslow was able to defend his lead and hold on to win the race with Magro setting the fastest lap en route to second. Gilmour was in contention and third, whilst Mat Sofi struggled to maintain the leading pace and finished a quiet fourth, eight seconds down the road in the Yellow Tail Dallara.
“I missed a gear coming onto the straight with a few laps to go and that probably cost me about 30km/hr in a straight line which allowed John to get in my slipstream,” Winslow said.
“The car was brilliant in qualifying and it just all worked out for us. We knew that in the hot conditions the times would come at the end of the sessions so we went out later in the session and it all went to plan.”
Magro was delighted with his second place and admitted it felt ‘Like a win’.
“It feels great, the car is really, really good and I knew it had this kind of pace in it despite our qualifying and practice times,” he said.
“It was a really good race and we’ve got plenty of speed. Now I’ve got my starts right I know I can challenge these guys again so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I think I can have James and win.”
Chris Gilmour’s third place - coupled with Magro’s bonus point for the fastest lap and Winslow’s for scoring pole position earlier in the day - see his championship lead cut to 15 points, leading 155 to 140 for Winslow.
Magro also closed in, now just 31 points from the leader and is still well in contention with five races remaining this season.
In the Forpark Australia National Class Josh Burdon recovered from being pipped at the line by his team-mate in qualifying to win today’s battle after a strong ten-lap drive.
He held off Ben Gersekowski in a race-long battle, the Queenslander performing well (and setting the fastest lap in the class) despite missing both of the two practice sessions held yesterday due to work commitments.
Russell Jamieson took pole position from multiple national champion Warren McIlveen during the final qualifying session of the 2011 Australian Superkart Championships, whilst reigning champion Darren Hossack has had a horror weekend with a string of mechanical failures which has seen him fail to qualify.
In 250 National, Luke May looks on target after out-qualifying his opponents by six tenths of a second, whilst in 125s, Brad Stebbing put a wretched Eastern Creek round behind him to take the top spot.
Rnd#7 2011 Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils
Phillip Island - Event schedule (Sunday, November 6, 2011)
9:10 R1 Commodore Cup National Series (8 laps)
9:35 R1 Kerrick Sports Sedan Series (9 laps)
10:00 R2 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (10 laps)
10:25 R1 Australian Saloon Car Series (8 laps)
10:50 R2 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (9 laps)
11:15 R2 Australian Superkart Championships (8 laps)
11:40 R2 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship (10 laps)
12:10 R2 Commodore Cup National Series (8 laps)
12:35 R2 Kerrick Sports Sedan Series (9 laps)
13:00 R3 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (10 laps)
13:30 R2 Australian Saloon Car Series (8 laps)
13:55 R3 Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series (9 laps)
14:20 R3 Australian Superkart Championships (8 laps)
14:45 R3 Commodore Cup National Series (8 laps)
15:10 R3 Kerrick Sports Sedan Series (9 laps)
15:35 R3 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship (12 laps)
16:10 R4 Australian Superkart Championships (8 laps)
16:35 R3 Australian Saloon Car Series (8 laps)
Gates open 8:00am (Friday/(Saturday/Sunday). Tickets; $15 (Saturday), $30 (Sunday), $35 (2-day pass). Concession $10 (Saturday), $20 (Sunday).
SHANNONS NATIONALS presented by HI-TEC OILS
The Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships was formed in 2006 as a partnership between racing categories, circuit promoters and the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS).
Providing a regular and stable home for a wide variety of national-level motor racing categories, the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils combines a mixture of touring car, sports car and open-wheel competition.
Events deliver value-for-money entertainment for motorsport fans, with non-stop quality racing and affordable admission prices, whilst spectators can also get up-close with the cars and speak to the drivers in the easily-accessible pit paddocks.
In 2011, the seven-round championship will visit seven different circuits in four states whilst for 2012, the series will expand again to nine rounds across four states, starting in March, and ending in late November.
Shannons Insurance [http://www.shannons.com.au] continues their valued and enthusiastic support of the series in 2011 and are joined by presenting partners Hi-Tec Oils [http://www.hi-tecoils.com.au] enabling the Nationals to continue to grow in its sixth year.
Racing from the Shannons Nationals presented by Hi-Tec Oils will be broadcast around Australia in 2011 free-to-air on SBS Speedweek and on Foxtel's new dedicated 24/7 motorsport Channel SPEED (Inside Speed and a dedicated Nationals program each round), it can also be viewed from the event via live-streaming at http://www.itvlive.com.au
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