2 Days of Thunder Sunday wrap
Image: Mpix
Sunday at Queensland Raceway capped off a magnificent 2 Days of Thunder event, Round 2 of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series.
It saw the Supercars aces take the fight to the established TA2 Muscle Car Series front-runners, while all the other categories showcased brilliant racing also.
TA2 Muscle Car Series
Tim Slade and Alice Buckley went back-to-back, winning their second straight TA2 Muscle Car Tag Team Endurance title.
The duo won all three races on Saturday, and in the final race of the weekend the duo were superior once more. Earlier on Sunday however it was the current Supercars Championship drivers who rose to the fore to take the sprint race wins.
Race 4, the first of the day for the guest drivers saw Kiwi Ryan Wood claim the race victory.
Wood closed in on Slade midway through the race, the Supercars Championship veteran stepped aside and allowed Wood through with the bigger picture in mind.
Slade had the pace to come home in second ahead of Nash Morris in the Norwell sponsored Mustang. Reigning Australian TA2 title winner Jarrod Hughes and Super2 Series driver Ayrton Hogson rounded out the top five.
For Race 5 the Norwell machine was tuned to come on early and Brodie Kostecki took full advantage moving to the front of the field.
The car faded late on and as a result came under attack from Buckley, but he drove a defensive masterclass to take the race victory. Tyler Cheney was only 0.7s off the race win himself in third. Cam McLeod finished fourth, just ahead of Ben Gomersall.
There were plenty of thrills and spills in the final encounter also, however out in front Buckley and Slade dominated the 40-minute, two-driver race.
Buckley crossed the line 3.6s clear of Kostecki at the end of the encounter. Gomersall and two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Will Davison finished a distant third.
Brock Paine and former TA2 Series runner-up Brad Gartner bagged their best finish of the weekend in fourth, with Cheney and Tim Brook nursing there sick sounding Camaro to fifth.
Australian Innovation Race Cars Series
Geoff Emery won both Australian IRC Series races at Queensland Raceway on Sunday, although he did not have things all his own way.
In the opening race Emery led away from pole position, however Lee Stibbs made a huge move around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead.
Stibbs pulled a margin at the front of 3s by the time the compulsory pitstop window opened.
Stibbs though would come unstuck in the pits once more, on Saturday his stop was long and allowed Emery through, on Sunday it was under the mandatory 120 seconds and resulted in a drive-through-penalty.
This allowed Emery to take the lead and the race victory ahead of Andrew Georgiadis. South Australian John Goodacre came from sixth to finish in third ahead of Stibbs.
Race 4 of the weekend was a short sharp sprint race, Emery from pole made a much better start, he led into Turn 1 and controlled the race from there.
He took the win by 2.4s from Stibbs who was unable to match him. Georgiadis scored yet another podium to conclude his maiden IRC round. Goodacre was fourth.
TFH Hire Legend Cars Australia Series
It was a busy day for the TFH Hire Legend Cars Australia Championship with three races on Sunday.
We had three different race winners, the first was won by former TA2 Muscle Car Series winner Dylan Thomas, it was tight, the top five were split by less than a second.
Thomas beat home Dean O’Brien, Riley Skinner, Ruben Dan and Robert Hogan.
The penultimate affair, Race 6 was won by O’Brien, his second in the series after taking his maiden win earlier in the weekend.
Maverick Kemenyvary scored his first top three finish, a magnificent result. He beat home Skinner, Chais Tippett and Dan.
After winning the Australian title on Sunday night in Sydney last weekend, Dan rounded out the event at Queensland Raceway on a high also. He bagged himself the final race victory.
Skinner finished second, enough to win his first round. Josh Thomas came from 10th with two laps remaining to finish in third, he fell back after a clash with his brother at Turn 3.
Queensland Touring Cars
There was some local flavour at Queensland Raceway which included the state-based Queensland Touring Car Championship.
While Saturday winner Murray Reilly won the opener on Sunday, overheating issues forced him to settle for third in Race 4.
The first race of the day saw him hold off a late charge from Trent Rub, while Grant Fry moved through to finish on the podium.
Race 4 saw Reilly pull a lead early as Rub was forced into an early retirement. However, under the blazing sun Reilly’s Commodore got too hot and caused him to nurse the car home.
Fry moved to the front and controlled the race from there, he scored his first win of the season from Clayton Mortensen and Reilly.
Queensland Superkarts
It was a dominant weekend for Russell Jamieson in the Superkarts, the Queensland local was a step ahead of the field, winning both races.
The first race Jamieson won by 23s from Jason Akermanis.
It was the same drivers up front as it was on Saturday, with Gareth Crisp third and Timothy Weier fourth. James Boden was able to get the better of Laurie Fooks for fifth late on.
Jamieson won the final race of the weekend by the very similar margin of 24s ahead of Akermanis.
Crisp, Weier, while Douglas Amiss rounded out the top five finishers.
The next round of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series takes place at Sydney Motorsport Park under lights from July 17-18.