Friday Sydney Sundown wrap
Images: Mpix
The racing action was fierce all day at Sydney Motorsport Park, Day 1 of the second Hi-Tec Oils Super Series round, Sydney Sundown.
TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series presented by Maritimo
Super-sub Tim Brook was peerless today in both of the TA2 Muscle Car Series encounters, the former Toyota 86 Racing Series winner had not raced a TA2 car in nearly 12 months, but you couldn’t tell.
Race 1 was a truncated affair with a lengthy safety car period mid-race, however it concluded with a three-lap sprint to the finish.
Queenslander Ben Gomersall kept him honest, and in the end the margin between first and second was just 0.5s.
Josh Thomas ended up at the front of a three-carriage train at the end of Race 1, he finished third, pipping Tom Davies and Brad Gartner to the line.
Chaos reigned supreme in Race 2, with multiple incidents, accidents and several post-race penalties.
Out front Brook was unaware of what happened behind, he officially on timing took the win by 17s.
Ben Gomersall did cross the finish line in second, however he was found guilty of turning Brad Gartner around at Turn 6 and was slapped with a 15s penalty, this demoted him to third. Josh Thomas inherited the second position.
Despite the spin, Gartner was able to recover to finish in fourth place with Diesel Thomas in fifth.
TFH Legend Cars Australia
Youngster Askr Sendall won the opening race in the pocket rocket category in what was a very closely fought affair.
The New South Welshman pipped Aiden Williams by a margin of under 0.3s, Riley Skinner was next a full 3s back, ahead of Joshua Craig and Timothy Reed. Reigning champion, ACT driver Ryan Pring was next.
An off-track excursion out of the final turn resulted in Dylan Thomas being classified in 10th position. The former TA2 Muscle Car Series winner, Thomas made things count in Race 2, he marched through to finish to take the victory.
Pring also moved forward, he ended up just 0.7s back in second, with Race 1 winner Sendall in third. Shane Tate and Skinner rounded out the top five.
Australian Super Tin Tops
The national Super Tin Top Series boasted an entry list of 27 cars, 13 of which are new entries to the series this weekend.
There may have been a lot of new runners, but it was a familiar face up the front of the field.
Matthew Sims was the bridesmaid throughout the opening round, but he had the last laugh today by taking both wins.
It was a BMW 1-2-3 in the opener, Sims won by a smidge under two seconds, the championship leader Mark Tracey settled for second, with Stephen Chilby third.
Benny Tran may have retired from the opener in his Integra with a mechanical issue but he stormed through the field in Race 2.
Tran was a man on a mission, he was far and away the fastest driver on the track, in the end he came home second, he missed out on victory by 1.3s. One more lap and he’d have likely taken the win.
Despite a spin early in the race, Tracey limited the damage and came home in third place.
Australian Drivers’ Championship
The ADC competitors had just a single race today, an encounter that was dominated by New South Welshman Hayden Crossland.
Crossland was in a league of his own, in a 12 lap race he pulled out a near 15s.
Notably championship leader Damon Sterling came into the pits at the end of lap 1, leading into this event he had won eight straight races. Sterling returned to the track nearly a lap down, he crossed the line buried in 14th.
After qualifying further down than what we would usually see, two stalwarts of the series fought hard for second. After exchanging the place a number of times, Hamish Leighton prevailed, beating home inaugural series champion Dean Crooke.
Australian Production Cars
The Australian Production Cars were combined with a dozen invited machines in what an incredibly chaotic affair.
There were incidents, mechanical issues and everything in between.
Hadrian Morrall was dominant while all others faltered around him, he took the win by over 45s, and by over a minute from his closest rival in APC.
Second place outright went the way of Daniel Natoli, with Jack Webster third in the nimble Toyota 86.
The little Polo GTI driven by Allan Jarvis stayed out of trouble and was second in APC, while Trent Whyte recovered from a puncture to finish third.
Replica Tourers
Queensland category Replica Tourers visited New South Wales for the first time today and it was a local Hadrian Morrall who took the win.
Morrall racing in the same Ford Mustang with which won the production car battle. He beat home the old school VK Commodore driven by Daniel Ridley, with Simon Anthonisz third.
The racing was tight in the second encounter with the top five nose to tail all race long.
In the end the VY Commodore of Jason Grimmold prevailed, taking the lead for the first time on the final lap of the race.
Shane Stewart in a BMW 135i was second with Race 1 runner-up Ridley third.
Morrall came to a halt exiting Turn 3 on the opening lap, he retired from the race.
Australian Formula Vee
Alex Macdonald was a surprise victor in the opening race of the Australian Formula Vee Championship, he played his cards right and led when it mattered most.
He led the final few hundred metres, pipping Craig Sparke by just 0.1s. Michael Kinsella and Daniel Reynolds led the most part, they ended up in third and fourth respectively.
Reynolds and Kinsella were not going to be out-duelled again in Race 2, the two were challenged at times but had superior pace over the other two. In the end Reynolds was victorious from Kinsella and McDonald.
Innovation Race Cars
Geoff Emery took a clean sweep in IRC, he won the sprint race by 10s from Danny Stutterd and John Holinger.
The 50-minute enduro was closer than the sprint. Studderd fell early but recovered, he finished in second just 4s behind Emery. Jon Crossing rounded out the top three.
The action tomorrow will commence at 8.30am local time, with the livestream starting at 1.30pm. Tickets available online or at the gate.