Mallala Masters is underway
For the very first time the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series is at the historical Mallala Motorsport Park, track action commenced today with qualifying for the Innovation Race cars and practice for the remainder of the categories.
All five racing series had three practice sessions today, with the Aussie built IRC machines qualifying under the fading light at the South Australian venue.
Innovation Race Cars
IRC had two 15-minute qualifying sessions at the end of the day, Qualifying 1 determined the grid for Saturday’s affairs, while Qualifying 2 set the grid for Sunday’s encounters.
Q1 was the closest in IRC’s short history, with just 0.012s separating the drivers on the front row of the grid. Experienced campaigner Geoff Emery edged out series rookie Lee Stibbs.
It was tight in the midfield; the next four cars were split by just 0.4s. John Goodacre will start Saturday third alongside category founder Danny Stutterd.
Axel Donaldson ragged his older spec MARC II Mustang to fifth, pipping championship leader John Hollinger by 0.05s.
Once again Q2 proved to be a fight between Emery and Stibbs, it was a thrilling session in which the pair traded the top spot for much of the session.
However, Stibbs saved his best until late in the session, setting two back-to-back purple times ending the session 0.6s clear of Emery. Goodacre improved late on also, he ended up just 0.22s behind Emery in third.
Donaldson pipped Stutterd to a row two position by a margin of just 0.01s. Stutterd will start fifth alongside Hollinger.
TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series Presented by Maritmo Luxury Yachts
Local South Aussie and reigning Aussie Racing Car Series winner Joel Heinrich on debut in the series, ended the day fastest in the combined practice times.
Almost all competitors set their best time in the final practice session when the track was at its best.
In the end Heinrich pipped the two Thomas’ to the top spot, Josh Thomas was second 0.24s off the pace, with Diesel Thomas ending up in third.
Championship leader Jarrod Hughes was very under the weather today and did not take part in all practice sessions. His best time was a 1m 09.946s, only 0.044s off the pace of Diesel Thomas.
Recent Trans Am round winner Blake Tracey rounded out the top five, 0.2s behind Hughes.
Local South Australian Brad Gartner was sixth fastest ahead of Tom Davies, 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris, Graham Cheney and youngster Brock Paine who rounded out the top 10.
TFH Hire Legend Cars Australia
The nimble Legend Cars are tough to tame at Mallala, across the course of the day many drivers were caught out and ended up in the grass.
Ruben Dan tamed the track best, ending the opening day as the surprise pace setter in Legend Cars Australia.
Dan topped the final session of the day with a time of 1m 18.0s, nearly 0.5s faster than series leader and former TA2 Muscle Car Series winner Dylan Thomas who finished Friday second fastest.
Riley Skinner of New South Wales set his best time in practice 1, a time that put him third at the end of proceedings, Joshua Benaud was next ahead of Maverick Kemenyvary who rounded out the top five.
Front runners Shane Tate and Aidan Williams were just outside that top five, ahead of Chais Tippett, James Brett and Scott Morgan. Incredibly this made it a NSW top 10 in the combined times.
The 12 were split by 2s and getting closer and closer with every session.
Formula Vee
In Australian Formula Vee it was championship leader Daniel Reynolds that ended the day at the top of the timesheets.
The Canberra based driver was the only one to break under the 1m 21s barrier, his 1m 20.962s benchmark was set in the opening practice session of the day and was never topped.
He ended up just under 0.2s clear of title rival Alex MacDonald. MacDonald in the Jacer was the only driver within a second of Reynolds come the end of the day.
Alexander Hedemann was best of the rest in third ahead of Gary Ogden, Chris Beahan and Matthew Harriott.
Nathan Clifton was best of the local South Aussies in seventh, his best time was set in the second session.
Michael Lloyd, Adam Beswick and Mark Moran rounded out the top 10. Formula Vee President Rod Lisson ended up in 11th after hitting the wall out of the final turn in practice 2.
Race tickets, campsites and park and view passes can be bought here.
The full event schedule can be viewed here.
From 1pm AEST to 5pm AEST on both Saturday and Sunday the action can be viewed on SBS, SBS on Demand and Kayo.
For more coverage from 10.00am AEST both days the Super Series YouTube channel will be streaming all on-track activities.
For more information visit the Super Series website by clicking here.