13 Jul MORRALL/MECKLEM WIN SHERRIN RENTALS FIGHT IN THE NIGHT NAILBITER
Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem have claimed the outright and Class A2 Sherrin Rentals Fight in the Night victory at Queensland Raceway in a real nail biter, with Mecklem being hunted down lap-by-lap over the final 40 minutes by a very determined #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4 while frantically conserving fuel.
The X class Sherrin Racing entry of brothers Grant and Iain Sherrin had led the majority of the race up until the 2 hours 20 minute mark, when the #27 was went to the lane for a final fuel stop; while its nearest rivals, the #9 RaceFix Ford Mustang of Morrall and Mecklem – which was making its comeback after its Bathurst 6 Hour crash on debut while leading its class and second outright – decided to try and conserve fuel to make it to the end without a late fuel stop.
This left Grant Sherrin to try and surmount a one minute gap to Mecklem in just 39 minutes of running time, with a valiant effort cutting this margin down by a number of seconds most laps to see it standing at just 2.4 seconds when the clock ran out and the checkered flags flew.
As well as being down to just two litres of fuel at the finish line, on their way to victory the #9 also had to contend with a pit lane penalty for a refuelling infringement in the first hour and a blown tyre that brought out a safety car just before the conclusion of the second hour.
As well as taking 2nd outright, the #27 also claimed the X class victory, while Chris Lillis and Nathan Callaghan were next across the line for 3rd outright and 2nd in A2 in the #64 Cachet Homes Chev Camaro. Lillis and Callaghan had been right in the hunt earlier in the race, before falling foul of a pit lane infringement.
Taking out the A1 class victory and 4th outright was Tony Quinn and Kent Quinn in the #93 Norganic Proteins BMW M2, crossing the line ahead of A1 runner-up, Paul Buccini, in the #71 Buccini Transport BMW M135i.
There was no B1 class winner, with the #999 Buccini Transport BMW 135i of Karlie Buccini and Courtney Prince unable to proceed past the 45 minute mark thanks to the return of Friday’s electrical problems for their entry.
The 2024 Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars season next continues at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, with round four to feature four one-hour races across August 23-25. For more information, contact admin@ausprodcars.com.au or visit www.ausprodcars.com.au
QUOTEBOARD – SHERRIN RENTALS FIGHT IN THE NIGHT – SATURDAY 13 JULY 2024
Outright and A2 class winners – #9 RaceFix Ford Mustang
Hadrian Morrall
“We are super excited, we only just finished the car off on Thursday (after the Bathurst 6 Hour crash) and it is a great reward for everybody’s time and effort,” Morrall said.
“We are really happy for the team, they have worked long and hard, and in particular Ryan McLeod of Ryan McLeod Race Cars and his bunch of fabulous people – I want to say a big thank you to them, and also to Queensland Raceway and Troy (Williams) and the Sherrin Rentals guys for putting on the event.
“I am a bit speechless actually. We are super thrilled, after Bathurst we were quite down, and Tyler in particular, but for him to come back and drive as he did, setting fastest laps and bouncing back like a champ, was just great.
“Thank you to our fellow competitors too, to the Sherrins for a good and close and clean race, and also to Lillis and Callaghan in particular – we were nose to tail for laps and laps there and it was good and clean racing, so congrats to them too for being on the podium.”
Tyler Mecklem
“This is fantastic after the disappointment of Bathurst, and it is awesome to bounce back. The car was great, Ryan McLoed built the car and did the repair on it and got it all set up for us and it was great, it didn’t miss a beat,” Mecklem said.
“We got a bit lucky with some safety cars during the race, but Hado did an awesome job to keep everything in touch in his stint before handing over to me for the last two hours, and we were able to save a fuel stop at the end.
“When we came in after the tyre blew we did the maths and thought, if we do some fuel saving, maybe we can get to the flag. We had to do a heap of fuel saving for the last hour, we were conserving pretty hard, but we made it with about two litres and it all worked out fantastic, we couldn’t be happier!”
The #9 RaceFix Ford Mustang (Speed Shots Photography)
X class winners and 2nd outright – #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4
Grant Sherrin
“It was quite an exciting race with a few lead changes throughout and safety cars coming at the right time and also sometimes at the wrong time for us – the first one hurt us a bit, we had over a minute lead at that point, but the next one came at a time where we had just got in to do our CPS so we were able to do that under safety car, so that was quite good,” Grant said.
“The car was just a dream to drive again and nice and consistent so you could punch out those fast laps. The team did really well, and Iain drove superbly in the first part of the race also. We were very close to backing it up, it was a case of so close but so far, but as well as 2nd outright we also won X class, so that was good too.”
Iain Sherrin
“It was a good race – I did the first stint for us and got out to a minute lead, but unfortunately the safety car then came out a lap or two before we were going to do our CPS so that brought us back to the field. But we still got it done and everything was good through there and I was pretty happy with my stint,” Iain said.
“Grant got in and was doing quite well, he had got to about a 20 second lead on the Mustang and we came in for our last refuel – we didn’t see them (the #9) do another refuel so while we went back out a minute behind we thought we were still pretty safe as we thought they had to do another fuel stop. We still got Grant to keep the pace on as we thought they would probably run as late as they could and do a splash and dash.
“He was keeping the pace on and bringing it down nearly two seconds a lap for that last stint, and then with about 20 minutes to go when they were going past us on the main straight we could hear that they were conserving and realised they were going for it!
“That caught us out a bit as we hadn’t seen the other stop, so Grant just pushed on as hard as he could and unfortunately we missed it by just two seconds, so maybe with another lap we would have had them! Talking to them after the race, they only had two litres of fuel left so with another lap they probably wouldn’t have made it!
“It was really close and exciting racing, and a great effort by all the team. Grant did the fastest lap on the last lap which was an amazing 1:17.8060.
“All in all, it was a great race and a great event, it was a shame we weren’t quite there, just two seconds off in the end, but they had a great strategy, and they did an amazing job, so all credit to them.”
The #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4 (Speed Shots Photography)
A1 class winners – #93 Norganic Proteins BMW M2
Tony Quinn
“Despite the small number of entries, the event had an awesome vibe about it and the fireworks at the end were fantastic!” Tony Quinn grinned.
Kent Quinn
“I thoroughly enjoyed the race, and it was enjoyable racing with my old man and seeing that he can still get out there and crack some fast laps – he did the qualifying lap and got us top four and off to a great start, I just had to bring it home. It was really good.”
The #93 Norganic Proteins BMW M2 (Speed Shots Photography)