28 Mar FATHER AND SON READY FOR 2022 APC CHALLENGE
Production car stalwarts Gerry and Leigh Burges are looking forward to making a return to Australian Production Cars in 2022, fielding their Aqualuma Mitsubishi Evo 9.
The 2022 APC season will kick off at Sydney Motorsport Park across May 26-27, before continuing on to Phillip Island (June 25-26), Queensland Raceway (August 5-7), Tailem Bend (October 21-23) and the Bathurst International (November 11-13).
The series will provide a mix of endurance formats from 30-minute races to one-hour races to 300km events across the five rounds; with competitors able to compete on their choice of tyre from a nominated tyre panel featuring Hankook, Dunlop, MRF Tyres and Yokohama.
“Our car is much the same as it was the last time we competed with the APC with the exception of fitting a full dry brake system and now having a fuel rig so we can race independently,” Gerry explained.
“For us the major difference is being able to have the choice of tyres, which is something I really like and am looking forward to seeing in action.
“I am also really pleased about the format with proper endurance races with untimed pit stops, which means the pit crew need to make it right and that is all part of the competition. I think that is really exciting, it is great to be getting back to proper, fair dinkum, endurance racing.
“We don’t have any particular expectations for the event, we will want to make sure we have all the basics right, get our pit stops right, our driver changes right. If we can do it all correctly, even though we have an older car we should still be competitive over the 300k distance.
“We will be focusing keenly on consistency, we won’t quite have the speed of the BMW brigade, but we still will be able to be competitive if we can do everything right and be consistent.
“We recently ran the car at the Wakefield 300, so it has been certainly well tested recently and we can’t wait to get into it for the 2022 APC season. I think after the Bathurst 6 Hour is run and done, this series will provide a really good place for production cars to compete across the year and we are looking forward to being a part of it once again,” concluded Gerry, while thanking Dash Sports for their support with car preparation.
Leigh echoed his father’s sentiments ahead of the new APC season.
“We are definitely pretty excited to be getting back out on track for production car racing this year after a pretty quiet couple of years due to COVID-19 disruptions,” Leigh said, while thanking Aqualuma for their support.
“We are looking forward to a great year ahead and to getting the Evo 9 out for a run – it may be a little older, but it is a great, fun and reliable car and I can’t wait to get out there and get underway with some great racing. The tyre panel will definitely bring some exciting racing too.
There is still time to take advantage of the APC’s special entry EARLY BIRD OFFER – simply enter three or more events and pay before the end of March 2022 to receive a massive 15 percent off your total entry fee. To access the early bird offer, please email troy@ausprodcars.com.au or debbie@ausprodcars.com.au and you will be sent the early bird offer payment link for card payments, plus direct bank transfer details are included on the Entry Form.
For more information on the Australian Production Cars, visit www.australianproductioncars.com.au or contact Troy Williams on troy@ausprodcars.com.au
2022 APC DATES:
- Round one – Sydney Motorsport Park – May 27-29 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
- Round two – Phillip Island – June 25-26 – four x one-hour races
- Round three – Queensland Raceway – August 5-7 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
- Round four – Tailem Bend – October 21-23 – four x one-hour races
- Round five – Mount Panorama – November 11-13 – four x 30-minute races