18 Sep DRAMA ABOUNDS AT SANDOWN FOR APC BROUGHT TO YOU BY LIQUI MOLY CONCLUSION
While racing conditions were markedly improved for the APC brought to you by LIQUI MOLY field at Sandown Raceway this morning, the category’s one-hour enduro today still delivered plenty of drama all the way to the end.
The race was declared with six laps to go when yesterday’s A2 winner Matthew Holt came into heavy contact with the track wall at the base of the Penrite Bridge in the #65 Cavanagh Electrics HSV Clubsport. Holt quickly exited the car, however the damage to the track wall meant officials had no choice but to declare the race.
When all was said and done, it was Drew Russell in the #58 Go-Karts-Go BMW M3 who took a commanding victory both outright and for class X, securing not only the race but also round honours after taking the lead off the start and never yielding the top spot, other than during the compulsory pit stop cycle.
Russell crossed the line ahead of fellow class X runners Shane Smollen (#56 Prestige Connex BMW M4), Beric Lynton (#23 Bruce Lynton Service BMW M3) and Duane West (#90 Kelair Holden VF GTS) while A2 class race and round winner Chris Lillis clinched fifth outright in his #64 Cachet Homes Holden HSV Clubsport. By virtue of their weekend performance, Smollen and West joined Russell on the round podium for class X in second and third respectively, while Smollen and Lillis claimed second and third outright for the round.
It was a big move up the order for Lynton, who had started the race in 13th position after yesterday’s rain affected race, and also for the #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4 of brothers Grant and Iain Sherrin, which started from the rear of the grid after failing to finish due to electrical issues yesterday and finished the race in sixth outright.
Next across the line was Jimmy Vernon who claimed the A1 class race and round win in the #50 Hunter Pacific Ceiling Fans Mitsubishi Evo X from 7th outright, ahead of a gaggle of A2 racers in Paul Razum in the #41 Penrite/Boronia Towbars Holden VF R8 (8th outright, 2nd in class), Ben Gersekowski (#38 KCK Lubricants/Vic’s Timber BMW M3, 9th outright, 3rd in class), and Andrew Miedecke (#33 York Miedecke Ford-backed Ford Mustang, 10th outright, 4th in class). Razum and co-driver Darren Forrest was second for the round overall in class, with Gersekowski third.
Taking out the other class victories both in the race and for the round were C class winner Jake Camilleri (#36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS, 12th outright), Daniel D’Aquino (Class B2, #999 DKD Projects/Metcalfe Automotive Holden VF Commodore, 13th outright), Daniel Natoli (Class D, #39 LME Care/Gtechniq Ford Fiesta, 16th outright) and Allan Jarvis (Class E, #70 Suzuki Swift, 22nd outright).
Chris Holdt (#25 La Rocca Marble HSV Astra) and Ben and Sam Silvestro (#55 S-Sport Racing Mazda RX8) joined Camilleri on the class C round podium in second and third, respectively. Other round podium positions went to Sean Evans (#53 Prime Motorsport Holden VZ SS – 2nd for B2) and James Keene and Richard Luff (#51 MWM Racing Mini – 2nd for D).
After such a brilliant performance yesterday, the race one winning #118 DA Campbell Transport Mitsubishi Evo X driven by Cameron Crick and Dean Campbell unfortunately had its race aspirations come to an early end today, retiring with a blown turbo in the first third of the race.
Also forced out of the running early was the #16 Levitt Motorsports Mercedes C63 AMG of Tony Levitt, which went to the pits after 20 minutes of running when it was black flagged due to smoke and was eventually withdrawn from further running.
Bad luck also continued to plague the #40 Btuned Euro Specialist BMW M4 of Karl Begg and Stephen Jukes, with yesterday’s DNF due to a spin followed up with persistent limp mode issues today which saw the entry in and out of the pits and declared a non-finisher.
The #4 Property Investment Store BMW M4 of Adam Burgess and Anthony Soole fell afoul of the race being called early, as when the yellow flags flew for Holt’s incident Burgess dived into the pits for checks following contact with the #25 entry but was unable to re-join before the race was declared and therefore was classified as a DNF.
The APC brought to you by LIQUI MOLY racers will next be on-track for the category’s penultimate round for 2022, to be held at The Bend Motorsport Park across October 21-23 with four one-hour races to be held across the event. For more information on the Australian Production Cars, visit www.ausprodcars.com.au or contact Troy Williams on troy@ausprodcars.com.au
QUOTEBOARD – SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, SANDOWN RACEWAY, ROUND 3 OF THE APC BROUGHT TO YOU BY LIQUI MOLY SEASON
Drew Russell – #58 Go-Karts-Go BMW M3 he shares with Aaren Russell and Wayne Russell – round winner, outright and class X
“We came into the weekend a bit concerned that with the weather forecast, it might not be our weekend. But in the end, we have come away with a pole, a second, and a win! The guys at Bruce Lynton BMW Service gave us a brilliant car and we managed to get the job done. The first couple of laps were a little bit average today with the puddles on track but overall, it was fairly dry which really played to the strengths of our car, so it was quite a good one for us today.”
Jimmy Vernon – #50 Hunter Pacific Ceiling Fans Mitsubishi Evo X – round winner, class A1
“This weekend was a pretty good one for us. We lacked a bit of pace in Friday practice but once it started raining the mighty four-wheel-drive Evos found their way a bit further up the field which was good and on Saturday we were second in class and fifth outright. Today’s race was about consolidating, we got into the lead of our class early and just kept doing lap after lap trying to conserve that position and got through for the win as well as the class round win which was good. Thank you to Hunter Pacific Ceiling Fans, State One Fire Protection and Shockwave Signs for their support.”
Chris Lillis – #64 Cachet Homes Holden HSV Clubsport – round winner, class A2
“It was a good weekend for us. Obviously in the first race with the rain and everything, we had a good battle with Matt Holt and it was good to be there as not only the leading A2 cars but also mixing it in the outright positions in the wet and also in the dry – with the one hour we still held our home and came home really respectfully outright as well, so cheers to Bilstein for the tunability in both the wet and the dry. It was a great round overall with a good track and we are looking forward to the next round at Tailem Bend, we are just sad for Matt and his boys with the work they have in front of them, but they will fix it all up.”
Daniel D’Aquino – #999 DKD Projects/Metcalfe Automotive Holden VF Commodore – round winner, class B2
“It was a fantastic weekend. I came down from Sydney all by myself as a few people got sick, so I had no help whatsoever which was a bit of a struggle! I rallied up some help from another team for the tyre change today, Brian Callaghan and his team helped me for the tyre change, and I am so really grateful for them for that. We came away pretty good I think, especially as this was my first time to Sandown Raceway. The wet weather was terrible for the bigger cars, so I made adjustments and did the best I could, loosening everything off for the wet weather and then it came dry for today, which was great and we could have some fun out there. Thank you to the APC, Troy and Debbie for their great effort in putting on the event, and thank you to DKD Projects.”
Jake Camilleri – #36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS – round winner, class C
“I liked it being wet, it mixes it up a bit, especially with Sandown having two big, long straights, it brings us back a bit. We loved it, race one was unreal. We had qualified not too bad in eighth outright and the race was just unreal, and we finished sixth outright. Waking up this morning, I was crossing my fingers that it was raining but it was dry, so I knew the start was going to be a bit tricky and I got swamped with a big drag race down to turn one, so we dropped back a bit. But I still had a good run, a consistent run, and the car was awesome. It was a good, fun weekend, and I loved race one in particular – it was tricky, and it spices it up a bit. Overall, we had a really good weekend. It was a bit of a shame that race two was cancelled yesterday as it would have been good having a couple of wet races yesterday and then dry running today, but we are really happy. The car went well again and punched well above its weight. Thank you to Grand Prix Mazda for their support and also to Graham Murray, my mechanic and engineer – he does an absolutely fantastic job.”
Daniel Natoli – #39 LME Care/Gtechniq Ford Fiesta he shares with Amar Sharma – round winner, class D
“The boys worked really hard, and the car was great. We had a good, solid run all the way through the weekend. This is a great track and we absolutely loved it, this was our first time here so to pull a win is great, we are just over the moon about it. The car was really good in both the wet and the dry conditions, it is a little jet. Thank you to Gtechniq Australia, LME Care, JCK Lubricants, OzeAuto, I Love NDIS, Gtechniq Bike, and Vast Consulting Group, and also thank you to the team for all of their hard work and the organisers for putting on a great event.”
Allan Jarvis – #70 Suzuki Swift – round winner, Class E
“It was a good weekend and we had fun. We had some brake issues to begin with, but we managed to get it through and get the car back in one piece. The car went pretty good in the weather, it was raining but it is what it is and you just have to run with it and our car handles the wet really well – we looked like we were going to be in for a bit of race with a few of them there but then it fined up a bit and they pulled away, the rain is the equaliser I guess. Thank you to Mum, Dad, and Terry my crew chief, and to my family for letting us come away.”
2022 APC BROUGHT TO YOU BY LIQUI MOLY DATES:
- Round one – Sydney Motorsport Park – May 27-29 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
- Round two – Queensland Raceway – August 5-7 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
- Round three – Sandown Raceway – September 16-18 – two x 30-minute races and one x one-hour 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