28 Jun Lindsay Kearns leads Mustang 1-2 in Queensland opener
The CMA Car Mods Australia Ford Mustang of Lindsay Kearns has outlasted its rivals to score the first victory of the Round 2 of the Hi-Tec Oils APC Enduro Championships at Queensland Raceway.
It was a thrilling battle at the start caused by a slow getaway for Tony Quinn in the Game Over Chevrolet Camaro as Paul Buccini was able to take full advantage in his Class B1 BMW 340i to lead into Turn 1.
Quinn dropped a further two positions to his Class A2 rivals Kearns and the Ultimate Diesel Tuning Ford Mustang of Trent Whyte prior to the opening corner.
The quartet battled during the opening three laps before Kearns was able to complete a successful move for the lead at the final corner to demote Buccini to second.
Buccini held his own in the BMW to maintain second ahead of Whyte and Quinn before the only safety car of the race was initiated by a spin at Turn 1 for Rohit Saini in his Class A2 Clean and Wash HSV GTS.
The race settled down after this as Kearns took a 2.683s win from Whyte and Quinn.
Class A2 was decided in favour of Mark Griffith in the Grifcorp Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, but the similar model of FG Motorsport’s Chris Gunther held the advantage early until just prior to the safety car he dropped multiple positions.
Griffith had the leading Class C entry of Jake Camilleri for close company throughout the race, but the giant killing Mazda 3 MPS was unable to make in roads and lost position to the Class B2 winning Axis Surveys BMW M3 E92 of Richard Shinkfield during the event’s closing stages.
By finishing fourth outright, Griffith secured the Class A1 honours from Gunther and David Ling driving the David Ling Insurance Services FPV GT-F.
There was some consolation for Camilleri as he scored the Class C victory from Chris Holdt’s Holden Astra OPC and Oskar Butt in the PB Motorsport Services HSV VXR.
Class D was dominated by Rob O’Connor in the Kirkworks BMW 130i, but the battle for the minor positions was close between the championship leading Volkswagen Polo GTi of Rob Jarvis and Annabelle Rolfo in the Littles Lawyers Toyota GR86. Jarvis was able to outlast Rolfo in the end, with the latter suffering from sickness throughout the week.
In turn, Emily Caccaviello further demoted Rolfo by taking third in Class D during the closing stages.
Saini completed the field in his A2 Class HSV.
Next up for the Hi-Tec APC Enduro Champs at the 2 Days of Thunder is the QR 300km Twilight at 5:35pm AEST this evening, which will feature live on SBS On-Demand, Fox Sports and Kayo.