25 Aug MEGUIAR’S APC RACES TO THRILLING FINISH AT PHILLIP ISLAND
Round four of the 2024 Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars had it all at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit this weekend, with four one-hour races delivering no end of edge of your seat drama right up to the final moments.
When all was said and done, it was Dean Campbell and Cameron Crick who took out the Outright and Class X victory for the round in their #118 DA Campbell Transport BMW M2 despite niggling rear end issues.
Second outright and in class for the weekend was the #21 Secure Wealth BWM M4 of Simon Hodges and Mark Caine, while A2 round winners Chris Lillis and Josh Muggleton took out third outright in their #64 Cachet Homes Chevrolet Camaro SS. Second for A2 overall was the last round winning #9 Parramatta Vehicle Services Ford Mustang of Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem. Third in class X for the weekend were the Sherrin brothers, Grant and Iain, aboard the #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4.
Also taking out class round victories this weekend were Chris Sutton (#321 321 Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo X – A1 win), Grant Inwood and Darcy Inwood (#143 A1 Towing Bathurst Subaru STI – B1 win), Brent Peters and Damien Croxon (#32 Luxe Performance Holden Commodore SSV – B2 win) and Allan Jarvis and Rob Jarvis (#70 TOA57D Motorsport VW Polo GTI – C win).
Joining Sutton on the A1 podium was Michael Osmond (#17 Ozzy Outhouse BMW M135i), who finished just one point shy of Sutton in the final points tally for the class, as well as Zaki Wazir and Tom Shaw, who were third in the A1 class in their #15 VSP BMW 1M.
To read how races one, two and three unfolded, please click here (races one and two) and here (race three).
While there was plenty of drama across the entirety of the weekend for the Meguiar’s APC racers, the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon had plenty to call its own, including a late race downpour to add further spice to the mix.
As it had been all weekend, tyre management was a focus point for all the teams following the recent resurfacing of the track but come the final stages of the race, it was on for young and old.
The race opened with a battle for the lead with Mecklem having a tough start and losing a flurry of positions while Crick took the lead over Caine, with Sherrin in fourth. Muggleton meanwhile was remaining in touch in the #64, ready to launch a late race assault.
The first of two safety cars for the race was called at the 21 minute mark to retrieve the #27 of Iain Sherrin which was stranded without power after a front right failure took out the kill switch.
The race restarted with 23 minutes to go and was followed by a flurry of compulsory pit stops, with Muggleton controlling the race when they had all played out, leading Mecklem, Caine, Crick, Sutton, Jarvis, and Shaw.
With 15 minutes to go, Crick passed Caine for third outright and first in class X, before Mecklem started to challenge Muggleton for the lead, with the pair swapping positions and Crick getting in on the action also.
At this point, the race was again neutralised by the second safety car for the temporarily stranded #15 of Shaw with nine minutes to go, as rain fell on the circuit.
On the restart with six minutes to go, Crick quickly moved to pass Mecklem, with Muggleton also pushing hard to get past the Mustang to set up an impressive battle with Crick.
The battle went all the way to the final lap, with Crick getting by Muggleton despite battling a gearbox issue, only for the Camaro driver to take it back a few corners later.
When all was said and done, it was Muggleton who would take the victory outright and in class A2 in the #64 (with Lillis), ahead of X class winner Crick (#118 with Campbell), and X-class runner-up, Caine (#21 with Hodges).
Mecklem (#9 with Morrall) took home fourth outright and the A2 runner-up, while Sutton rounded out the top five outright with the A1 win over class runner-up and sixth outright, Osmond (#17).
C class winner Allan Jarvis (#70 with Rob Jarvis – 7th outright) and third for A1, Shaw (#15 with Wazir), closed out the finishers.
Joining the #27 in failing to finish race four was the #71 Buccini Transport BMW M140i of Dean Lillie (with Paul Buccini) and the #143 Subaru of Darcy Inwood (with Grant Inwood) following contact between the pair in the opening laps, and the #32 of Peters which pulled to the side following contact and then an alternator failure – he was retrieved under tow under the same safety car as Sherrin.
The Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars will next be on-track for the penultimate round of the 2024 season at Sydney Motorsport Park across October 18-20. To learn more about the category, visit www.ausprodcars.com.au
QUOTEBOARD: 2024 MEGUIAR’S APC – ROUND FOUR, PHILLIP ISLAND – AUGUST 25, 2024
Outright and Class X round winner – #118 DA Campbell Transport – Dean Campbell (sharing with Cameron Crick)
“It was a really good weekend. We had trouble with the car early on with the rear, and still do as it hasn’t been completely solved yet by any means, but we managed to deal with that problem so it was manageable. Saturday we had a first and a third, we had to manage the tyre in that second race, idling around as we knew they would be a problem, and that served us well for the rest of the weekend. We had another win in the third race and I really enjoyed a great battle with Hodges. In the fourth race we had gearbox trouble after the last safety car where it wouldn’t select second, fourth or sixth gear, so we couldn’t fight as hard as we needed to to win that one, but it was a really good weekend overall and we enjoyed our battles with everyone.”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography
A1 round winner – #321 321 Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo X – Chris Sutton
“Like everyone it was a tough weekend for us with tyres, but we ended up getting our head around that and managing them to the best of our ability. Today we had two class wins on the back of a pretty shoddy Saturday and had some really good battles too with Paul Buccini in the first race of the day – sadly he had a tyre failure that kind of ended his run for second place in that one, and then with Michael Osmond in the final race. I really enjoyed those and we had a great result. I want to send a big thanks to Ray White Macarthur and Nepean Group, and we are looking forward now to Sydney – being a home round, it should be great.”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography
A2 round winner – #64 Cachet Homes Chevrolet Camaro SS – Chris Lillis (sharing with Josh Muggleton)
“Certainly the first race didn’t go as we planned with the blown tyre two laps from the end, but the good thing was that we learnt from that and in the second race we conserved which let us have quite a few tyres for the last two races. In the third race we decided to take the gamble of taking an extra tyre in exchange for a rear of the grid penalty, and we were patient and let everyone come back to us. Then in the last race, it was quite amazing, we let everyone go and were being patient, Josh was just taking his time, and then the safety car came out and everything sort of fell to our advantage. We came in to do the CPS but we didn’t have to put another tyre on and that helped give us some track position, and then it started raining and Josh did what Josh does – he drove around Crick and they had a wicked fight, and we got the win which was just amazing. It was a really good weekend, it was frustrating with the tyres of course but everyone, even other categories, were in the same boat so I don’t think it was a tyre thing, it was more of a track resurfacing thing. It all ended up good and our guys did a great job on the pit stops, so now we will roll on to Sydney.”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography
B1 round winner – #143 A1 Towing Bathurst Subaru STI – Grant Inwood (sharing with Darcy Inwood)
“We had a great weekend, it was fantastic. The car was great, and while we were still learning the track, Darcy really grabbed it by the reins and took to it like a duck to water. The car was great, the competition was good, and we were beating a lot of the faster category vehicles. Th last race was a shame with contact with the 71 on lap one which took us out and they got a 30 point penalty and DNFed as well. But we did enjoy racing with the Buccinis over the weekend, they are very nice people. We are looking forward to Sydney now, we will do some repairs in the shop and get out there.”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography
B2 round winner – #32 Luxe Performance Holden Commodore SSV – Brent Peters (sharing with Damien Croxon)
“It is an amazing race track and we had a pretty good time. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a failure in the end with contact from another car and then had an alternator failure, which was a disappointing way to finish off our weekend. But the place is amazing. We had the help of two young guys from the Melbourne Kart Centre, Lex and Mikey, who were awesome to work with in their first time working on race cars, that was really good. For Damo we had a bit of a struggle in set up in the first race and ended up with a DNF but other than that we had an awesome time. The track is amazing, the teams to work with are amazing, and we are absolutely looking forward to Sydney and we will definitely be going to Bathurst too.”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography
C round winner – #70 TOA57D Motorsport VW Polo GT – Allan Jarvis (sharing with Rob Jarvis)
“It was a good weekend, we went a bit quicker than we did last time we were here so we were happy with that, and it was good driving with dad – he improved over the weekend by a lot so we were really happy with his drive. Race one was definitely a stand out for us finishing fourth outright which was pretty cool for a class C car!”
Pic thanks to Speed Shots Photography