MEGUIAR’S APC REVEL IN DRY CONDITIONS FOR RACE TWO AT THE BEND

01 Jun MEGUIAR’S APC REVEL IN DRY CONDITIONS FOR RACE TWO AT THE BEND

Posted at 13:35h in Extreme, Motor, racing by

The second round of the 2024 Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars season has continued in style at The Bend Motorsport Park with the second of four one-hour races completed this morning.

Grant Sherrin (#27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4) started from P3 courtesy of his race one result but by lap two he had taken over the race lead.

Sherrin raced ahead of Dean Campbell and yesterday’s race winning #118 DA Campbell Transport BMW M2, as well as Chris Lillis (#64 Cachet Homes HSV Camaro SS), while Simon Hodges (#21 Secure Wealth Advisors BMW M4) and Chis Sutton (321 Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo) waged a war for fourth place in the early stages.

From taking lap 2, Sherrin was never headed, despite having to deal with a safety car crunching down the seven second lead he had built up over Campbell when Karlie Buccini (#999 Buccini Transport BMW 135i) became beached in the gravel on the approach to the main straight with 15 minutes elapsed.

On the restart, Sherrin benefited from having some lapped traffic between he and Campbell and quickly went to work to rebuild a lead, with the CPS window opening soon after the recommencement of green running.

Once the pit stops had cycled through, Sherrin reclaimed his place as leader of the pack, going on to build a 30 second lead by the race’s end over second-placed outright and first for A2, Lillis.

Third place outright and 2nd for X was Campbell, while Sutton took the A1 win from fourth outright ahead of A1 runners-up Paul Buccini and Justin Anthony in the #71 Buccini Transport BMW M140i. Buccini and Anthony rounded out the top five outright despite a late race temporary trackside stoppage for Anthony due to a fuel pump issue, with the team now replacing it ready for race three.

It was a frustrating race for Hodges, who despite being in the mix at the pointy end early was forced to the pits under the safety car and once again after his CPS due to electrical issues seeing the #21 down on power – the team continues to work to diagnose the issue ahead of race three this afternoon.

Hodges crossed the line in sixth outright and third for class X ahead of the B2 winning Damien Croxon/Brent Peters #32 Luxe Performance Holden Commodore SSV.

Zaki Wazir and Tom Shaw were 3rd in the A1 class from eighth outright in the #15 VSP BMW 1M. Rounding out the field was Rob Jarvis in the #70 TOA57D Motorsport VW Polo GTI he is sharing with his son Allan Jarvis this weekend – with this entry incurring a 15 second penalty due to forgetting the pit board during its pit stop.

There was no B1 winner for today’s race, with the Karlie Buccini/Courtney Prince entry unable to finish the race. While Karlie did resume running after her spin, she weas soon forced back after throwing the drive belt and was unable to return. The #999 will be back on-track for race three.

Race three will be held this afternoon at 4.35pm, before the fourth and final race of the weekend on Sunday the 2nd of June at 8.55am. Live timing for both races is available at natsfot.biz

For information about Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars, please contact admin@ausprodcars.com.au or visit www.ausprodcars.com.au