13 Aug MOBIL 1 AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CARS CELEBRATES AT QUEENSLAND RACEWAY
With the largest field of the weekend and three action-packed enduro races, the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars provided no shortage of entertainment value to those on-site at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
When all was said and done, a race three victory alongside a race one win saw Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns claim the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars outright and Class A2 victory in their #25 TyrePlus Burleigh Ford Mustang, with the pair joined on the outright podium by third for Class X, Iain Sherrin (#72 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4), and B2 class winner, Ben Gersekowski (#38 KCK Lubricants/Vic’s Timber BMW M3).
Joining Cowham/Kearns and Gersekowski in clinching round wins for their classes were Tim Leahey (X – #22 Leahey Auto Group/Bruce Lynton Service BMW F80 M3), Dean Campbell and Cameron Crick (A1 – #118 DA Campbell Transport Mitsubishi Evo), Karlie Buccini and Michael von Rappard (B1 – #999 Brisbane Motor Works BMW 135i), Jake Camilleri (C – #36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS), John Connolly and Phil Alexander (D – #35 RaceAway Track Time Nissan Pulsar), and Shane Fowler and Dion Pangalos (E – #31 SpeedSales.com.au Mazda 3 SP23).
Joining them on the class round podiums were X’s Beric Lynton (2nd – #23 Bruce Lynton Service BMW F80 M3) and Iain Sherrin (3rd – #72 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4), A1’s Hadrian Morrall and Tyler Mecklem (2nd – #9 Parramatta Vehicle Services Mitsubishi Evo) and Cem Yucel and Iain Salteri (3rd – #222 Harding Performance VW Golf); A2’s Andrew Miedecke (2nd – #95 Andrew Miedecke Ford-backed Ford Mustang) and Tony Levitt and Luke King (3rd – #16 AMG Spares Mercedes C63), B1’s Scott Turner and Rob Rubis (2nd – #29 Fierce Racing BMW 135i), C’s Tom Needham (2nd – #34 All Carbitz Mazda 3 MPS) and Chris Gunther and Mitch Randall (3rd – #15 Wahlstrom Financial Services BMW E87 130i), and D’s Liam Moyse (2nd – #97 GenFit Toyota 86).
Cowham and Kearns locked down their outright round win in class and outright for APC with a race three victory this morning, crossing the line ahead of X class winner Iain Sherrin and B2 winner, Gersekowski.
Rounding out the top five outright for APC were Leahey (4th outright) and Grant Sherrin (5th outright – #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4), with the pair taking 2nd and 3rd for class X for the race respectively.
The Mecklem/Morrall entry was next across the line in sixth outright to take the Class A1 race win ahead of class runner-up and 7th outright for APC, Crick and Campbell.
Next on the road were the Levitt/King (2nd for A2), Jimmy Manteufel/Garry Beggs (3rd for A2 – #41 RED Holden Commodore) and Lynton (4th for X) entries (8th to 10th outright) while Camilleri crossed the line 11th outright to take the C Class victory.
Maika Terhorst and Rob Gooley finished 5th in class X and 12th outright in the #60 Speedcafe/Ultimate Diesel Tuning BMW F82 M4, crossing the line ahead of Yucel/Salteri (3rd for A1), Needham (2nd for C), Ettore Vosolo/Richard Shinkfield (2nd for B2 – #119 Axis Surveys BMW E92 M3) and Randall/Gunther (3rd for C).
Von Rappard and Buccini were next across the line to take the B1 class race win, crossing the line ahead of Chris Holdt – who changed the diff on his #51 Lithostone Surfaces Holden Commodore VZ ahead of today’s race following his issues in the Fight in the Night (3rd for B2), and the D class winning Connolly/Alexander entry.
Running into trouble during the final hour-long race for Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars at QR today were Michael Rowell (#3 Rowell Logistics Ford Mustang – slowed on track before retiring to the pits early); Wade Scott (#81 Graphteq/BSR Mitsubishi Evo – brake issues); Pangalos (drive shaft) and Turner (clutch issue forced retirement on final lap).
Miedecke, Allan Jarvis (#70 TOA57D Motorsport VW Golf GTi) and Moyse all failed to start today’s race, with Miedecke pulling out due to transmission issues while Jarvis and Moyse were unable to run due to their issues in the Fight in the Night (brakes and head gasket respectively).
For the race reports from races one and two, click here and here.
The 2023 Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars season will now continue with round four at Sandown Raceway across September 8-10 with four x 30 minute sprint races alongside Monochrome GT4 Australia. Entries are open now at www.ausprodcars.com.au
For further information about Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars and Monochrome GT4 Australia, please contact admin@ausprodcars.com.au or visit www.ausprodcars.com.au.
QUOTEBOARD – ROUND THREE, 2023 MOBIL 1 AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION CARS, QUEENSLAND RACEWAY – AUGUST 13, 2023
Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns – #25 TyrePlus Burleigh Ford Mustang – APC outright/Class A2 winners
Coleby:
We are obviously ecstatic with the weekend. It was very unexpected, and we had a bit of luck, combined with the crew’s lightning quick pit stops. It was a case of managing our own race and having it come to us, I guess. The pit stops were a big thing, and we just ran our own race and conserved the tyres to keep it consistent and get to the end. Big thanks to TyrePlus Burleigh Heads, Car Mods Australia and Exedy Clutches.
Lindsay:
It was a great result to be a part of. The team and the pit stops really kept us in and gave us a bit of a buffer and a bit of an advantage. Coleby had two unreal races, and we just had to try and keep the tyres under it. If we could do that and not have any muck-ups, we were okay. It was good to be mixing it with the Class X cars and being more competitive with them too, it was good fun. Thank you very much to the team, who also did Jake Camilleri’s wheel changes in record time as well!
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Tim Leahey – #22 Leahey Auto Group/Bruce Lynton Service BMW F82 M3 – Class X winner
It was good to catch up with Beric and just do some miles, we put in a fair bit of work to do it and we got the car pretty good by the end, I think we were a little bit off the Sherrins but eventually in the end the pace of the car was pretty good. I was very happy with my Fight in the Night start too, but today the car was way better in the race. Thank you to Beric and Ralph and all the guys on the team, they are the ones that put in the work. We ran the grey car for me purely to get it running again as Beric wants to sell it, so we thought we would get it out there and make sure it ran all right, and it certainly did, winning the round! It is happy days for sure, so anyone that needs a second hand BMW M3 should talk to Beric!
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Dean Campbell – #118 DA Cambell Transport Mitsubishi Evo – Class A1 winner with Cameron Crick
This has been a very good turnaround for us from the last round where we had some issues, so it is really good to come back and hopefully be leading our class again now. The racing was really good and relatively clean considering with very minimal accidents, I think everyone kept their nose clean pretty well and it was good racing. Thank you to Matt Cook, MGC Heavy Mechanical, Dylan Burke, Central West Bricks, DA Campbell Transport and Cameron Crick for everything.
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Karlie Buccini – #999 Brisbane Motor Works BMW 1358i – Class B1 winner with Michael Von Rappard
It is pretty amazing to get this result. We were struggling a bit with car set-up and understeering and stuff, so we were having a bit of a rough time, but it was really awesome to get the race win in race three and also the round win. It is amazing and we didn’t expect that at all, it is awesome. I want to say a huge thank you to Michael Von Rappard for co-driving with me this weekend, he hadn’t driven the car really before and he did an amazing job. And also thank you to my crew – my parents are not here at the moment, so they really got in and helped us this weekend. And thank you to everyone else involved also.
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Ben Gersekowski – #38 KCK Lubricants/Vic’s Timber BMW M3 – Class B2 winner and 3rd for APC outright
This was our first race back for us this year with work commitments at the start of the year meaning we weren’t able to do the opening rounds. The last time we drove the car was in the March test day, so we didn’t have any expectations, we just wanted to go out there and blow the cobwebs off. It was great to get back in the car and to come away with the class win and third outright was just unbelievable. Thank you to Matt Gilmour and all the crew for the prep and for nailing the pit stops and having the car reliable which helped us with getting the result. Thank you also to KCK Lubricants and Vic’s Timber for their ongoing support, as well as all the friends and family that help out in the pits and come along to the races. We are looking forward to getting back on the track soon!
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Jake Camilleri – #36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS – Class C winner
It was a great weekend for us with a bit of home ground advantage, I guess. The little Mazda MPS ran faultlessly like it always does, and it was a good weekend. It was shame we didn’t get the full two hours on Saturday night but even so there was plenty of track time which was great. Thank you to my team, Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture, for all their effort. It was a wonderful weekend.
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
John Connolly – #35 RaceAway Track Time Nissan Pulsar – Class D winner with Phil Alexander
It was a really well organised event, one of the highlights of the season with a great group of men and women involved. There was really tight racing too, which I got a particularly good view of because I was at the back of the field! It was good that unlike six others we were able to finish the race – to win, you first have to finish! Thank you to my co-driver, Phil Alexander, and also Ian, our crew boss.
Photo: Speed Shots Photography
Shane Fowler and Dion Pangalos – #31 SpeedSales.com.au Mazda 3 SP23 – Class E winners
Shane:
It was a really good weekend. We had some little dramas, and Dion didn’t finish this morning’s race after breaking the front hub, but other than that, we had a good time. Troy gave us a pretty good car and the guys at Prime Motorsport looked after it and us really well. Neither Dion or I had been to QR before, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the Fight in the Night in particular, I love night racing. Thank you to Shane’s Signs, Pro Pamphlets and SpeedSales.com.au for their support.
Dion:
I thoroughly enjoyed the circuit and the racing and will be back sooner rather than later. The night racing is both scary and intoxicating, I can’t describe it, but you just have to go back and do more. It is a acquired taste and really nice. Thank you to everyone for organising the event and making us feel welcome, we definitely will be back for more.
Photo: Speed Shots Photography