SANDOWN SATURDAY HOSTS THRILLING BATTLES FOR MOBIL 1 APC

09 Sep SANDOWN SATURDAY HOSTS THRILLING BATTLES FOR MOBIL 1 APC

Saturday at Sandown Raceway hosted two 30-minute races for the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars competitors, with two further races set to hit the track tomorrow to round out what is round four of the 2023 season for the category.

It was a highly successful day for Grant Sherrin (#27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4) and the #25 TyrePlus Burleigh Ford Mustang of Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns, with these entries taking 1^st and 2^nd for APC outright and the Class X and A2 wins respectively across both races.

Third for APC outright was split between Cameron Crick in the A1 #118 DA Campbell Transport Mitsubishi Evo X he shares with Dean Campbell, and Class X racer Iain Sherrin in the #72 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4, with the older of the Sherrin brothers second in Class X for both races and 5^th outright in race one.

Also enjoying ‘clean sweeps’ of their Saturday were Chris Holdt (#51 Lithostone Surfaces Holden Commodore – B2), Jake Camilleri (#36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS – C) and Sam Silvestro (#55 S-Sport Racing Mazda RX8 – D), each taking out their class wins in both races.

While the race one A1 victory went to the #118, the race two class honours were claimed by Hadrian Morrall in the #9 Parramatta Vehicle Services Mitsubishi Evo X he is sharing with co-driver Tyler Mecklem, with Morrall taking the class race two win over the race one winning #118 from 8^th outright. The #9 was third in class and 8^th outright for race one, with Tyler Mecklem at the wheel.

Campbell struck trouble early in race two with contact with fellow A1 racer Paul Buccini (#71 Team Buccini Racing BMW M140i), who had taken second in class and 6^th outright in race one.

The contact into turn one left the Evo stuck on the kerb before being able to resume under its own power to go to the pits and then continue racing to gather second in class and 11^th outright for APC, while Buccini had to be trailered back under safety car conditions with a broken right hand steering arm. Buccini is currently trying to source spare parts so he can return for Sunday’s running.

In A2, while Cowham and Kearns dominated in their Mustang, Tony Levitt took 2^nd and 3^rd in class and 4^th and 5^th outright, with the 3^rd place in race two following a wild moment on the safety car restart that saw him spear off track at full steam at turn one in the #16 AMG Spare Parts Mercedes C63 AMG  before coming back across the track in front of oncoming traffic, including Morrall who had to brake to take evasive action. Levitt would eventually come to a stop on the inside of turn one, before resuming under his own power.

Crossing the line ahead of him in class and outright (4^th) in race two was Brian Callaghan in the #37 Callaghan Concrete Pumps Holden Commodore VY. In race one, Callaghan was caught in late race contact with GT4 Australia competitor Karl Begg which was deemed as a racing incident by officials post-race, taking third in class from 7^th outright.

In Class C, Camilleri took the race one class win from 11^th outright over Allan Jarvis (#70 TOA75D Motorsport VW Polo GTi – 12^th outright) and Chris Gunther in the #15 Wahlstrom Financial Services BMW E87 10i he shares with Mitch Randall (13^th outright) in race one.

In the second outing, Camilleri won from 9^th outright while second in class C went to Randall (10^th outright). Jarvis meanwhile had withdrawn from any further participation in the weekend, following a broken brake rotor in race one.

Michael Rowell in the #3 Rowell Logistics Ford Mustang was fourth in A2 and 9^th outright for APC in race one, before missing race two due to a broken driveshaft – he is expected to return for Sunday.

Rounding out the runners for A2 in both races was the #6 Stillwell Family Racing Ford Mustang of Michael Stillwell. Stillwell finished 5^th and 4^th in class and 10^th and 6^th outright for APC across the two outings.

Sunday will host two further races for the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars, which is sharing its grid with Monochrome GT4 Australia this year. They will hit the track at 9.50am and 1.25pm, with the final race of the weekend to be televised on Stan Sport.

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