02 Aug SON OF A TIGER READY FOR APC DEBUT THIS WEEKEND
The son of a tiger will make his Australian Production Cars debut at Queensland Raceway this weekend (August 5-7): series newcomer Amar Sharma is the second son of former V8 Utes racer Raj Sharma, who competed under the moniker “The Tiger”.
Sharma is set to tackle the second round of the 2022 APC season – including the infamous Fight in the Night – where he will share a Ford Fiesta with Daniel Natoli in Class D. While Natoli is vastly knowledgeable in a plethora of categories, Sharma is less experienced, although he has been racing on and off since 2014.
He started in open wheeler racing with a Formula BMW in India before he competed in the Australian Swift Racing Series. He took in ten races for ninth overall.
After a motor racing sabbatical, Sharma returned to racing in 2020 in the Queensland Excel Cup series, and followed through to 2021. That also included taking part in the Excel Bathurst Challenge over Easter that year.
But Excel racing took its toll. “I was sick of getting bashed around,” he said. So he decided to try his hand at Production Car racing.
He joined the Champ Suzuki Racing Team who had three Suzuki Swift Sport Rs entered in Class E. Sharma joined Ian Aplin and Karlie Buccini for third in class and 41st outright in a field of 61.
Determined to stay in Production Cars, Sharma and Natoli purchased a Ford Fiesta from Dave Homer but missed the first round of this year’s championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.
“The car was still getting the dry brake fuel system fitted,” he explained.
“Daniel and I have become quite close, and he has been of enormous help and mentor to me since I started racing again. We had also had success together in local enduro races previously, so purchasing the car and teaming up with him for the upcoming ‘Fight in the Night’ as well as the APC Season was logical.”
“To be honest I didn’t know much about the race, but I love night races and like the enduro concept. After a test day in July, we competed at the recent round of the state series at Queensland Raceway where the races happened after sunset.”
“From what I understand the ‘Fight in the Night’ is spectacular to look at with the LEDs. I don’t know what we will do as yet, maybe we will have lights on the car if permitted,” he added.
Sharma and Natoli will line up in Class D with their focused opposition being class rival James Keene in his Mini R56 JCW – not that Sharma is ruling out a challenge on the Class C BMW and Hyundai.
“Our times are not far off what I have seen of theirs, so it is not out of the question that we can be racing them for postion,” he concluded.
Round two of the 2022 APC will hit Queensland Raceway across August 5-7 as part of the latest event for the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships. It will feature two 30-minute races (Saturday morning and Sunday morning) and the 300km night Fight in the Night on Saturday evening for all APC competitors.
For more information on the Australian Production Cars, visit www.ausprodcars.com.au or contact Troy Williams on troy@ausprodcars.com.au
2022 APC DATES:
Round one – Sydney Motorsport Park – May 27-29 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
Round two – Phillip Island – June 25-26 – four x one-hour races
Round three – Queensland Raceway – August 5-7 – two x 30-minute races, 1 x 300km race
Round four – Tailem Bend – October 21-23 – four x one-hour races
Round five – Mount Panorama – November 11-13 – four x 30-minute races