STRONG START TO THE PENULTIMATE ROUND OF THE SEASON FOR MOBIL 1 APC

14 Oct STRONG START TO THE PENULTIMATE ROUND OF THE SEASON FOR MOBIL 1 APC

The first two of four one-hour Mobil 1 Australia Production Cars endurance races are in the books at The Bend Motorsport Park. Saturday saw two winners from two races, with two safety car periods in race one and a green run all the way home in race two.

The A2 #25 TyrePlus Burleigh Ford Mustang GT entry of Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns was first across the line in race one, while race two belonged to the #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4. The pair would go on to swap places, with Sherrin taking race two honours ahead of Cowham/Kearns.

Grant Sherrin recovered to finish 2nd outright and 1st in Class X in race one after trying to take advantage of the second safety car to change what felt like a tyre losing pressure. However, once in the pits, they discovered this wasn’t the case, and the additional stop was for naught.

Third across the line in races one and two was Chris Lillis/Nathan Callaghan (#64 Bilstein HSV VF Clubsport) and 2nd in class of bumper A2 field, featuring seven cars this weekend.

The A2 #6 Stillwell Family Racing Ford Mustang GT of Michael Stillwell and David Stillwell crossed the line outright 4th/Class 3rd in race one and 10th/6th in race two. Next on the track in race one was Chris Sutton in the #321 321 MotoFit Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (A1 1st), who would go on to claim 6th outright in race two and a class 1st.

Brian Callaghan in the #37 Callaghan Concrete Pumps Holden VY GTS claimed outright 6th and an A2 4th in race one.

The #72 Sherrin Rentals BMW followed in seventh outright (Class X 2nd) in races one and two after strong starts to both races were hampered due to front tyre damage.

Outright 8th in race one belonged to B1’s Karlie Buccini/Courtney Prince (#999 Brisbane Motor Works BMW 135i), the duo crossing the line in outright 12th in race two. A1’s Paul Buccini/Justin Anthony in the #71 Team Buccini Racing BMW M140i picked up a pair of class 2nd and outright 9th places across both races.

Class D’s Liam Moyse (#97 GenFit Toyota 86) rounded out the outright top 10 in race one and followed with 13th in race two, while C’s Christopher Gunther/Mitchell Randall (#15 Wahlstrom Financial Services BMW 130i) took out 11th place in both races. Trevor Symonds in the #666 Wollongong Auto parts Holden VE GTS crossed the line 12th outright in race one (A2 sixth), improving to eighth outright in race 2 (A2 fifth).

Of the three DNFs from race one, both resulted in the only two safety car periods of the day. The first of which was triggered when B2’s #51 Lithostone Surfaces HSV Commodore of Chris Holdt lost oil pressure early in the race.

The second mid-race safety car was called when A2’s #3 Rowell Logistics Ford Mustang GT driven by Michael Rowell, succumbed to an electrical gremlin. The issue was fixed in time for race two, where Rowell crossed the line in outright 5th/class 4th.

Anthony Levitt/Luke King in the #16 AMG Spares Mercedes C63 AMG was the third DNF for race one, unable to secure the required number of laps to finish the race after running into trouble late in the race. He started race two from the rear of the grid and was no doubt much happier with his race two efforts of outright 4th/class 3rd.

While race two saw no safety car interventions, both B. Callaghan and Holdt failed to start due to engine issues, with both racers hoping to line up for Sunday’s races.

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 10.10am and 3.00pm ACDT, with both races to be televised on 7Plus, BlendLine TV, and via Motorsport Australia.

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