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FERNANDO ALONSO and Sergio Perez thoroughly enjoyed their short time behind the wheel of a Supercars Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore at Albert Park. Alonso jumped behind the wheel of Randle’s Tickford Racing Mustang and loved the sound of the V8 engine, maybe a little too much as he had a minor off track excursion at Turn 1. “It’s between a GT3 and a NASCAR,” Alonso explained. “It’s heavier and softer on the corners, but then you feel the power, the V8… the noise is amazing.” DM
SUPERCAR DRIVERS are beginning to admit an uncomfortable truth – they can’t beat Shane van Gisbergen. Australian Grand Prix podium getters Will Davison and David Reynolds were asked whether they had any power to overcome the championship leader’s blistering pace. The answer was a tough one to take for the field. “No-one’s car performance is up to his,” Reynolds said. “I don’t think he can be beaten,” Shell V-Power Racing veteran Davison added. “Our car is not quick enough in race trim. He’s cruising in the straights.” JN
WILL DAVISON is remaining calm despite being frustrated with a lack of race pace that is preventing he and his team from challenging for wins. The Shell V-Power Racing driver finished second twice over the course of the four-race Australian Grand Prix weekend, however there is extra incentive for Davison to stand on the top step as he has not done so since 2016. “Of course, I’m frustrated,” Davison said. “All in all, there’s plenty of positives to take out of the weekend.” JN
CHAZ MOSTERT credits his pit crew for creating the gap that helped him to a Race 9 win at Albert Park. Mostert’s stop was crucial as it released him ahead of race leaders Shane van Gisbergen, Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale. Mostert assumed the effective lead of the race, which he extended from then on. “Our team with the pitstop was just absolutely amazing. It gave me a bit of breathing room coming out,” Mostert said. JN SEVEN MEMBERS of the Erebus Academy were given the opportunity to test a Supercar at Winton Raceway last week. National up and comers Jaylyn Robotham, Jay Hanson, Reef McCarthy, Jobe Stewart, and Bailey Sweeny were joined by reigning Queensland Formula Ford Champion Cameron McLeod and TCR New Zealand Touring Car Championship runner-up Jordan Michels for the occasion. Each driver trialled the Mercedes-powered Erebus Holden Commodore, completing three sessions throughout the day with coaching from Erebus co-driver Jack Perkins. JN
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TEAM 18 MORE COMPETITIVE THAN LAST YEAR THIS YEAR Team 18 has not yet fired out of the blocks as it did in 2021 but, despite this, former Bathurst 1000 winner and Supercars Champion Mark Winterbottom believes that his ZB Commodore is actually more competitive than last year. Team 18 and in particular Winterbottom started last year strongly, recording three top five finishes and six top 10s in the first three rounds, going on on to finish 10th in the championship. The season has not started so well this year with four top 10s and no top fives in the first three rounds. Nevertheless, Winterbottom is adamant his car is more competitive than it was this time last year. “I think speed-wise we’re going better for me than last year,” he told Auto Action. “I had a sixth in qualifying at Sydney Motorsport Park, I had P3 at Tassie and would have gone front row when the red flag came out. “It’s just little things ... pit stop at Tassie we lost a couple of spots and stuff like that. “Our qualifying pace here wasn’t as strong but with our race pace we should have been top 10 all weekend if we didn’t have a few blunders. “Car-wise we’re doing okay; a few other things are letting us down at the moment. We’ll work on that, it’s easier to fix that side than it is to make your car faster. “I think we’re going okay, but we’re still probably fifth to tenth, not top five.” There was a lot of personnel changes at Team 18 in the off season and Winterbottom
Image: Motorsport Images believes that everyone in the team is settling into their new roles. “People look at the sport as just equipment, but there’s people, and people change; there’s experience and there’s inexperience; there’s lots of factors. We didn’t get it right this weekend a couple of times,” he explained. The next round of the Supercars Championship takes place at Wanneroo Raceway in Perth and Winterbottom feels that he and teammate Scott Pye should do well there. “Perth should be good for us, as should
Darwin – we just have to get better at our weak tracks,” he expressed. “We haven’t been to Perth for a couple of years – it’ll been a good test to see where we are at. “Perth gets used a fair bit locally, the sand blows across the track and it degrades a lot. It’ll good to go back – Perth is one of the most popular races on the calendar. “Last time we were there, there was no tyre deg and blistering like here; when we go back it should have calmed down.” Dan McCarthy
JACOBSON BELIEVES MORE TOP 10S ARE AROUND THE CORNER ONE OF the surprise performances of the Australian Grand Prix weekend in the Supercars paddock was Garry Jacobson who scored three top 10 finishes with the PremiAir Racing team – but why was he so quick and can it be replicated? Jacobson explained that the team reset after a difficult round in Tasmania and that was the main contribution to the success in Melbourne. “We missed a couple of mechanical things that weren’t necessarily car handling things at Symmons Plains,” Jacobson told Auto Action. “It was obviously the thing to fix, which is good, and we had a pretty hard chat after the round. “We had a new gearbox, we had a new steering rack, and all of a sudden, I could go out and actually drive the car properly. “It shows that when everything’s good, we can be competitive and that just shows that the car setup was far from the issue for us. It was just making sure that everything was reset – we had another go at things and I was able to go out there and go quicker straightaway.” After struggling for straight-line speed in Tasmania, at Albert Park, Jacobson set the
Image: Motorsport Images fastest speed of anyone throughout the weekend, and this was giving him tenths of a second straight away. “We achieved more straight-line speed so, naturally, the pressure was off me a little bit – I wasn’t trying to play catch up all the time,” he explained. “At Symmons Plains we were up to 10km/h an hour slower down the end of each straight. The extra straight-line speed helps me save my tyres too.” Jacobson believes that the Australian Grand Prix track is a bit of an outlier as a fast-flowing circuit and knows it will not be a given that the team will in the top 10 in Perth – however he is confident that the team can steadily move forward. “All of those elements I mentioned before have probably given the category a bit of a surprise to see my results improve so quick,” he said.
“I’m more than aware that this is one track out of the year, the motivation from Symmons Plains was we can’t be at the back of the field ... we have to keep improving. “We wanted to implement the same focus and processes that Triple Eight do in-house and bring it into our own facility, which we will eventually have. “We’re excited to ruffle a few feathers on the grid to try and fight for those championship points against the Tickford and DJR cars – if we can keep pushing, I believe that we can do that too. “We want to work closely with Broc and Shane this year, that’s our intention. “We know that we wouldn’t be able to have a car that’s competitive without their support and the relationship is very strong and in a good position at the moment.” Dan McCarthy
Image: Motorsport Images
RANDLE EXPECTS RESULTS TO IMPROVE TICKFORD RACING debutant Thomas Randle has not had the start to the season he would have wanted – however believes he has had pace to be in and around the top 10 in the last two rounds. So far in his rookie season Randle has yet to convert a race into a top 10 finish – however he has been up the pointy end at times. Twice at the Australian Grand Prix he started inside the top 10, including a second row start for the final race. However, through mechanical issues and strategy mistakes he’s been unable to convert it to solid top 10 race finish. “To be honest, this is probably the unluckiest season I’ve ever had,” he said to Auto Action at the Australian Grand Prix.
“It’s obviously frustrating because we definitely I feel like every round we’re getting better and better and we’ve certainly showed this week that we had really good car speed. “I feel like best case scenario, if everything went right, we’d probably be in the 10 to 12 bracket. But everyone’s got a story up and down pit lane, I’m not the only one who had dramas.” The former Super2 Series winner is however delighted to see that round upon round he making steps with his race engineer. “We are getting stronger and stronger – at Tassie we finished 12th in the last race and that was quite legitimate,” he expressed. “Then our race pace at the Grand Prix has
been quite strong – in some races we’ve had top five pace. “There’s just a lot of things that aren’t going our way at the moment. They’re things that you don’t want to happen, but it just makes you stronger, doesn’t it? “Ray Lau and myself, are working really well together, we had Nathanial Osborne join us this weekend for the first three days of the AGP, which I thought was really good for Ray and him to bounce ideas off each other – it certainly felt like we were really competitive. “It’s just a shame for the team that we just can’t catch a break. We did have our best result yesterday, which was 11th, but I thought today, we could have had a top five finish.”
6 HOUR A HIT AUSTRALIAN RACING Group (ARG) CEO Matt Braid has celebrated a recordbreaking weekend at the 2022 Bathurst 6 Hour. The event promised much, with 70 entries for the 6 Hour gathered prior to the Easter weekend, and delivered in spades as crowds flocked to Mount Panorama for a packed three days of racing. A total of 18,422 fans attended and saw a race that will be remembered for the herculean efforts of Cameron Hill and Tom Sargent, who climbed from last to win the 6 Hour in their BMW M2. The support categories also played their part, headlined by the TCR Australia Series and Trans Am Series. All in all, Braid was
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Image: Kalisz-ARG thrilled with how the event panned out. “I think we were really pleased with it,” Braid told Auto Action. “The crowd was up on last year, the racing was good. “In the 6 Hour race there was a great battle towards the end, and a couple of young kids in a fast car working their way
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from the back to the front. “We were disappointed not to get the record field – we would have liked to get that. “Last year was the first 6 Hour under ARG ownership and we thought we lifted the bar from the previous events. This year, we were able to even lift it up a little bit further.”
Randle sits a disappointing 23rd in the championship but is extremely confident that luck will come his way. In Perth Randle targets a couple more solid qualifying results, a track where he has historically gone well at in Super2. “I’d love to get some more top 10 qualifying results; that would be a really good step for us and anything better would be a bonus,” Randle said. “We’re showing that we can be quite strong, as long as I put the lap together. “I’d rather that and having things go wrong preventing us from a good result than just having no idea why we’re slow. We’ve got speed and we’re having bad luck, but I’m sure the luck will turn.” Dan McCarthy
Fans have also reacted positively to the event so far, as the early verdict arrives. “It’s mostly positive,” Braid summarised. “They’ve said it was organised quite well, access to the event was good. I think in some cases we had food stalls in areas where they weren’t really required. “We’ll continue to optimise how the event is presented and how the fans are catered for.” Looking to the future, Braid does not believe that too much tinkering with the traditional Bathurst enduro formula is necessary. “I think we’re the level of what we saw on the weekend is what we want to present going forward and we’ll look at making a few changes here and there but really nothing too dramatic,” Braid concluded. “We really want to preserve the amateur feeling of the event, it’s got its own soul.” Josh Nevett
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86S TO SUPPORT BATHURST 12 HOUR
THE ONE-make Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series has been added to the Bathurst 12 Hour support card. The event is less than a month away, set to take place from May 13-15 and will be the first of two rounds that the Toyotas will race at The Mountain this year, the second to come at the Bathurst 1000 in October. Round 2 will take place over the Bathurst
12 Hour weekend containing races 4, 5 and 6 of the 2022 series. It has also been announced that the inaugural Australia Toyota 86 Racing Series winner Will Brown will race as a guest-driver during the Bathurst 12 Hour weekend. The TGRA 86 Series will feature on the Friday and Saturday of the 12-hour event, with practice, qualifying and Race 1 taking
place on Friday, before the final two affairs on Saturday. The Toyota’s join the pocket-rocket Aussie Racing Cars and Combined Sedans on the Bathurst 12 Hour support program. Organisers have confirmed that the full event schedule will be released this week. The 86s’ first appearance at the Bathurst 12 Hour next months is followed by the Townsville 500, the Sandown SuperSprint
before making its second trek to Mount Panorama. The opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park in March was dominated by Lachlan Gibbons, scoring pole position and going on to win all three races. He leads Zach Bates and Jobe Stewart in the standings with Bailey Sweeny and Jarrod Hughes completing the top five in the standings. Dan McCarthy
PARETTA AND DE SILVESTRO TEAM UP FOR INDYCAR RETURN PARETTA AUTOSPORT has announced that it will run a partial IndyCar Series campaign this year, putting Simona De Silvestro behind the wheel of a Chevrolet provided by Ed Carpenter Racing. The #16 Kiwi Co.-backed Paretta Autosport machine will enter a minimum of three rounds at Road America, Mid-Ohio and Nashville, with Team Owner Beth Paretta eyeing off further rounds later in 2022. Paretta Autosport made its IndyCar debut in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 with De Silvestro in the drivers seat, classified 31st after running as high as 22nd during the race. The team partnered with Team Penske on that occasion but will now receive technical support from Ed Carpenter Racing which has a car available for use at road and street races. Ed Carpenter Racing is running two full-time entries in 2022, driven by Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly. The majority of Paretta’s mostly female crew will return to the squad for the partial 2022 campaign. “I’m proud to announce that we are going to be back with Simona De Silvestro, in a #16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet,” Paretta said. “For 2022, we are announcing that we will be racing at Road America on June 12, Mid-Ohio on July 3, and the streets of Nashville on August 7, and possible added events as our schedules allow. “We had a great first year working with Roger Penske and Team Penske in 2021 as part of the Race for Equality
and Change initiative and since then I have been working on building the right structure and opportunity to continue to grow our team. “This new technical alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing is exciting for us and will allow us to continue to grow and compete in multiple races this season. “We cannot wait to get back on track, and to see fans at each of these new venues.” De Silvestro, who has 69 IndyCar appearances including a podium to her name, was excited to progress the Paretta Autosport project after helping to launch the team last year. “I’m incredibly grateful to Beth that she keeps having the trust in me and to be able to get one step more into our journey that we’ve started together last year at the Indy 500,” De Silvestro said. “I’m excited to get this opportunity and am really looking forward to going to the places we’re going to.
“Associating with Ed Carpenter Racing is going to be great. I think in them we have a great team as well and it’s an association that is really important for us to grow into the future and hopefully a lot more things will happen together. “I’ve been training hard again to get back behind the wheel of an IndyCar, so I’m really looking forward to it.” Josh Nevett
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BARCLAY IN CHARGE MEET BARCLAY NETTLEFOLD – THE MAN WITH THE DISTINCTIVE NAME WHO NOW GUIDES SUPERCARS AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Powerhouse ... from left: Barclay Nettlefold, Supercars CEO Shane Howard, CEO of Formula One Group Stefano Domenicali, Supercars Tech Chief Adrian Burgess, and Motorsport Australia Chairman Andrew Fraser. By Paul Gover IT’S EASY to spot Barclay Nettlefold in the Supercars Paddock at the Australian Grand Prix. He is far better dressed than any of the spectators or team members, in snappy chinos and a sports jacket with not a single corporate logo in sight. He is obviously in a big hurry as he strides confidently across the biggest stage in Australia motorsport. It’s only 8.30am on race-day, but Nettlefold already looks like he is 15 minutes late for his first appointment. Life is like that when you’re the new chairman of Supercars and working to drive the category to new highs. “There is a real passion in motorsport. It’s visceral,” Nettlefold tells Auto Action in his first major interview since the RACE consortium took control of Supercars last year. “It’s one of the only sports that you can get real adrenalin from. Especially when you’re participating. “It’s everything. It’s the sounds, the smell, the speed. The crowd.” Nettlefold has never been a racer but he talks like someone who ‘gets’ motorsport in a way that’s been missing in the past. And he works the same way. He is looking to position Supercars with the right people, the right events, the right connections and a new foresight and commitment. The first step was winning the bid for an ownership change at the head of a consortium that paid an estimated $90 million for the crown jewel in Australian motorsport. Now comes the hard work of tuning and tweaking Supercars into a 21st century entertainment product, leading from the front but also operating as part of a team. “I think I’m more of a cultural leader and networker. I lead through example,” he begins.
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“I’ll create opportunities. I’ll open doors. I’ll be thinking of things two years into the future and where we want to get the sport to. “Where do I want to get it? I want it to be known as one of the premium sports. “I think you’ve got AFL and NRL, I’d like to say rugby union has a fairly niche base and I think we do too. I think the other sports have more of a mass following. “Supercars has an enormous following and an enormous fan base that’s been around for a long time. That’s a lot to work with, because it gives more immediate sets of eyeballs. “But I think we’ve ignored the new fans, and there are a lot of old fans who have moved on. I don’t think they necessarily wanted to move, but they didn’t have the right engagement to be more committed.” It sounds good in theory, but what does it really mean? Nettlefold says it means winning new fans, as Formula One has been doing with all sorts of new activities from the Drive To Survive series on Netflix to greater online connections, and bringing the old fans back. “Bringing the old fans back is probably easier than winning the new ones. That’s a proven fact. Certainly, if we get the right entertainment factor and a bit more consistency in the product, and get the product more relevant to motorsport fans, it will work,” he says. One example, he says, is Supercars own digital product. “We’ve got zero engagement. Our broadcast connection is fantastic, but the infrastructure to leverage data and boost entertainment is way too low. “You cannot even buy a ticket to a Supercars race on our own portal. You have to go to Ticketek.” None of this is new to Nettlefold, who heads a giant media empire with around 2000 employees. How big?
“ ”
“It’s one of the only sports that you can get real adrenalin from. Especially when you’re participating... ”
The Mustang is half of the Gen3 Supercars package.
“We’ve got three core businesses. One is the outdoor media business in Australia called QMS. It’s the leading digital business for out-of-home advertising. It’s billboards, basically. “The second piece is Media Works in New Zealand, which is largely radio and digital. We’ve got 60 per cent of the radio business in New Zealand. “The third part is TGI Sport, which is the global sports media business.” The companies’ turnover is obviously in the hundreds of millions and Nettlefold is also doing nicely. He lives in one of Melbourne’s swankier bayside suburbs, is married with three sons, has some exotic road cars and could be described as a solid member of the ‘Club Melbourne’ group that gets things done in the city.
Crucially, he has invested his own money in Supercars. “I have my own cash involved. Absolutely,” he says. It’s cash that came from a lifetime of success in business, but there is also a deep involvement in top-level sports. “I was born in Battery Point in Hobart. We came over from Tasmania when I was very young, like two-years-old,” Nettlefold begins. “So I was born in Tasmania but spent all my life in Melbourne – although I spent 12 years in Asia, developing our media company. “At that time it was called Eye Corp. We sold it to Channel 10 in 2000. A long time back. “My hobby is boating, both sailing and motor. I used to sail competitively.
Nettlefold has never been a racer but he talks like someone who ‘gets’ motorsport, he is looking to position Supercars with the right people and the right events,.
Images: Motorsport Images/Mark Horsburgh-Supercars I was Australian champion when I was a kid, in the Soling, Etchell and Star classes. “I went to the pre-Olympics in 1987. But Colin Beashel made the Olympics in 1988 and ended up staying for five games. It’s pretty cut-throat. He ended up carrying the flag for Australia at the game. “So sport is in my blood. My mother was vice-captain of Australia in hockey and my father was three-times Australian high diving champion.” But sport does not pay the bills, which is why Nettlefold worked hard on his education. “I studied accounting and marketing at Monash University. I started in a media company with my father, straight out of university. He sold that and retired when he was in his sixties. He is in the hall of fame in the advertising sector.” If this all sounds like a family of overachievers, in all areas of life, it is. And Supercars is not the first time in the driving seat for Nettlefold. “My father was also a swimming coach when I was young and my sons were Australian champion swimmers. I followed them to swimming pools and got involved in the administration of sport. I had three years on the board of Swimming Victoria and two years at Swimming Australia.
After a successful F1 GP weekend, could there be more F1 on the horizon for Supercars?
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NATIONALS WRAP COTTON SEASON UNDERWAY WITH LESS than half the runs available Dean Tighe (pictured) posted the fastest outright time in the second round of the Queensland Hillclimb Series at Mt Cotton on April 2-3. It was the first outing for the year after the first round was postponed due to floods. Brett Bull (supercharged Kawasakipowered Van Diemen RF03K) was the pacesetter from the outset ahead of Warwick Hutchinson (OMS 28 RPV03/ Rotary turbo), and set his best time on his eighth attempt. Tighe (Wrath Empire/supercharged Hayabusa) had not been out the first four runs and only managed to better Bull’s time with a 37.29s FTD on sixth and final effort to be 0.26s ahead. With Hutchinson the next best, 0.91s away, the top three spots were filled by 1.3 litre and over Formula Libre cars. Fourth place went Jim Millner (OMS 2000M) and the winner of the up to 1.3lt Formula Libres which filled six positions. David Quelch (Homebuilt DPQ03) was next in front of Doug Daniels (NuTec), Mitchel Allwood (Energy Firecat), Jeff Daniels (Nu Tec) and Stephen Edwards (GS Yamaha R6FL). The first of the tin tops was Gavin Taylor in his Volkswagen Golf Sports Sedan up to 2.0lt, 0.04s ahead of class rival Tyson Cowie
Image: Ian Colley
Image: Ian Colley (Ford Escort), and Glenn Anable (BMW 2002 Turbo) in over 2.0lt Sports Sedans. Then followed James Heymer (Supersports/
Sports 1300 Farrell), and Ken Graham (Improved Production Datsun 1600 SSS). While the times did not count to the overall
result, the end-of-day Top Six runoff was won by Tighe ahead of Bull, Milliner, Quelch, Daniels and Edwards. Garry O’Brien
HOT END TO HILLCLIMB
Image: SCCSA
FOSTER UNBEATEN AT COLLINGROVE THE OPENING round of the Challenge Trophy hillclimb at Collingrove on March 27 was won by Derek Foster in his up to 2.0 litre Formula Libre class Suzukipowered White. The Sporting Car Club of South Australia’s event followed a Come and Try meeting on the day before, and had 78 entries for the one-day event where nine runs were available on the 750m course. Foster was the only one to go sub-30s and he did it on four of the six runs he undertook with the best a 29.58s effort. Second went to David Whiteside in Roy Mitchie’s Mazda V6 twin turbo Cheap BOSS, 2.3s behind while 0.7s up on the car owner in third spot. They finished one-two in F/L 3.5-5.0lt. In fourth place was the first of the tin tops,
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David Coombe and his Road Registered 4WD up to 3.5lt Mitsubishi EVO 7. Nathan Green (RR 4WD over 3.5lt Nissan Skyline GTR) ahead of Luke Bosman (EVO X) who was second in class to Coombe. In his Sports Sedan Datsun 1200 Coupe, Geoff Vardon was seventh, just 0.01s ahead of Joe Chaptini (RR 4WD up to 3.5lt Audi S3), Alex Wilson (Improved Production Audi A4) and Tania Langcake (Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD Rally Car). The Road Registered 2WD Sedans and Sports Cars had the biggest numbers and also the closest results. In up to 2.0lt, Graham Smith (Lotus Elise) edged out John Taylor (Alfa Romeo 47) by 0.16s while the up to 3.5lt class there was 0.29s between Paul Kloppers (Hyundai i30N) and Damien Hirst (Toyota Yaris GR). Garry O’Brien
THERE WAS an early finish to the first round of the Ray Pank Winter Cup Hillclimb Series at Collingrove on April 10 due to a grass fire. Most of the 49 competitors did manage five runs before they were evacuated from the complex. The fire was contained in the Collingrove facility, and burnt out some old dying gum trees and damaged tyre barriers. While there is damage, at this stage it looks like the Sporting Car Club of South Australia will be able to continue with its schedule of events. In five runs undertaken, David Mahon (pictured) continued his domination of recent events at Collingrove. In his Dallara Hayabusa F394 he was never
headed. In four attempts he was under the 30s mark and had FTD at 28.36s. Driving Roy Michie’s Cheap BOSS, David Whiteside was second quickest overall on 32.74s. Michie was next best four tents slower and fractionally quicker than the fastest tin top which was Paul Healey in a Mitsubishi EVO 8. In fifth place was Nathan Green (Nissan Skyline GTR), a tenth ahead of David Coombe (EVO 7) while Brenton Byfield (Subaru WRX Sports Wagon) was seventh. A last run best effort for Mark Dixon (WRX) elevated him ahead Wayne Fitzpatrick (Nissan 180SX), Alex Wilson (Audi A4) and Sean Hayter (Chev Corvette) who was the first in the 35s bracket. Garry O’Brien
Image: Bob Taylor
Images: Riccardo Benvenuti
Images: Riccardo Bienvenuti
MAGILTON BEST OF HUMONGOUS HQS A MAMMOTH field of 53 HQ Holdens converged on Mt Panorama over Easter as a support to the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour, vying for the Dale Youd Perpetual Trophy that Victorian Andrew Magilton (pictured above) took home after a second and a win. Throughout qualifying Magilton and Brett Osborn swapped fastest times as they circulated together before the NSW driver claimed pole
for the first race. Osborn doggedly held off Andrew Magilton all the way through Race 1 while Brandon Madden passed Joel Heinrich on the fifth and final lap to take third. Then followed Brock Mitchell after he passed Ben Simpson on the second lap. Behind Simpson came Jason Molle who gave the Murray Corner tyre wall a nudge and brought out the Safety Car for two laps.
Phil Ashlin finished sixth, ahead of Darryl Crouch, James Flett, Andrew McLeod and Andrew Toth. Just out the top 10 were Darren Jenkins, Chris Molle, Ray Jardine, Dion Cidoni and Dave Allan. Osborn took the lead at the outset of Race 2 until a brake lock-up at Forrest Elbow and a brush with the tyre wall dropped him to eighth by the end of the first lap. Magilton went through to the front, just
ONE RESULT FOR HISTORICS
A RED flagged race and fog conspired to only allow one race result for the Historic Cars at Bathurst over the Easter weekend. That lone contest was won by West Australian Aldo De Paoli (above) in his Chev Camaro. The Bathurst 6 Hour support category comprised of mainly Group Nb and Nc Historic Touring Cars together with a small participation of Production Sports Groups Sb and Sc. Fastest qualifier Brad Tilley (Nc Ford Mustang) took charge from the outset ahead of his son Jamie (Nb Mustang), Peter O’Brien (Ford Falcon XY GT), De Paoli, Darren Collins (Camaro), Keith Kassulke (Mustang) and Wayne Seabrook (Sc Porsche 911 Carrera). Jamie Tilley did not complete
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the second lap, retiring with a broken gear linkage. Tilley Snr led comfortably until the final circuit where lapped traffic and a brake drama conspired allowed De Paoli to close. He was within striking distance at The Chase and mounted a successful lead challenge into the final corner. Collins was third after he passed O’Brien midway through. Kassulke was next as Seabrook topped Adam Walton (Nc Mustang) in their dice. Then followed John Harrison (Sb Shelby GT350), Doug Barbour (911) and Graeme Woolhouse (Nb Mustang). Just 0.3s behind the latter was Dale Parry (Nc Mustang) with 12th to Stephen Scales (Camaro) next in front of the Mustangs driven
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by Jack Harrison, Andrew Lane and Michael Rose. Michael Miceli (Mustang) stopped with low oil pressure, Luke Harrison’s Holden Monaro HT was stuck in gear, as Les Walmsley (Ford Cortina) and Wayne Potts (Datsun 280Z) retired with electrical gremlins. Brad Tilley pulled out of Race 2 before the rolling start when the brakes locked on. De Paoli led from the start until the race was red flagged on lap four. Stephen Scales (Camaro) was parked on the run to Forrest Elbow and there was contact between Steve Shepard (Mazda RX2) and Bryan Taylor (911) at Hell Corner. The scheduled third race consisted of laps behind the Safety Car because of dense fog. Garry O’Brien
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ahead of Heinrich, Ashlin, Madden, Simpson, Crouch and Toth. Magilton led the first two laps before Heinrich slipped past into the lead that he held for the next two circuits. Magilton wasn’t done and regathered the front running on the final lap for the win. Osborn fought back to third ahead of Ashlin, Crouch and Simpson. Toth was seventh ahead of Chris Molle, Jenkins and Cidoni. In 11th
was Shaun Boland from Allan, Glenn Deering, Matt Barker, Jardine, Steve Banks and Ken Wright who continued to progress after starting Race 1 rear of grid. The third race was scheduled for Sunday morning but became a 15min cruise behind the Safety Car due to fog that covered Conrod Straight from Forrest Elbow to Murrays Corner. Garry O’Brien
INWOOD AT HOME ON THE MOUNT
BATHURST LOCAL Harry Inwood was the overall winner of the MRF Tyres Australian Pulsar Racing Association’s support races on Easter Saturday at Mt Panorama. A fleet of 37 Nissan Pulsars took on the mountain for the first time. Inwood (pictured) headed the two practice sessions and qualifying. It appeared he would be hard to toss in the three races that followed. But he was beaten to the line in the first two races before he scored victory in the final race and claimed the one make category’s major honour. In a great opening encounter, Josh Craig was the initial leader but was third on the road as they started the fourth of five laps when Inwood led, and Jamie Craig was second. Josh Craig passed his brother on Mountain Straight, stalked Inwood across the top, and slipped past him on Conrod. Almost instantly the yellow flags were out for Damon Schofield off in the Chase, and the chequered flag came out a lap early. Jamie Craig took third in front of Dan Smith, 2021 state series winner Tim Colombrita, Dimitri Agathos, Shane Tate, Ben Sheedy, Mark Crutcher
and 10th placed Gavan Reynolds. In Race 2 Josh Craig held off Inwood throughout for a second win. But he was penalised postrace for weaving and relegated to fifth for the final. Thus, second went to Jamie Craig ahead of Smith, Colombrita. Sixth was Tate in front of Reynolds, Sheedy, Scott Tidyman and Chris Manning. Inwood managed a break from the rest at the start and despite a Safety Car period, had enough in hand to take out the feature. Josh Craig came out on top in the scrap for second as Smith and Jamie Craig relegated Colombrita. The full course yellows were out when Matt Early, Damon Schofield and Ben Hanrahan came together in the run to the Cutting. Reynolds edged out Tate for sixth and they were chased to the line by Manning, Sheedy and Tidyman. Garry O’Brien
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