entries pulling into the pits and calling it a day – including fourth place qualifiers Dion and Paul. The 300km race was relatively incident free, apart from a clamp down at the midway point to repair the tyre wall after the number 11 car of Nathan Jess and Ryan Reynolds had a bit of an off. Prior to the incident Jess and Reynolds had been in contention for the win. The clamp down provided some the chance to dash in and complete their mandatory 5 minute pit stop and give drivers a much needed break. Nick Leontsinis and Ashley Dodd, in their shared BMW Z3M battled for the lead before with Jimmy and Benny Tran’s Honda Civic, lap after lap for a considerable portion of the race. The two duelling on their way up the front straight to have track position come the first corner. As the race wore on, the biggest challenge for the leaders was picking their way through lapped traffic. The backrunners did their best to give faster cars room and keep to their own game plan for the afternoon. After the number 11 car’s earlier off, Jess and Reynolds fought valiantly to regain the time they lost. Having to pull into the pits during the clampdown to work on the car and fix some cosmetic issues, the 11 car came back into the race several laps down.
The 11 Future Racer car was able to claw back some time, consistently knocking out 59 and 58 second laps and unlapped themselves several times before the final lap. The 11 car dragged the 110 car of Leontsinis and Dodd to the line, but unfortunately not for top honours. The 11 car was still a lap down, but their unbelievable pace had earned them second place. Leontsinis and Dodd, deservedly took the winner’s trophy after a consistent and incident free race, having lead the majority of the 2hours. During their last lap battle with the 11 car, the race winners dipped under the minute mark for the first and only time in the 2 hour race. Third place was the 818 car of Jimmy and Benny Tran, who finished two laps down on the leaders. The Lakeside 300 was the decider in the Queensland Endurance Championship and with his outright win at Lakeside and second at the earlier round at the Willowbank 300, Leontsinis clinched the title. Nick Leontsinis has 12 points over Nathan Jess and then there’s a 21 point gap between Jess and third placed Tony Ross. Ross and his co-driver Chapman came home fourth in Lakeside 300, which backed up his fifth place at the Willowbank 300.
qldraceways.com.au
The Inaugural Lakeside 300, set a high standard for others to follow, with high intensity racing action from lap 1 until lap 120. The historic Lakeside track was a great host for the endurance race and the challenging layout tested and tried competitors for every second of the 2 hour race time.
LAKESIDE 300 RESULTS 1ST N.LEONTSINIS/A.DODD 2ND N.JESS/R.REYNOLDS 3RD J.TRAN/B.TRAN 4TH T.ROSS/P.CHAPMAN 5TH G.MURPHY/P. SHACKLADY 6TH S.MCLENNAN/K. SAMWAY 7TH B.GIBLIN/R.CHASELING 8TH S.GREEN/L.KEARNS 9TH S.HAY/B.SMALLWOOD 10TH H.ESPRAY/R.ESPRAY 11TH M.NOTTAGE/D.LOIACONO 12TH G.WOODWARD/S. SIMPSON 13TH S.CANE/M.CASA 14TH W.CLIFT/D.CLIFT/A. HEFFERNAN
DNF A.JARVIS/B.CROFT DNF D.JARVIS/P.JARVIS
The QuaRterly magazine | 19