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TWO FROM TWO FOR JUNIOR JOHNSON
STEVEN JOHNSON completed a Saturday sweep in the ENZED Touring Car Masters at Symmons Plains today – claiming two victories pole position and the lap record in the Dunlop Super Dealer Ford Mustang.
On his debut in the category Johnson broke free of the chasing pack in the early stages of both 12-lappers and lowered the lap record with a 56.82s in the opening race.
The only hairy moment for the ex-V8 Supercar pilot occurred on the opening lap of race one where Gavin Bullas almost took out both front-running Mustangs on cold brakes at turn three.
Tasmania’s Greg Crick flew the local flag strongly in the afternoon race after spinning from 3rd in the closing stages this morning. The Mopar Performance Chrysler Charger was scored as the runner up in race two.
Eddie Abelnica piloting the Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars XB Coupe continued his strong start to the year with a pair of 3rd place finishes around the 2.4 kilometre course.
Brett Youlden was a mainstay in the top-5 during both races with the Autoline Spark Plugs Monaro suited well to the tricky Tasmania circuit.
After brushing the fence in the early stages of race one the Valiant Pacer of Cameron Tilley crossed the line 5th in race two for his second top-10 finish of the weekend.
Jason Gomersall was a picture of consistency in both of today’s 12-lap sprint races and finished 7th twice in his iSeek-backed Holden Torana.
Bill Pye Andrew Fisher and Keith Kassulke also recorded top-10 finishes during the Saturday running– banking all-important championship points early in the season.
After a strong run to 2nd place in the opening race this morning Gavin Bullas suffered a mechanical issue mid-way through race two and was forced to pull into the pits. The Victorian appeared to be Johnson’s closest competitor this weekend; however he will have his work cut out starting from the rear of the field in race three tomorrow.
It was a case of mixed fortunes for Mark King and Tony Karanfilovski – with both failing to finish the second race despite competing for the top-5 throughout race one and the majority of race two.
Karanfilovski was en route to another top 6 finish in race two; however a spin at turn three late in the race put his Ford Mustang out of contention.
Following an engine change this morning championship-leader Andrew Miedecke started at the back of the pack in both races. Miedecke impressively picked his way through the field in the afternoon race after failing to finish the first heat with a distributor issue. ÂÂ
Turning his first laps at Symmons Plains since 2005 Glenn Seton endured a tough day in his Thunder Road Racing Ford Mustang after suffering almost identical spins in both races at turn 6. ÂÂ
Jim Richards’ crew appear to have resolved the throttle issues that plagued the Shannons Insurance entry during qualifying – with Richards seeing the chequered flag in 8th place in race two.
After two races Steven Johnson heads the ProMasters class ahead of Abelnica and Crick respectively. In the ProAm class Brett Youlden leads the way from Jason Gomersall and Cameron Tilley whilst Tony Hunter holds the ProSport ascendancy from Leo Tobin.
The Shannons Tasmania Tourist Trophy continues tomorrow with two more races on the program. The final race for championship points gets underway at 12.30pm local time whilst the race four exhibition kicks off after the 84-lap V8 Supercar finale.
You can catch all of the Sunday action live on FOX Motorsport.
Results – Race 1
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap1 18 Dunlop Super Dealers/Wilson Se Steven Johnson (QLD) Mustang Trans Am 5800 12 11:34.2554 3 0:56.8212R2 16 Rain City Industries/Prodrive Gavin Bullas (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5800 12 11:37.8743 3 0:57.2557r3 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 11:45.7915 5 0:57.7297 4 56 Autolite Spark Plugs Brett Youlden (VIC) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 12 11:47.4805 2 0:58.1292 5 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro RS 5800 12 11:47.5669 5 0:57.8409 6 88 TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Mustang Trans Am 5800 12 11:48.2252 6 0:57.9556 7 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) Torana SL/R 5000 5047 12 11:49.0384 5 0:58.1370 8 52 Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 11:54.5539 5 0:58.0191 9 75 Mopar Performance Greg Crick (TAS) Chrysler Charger E55 5570 12 11:56.1422 2 0:57.2007r10 60 Glennan's Transport Cameron Tilley (NSW) Valiant Pacer 4390 12 12:04.0674 3 0:58.4375 11 7 Mick Webb's SVO / calga.biz Bill Pye (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro 5800 12 12:06.8994 9 0:58.6556 12 25 Freestones Transport/Freestone Paul Freestone (VIC) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 12 12:11.2875 4 0:58.1058 13 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) AMC Javelin 5890 12 12:13.8273 6 0:58.4273 14 20 Palmer Promotions Ian Palmer (QLD) Pontiac Trans-Am 5800 12 12:13.9280 8 0:59.7651 15 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5000 12 12:23.2761 4 0:59.6909 16 30 Thunder Road Racing Australia Glenn Seton (QLD) Ford Mustang Coupe 5000 12 12:25.5997 3 0:57.4703r17 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 12 12:27.0533 4 0:58.6257 18 10 Sunliner RV Tony Hunter (VIC) Chevrolet Monza 2+2 5000 12 12:27.6779 4 0:59.8978 19 11 Lion Mill Solutions/Ultra Perf Tony Edwards (VIC) Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 12 12:28.8445 5 1:00.2228 20 38 Shearwater Storage/Penrite Oil Leon Bell (TAS) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 12 12:37.2121 6 1:00.9388 21 74 Mick Webb's SVO / Lyndways Bui Wayne Mercer (VIC) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 11 11:42.5408 6 0:59.3779 22 72 BMR Industries Bruce McLeod (NT) Falcon XA Superbird 5550 10 12:32.7980 2 1:04.4553 DNF 95 Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 9 9:00.4930 7 0:57.4519rDNF 5 Light Car Club of Tasmania John Talbot (TAS) Ford Mustang Coupe 4992 8 8:27.3491 7 1:01.5202
Results - Race 2
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap1 18 Dunlop Super Dealers/Wilson Se Steven Johnson (QLD) Mustang Trans Am 5800 12 11:49.8546 2 0:57.5550*2 75 Mopar Performance Greg Crick (TAS) Chrysler Charger E55 5570 12 11:50.2846 4 0:58.2100 3 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 11:51.7249 2 0:58.1231 4 56 Autolite Spark Plugs Brett Youlden (VIC) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 12 11:58.9590 2 0:59.2083 5 60 Glennan's Transport Cameron Tilley (NSW) Valiant Pacer 4390 12 11:59.0150 6 0:58.5486 6 95 Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 12 12:02.1670 4 0:57.7701 7 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) Torana SL/R 5000 5047 12 12:05.5443 4 0:58.6908 8 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) AMC Javelin 5890 12 12:06.7390 4 0:58.3921 9 7 Mick Webb's SVO / calga.biz Bill Pye (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro 5800 12 12:08.3266 4 0:58.6939 10 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 12 12:11.0733 6 0:58.7775 11 20 Palmer Promotions Ian Palmer (QLD) Pontiac Trans-Am 5800 12 12:13.1534 4 0:59.7958 12 25 Freestones Transport/Freestone Paul Freestone (VIC) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 12 12:15.8239 7 0:58.6405 13 10 Sunliner RV Tony Hunter (VIC) Chevrolet Monza 2+2 5000 12 12:28.8249 4 0:59.9278 14 11 Lion Mill Solutions/Ultra Perf Tony Edwards (VIC) Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 12 12:38.2871 4 1:00.7676 15 30 Thunder Road Racing Australia Glenn Seton (QLD) Ford Mustang Coupe 5000 12 12:38.6950 4 0:57.9726 16 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5000 12 12:39.0207 6 1:00.4607 17 38 Shearwater Storage/Penrite Oil Leon Bell (TAS) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 12 12:42.3768 3 1:01.4490 18 5 Light Car Club of Tasmania John Talbot (TAS) Ford Mustang Coupe 4992 12 12:44.1066 2 1:01.5043 19 74 Mick Webb's SVO / Lyndways Bui Wayne Mercer (VIC) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 12 12:55.3561 6 1:00.5247 DNF 88 TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Mustang Trans Am 5800 11 10:51.8930 8 0:58.2779 DNF 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro RS 5800 11 11:40.3359 6 0:58.1582 DNF 16 Rain City Industries/Prodrive Gavin Bullas (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5800 4 3:54.7233 3 0:57.9281 DNF 52 Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 3 4:25.5542 2 0:58.9269