News
JOHNSON’S WHITE HOT FORM CONTINUES
STEVEN JOHNSON claimed his third victory from as many races in the ENZED Touring Car Masters this afternoon after another faultless lights-to-flag display.
With no points on offer for the final race of the weekend later this afternoon Johnson also collected the ProMaster class victory for the Shannons Tasmania Tourist Trophy whilst Cameron Tilley and Tony Hunter led the way in the ProAm and ProSport classes respectively.
The Dunlop Super Dealers entry once again hit turn one first on the opening lap however ‘Mustang Sally’ was far from unchallenged as Greg Crick fought tooth and nail to put his Chrysler Charger in front.
Crick reduced the margin to within one second during the closing stages; however the Tasmanian was narrowly denied a popular victory in front of his home fans by just three tenths of a second. ÂÂ
Cameron Tilley continued to impress in his head-turning Valiant Pacer – the New South Welshman seeing the chequered flag in 3rd place to record his best result of the weekend.
After a difficult start to the round Jim Richards hauled his AMC Javelin into contention during race three and was scored a close 4th behind Tilley.
Bill Pye continued to dice with the frontrunners in his Chevrolet Camaro rounding out the top-5 for a net gain of four positions over 12 laps.
Paul Freestone put in an impressive drive in race three – improving to 6th position having placed 12th in race two yesterday.
Andrew Fisher rewarded his Jesus Racing crew with his 2nd consecutive top-10 finish – coming home 7th in the thundering Falcon XY GTHO.
Glenn Seton held his confidence despite a couple of spins yesterday to complete the race as the runner-up Ford Mustang in 8th.
Symmons Plains-specialist Gavin Bullas rebounded strongly in his Ford Boss Mustang after retiring with a mechanical issue in race two working his way into 9th ahead of Mark King.
The race featured plenty of action at turn 4 – with Jason Gomersall and Wayne Mercer both finding trouble at the hairpin in separate incidents on the 4th lap.
After charging through the field in his Whiteline Transport Racing machine Andrew Mediecke couldn’t wipe off enough speed to negotiate the hairpin at the midpoint of the 12-lapper and was forced to let the entire field pass before rejoining the circuit. He finished on the lead lap in 19th place.
Tony Karanfilovski had a major scare at the beginning of the formation lap; however the TIFS Warehousing and Distribution driver eventually got his Mustang rolling and finished just outside the top-10.
Eddie Abelnica was in contention for his third top-3 finish of the weekend; however the Victorian fell back to 14th place after an eventful 12 laps.
The hard-luck story of the race was Brett Youlden – who experienced a considerable mechanical issue with the left front of his HQ Monaro Coupe and retired from the race on lap 2.
The ENZED Touring Car Masters will return to the Symmons Plains circuit for a non-points exhibition race scheduled for 4.30pm this afternoon.
Results – Race 3
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 11:44.7495 5 0:57.7087 2 75 Mopar Performance Greg Crick (TAS) Chrysler Charger E55 5570 12 11:45.0851 4 0:58.0574 3 60 Glennan's Transport Cameron Tilley (NSW) Valiant Pacer 4390 12 11:57.1006 2 0:58.9871 4 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) AMC Javelin 5890 12 11:57.7572 4 0:58.5886 5 7 Mick Webb's SVO / calga.biz Bill Pye (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro 5800 12 11:58.0696 5 0:58.7431 6 25 Freestones Transport/Freestone Paul Freestone (VIC) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 12 12:00.9706 5 0:58.7539 7 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 12 12:01.5450 6 0:58.8928 8 30 Thunder Road Racing Australia Glenn Seton (QLD) Ford Mustang Coupe 5000 12 12:03.6710 9 0:58.1087 9 16 Rain City Industries/Prodrive Gavin Bullas (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5800 12 12:05.4000 7 0:58.2018 10 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro RS 5800 12 12:12.4066 9 0:58.4455 11 88 TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Mustang Trans Am 5800 12 12:18.3238 6 0:59.5283 12 52 Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 12:20.0192 11 0:58.8131 13 11 Lion Mill Solutions/Ultra Perf Tony Edwards (VIC) Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 12 12:20.8681 11 1:00.4188 14 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 12:21.8606 4 0:58.7577 15 20 Palmer Promotions Ian Palmer (QLD) Pontiac Trans-Am 5800 12 12:22.6736 12 1:00.0313 16 10 Sunliner RV Tony Hunter (VIC) Chevrolet Monza 2+2 5000 12 12:24.5397 6 1:00.3175 17 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5000 12 12:30.4928 7 1:01.0460 18 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) Torana SL/R 5000 5047 12 12:30.7037 2 0:58.9326 19 95 Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 12 12:30.8615 4 0:57.1713*20 38 Shearwater Storage/Penrite Oil Leon Bell (TAS) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 12 12:44.4196 9 1:01.7314 21 72 BMR Industries Bruce McLeod (NT) Falcon XA Superbird 5550 11 12:22.9182 6 1:05.1104 DNF 56 Autolite Spark Plugs Brett Youlden (VIC) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 2 2:02.4185 2 0:59.4876 DNF 74 Mick Webb's SVO / Lyndways Bui Wayne Mercer (VIC) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 2 2:13.7465 2 1:01.0080 DNF 5 Light Car Club of Tasmania John Talbot (TAS) Ford Mustang Coupe 4992 2 2:14.5748 2 1:02.6120