Fantastic demonstration today of the S5000 going around Mount Panorama. The data collecting laps were not meant to show the speed these cars will be able to do around the track but to provide valuable setup information to the category to ensure the best performance can be obtained come November and the Bathurst International.
Back to the race action we go…
Bathurst 6 Hour
Once again Shane van Gisbergen steered the Prestige Connex BMW M4 to pole position and is not expected to start the race tomorrow. One of his teammates either Shane Smollen or Robert Rubis will leaving van Gisbergen some time to rest up.
2018 champion Grant Sherring and co-driver David Russell will line up on the front row after falling short by just three hundreths of a second to van Gisbergen. Sherring and Russell will also be driving a BMW M4.
As for the reigning champions of Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey in the Bruce Lynton M4, they will be starting their title defence from P3 after they clocked in one and a half seconds slower than the pace setters.
The National Trans Am Series
Aaron Seton proved too good for the field in the Trans Am series finishing on the top step in both of the category’s races today.
Seton comfortably led every lap from start to finish in the first race, which unfortunately ended under a safety car, with Nathan Herne and Owen Kelly behind him for the whole race.
Herne managed to pass Seton early on in the second race of the day, however Seton showed his class and eventually got past him towards the final stages of the race to relegate Herne to second.
The rest of the top five stayed the same as Owen Kelly, Tim Brook and Eden Thornburrow finished third to fifth respectively in both races.
Supercheap Auto Bathurst TCR Australia
It has been a long 12 months of waiting for the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series to visit Mount Panorama but the spectators were treated to a fantastic day of racing, despite the results being very similar to each other, the racing was actually entertaining.
Chaz Mostert and Aaron Cameron had a fantastic battle in the first race with Cameron jumping Mostert on the start and leading for the first five laps before Mostert passed him leaving Cameron to finish second ahead of Garth Tander in third.
Back in the field, Jordan Cox who started at the back of the field due to an accident in qualifying moved up from P22 to within the top 10 during the first race before climbing a further five spots to finish the day in fourth.
GT World Challenge Australia
The Motorsport Australia GT Championship provided another round of fantastic racing with the first of the two 60-minute races going right down to the dying stages.
Garth Tander and Yasser Shahin looked to be on track to make it three wins from three after their on point qualifying and practice sessions however they couldn’t count on Shane van Gisbergen being in fine form even whilst joining Tander in running double duties this weekend.
Van Gisbergen and co-driver Prince Jefri Ibrahim lead the way through the first race and didn’t come under any real pressure.
Chaz Mostert, another on double duties, and Tony Bates were handed a penalty for an early compulsory pit stop, however Mostert was able to work his way back up for a podium finish despite the penalty. They finished 40 seconds behind the 888 Mercedes.
Radical Australia
A pit penalty would come in to play during the Radical Australia race today with Neale Muston’s early pit stop penalty pushing him back down the midfield.
With Muston’s demotion, Brad Shiels, Peter Paddon and Chris Perini made their way to the front of the grid where they battled hard for the outright race one win with each of the drivers getting various opportunities to secure the win.
Shiels and Paddon eventually broke away with Paddon sneaking over the line in first place by less than a second.
MRF Excel Bathurst Challenge
A forgettable day for the plucky Excel Cup cars with inicidents in both races bringing out the safety car and the first race being called off and the second finishing under safety car as the alloted time for the Excel category expired.
Cam Wilson ended the day in front after winning yesterday, while Marcus Fraser and Liam Gretgrix rounded out the top three just behind him.
