Media Release: Winton Super Series Day 3 Wrap
After a wet start, conditions dried out and we were spoilt, whether the rain was lashing down or the sun was shing, the racing remained as exciting as ever.
TA2 Muscle Car Series
After finishing second behind Josh Haynes on Saturday, Brad Gartner turned the tables today by winning all three TA2 Muscle Car Series races.
Race 2 took place in incredibly wet conditions, and although Haynes got the initial launch, it was clear early on that Gartner was the faster of the two.
He made his way by at Turn 1 on the third lap and never relinquished the lead from there.
An incredible drive, possible the TA2 drive of the weekend was Hayden Jackson going from 17th to finish the race in third position.
Mark Bailey was fourth ahead of Aaron Prosser, while title contender Graham Cheney finished in ninth.
The Saturday third place finisher Josh Thomas, spun at Turn 11 midway through the race and as a result finished in eighth.
Race 3 was one of the races of the season, it featured a titanic dual between Gartner and Haynes. Haynes took the lead early in the race with a great outside pass at Turn 10, however late in the race Gartner made his way back past.
Jackson suffered a puncture after contact with Jason Pryde and limped home in 13th. This allowed Mark Bailey to capture his first top three finish in the series.
In the final race, Haynes kept the pressure on Gartner early, but it was to no avail, he could not keep up the relentless pace and dropped back, finishing 1.5s in arrears.
Notably Prosser finished third, bagging a podium in just his second round start in the series, Cheney was fourth.
Despite taking no wins today, Haynes has extended his series lead over Cheney, with Gartner just on his tail in third.
Gartner won the round from Haynes and the consistent Bailey. Cheney ended up fifth.
A lot of eyes were on Speedway legend Robbie Farr this weekend as he made his tarmac car racing debut.
He finished 13th in the torrential wet weather, 16th in Race 3, before notably moving up to 10th in the final. He finished 13th for the round.
Formula RX8
The three race wins were split by three drivers today. This meant that finally competitors were able to stop the recent domination of Brock Paine.
Paine had won the last two rounds without losing a race, he won yesterday. But in very wet conditions that run came to an end.
After finishing as the bridesmaid race after race, Rob Boaden took the first race win of the day.
He got ahead early and was able to hold on in a mighty close finish, at the line they were separated by just 0.15s. Joshua Thomas ended up in position three.
Young Thomas Derwent delivered in the reverse grid race, he beat home Paine by 1.3s. After winning earlier, Boaden finished a disappointing fifth behind Ayrton Filippi in third and Ivan Vantagiato in fourth.
It was back to the front for championship leader Paine in the final race of the weekend, it was a dominant performance in which he beat Vantagiato by over 2.5s.
Geoff Connell was only 0.6s further back in third, Steve Devjak was fourth, with Boaden again in fifth, while Derwent finished sixth.
Paine comfortably won the round from Boaden and Vantagiato.
Legend Cars Australia
Legend Cars Australia had three races today, in which three drivers claimed a victory each. Ben Goodridge won the first one of the day in torrential rain.
Goodridge was the class of the field, beating Shane Tate to the line by 4.2s. Brendon Hourigan was third, Ryan Pring fourth, and Billy Finnigan in fifth.
Saturday’s Race 1 and Race 2 winner did not enjoy the wet conditions, Robert Hogan finished back in 14th place.
The second encounter of the day saw the #333 machine of Pring take the win by 3.2s, with the wet weather master Goodridge in second.
Impressively Hogan moved back through the field like a knife through butter to finish in third.
Better was to come for Hogan, he ended the weekend with the third win of the round. Australian Capital Territory based driver Pring finished just behind in second, while Goodridge edged out Hourigan for third.
Consistency paid off for Pring in the round result, three fourths, a second and a solitary win was enough to see him take the round honours.
The 14th place finish in the wet cost Hogan a shot of the round honours, but he still finished second ahead of Hourigan.
Australian Super TT
Corey Gillett in his Nissan S13 and Matt Sims in a BMW E36 shared the wins in Australian Super TT today. It was a sodden Race 3, highlighted by an incredible photo finish.
In the end Gillett took the win by a miniscule 0.013s. Sims may have set a faster lap by 3.6s, but it was not enough to take the win.
Ryan Bell at the wheel of his Nissan 370z was third, over 25s behind the two race leaders.
Sims dominated proceedings in Race 4, taking it by nearly nine seconds from Gillett.
Local Glen Postlethwaite finished third in his Commodore, ahead of Brett Edwards in his Falcon and Bell.
Sims and Gillett took two wins each, but the round win went the way of Sims as he took two seconds. Postlethwaite was third.
Australian Excel Series
Two from three wins today was enough for Blake Tracey to win the round. But it was not easy, all three affairs were decided by less than 1s.
The opener saw New South Wales driver Tracey beat home local Victorian Brad Vereker by 0.5s, Queenslander Caleb Paterson made it a true state of origin.
In Race 2 it was Paterson that claimed the victory, Tracey was forced to settle for second, the margin just 0.3s. Matthew Boylett was third, as Vereker finished way back in eighth.
In the final of the four races, Tracey fought back to win by the biggest margin of the day, but still only 0.6s. Peterson was second and again Boylett third.
For round honours, Tracey beat Queenslanders Paterson and Boylett, with Vereker the best local in fourth.
Superkarts
There were so many Superkart races across the day, if you watched just for the Superkarts alone, you would not have been bored.
125cc Rotax Max Light saw Kiwi Tyler Edney win the first two races of the day before Russ Occhipinti won the final. Johnathon Twigden won two of the heavy races, the other went the way of Shannon Noble. Super Heavy saw wins get shared by three drivers, Rod Clarke, Rick Setterfield and Joe Brancati.
Bradley Tremain dominated the 125cc Gearbox category by taking a clean sweep today, as did James Strah in Stock Honda.
Nicholas Schembri won two of the three races in the incredibly fast 250cc International category. His DNF in Race 3 allowed South Australian Ilya Harpas to score a win.
Photo gallery: www.hi-tecoilssuperseries.au/2024-image-gallery
Next event: Round 6 One Raceway October 25-27