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September 6, 2015 | General

CHAMPIONSHIP CHANGER ROCKETS RICHARDS TO THE TOP

A CHAMPIONSHIP-CHANGING day has seen Jim Richards rocket to the lead of the ENZED Touring Car Masters ProMaster class following the three races at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.

John Bowe won the sixth round of the championship at the Muscle Car Masters by sweeping all three races but the compelling TCM title fight took a new dimension this weekend thanks in part to former series leader Andrew Miedecke enduring a rough weekend.

CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 6 PHOTOS

The Lubrimaxx Chevy Camaro driver scored just 80 points for the round dropping 10 points behind the ever-consistent and consistently accumulating Jim Richards in the ProMaster point score with two rounds remaining.

Richards’ elevation to the championship lead came on Fathers’ Day – an appropriate milestone given his son Steven currently leads the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship.

Bowe’s stunning weekend which included pole a new lap record and three wins in his Wilson Security / Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars Torana SL/R 5000 drew him to within 37 points of the leader ahead of the penultimate round of the year at Bathurst in a Month’s time.

Eddie Abelnica finished second in the Pro Master class at Sydney Motorsport Park two strong performances in the opening races setting him up for the strong round result in the Sydney’s Cheapest Cars XB Falcon Coupe – despite contact from behind spinning him out of second place after contact at turn two in the final race.

Mark King’s consistency saw him third overall the Whiteline Racing / King Springs driver also winning the Rare Spares Achievement award for round six.

Richards’ was only sixth overall in the Shannons Javelin however his famous consistency has ensured the former TCM champion remains in the hunt for another title.

In his TCM debut Neil Crompton performed strongly in the Ford Mustang netting fourth in race one and third in race two.

His progress took a backward step in race three however after contact in turn two with Abelnica’s Falcon. The damage to the front of the Mustang caused a substantial lock-up of both front tyres at the same point later in the race Crompton electing to retire the car with two badly flat-spotted Hoosiers.

Miedecke was also caught up in the turn two dramas at the beginning of race three pitting with damage and for a replacement left-front tyre. He returned to the circuit and circulated to score points following his stop.

Three wins in class ensured that iSeek Racing Holden Torana driver Jason Gomersall snared the ProAm victory at Sydney Motorsport Park – but it was his overall performance in the final race of the weekend that had people talking.

Taking advantage of the lap one turn two dramas at the front of the field Gomersall snuck into second place on the opening lap and shadowed Bowe’s similar Torana for the duration to bring home a career-best second outright.

It was also the first 1-2 finish for the Holden Torana in TCM history.

Consistent top-five outright race performances from Tony Karanfilovski saw the local Ford Mustang driver finish second in ProAm for the weekend with the rebuilt Valliant Pacer of Cameron Tilley third.

Karanfilovski also won the PWR ‘Cool Master’ award and a $1000 voucher for his efforts this weekend on home turf.

A win and two seconds handed Wayne Mercer the ProSports class win in his Ford Falcon GTHO edging out the returning Chris Stilwell and round five winner Leo Tobin in the round standings.

The ENZED Touring Car Masters thanks the ongoing support of ENZED Rare Spares and Shannons Insurance for their ongoing support of the series.

All three major partners will present the next round of the championship to be held with the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama Bathurst on October 8-11.

PRO MASTER POINTS (provisional) following 6 of 8 rounds.

  1. Jim Richards 811
  2. Andrew Miedecke 801
  3. John Bowe 774
  4. Mark King 724
  5. Eddie Abelnica 646
  6. Glenn Seton 608

 RACE 2 RESULTS:

Pos Car  Driver                   Competitor/Team                Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    18  John Bowe (VIC)          DUNLOP SUPER DEALERS / WILSON  Holden Torana Sl/R 5 5047        8    13:45.6623   5 1:41.2680R2    48  Eddie Albelnica          SYDNEYS CHEAPEST CARS          Ford Falcon XB Coupe 5800        8    13:46.9682   5 1:42.1267 3     7  Neil Crompton (NSW)      PAYCE / WILSON SECURITY        Ford Mustang Trans A 5800        8    13:47.5117   6 1:42.4161 4    35  Jason Gomersall          ISEEK RACING                   Holden Torana Sl/R 5 5047        8    13:48.6766   6 1:42.3699 5    85  Mark King                WHITELINE TRANSPORT RACING / K Chevrolet Camaro RS  5800        8    13:51.7774   5 1:41.7007 6    88  Tony Karanfilovski       TIFS WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTIO Ford Mustang Trans A 5800        8    13:53.0555   5 1:42.7261 7    30  Glenn Seton (QLD)        THUNDER ROAD RACING AUSTRALIA  Ford Mustang Coupe   5000        8    13:53.6076   5 1:42.7193 8     2  Jim Richards (VIC)       SHANNONS INSURANCE             AMC Javelin          5890        8    13:56.9470   5 1:41.7658 9    95  Andrew Miedecke          WHITELINE TRANSPORT RACING / K Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800        8    13:57.7090   6 1:42.6318 10   25  Paul Freestone (VIC)     FREESTONES TRANSPORT / FREESTO Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800        8    14:03.8994   7 1:43.3193 11   60  Cameron Tilley (NSW)      GLENNAN TRANSPORT/TILLEY'S RA Valliant Pacer       4390        8    14:04.5288   7 1:43.2463 12   11  Tony Edwards             LION MILL SOLUTIONS / ULTRA PE Ford Falcon XA GT    5768        8    14:08.4373   6 1:44.0358 13   74  Wayne Mercer             LYNDWAYS BUILDERS              Ford Falcon XY GTHO  5800        8    14:17.4060   5 1:45.4265 14   20  Ian Palmer (QLD)         STORAGE KING                   Pontiac Trans-Am     5800        8    14:18.0187   6 1:44.8923 15    4  Rusty French (VIC)       SKYE SANDS                     Mustang Fastback     5800        8    14:18.0974   6 1:43.5132 16    6  Chris Stillwell (VIC)    CHRIS STILLWELL RACING         Ford/ Mustang Trans  5000        8    14:19.1701   6 1:44.8822 17   46  Leo Tobin (VIC)          THD MOTORSPORT                 Holden HQ Monaro     5810        8    14:19.9191   4 1:45.6535 DNF  56  Brett Youlden            GABRIEL SHOCK ABSORBERS        Holden HQ Monaro     5800        4    15:00.9192   3 1:43.1890 

RACE 3 RESULTS:

Pos Car  Driver                   Competitor/Team                Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    18  John Bowe (VIC)          DUNLOP SUPER DEALERS / WILSON  Holden Torana Sl/R 5 5047        8    13:46.4879   2 1:41.4857*2    35  Jason Gomersall          ISEEK RACING                   Holden Torana Sl/R 5 5047        8    13:47.6397   2 1:42.4438 3    85  Mark King                WHITELINE TRANSPORT RACING / K Chevrolet Camaro RS  5800        8    13:50.7620   4 1:42.4123 4    88  Tony Karanfilovski       TIFS WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTIO Ford Mustang Trans A 5800        8    13:51.7835   5 1:42.5365 5     2  Jim Richards (VIC)       SHANNONS INSURANCE             AMC Javelin          5890        8    13:52.0158   4 1:42.2124 6    30  Glenn Seton (QLD)        THUNDER ROAD RACING AUSTRALIA  Ford Mustang Coupe   5000        8    13:52.4692   4 1:42.1863 7    25  Paul Freestone (VIC)     FREESTONES TRANSPORT / FREESTO Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800        8    13:53.5648   5 1:42.4727 8    48  Eddie Albelnica          SYDNEYS CHEAPEST CARS          Ford Falcon XB Coupe 5800        8    13:54.7373   5 1:41.6408 9    60  Cameron Tilley (NSW)      GLENNAN TRANSPORT/TILLEY'S RA Valliant Pacer       4390        8    13:56.5476   2 1:42.8756 10    4  Rusty French (VIC)       SKYE SANDS                     Mustang Fastback     5800        8    14:09.5099   4 1:44.3124 11   74  Wayne Mercer             LYNDWAYS BUILDERS              Ford Falcon XY GTHO  5800        8    14:19.6873   4 1:45.6660 12    6  Chris Stillwell (VIC)    CHRIS STILLWELL RACING         Ford/ Mustang Trans  5000        8    14:21.1180   2 1:45.1634 13   20  Ian Palmer (QLD)         STORAGE KING                   Pontiac Trans-Am     5800        8    14:21.2234   7 1:45.3883 14   46  Leo Tobin (VIC)          THD MOTORSPORT                 Holden HQ Monaro     5810        8    14:21.7632   2 1:45.7794 15    7  Neil Crompton (NSW)      PAYCE / WILSON SECURITY        Ford Mustang Trans A 5800        7    14:54.9170   2 1:42.7620 16   95  Andrew Miedecke          WHITELINE TRANSPORT RACING / K Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800        6    14:30.3744   4 1:41.9157 DNF  56  Brett Youlden            GABRIEL SHOCK ABSORBERS        Holden HQ Monaro     5800      

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