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BOWE SWEEPS TO SERIES LEAD AT PHILLIP ISLAND
JOHN BOWE has swept to the lead of the ENZED Touring Car Masters series after taking two race victories in the Rare Spares Phillip Island Trophy today.
The multiple TCM champion now narrowly leads the series ahead of Sunday’s finale’ after sweeping to a pair of victories at Phillip Island ahead of teammate Steven Johnson and the ever-consistent Eddie Abelnica.
Today’s wins were Bowe’s 10th and 11th of the season and helped him edge away from erstwhile leader Jim Richards who managed finishes of fifth and sixth in today’s two races.
Bowe also broke the lap record in both races though both Johnson and Abelnica were under the existing benchmark in race two.
Race one was a shortened affair thanks to a lengthy safety car when Royston Evans’ Pontiac GTO expired at turn one – Bowe holding out Johnson and Abelnica in a one-lap dash to the line.
Race two ran the full distance with the three leaders pulling a large margin to the remainder of the field as they diced for the lead.
While Bowe convincingly won both races Greg Ritter was arguably the star performer despite unreliability hampering his performance aboard the Sunliner Chevrolet Monza.
Starting race one from pole Ritter led the field into turn one however his race unravelled at turn two just moments later when his gearbox failed and left him slowing as the field flew past.
Starting from the back of the field in race two the long-time V8 Supercars enduro co-driver stormed through the field – leaping from 23rd to 12th in the first lap and into the top ten by the end of lap two.
Ritter climbed as high as fourth and was closing on the leaders before a throttle cable broke on lap eight – ending his storming drive through the field.
Abelnica’s pair of third place results were his fourth and fifth in a row and took to eleven his total number of top three results this season.
On home turf the Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars XB Falcon Coupe was regularly the quickest in a straight line and was clocked at 281km/hr in race two as he chased Bowe and Johnson in an exciting three-car battle for the lead.
Andrew Miedecke was another starring performer today as he was another to work his way through the pack in the opening race – jumping from 14th to sixth at the finish.
He moved forward two further places in the second race to grab fourth ahead of Tony Karanfilovski and Richards after a furious race long battle with the trio.
Mark King started race one 19th and finished the second sprint in 7th place while Tony Edwards ended a strong day with a pair of strong eighth place results – the best of his season.
Porsche ace Sven Burchartz and iSeek Racing Torana driver rounded out the top 10 in race two: the latter having a spin mid-way through the race after a lengthy battle with Andrew Fisher’s Jesus Racing Falcon GTHO.
Fisher finished a strong seventh in race one however failed to finish the second with some oil pressure issues.
Holden Monaro drivers had contrasting fortunes today: Leo Tobin recorded a strong 11th in race two while Brett Youlden failed to make the starter when a fuel pump failed on his car before he could even take to the track.
The final race of the 2016 ENZED Touring Car Masters series will be contested early Sunday afternoon at Phillip Island.
RACE 1 RESULTS
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap1 18 Dunlop Super Dealers / Wilson John Bowe Torana SLR 5000 5047 6 16:11.6885 2 1:41.8592R2 17 Payce / Wilson Security Steven Johnson Mustang Trans Am 5800 6 16:12.1219 6 1:43.4162 3 48 Melbourne's Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica Ford Falcon XB 5800 6 16:13.3582 6 1:44.2196 4 88 TIFS Warehousing & Distributio Tony Karanfilovski Mustang Trans Am 5800 6 16:15.3758 6 1:45.4950 5 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards Javelin 5890 6 16:15.8937 6 1:44.9379 6 95 Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke Chev Comaro SS 5800 6 16:17.3365 6 1:45.8347 7 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher Falcon XY GTHO 5800 6 16:17.4250 6 1:46.7371 8 11 Lion Mill Solutions /Ultra Per Tony Edwards Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 6 16:19.9149 6 1:48.6692 9 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall Torana SLR 5000 5047 6 16:20.1716 6 1:48.1178 10 12 Giraffe Civil Contracting Adam Garwood Torana SLR 5000 5047 6 16:20.3607 6 1:47.7786 11 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King Chev Camaro RS 5800 6 16:20.3632 6 1:47.6188 12 56 Gabriel Shock Absorbers / PIAR Brett Youlden Monaro HQ 5800 6 16:20.6236 6 1:47.3929 13 60 Glennan Transport / Tilleys Ra Cameron Tilley Valiant Pacer 4390 6 16:21.3623 6 1:47.7012 14 74 Lyndways Builders Wayne Mercer Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800 6 16:22.2061 6 1:47.8603 15 90 Kalus Kenny Itelex Sven Burchartz Porsche 911RS 3600 6 16:22.8430 6 1:48.9800 16 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin Monaro HQ 5810 6 16:22.9438 6 1:48.9019 17 52 Angliss Meats Brett Curran Mustang Shelby 5800 6 16:25.3476 6 1:50.1181 18 57 Corio Auto Parts Graham Alexander Monaro HT 5819 6 16:27.9650 6 1:51.6843 19 75 Quest Roofing Andy Clempson Mustang Trans Am 5800 6 16:28.7965 6 1:52.6794 20 7 Red Rock Winery Rohan Little Porsche 911 3600 6 16:28.8005 6 1:52.8415 DNF 81 Tarosa Stairs Angelo Taranto Camaro SS Tans Am 5800 4 11:17.9866 2 1:58.7926 DNF 24 RPM Electrical Repairs Royston Evans Pontiac Trans Am 6899 1 2:06.5538 1 2:06.5538 DNF 10 Sunliner RV Greg Ritter Chev Monza 2+ 2 5800
RACE 2 RESULTS
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap1 18 Dunlop Super Dealers / Wilson John Bowe Torana SLR 5000 5047 10 17:05.7774 3 1:41.4254R2 17 Payce / Wilson Security Steven Johnson Mustang Trans Am 5800 10 17:06.0986 3 1:41.5845r3 48 Melbourne's Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica Ford Falcon XB 5800 10 17:07.5683 2 1:41.7596r4 95 Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke Chev Comaro SS 5800 10 17:24.0466 2 1:42.4579 5 88 TIFS Warehousing & Distributio Tony Karanfilovski Mustang Trans Am 5800 10 17:24.8598 2 1:43.1567 6 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards Javelin 5890 10 17:25.1057 3 1:43.1934 7 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King Chev Camaro RS 5800 10 17:32.3624 3 1:43.5386 8 11 Lion Mill Solutions /Ultra Per Tony Edwards Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 10 17:48.5946 3 1:45.5784 9 90 Kalus Kenny Itelex Sven Burchartz Porsche 911RS 3600 10 17:48.8813 4 1:44.3353 10 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall Torana SLR 5000 5047 10 17:53.5754 2 1:44.0673 11 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin Monaro HQ 5810 10 17:54.9901 10 1:45.7545 12 60 Glennan Transport / Tilleys Ra Cameron Tilley Valiant Pacer 4390 10 17:56.1254 3 1:45.5478 13 52 Angliss Meats Brett Curran Mustang Shelby 5800 10 18:24.1363 8 1:48.8137 14 57 Corio Auto Parts Graham Alexander Monaro HT 5819 10 18:37.7606 5 1:50.5658 15 81 Tarosa Stairs Angelo Taranto Camaro SS Tans Am 5800 10 18:40.0121 2 1:49.8753 16 7 Red Rock Winery Rohan Little Porsche 911 3600 10 18:40.9374 2 1:50.1429 17 74 Lyndways Builders Wayne Mercer Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800 10 18:41.0443 2 1:46.8477 DNF 10 Sunliner RV Greg Ritter Chev Monza 2+ 2 5800 8 13:54.5976 2 1:42.7391 DNF 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher Falcon XY GTHO 5800 7 12:22.4182 2 1:44.1313 DNF 75 Quest Roofing Andy Clempson Mustang Trans Am 5800 6 11:10.8460 2 1:50.3816 DNF 12 Giraffe Civil Contracting Adam Garwood Torana SLR 5000 5047 4 7:10.2098 4 1:44.3557