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NEW TORANA ON TOP EARLY AT WINTON
THE FIRST A9X Holden Torana to race in the Touring Car Masters has immediately jumped to the pointy-end of the field in practice for this weekend’s third round of the 2016 series in Victoria.
Lapping well underneath the existing lap record on a re-surfaced Winton Motor Raceway iSeek Racing’s Jason Gomersall’s 1m28.5800s lap edged out Sven Burchartz’ Porsche 911 by 0.12s to top the times across two 20-minute sessions today.
The current Pro-Am championship leader was second in the opening session however improved in practice two to top the times in what was the first real hit-out for his Holden Dealer Team inspired Torana.
The car had only completed a brief shakedown at Queensland raceway prior to today’s pair of sessions further showcasing the impressive debut performance to date.
Burchartz topped practice one however didn’t improve his time in the second ultimately ending the day just behind the brand-new Torana.
Winton has always been a strong circuit for the light and nimble Porsche’s thanks to the tight layout and short straights.
Reigning Winton champion John Bowe ended the day third overall just three-tenths from Gomersall’s quickest time.
Bowe however only banked solid running in the morning session as a broken gearbox hindered progress in practice two – the team working on a replacement item to return the defending champion to the track tomorrow.
Glenn Seton and Jim Richards completed the top five both within 0.7s of the fastest time of the day.
Another new Torana on debut impressed today former Superspeedway racer Bruce Williams ending Friday sixth overall in his SL/R 5000.
Sporting a tribute livery to the Brock / Sampson 1975 Bathurst 1000 winner Williams’ car had completed even less running than Gomersall’s new ride prior to today – a three lap shakedown last weekend all the car had completed prior to today.
Eddie Abelnica Steven Johnson Sandown race winner Andrew Fisher and Tony Karanfilovski completed the top-10 all split by just 1.3 seconds. Mark King was 11th in the King Springs / Whiteline Racing Camaro a further 0.1 seconds back – showcasing the competitive nature of the field this season.
Leo Tobin finished the day 18th outright in his newly finished Mustang while TCM first-timer Darren Beale finished 20th in his Monaro – acquired from Tobin following round two at Sandown in April.
Saturday will see qualifying and the first of three races in this weekend’s Rare Spares Rose City Trophy weekend.
John Bowe is both the defending pole and round winner at Winton.
Qualifying and race one will be live on FOX Motorsport tomorrow.
PRACTICE RESULTS (COMBINED) – ROUND 3
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Fastest...Lap Gap1 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) 1978 Holden Torana 5000 P2 1:28.5800R 2 90 Werks Garage/KalusKennyIterlex Sven Burchartz (VIC) 1974 Porsche 911 RS 3600 P1 1:28.7068r 0:00.12683 18 Wilson Security / PAYCE John Bowe (VIC) 1974 Holden Torana 5047 P1 1:28.9367 0:00.35674 30 Thunder Road Racing Team Aust. Glenn Seton (QLD) 1964 Ford Mustang 5000 P1 1:29.0129 0:00.43295 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) 1972 AMC Javelin 5898 P2 1:29.3197 0:00.73976 5 Performance&Race Tech Services Bruce Williams (VIC) 1974 Holden Torana 5000 P2 1:29.4729 0:00.89297 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) 1974 Ford Falcon XB 5800 P1 1:29.6626 0:01.08268 17 Synergy Race Engines Steve Johnson (QLD) 1971 Ford Falcon XY 5800 P2 1:29.6841 0:01.10419 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) 1971 Ford Falcon XY 5800 P2 1:29.8260 0:01.246010 88 TIFS Warehousing & Distrb'tion Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) 1969 Ford Mustang 5800 P1 1:29.9633 0:01.383311 85 Whiteline Racing / King Spring Mark King (QLD) 1970 ChevroletCamaro 5800 P2 1:29.9906 0:01.410612 4 Skye Sands Rusty French (VIC) 1970 Ford Mustang 5800 P2 1:30.8772 0:02.297213 60 Glennan Transport/ANGLOMOIL Cameron Tilley (NSW) 1969 Valiant Pacer 4390 P1 1:31.0166 0:02.436614 7 Werks Garage / Red Rock Winery Rohan Little (VIC) 1974 Porsche 911 RS 3600 P2 1:31.5162 0:02.936215 12 Giraffe Civil Contracting Adam Garwood (TAS) 1974 Holden Torana 5047 P1 1:31.5753 0:02.995316 21 Giraffe Civil Contracting Greg Garwood (TAS) 1972 Ford Capri 5000 P2 1:31.7745 0:03.194517 74 Lyndways Builders Wayne Mercer (VIC) 1971 Ford Falcon XY 5800 P2 1:32.1480 0:03.568018 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) 1969 FordBossMustang 5000 P1 1:33.0615 0:04.481519 22 Aussie Muscle Car Run Graham Stewart (SA) 1972 Holden Monaro 5800 P2 1:38.0247 0:09.444720 19 Tincone Industrial Services Darren Beale (QLD) 1972 Holden Monaro 5800 P2 1:43.6872 0:15.1072