The auto action guy on the ground, Gary O’Brien, gives on-the-spot reporting of supercar support categories at The Bend.
In addition to the Carrera Cup with one race, the other support categories were a two-for-two in the OTR Supersprint event at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Painter Dixon Porsche Carrera Cup
Love dominates to knock out Race 1 of the Porsche Carrera Cup at The Bando
Race One was dominated by Sonic Racing’s Aaron Love, who led 11 lappers from start to finish. He had an easy 5.7s advantage over RAM Motorsport’s Dylan O’Keefe. David Wall and Max Wideau had made contact with both off the road at Turn 2. This paved the way for Callum Hedge of Earl Bramber Motorsport to move to third place and he chased the flag to O’Keeffe.
David Russell finished fourth behind him, ahead of Christian Pancione and Luke Yulden. Harry Jones is up two places to seventh behind Ryan Suhle, Jackson Walls and Dale Wood. Videau finished 16th, while Wall was two places behind.
Liam Talbot took Morris Pro Am class honors over Adrian Fleck and Geoff Emery. Sam Shaheen challenged Talbot for most of the race, before a slip-up near the end put him behind Dean Cook and Matt Belford.
precision sport sedan
John Gorley’s Audi/Shave has two races and two big wins for Jordan Caruso over Steve Tamasi (Calibra/Shave) with Geoff Taunton (MARC II V8) in third place each.
Caruso led with Tamasi first all the way to second. Shane Woodman (BMW/Shave) was in third place for more than half the race as Shane Bradford (Shave Camaro) held out Taunton for several laps. Once past, the latter was able to advance to third place.
Bradford had a moment on Turn 13, moving to 11th place, before slipping to seventh behind Tony Groves and Lachlan Gardner and Michael Robinson (Monaro/Shave) in a MARC Mazda V8.
In the next match, Tamasi won the start and held Caruso until the fourth circuit. When in front, he drove away as Taunton slowed down again and had to pass three cars to finish third. Woodman was ahead of Bradford, Gardner and Ashley Jarvis in Colin Smith’s Monaro/Shave.
Historic Touring Cars
Shave Camaro driver Aldo di Paoli dominated first place and took a major lead in second, until a fuel pressure issue struck, allowing Craig Allen (Ford Mustang) to take the win. .
While De Paoli dominated first place, fellow Camaro steerer Keith Kasulke quickly dropped to fifth. He finished third ahead of Adam Walton (Mustang) and Andrew Williams (Holden Torana XU-1) and wanted to challenge Allen for second when the race finished behind the safety car. This was brought about when David Forbes’s Ford Falcon XK stalled on the track.
In race two there was a big dice between Allen and Kasulke in second place. He went on to win the race and in the end Allen was ahead by 0.46. Walton was ahead of Jason Humble (Mazda RX2) who had a DNF in the race with a broken gearbox. De Paoli limp in fifth place ahead of Graeme Woolhouse (Mustang) and Nathan Gordon (Holden Monaro).
Battery World Australian Racing Cars
Josh Anderson and Cody Garland scored one each in their Mustangs in two races. Pole sitter Anderson fought on his hands in the opening laps of the first race before taking the lead and walked away. Joel Heinrich (Cruz) took the lead at the start and then a broken front control arm pick-up point knocked him out.
Garland crossed the finish line from Ryan Reynolds (Mustang) in second place, and Reece Chapman (Mustang) led the fight in fourth place. There, Anthony Di Mauro (Camaro) overcame Lachlan Ward (Camaro) and Courtney Prince (Mustang), before a 10 penalty from Cody Brzezinski (Mustang), Rylan Gray (Camaro).
After a great start, Garland led the second race from start to finish. A confused Brzezinski at Turn 6, before a safety car towed by Reynolds and Di Mauro pushed Chapman to second place from Anderson.
Garland slammed Chapman on the last lap and lost to Anderson. Prince was in third place until passed by Heinrich, Ward and Grey, with Reynolds after a first-lap skirmish.
Haltec V8 SuperUtts
A great start in Race One put David Cedars (Mitsubishi Triton) in a straight lead and a win before Adam Marjoram (Triton) won the reverse top six second race. Aaron Borg (Holden Colorado) failed to start the opener due to a fuel pressure problem, while Marjoram was initially second, before slipping off the track and falling into fourth.
Jorge Gutierrez (Colorado) went second and held on to Ben Walsh (Toyota Hilux) until he also had a fuel problem at the sight of the checkered flag and Walsh slipped past. Craig Woods (Hilux) finished fifth from behind.
In the second race at the halfway mark, Marjoram replaced early leader Ryan Gilroy (Hilux) after two laps, while Borg was in charge from behind. He eventually finished second close to Marjoram as Gilroy replaced Woods in third. The Cedars were ahead of Walsh and Gutierrez, who had recovered from the first lap spin.
