Porsche PAYCE & Michelin Cup
Qualifying in pole position, Harri Jones immediately capitalised, taking control of the opening race and crossing the finish line in first ahead of Aaron Love, while Michael Almond was victorious in the tight battle for third place between he and
Nick McBride.
In the second race, Jones again got away to a great start to lead the field, but this time Love was able to get past him and claim the victory. It got even worse for Jones as he ended up finishing the race in behind Michael Almond – confirming
a Sonic one-two double.
Ryan Suhle was the best of the Michelin Sprint Challenge competitors, coming out on top in both races.
Just one more race remains for the category, which will take place early tomorrow afternoon.
BMW E30
A tight battle for the lead provided great racing in the BMW E30 class’ only race for the day, but it was polesitter Simon Lyne was able capitalise and lead the first lap.
From there, a total of seven lead changes showed competitors had not lost any of their racing edge. Alex Jory, Brian Bourke, and Tristian Bergman all shared the lead between each other at different points throughout the race, ensuring tough but
fair racing was had between the top drivers.
However, it was Lyne who was able to reclaim the lead with two laps remaining to comfortably cross the line ahead of Bergman and Jory in second and third respectively.
Hyundai Excel
Missing Friday’s action, Ben Grice enjoyed a welcome return to Sandown and quilfied strong in the morning to secure P3. When the race came round, a brilliant start saw him claim the lead from Callum Potter where he was able to build that into
a comfortable win.
In what was a three-way battle for much of the race, pole sitter Callum Potter dropped down to third but fought his way back to second and consolidate a poor start over young gun Jordyn Sinni behind in third.
Nathan Blight often came close to making a pass for the lead, running right up on Grice’s rear bumper down the main straight, but eventually fell to fourth as the race wore on.
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Formula Free
The 15-minute qualifying session saw Tommy Smith claim the fastest time to start from pole position for race one.
Unfortunately the category’s only race of the day was shortened when Susan Esselmont went off at turn four on lap six, bringing out the red flag and ultimately declaring Smith as the winner ahead of Australian Prototypes Star Phillip Hughes.
Fresh in returning from Europe where he fought for a spot in the Ferrari Driver Academy, Marcos Flack rounded out the top three in what proved to be a fine effort.
The category returns tomorrow for two races throughout the day.
MG & Invited British
Phillip Chester has dominated in the MG & Invitational British on Friday and it was no different on Saturday when he continued to top the time sheets and win the sole race of the day.
The MG BGT driver led from start to finish, lapping all but three of his competitors to cross the line 12 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Gucciardo. Ben Muller finished in third over Keith Ondarchie, who ended the day as the number one Invitational
British Car driver.
Group 1 and 2 Sprints
In the Group 1 Sprints, Chris Randall overcame a poor start to the day where he finished seventh in the opening session to top the fastest lap time in the remaining three sessions. Taking out the win in that opening session was David Ramsay who took
out the first session in his Ford XA Falcon.
Other results across the four sessions from today’s proceedings saw the top three positions shared between Derek Mcdougall, Scott Graham, David Ramsay, Ian Ross and Graeme Stevenson.
Shane Gezun and his MG were far too good for his opposition across the Group 2 Sprints, topping each of the four sessions held across the day.
With Gezun being miles ahead on the timesheets, the rest of the field were left to fight it out for the podium positions with the placings shared between Bryan Gibson, Jeffrey Hedger, Graeme Ruby, Michael Ellsmore and Noel Clacher.
Porsche Car Club Sprints
Another mix of pacesetters were seen in the Porsche sprint category with Sally Anne Hains, Michael Bailey and Greg Muller all sharing top spot in each of the four sessions. Hains claimed top honours in the first and final session, while Bailey and
Muller won the second and third sessions respectively.
A good variety of different model Porsche cars made up the field across the day with the top three place getters in each session shared between Peter Fitzgerald, Andrew Campbell, Hugh Feggans and Riccardo Rossi.
The action returns tomorrow from 9.10am AEDT.