Wakefield celebrations topped by entertaining racing

Tuesday 28 May, 2019
Photos: Riccardo Benvenuti
The third round of the CAMS NSW Motor Race Championship has concluded after a weekend of celebration for Wakefield Park’s 25th anniversary.
 
While there were lots of activations over the course of the two days, the on-track action was just as entertaining.
 

As the round enjoyed a larger amount of entries than usual, Wakefield Park operations manager Dean Chapman was thrilled with the end result both on and off the track.

“It was a really nice weekend and a successful celebration for Wakefield Park,” Chapman said
 
“There ended up being more than 150 entrants taking part in the weekend and Saturday’s sunshine gave the event a really good vibe.
 
“For the racing itself, it was entertaining all weekend, but the highlight was Sunday’s Production Sports Car Championship. It was a just a cracker of a race and had everyone on the edge of their seats.
 

“With the special anniversary gathering on the Saturday night, around 150 competitors, spectators and officials attended, it gave us the opportunity to celebrate 25 years of Wakefield Park and acknowledge our officials for all the work they have done over the years, which tied in nicely for the FIA Volunteers Weekend."

Saturday and Sunday were will filled with multiple races from nine different categories within the state championship’s 2019 season.
 
Headlining the field was Sunday’s Production Touring Endurance race and current TCR Australia driver Jimmy Vernon came away with the win over Michael King and Matthew Holt.
 

Earlier on in the weekend, King had claimed victory in one of the category’s sprint races, while the Endurance race’s fourth placed Anthony Soole claimed the other sprint race.

 

It was a fairly good weekend for King, who also enjoyed success in his other race commitments, guiding his Mitsubishi Evo to two race wins in the Improved Productions Over 2 Litres category.
 

Taking out the other two wins was fellow Evo pilot Trevan Spiteri, as David Waldon finished in third after placing in top three four times.

 
The category’s other major class, the Under 2 litres saw a dominate performance from Harrison Cooper who came away with three wins over second placed Kurt Macready. Graham Bohm finished on the podium bottom step after finishing third in three races.
 
In Supersports, Alexander Kenny secured three comfortable victories with Darren Barlow and Garth Walden rounding out the top three respectively after ending with two podiums finishes each.
 

Last year’s CAMS Australian GT Championship Trophy Series runner-up Matthew Stoupas put in a sensational display in the Production Sports Championship to come away with two dominant victories in both his races.

Ending the round on the category’s podium was race two runner-up Gary Higgon and Greg Ward after two third place finishes.
 

Chevrolet Camaro pilot Steven Lacey was the clear front runner in the Kumho Tyres NSW Sports Sedan after claiming three victories. Two runner-up finishes to Grant Doulman was enough to secure second outright over race one runner-up Scott Reed.

In the event’s open wheel categories, it was the two Aarons who took out the vast array of weekend clean sweeps with Aaron Lee picking out three from three in the Formula Vees and Aaron McClintock the Formula Race category.

McClintock’s victories came at the expense of Greg Muddle who finished every race just behind him, while Philip Morrow progressed as the weekend went on to secure third outright. In the Vees, it was an unchanged line-up for all three races as Craig Sparke placed ahead of Stephen Butcher for second and third respectively.
 
It was a completely different story in the Formula Ford, with a different winner across each race. Cooper Allen, Lachlan Ward and Zach Bates each had their share for top honours, but it was Allen who ended the weekend on top thanks to his two-runner up finishes.
 
The next round of the CAMS NSW Motor Race Championship takes place at Sydney Motorsport Park on 22-23 June.
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