Sunday wrap at The Bend

Sunday 14 July, 2019
Photos: Nathan Wong
The Shannons Nationals’ third round at The Bend Motorsport Park has wrapped up today with a champion crowned, series points gathered and some experiencing their first taste of victory for the season.
 

Re-live some of the major moments from the day:

Carsales TCR Australia Series

Will Brown got the jump on Garth Tander as the cars took off from the line for the second TCR race of the weekend. Brown kept ahead of the pack over the 30 minute race and brought his Hyundai i30N home to claim his fourth TCR race win of the season ahead of Tander and James Moffat. 

It was a drama filled race as a number of drivers were causalities in a to the conditions and mechanical gremlins including Alexandra Whitely and Molly Taylor, Jimmy Vernon, Alex Rullo and Chris Pither - the latter giving away his well deserving third position in the process.   

Brown and Tander took their places on the front row of the grid for the third and final race, with Moffat and Martin on the second row.

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The race had a similar start to the previous one except the roles were reversed as Tander took the lead going into the first turn, while Martin and Brown stayed within range. Brown fell further behind in lap four after a small mistake saw Moffat replace him in third. 

After putting on pressure for the next three laps, Martin finally found his opportunity to sneak in front of Tander and take lead the lead, using the remaining laps to build a buffer of three seconds. Just like the previous race, Tander finished second ahead of Moffat held third.

 

CAMS PAYCE Australian Formula 4 Championship

With Luis Leeds crowned as 2019 champion yesterday, the focus was down to who would end the year in second and third. The battle for points across the day’s three races came down to Lochie Hughes and Ryan Suhle, with the former triumphing and finishing the year with a runner-up finish.

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National Sports Sedan Series

Tony Ricciardello made his mark in the opening minutes of  the second race, climbing from sixth to second before the first corner. The series veteran then kept the pressure on pole sitter Steven Tamasi for three laps, before finding his opportunity to take the lead.

Tamasi was taken out of podium contention when mechanical issues saw him come to a grinding halt on the side of the track, leaving the door open for Jordan Caruso in the Audi A4 to take second – a position he retained until the finish. Shane Woodman was in third but the BMW M3 driver couldn’t defend his position against Shane Bradford in the Chev Camaro, succumbing on Lap 5.

In the final race of the day, Caruso secured both his first-ever National Sports Sedan Series race and round win, while Tamasi steered his Holden Calibra to another second ahead of Holden Monaro pilot Michael Robinson.

It was an unfortunate ending for Ricciardello, who had the pace from pole and kept the lead until the final lap when his Alfa Romeo GTV started to drop back through the field with a suspected mechanical issue.

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Improved Production series 

Andrew Sarandis capitalised on his front row start and led the Improved Production field in his Mitsubishi EVO for Race 1. Scott Cook held second in the Nissan Silvia until the halfway mark when he experienced an issue with his bonnet pins, causing him to retire from the race. Claiming second for the race, five second behind was Maxmilian de Meyric in the Mazda RX3. 

The battle for third unfolded between David Waldon, Adam Trimmer and Stephen Wan, with the latter nabbing third ahead of Trimmer after Waldon was taken out of contention on Lap 6.

Cook was back on grid for Race 2, but again Sarandis again dominated the race, leaving de Meyric and Cook to battle for second. Cook made a couple of failed attempts to pass de Meyric and it wasn’t until the seventh that he managed to get the job done once and for all.

Third placed de Meyric finished just under two seconds to Cook, who had a nine second gap to the Sarandis.

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