It was a busy Friday in Ipswich, with seven categories ramping up their preparations for a busy weekend at the Shannons Nationals.
With a host of competitive categories in action, the majority of the competitors completed their practice sessions, while a handful also took part in qualifying on Friday.
The weekend’s live stream begins on Saturday morning and continues on Sunday, with live coverage on SBS of all three TCR Australia races on both Saturday and Sunday.
carsales TCR Australia Series
Two practice sessions made up TCR’s Friday, with several changes across the field from last time out at The Bend throwing up some interesting storylines.
International guest Jean-Karl Vernay impressed in his Australian debut, finishing in third across both sessions, while Alfa pilot Dylan O’Keefe and Honda driver John Martin topping practice one and two respectively.
Series leader Will Brown proved he’ll be thereabouts this weekend yet again, finishing in P2 and P4.
TCR features qualifying and its first race on Saturday and two back-to-back hit outs on Sunday.
Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia
Harri Jones and Ryan Suhle exchanged fastest times in the opening two sessions for the one-make series.
Jones claimed the morning’s fastest time, with a 1:11.62, while Suhle went quickest in the afternoon session with a 1:10.56.
Brett Boulton was the quickest of the TAG Heuer Pro-Am drivers in both sessions, his quickest time of 1:11.45 recorded in practice two.
The category qualifies on Saturday morning, with two races on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Australian Prototype Series
Mark Laucke and Jason Makris claimed a session each on Friday, with Series leader David Barram close behind – second in both sessions.
Across the two 30 minute sessions, Makris’ time of 1.07.45 was the fastest.
Qualifying and race one take place on Saturday, while Sunday features two races that will help shape the 2019 title fight.
MRF Tyres Australian Production Car Series
Friday was all about practice, with two sessions spread out across the day.
The category prepared for its spectacular Fight In The Night battle on Saturday, with an early evening session on Friday – Dimitri Agathos’ Subaru the quickest with a 1:36.6100. A downpour greeted competitors prior to the start of the session, with a late red flag only seeing no more than five laps completed.
The two-and-a-half hour battle under the stars gets underway at 5.45pm, before a second day time race on Sunday wraps their weekend.
MCA Suspension Queensland IPRA
It was a busy day for the MCA Suspension Queensland Improved Production Racing Australia’s local racers.
Two practice sessions and a qualifying shootout saw plenty of action with a wide range of vehicles on show for the Queensland based competitors.
Zak Hudson put his machine in pole position for Saturday’s first race at Queensland Raceway with a 1:18.06, while Troy Marinelli sits second. Aaron Lawrence will start from third.
National Sports Sedan Series
Tony Ricciardello will start on pole for Saturday’s first race, clocking the fastest time in his Alfa Romeo on Friday.
Ricciardello was more than a second ahead of his nearest rival, with Jordan Caruso and his Audi A4 to start from second.
Saturday features two races for this category, with a finale on Sunday.
Series X3
Cameron Bartholomew will start the morning’s first race from pole, with Cameron Wilson to join him on the front row of the popular category showcasing the attributes of the Hyundai Excel.
Bartholomew’s 1:30.9972 pole lap was 0.27 seconds faster than Wilson.
The two Camerons were fastest all day, with the duo each claiming the fastest time in the opening two practice sessions.
It was close to a one lap shootout for the drivers in the afternoon’s qualifying session, thanks to a red flag cutting the session considerably short.