Panorama Mountain Men take out inspired 12 hour victory
Tuesday 15 October, 2019
Photo: Marisa Gangemi
More than 173 drivers across 36 teams have competed in the 2019 Alfa Club 12 Hour relay at Winton Motor Raceway as Panorama Mountain Men continued to dominate the competition, grabbing their third consecutive victory.
With teams and drivers scoring points for getting as close they could to their designated lap times, the five-man team were too good for the rest of the competition throughout the 12 hours of intense competition.
All behind the wheel of a Mazda MX-5, the Panorama Mountain Men were led by Gustavo Elias, who put in a mammoth 106 laps across the weekend and picked up the highest rate of bonus laps, making him the highest scorer in the field.
Panorama Mountain Men team manager and driver Stewart Temesvary was thrilled with the team's performance, putting the win down their preparation.
“These events are a great form of motor sport, where success is reliant as much on teamwork as the driver ability on the track. When the drivers are not on the track they are usually helping out with timing and pit-wall duties," Temesvary said.
“Our current combination of drivers got together for the first time at the Alfa Club 12 Hour in October 2017, and won that event. Since then we have achieved an enviable record of five wins and a second place in six outing.
“Many teams just turn up on the day and hope they do well. While all drivers on the team are each capable of being a star performer on any one day, a lot of our success comes from starting our planning and developing strategies about 6 months out from the event.
"Winning the Alfa Club 12 Hour for three consecutive years is the stuff dreams are made of. Adding our victories at the Victorian 6 Hour Relay at Phillip Island in 2018 and 2019, we believe we are one of the strongest teams in this form of grassroots motor sport at the moment."
The whole team managed to accumulate a total of 460 laps, while Team E30 #2 who were led by Paul Kertes finished in second place, edging out the third placed Beauty and the Beasts.
Rounding out the top five was the four-car Austin 7 Club of SA Team A in fourth and Maschi Di Alfa, whose Neil Choi ran an astounding 191 laps of the Winton track – more than other driver.