Competitors cool as ice in Collie

Tuesday 17 March, 2020
Photos: Graeme Howie
Collie Motorplex has successfully held its annual Collie Icebreaker with more than 70 cars across five categories entered in the event.
 
Also running as a round of the 2020 Motorsport Australia West Australian Circuit Racing Championship round, the event had a number of state championships on display throughout its two days of action.
 

Headlining the first day of the Icebreaker was the Saloon Cars for its second round of the year and it was Holden Commodore driver Grant Johnson who led the 23-car field thanks to wins in all three races.

There was only three points separating the next three drivers, all of whom were also driving Commodores, as Brandon Sharpe and Matt Martin edged out Brad Boley for a podium finish.
 
In the category’s Pro-Am class, it was the Ford Falcon drivers who had the last laugh, as Carl Fanderlinden beat fellow Falcon pilot Marc Watkins and Chase Hoy in the Commodore.
 
Across the weekend, there were two regularities taking place with both Modern and Historic cars getting up to six runs on the Collie track.

In the Historics, there were four active classes and it was Terry Massara and Jamie Scott who took control of the category outright, with Massara steering his Holden Torana Hatch to the over 3000cc class win over Garry Utterson and Stephen Sinnott.

It was much closer in the under 3000cc class as Jamie Scott and Ian Brown each had two outright wins in the category’s remaining four events, however it was Scott who eventually took out class honours thanks to his consistent results.

Other class winners saw Stephen Brown take out the Production Sports Cars in his Austin Healey Sprite and Porsche pilot Gary Cutler win the Sports Cars class. 

Nothing could separate Peter Knox and Jack Williams in the Modern Regularity, as both drivers ended the weekend with three wins and three runners-up apiece, while Lance Carwardine took out third.

Glenn Swarbrick won the Racing Cars class in his Macon MR9 -82FF and Andrew Murdoch took out the Historic Touring Cars under 3000cc in his MG Magnette.
 

In Formula Racing, four wins and two second places was enough for Martin Bullock to take out the category in his Chevron B20. Finishing behind Bullock was two-race winner Simon Alderson and the third placed Craig Thompson, who’s best result was second in the final race.

In the event’s final category for the weekend, David Caisley secured a clean sweep of victories in Formula Vee’s five official races, with the real battle being the one for outright second place.

At the conclusion of the race meeting, nothing could separate the two contenders in Austin Pearson and Mark Horan, with both drivers ending on the same amount of points – although with Formula Vee having an extra non-championship race on Sunday afternoon, Pearson’s second place in that earned him the overall bragging rights.
 

It was a similar case in Formula Vee’s 1200 as Andrew Lockett dominated the field to take out the class. It was an unchanged top three for the class in all five races as Brett Scarey finished in second place ahead of April Welsh.

 
*Motorsport Australia is fully aware of the evolving situation regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and understands that it is having a significant impact on the community, including those involved in motorsport.
 
However, Motorsport Australia believes that many events can continue to go ahead, with the appropriate precautions and infrastructure in place.
 
 
 
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