Ritchie sprints to final run heorics
Tuesday 27 July, 2021
Brian Ritchie pulled off an epic win in the fourth round of the Marque Sports Register of North Queensland’s Sprint Series.
Photos: Kate Horsfall
The Marque Sports Register of North Queensland has witnessed an epic finish to the fourth round of its 2021 Townsville Cheapa Auto Spares Sprint Series series as Brian Ritchie won the event in the final run of day.
With 22 competitors taking part in the event and each completing 18 laps of the course spread over six runs, Ritchie and Anthony Genocchio were locked in an intense arm wrestle for the majority of the day.
Behind the wheel of the VH SS Commodore, Genocchio started the better of the two and went faster during the first two runs before Ritchie bounced back with the fastest lap on the third run.
Genocchio closed in on Ritchie and finally got him before Ritchie steered his BMW to the smallest of victories on the final run – his event winning time just four hundredths of a second faster than Genocchio.
Finishing in third place was Ben Isaacson, who had held the lead for a brief period during the third run thanks to his first lap, but the AE36 driver was unable to hold off the top two from surpassing him.
Despite not winning the event, Isaacson still remains on top of the series standings and in the box seat for the title with fellow contenders such as Ritchie and Genocchio having missed rounds already.
Following the round, club president Mike Seymour believed it was the most exciting one for the year.
“It was a very quick track and there were lots of personal bests achieved by competitors, but that fight for the win was incredible,” Seymour said.
“Everyone had such a good time competing and when you have a finish where it’s won at the death – it adds to the spectacle and it’s really enjoyable for everyone in attendance.
“Brian to stealing the win at the end definitely got the whole crowd involved. A big congratulations to both he and Anthony for producing the best battle for the year – it’s not every day when less than a tenth of a second makes up the difference.
“With that said, it’s probably a bit hard for those two to catch Ben in the battle in the title race, but anything can happen in motorsport and I look forward to seeing the competition continue in August.”
The next round of the Townsville Cheapa Auto Spares Sprint Series will take place on 14 August.