Workhorse Radical Cup Australia 

Making his return to the category, it was never going to take long before Peter Paddon found himself contending for race wins, and in the end it took just two races.
 
The multiple-time series winner started the race on the second row but had snatched the lead from polesitter Joey Mawson midway through the first lap before the duo enjoyed an entertaining duel for the rest of Mawson's stint – exchanging times in the lead. 
 
Paddon eventually claimed the victory in dominant fashion as Mawson and his co-driver Mark Rosser fell down the order to finish sixth.
 
Taking out second place 16 seconds behind Paddon was Elliot Schutte, while the shared Radical of Peter Clare and Josh Hunt finished third for the 31-lap outing.
 
Schutte’s second place, combined with his third place in race one, saw him claim the overall round win ahead of Paddon and reigning champion, Chris Perini, who posted a seventh in race two and a runner-up behind yesterday’s winner Alex Gardner.
 
Gardner himself experienced the highs and lows of national racing as the teenager failed to finish race two, limping to the pits after just lap 15.
 
The series’ next round will be at Queensland Raceway as part of the second Shannons Trophy Series on 4-6 August. 


 

Yokohama Improved Production Nationals 

The biggest field of the round also had the busiest schedule and after four qualifying sessions, six heats and two finals – it was Adam Poole who enjoyed a perfect weekend, capped off by a victory in the Over 2L Final on Sunday afternoon.
 
Poole continued his dominant run from Saturday’s action , winning heat six by 14 seconds and then winning the Over 2L Final by 12 seconds, the Holden Monaro driver crossing the line 11 seconds ahead of Zak Hudson.
 
Hudson was undoubtedly the next best driver over the course of the weekend, as his heat five win on Sunday morning saw him end the event with two heat wins and two runner-up finishes – one of which was to Poole.
 
Rounding out the overall podium was Ryan Gorton in the Nissan 200SX after he won the Under 2L final on Sunday afternoon, beating Kurt McReady by just four seconds, while Michael Ricketts finished in third place almost 30 seconds behind.
 
It was Gorton’s only win for the weekend after finishing third in two of the three heats and second in the final heat, finishing behind only Poole.

TGRA Scholarship Series

Max Geoghegan enjoyed a clean sweep of race wins over the weekend, as he picked up three wins from three races in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Scholarship Series.
 
Having just beaten Brock Stinson by less than a second in yesterday’s sole race, Geoghegan was once again made to work for his two wins today – although this time, it was Lachlan Bloxsom who proved his biggest challenger.
 
There was plenty of drama in the day’s first race, as Stinson and fellow contender Cody Burcher tangled on the sixth lap – the incident leaving Bucher facing the wrong way and tumbling down the order to seventh.
 
Although sustaining damage, Stinson was able to make it to the finish line in fifth, although a 30-second post-race penalty saw him demoted to 23rd, moving Bloxsom up to second and Rylan Gray up to third.
 
In the day’s final race, Geoghegan led for the whole race, but Bloxsom came incredibly close on multiple occasions to snatching the lead – including a thrilling last-lap battle where Bloxsom attempted multiple passes but Geoghegan held him off.
 
Finishing the final race in third place was Jack Westbury, who edged out Oscar Targett by one second – the latter’s fourth place earning his third overall for the weekend.
 
The series’ next round will be at Queensland Raceway as part of the second Shannons Trophy Series on 4-6 August. 

MARC Cars Australia

After a shock run on Saturday afternoon saw John Goodacre and Cameron McLeod finish second place to Adam Hargraves in race one, the polesitters would have keen to get themselves back onto the winners’ list. 
 
In race two, it took Goodacre just five laps to regain the lead from Hargraves and once he got it, he never let it go – storming to an 11 second win at the conclusion of the 16-lap race.
 
Rounding out the top three for the race was Jacob Camilleri, who beat Geoffrey Morgan by less than two seconds.
 
In the final outing for the weekend, Goodacre and McLeod shared driving duties and they were just too good for the rest of the field, leading from lights out to the chequered flag and claiming a 31 second win.
 
After two runner-up finishes, Hargraves had his worst finish – crossing the line in fifth place, while Camilleri and Morgan rounded out the top three.
 
It wasn’t all bad though for the MARC GT driver, as he claimed second place for the weekend behind Goodacre/McLeod – beating Morgan by 17 points overall.

Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars & Monochrome GT4 Australia Series

Nash Morris has put an end to Shane Smollen’s dominant run in the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars & Monochrome GT4 Australia Series after winning the final race of the weekend.
 
Behind the wheel of the Mercedes AMG GT he shares with Mark Griffith, Morris managed to take the lead twice during the category’s fourth and final 24-lap race, with his second pass on lap 16 his last move required as he held onto the lead for the rest of the race. 
 
Morris eventually finished nine seconds ahead of the Porsche Cayman of Shane Smollen and Justin Ruggier, while Steve Jukes finished third as the only other driver to finish on the lead lap.


Smollen and Ruggier may not have picked up a clean sweep, but they were still dominant all weekend; they picked up three wins throughout the round, including a shortened race three.
 
Smollen and Ruggier had developed a big gap to Griffith, only for the race to be red flagged due to a big crash with 20 minutes to go.
 
The outing ultimately finished under red flag, meaning less than 75 per cent of the race was completed and half points were awarded.
 
It didn’t matter though as Smollen and Ruggier took out the outright win over Morris and Griffith.
 
In the Australian Production Cars, Iain Sherrin once again dominated the day, taking out victories in both races, while the #25 Ford Mustang of Lindsay Kearns and Coleby Cowham finished both races in second place. 
 
The next round of Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars & Monochrome GT4 Australia Series will be part of the Shannons SpeedSeries at Queensland Raceway on 11-13 August. 

Circuit Excels 

William Brittain has wrapped up his Shannons Trophy Series Circuit Excels campaign with a win in the category’s final race of the weekend.
 
It was quite a clean run from Brittain during the eight-lap affair as he reached the chequered flag eight seconds ahead of the second-placed Monique Sciberras.
 
While Brittain was on his own for much of the race, Sciberras was made to work for her runner-up finish. She crossed the line just five tenths ahead of both Hayden Auld and Caleb Hefren – Auld and Hefren themselves were only split by less than one hundredth of a second, with the two trading places on multiple occasions.
 
Brittain’s victory was his third for the weekend, which comfortably sealed the overall round win, while Sciberras herself ended up second overall ahead of Auld.