Shannons Trophy Series heats up at QR: Saturday Wrap

Saturday 05 August, 2023
Photos: MTR Images
Day two of the Shannons Trophy Series at Queensland Raceway proved entertaining once again, with all five categories enjoying at least one race during the day.
 
Fans will be able to watch all of the Sunday racing action live and free on 7plus from 9am – 4pm AEST.

Watch the 7plus broadcast.

The live stream will also be simulcast on Motorsport Australia’s YouTube channel, Blend Line TV and the Shannons Trophy Series Facebook page, allowing those around the world to tune in to the coverage.
 

National Sports Sedans Series

The National Sports Sedans Series saw an old rivalry take centre stage in the category’s sole race for the day, as Tony Ricciardello claimed a victory in a thrilling contest.
 
The 11-time series champion took out the afternoon’s race by more than three seconds over another champion of the category in Steve Tamasi, but the big gap flattered Ricciardello as both he and Tamasi were neck-and-neck for most of the race.
 
In the end, Ricciardello secured the win over his rival, while reigning champion Jordan Caruso rounded out the top three.
 
It ended up being a disappointing result for Caruso, who had started from pole position following a comfortable qualifying session where the Victorian finished more than a second faster than Ricciardello.  
 
Unfortunately, he had engine problems around lap four, which saw him lose touch with Tamasi and Ricciardello, but he was able to hold on and finish third around 30 seconds of the winner.
 
The Series returns tomorrow for the remaining two races, which will take place at 12:15pm and 3:30pm AEST - the second of which wraps up the weekend.

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Hyundai Circuit Excel Series X3

The popular one-make series was the only category to have two races today and there were two different drivers securing victory.
 
Having won the opening outing yesterday afternoon, Jack Wood picked up where he left off to claim his second win of the weekend in the morning, beating Jaylyn Robotham by just two tenths of a second.
 
The top two weren’t the only ones to finish extremely close to each other as the top five ended up being split by just over a second - George Wood finishing in third place half a second off Robotham, while Tyler Collins was just two and half tenths off in fourth and five tenths ahead of Zane Rinaldi.
 
The second race of the day saw a shake-up of results as Robotham beat Rinaldi by almost one second, while Jack Wood dropped down to third.
 
Alice Buckley broke up the race one top five to finish fourth place ahead of Collins, who edged out George Wood by four tenths.
 
The Excels have two races tomorrow with the first 10:40am AEST.

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TGRA Scholarship Series

Doing double duties this weekend, Buckley was in the thick of the action during the TGRA Scholarship Series as the teenager converted her pole position to a race win.
 
It was a highly mature performance from the Buckley, who only just claimed pole and the race win over Lachlan Bloxsom but defended her lead throughout the whole 11-lap race.
 
In Qualifying, just seven hundredths of a second separated two Queenslanders before Buckley eventually extended the gap out to three tenths by the race’s chequered flag.
 
Finishing in third place was Charlie Parker, who climbed up four positions during the race after starting from seventh.
 
Behind the Tasmanian was Team Racing Together’s Lincoln Taylor, who enjoyed a similar charge up the field as the 15-year-old finished fourth in his category debut after starting from ninth.
 
The one-make series has two races tomorrow with the first to kick off the final day of action at 9.10am AEST.

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Australian Formula Open 

Trent Grubel took out top honours in the series’ first race of the weekend after polesitter Ryan How finished third.
 
It was a disappointing result for How, who was brilliant in Qualifying to get the edge over Grubel, before losing his lead on the opening lap.
 
Interestingly, it was Chris Gilmour who had the best start of the field as he jumped from fourth to first during that first lap, which he held for seven laps before falling behind Grubel.
 
How would eventually finish ahead of Miles Bromley, who finished third in Qualifying and just one second off in the race.
 
In the Formula 4 class, it was Brodie Norris who claimed a one-second victory over Ryan McMillan, while his AGI Sport teammate Peter Bouzinelos crossed the line third.
 
The series’ first race tomorrow will be at 10am in the morning before their third and final race at 2:15pm AEST.

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Workhorse Radical Cup Australia

The sportscar category had the first of its two 50-minute races today, which also wrapped up the day’s action, and it was young gun Alex Gardner who secured his second win of the season.
 
The teenager has been highly impressive since making his debut at the start of the category’s 2023 season, and he was able to dominate on home soil.
 
Gardner enjoyed a solid start to the day as he took out pole position in Qualifying by three tenths over Peter Paddon.
 
Unfortunately his start to the race wasn’t as good as a minor mishap off the line saw him relinquish his lead to Paddon, who lost that to Jordan Oon just four laps later.
 
An undercut strategy from Gardner for his pit stop worked beautifully, and he was able to regain the lead with just 10 laps to go.

Gardner then held the lead for the rest of the race and extended the gap to eight seconds as neither Paddon or the combined entry of Oon and Adam Lisle finished in the top three – the honour of second and third going to West Australians Elliott Schutte and Cooper Cutts.
 
The series’ second race of the round will take place at 11:15am AEST. 

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