Commodores Dominate Opening Round of the 2016 Series
QTCC Class A Race 1
A depleted field of 14 cars took the starting grid for race one of the season after a few issues in qualifying. Murray Kent had a clutch issue in the Torana and Matt Mobsby blew an engine.
Last year's series winner, Brett Kennedy, made a great start from row 2, jumping pole man Steve Burridge to lead them out of Karussel on the first lap. Karl Begg, hot on his heals with Steve Burridge, Hamish Goetz, Steve Hay in pursuit.
By lap 3 Kennedy and Begg had cleared away from Burridge. Steve Coe, Michael Woodcroft, Stephen Rushton and the newly liveried BMW of Leon Kemp having their own fun at the rear.
Chris Brown’s WSM Commodore blew an engine at the end of the straight leaving oil on the track which resulted in Kennedy locking the rears and having a spin in Carousel with Begg getting by for the lead.
Brett Boulton's BOLD sponsored BMW had an overheating warning light go off and pulled into the pits, returning to the track soon after, but down the order.
Justin Anthony and Glenn Trigger had a ding dong battle all race in the mid pack, separated by only .3 of a second at the flag.
Kennedy set out in pursuit of points, only to trip over Richard Gresham in the BMW 2002 into Hungry and run off onto the grass before short cutting to the pits.
At the finish, it was Begg, Burridge, Goetz and Steve Hay with an uneventful drive for 4th. Anthony, Trigger, Coe, Woodcroft and Kemp rounding out the finishers.
QTCC Class B Race 1
A full field and lots of variety greeted the started for class B's opening race of the season.
Series newcomer, Scott Pedley led them away in the Ford Falcon AU from Neville Haines's new VT Commodore, Joel O'Farrell's Alfa Romeo, Adrian Blackwell, Warwick Douglas, Andrew Knight and the always beautifully presented BMW 635 CSL of Greg Lee.
Blackwell dropped from 4th to 7th on lap two but battled back to 4th by the end.
Chris Begg had a power steering failure on lap 6, dropped 5 places to 14th before finishing in 12th.
John Phoenix muffed the start and dropped back 2 places to 15th before being held up by the orange XU1 of Nick Linton, getting by on lap 6 and almost catching Adam Pye for 10th, settling into 11th.
Gary Anger's newly livered and sponsored Commodore gaining a few places to finish 5th.
Ian Solomon's dirty day continued with engine issues and dropping him back through the field and retiring on the last lap.
At the pointy end, it was the race of the cursed leaders. O'Farrells' Alfa getting by Haines for second on lap 3 with Haines reversing the order on lap 7. Trouble struck leader Pedley with a blown front left tyre, pulling over in the bus stop. O'Farrell dropped a cylinder on the last lap after a plug lead dislodged, ending a stella drive against the bigger engined cars.
Haines hung on to win the first outing of the new VT with Group B regulars, Warwick Douglas and Andrew Knight benefitting from the misfortunes of those around them to fill the minor placings.
Graham Streat had a steady drive moving up from 10th to 6th.
Dean Rice and Stewart Walker formed a Commodore precision driving display, with only 0.19 between them at the checker.
Nick Linton and Peter Jolly had a close finish for 13th and 14th respectively with .5 separating the Torana from the BMW.
Malcolm Douglas, Mark Giorgio and Ian Soloman rounded out the finishers a lap down.
QTCC Group A Race 2
After a number of DNF's from race 1, this race was going to be an interesting affair with the faster cars moving through the field. At the start, Burridge lead Begg, Hay, Goetz, Gresham and Anthony for the lead through lap 1. Brett Kennedy set off in pursuit of the leaders, moving up to 7th by the end of lap 2.
Brett Boulton's BMW and Murray Kent's Torana moving up through the field, joined the Anthony /Trigger battle for some of the best racing of the afternoon.
Lap 7, Karl Begg went missing with a clutch issue. The race was red flagged for 2 laps while the Motorsport Zone BMW was moved to safety.
On resumption, Kennedy moved into 3rd, getting past Goetz on lap 9.
Leon Kemp and Michael Woodcroft maintained their day long battle for 10th/11th in an entertaining race between two very different cars.
Murray Kent undid his hard work, parking the Torana in the tyres in the Karrassel after missing a gear and running out of bitumen. The left side of the car damaged but drivable.
At the checker, Burridge took the win from Hay, Kennedy, Goetz, Gresham as the lead BMW, from Anthony, Boulton, Trigger, Coe, Kemp and Woodcroft, last of the finishers.
QTCC Group B Race 2
Haines led them away, getting the jump on Douglas with Blackwell, Knight, Anger, Streat, Lee and Dean Rice giving chase. Chris Begg had a spin in Hungry while in 11th resulting in a gap from the leaders to Phoenix, O'Farrell, Linton, Peter Jolly and co. Scott Pedley steadily moved through the field from the rear after yesterdays DNF.
By lap 4 the gap from 1st to 9th was only a handful of seconds, Warwick Douglas getting by Haines for the lead and Knight continuing to poke the Datsuns noise inside Anger on the entry to Hungry with no gain.
Solomon's horror weekend continued with the #28 BMW running well off its usual pace. Adam Pye, Nick Linton and Jolly having their own battle down the back for 13th, 14th and 15th.
QTCC newcomer Mark Giorgio in the red Falcon, had a steady run at the rear of field, picking up places through the attrition of others.
Phoenix and O'Farrell making up the ground they lost earlier from Begg's spin to jump onto the back of Walker, Phoenix getting by and Pedley getting by Phoenix with the Alfa of O'Farrell pulling off the track and done for the weekend after showing plenty of promise.
Douglas lead Haines in a great big car v little battle before Douglas pulled off with a flat front left, a common issue over the weekend.
Greg Lee in the BMW 635 was the quiet achiever in the race, consistently lapping in the 61's and 62's to move through the field to join Haines at the pointy end.
Streat moved onto the back of Anger to challenge the top group before pulling off in the Eastern Loop.
Rice, Pedley and Phoenix closed in on the leaders to finish 6th, 7th and 8th respectively.
Anger and Knight maintained the race long battle with Anger getting 4th by less than half a second.
Walker had a busy drive, starting in 10th, moved up to 9th, down to 11th and back up to 9th as cars swapped positions around him in the beautifully presented Commodore.
At the finish, Haines missed a gear coming onto the straight for the last time, losing enough momentum for Lee to sneak past for the win by 0.15 of a second in a popular result up and down pit lane.
QTCC Group A Race 3
4 V8s filled the first 2 rows followed by 4 x BMW in rows 3 and 4.
Burridge led Kennedy and Goetz with a gap to Gresham, Boulton, Kennedy and Trigger.
Steve Hay's Commodore was off song, and going backwards through the field, the issue later traced to a fuel pump.
Begg and Kent made a solid start, overtaking a handful of cars on the first lap after starting down back and jumping onto the back of Stephen Coe's Commodore.
By lap three, the leaders had spread out with Burridge leading from Kennedy and Goetz, with a gap back to Gresham, Begg and Anthony.
Kemp couldn't believe his luck when he went past Hay and Woodward followed suit.
Justin Anthony pulled into the pits with a broken wheel after hitting a bump in Karrassel.
Gresham, Boulton and Trigger putting on a great dice for top BMW after Begg pulled off at the end of the straight, the #40's weekend done with a destroyed engine.
At the front, Burridge had got away from Kennedy and Goetz who finished 2nd and 3rd by 0.14 at the checker with a gap to Boulton, Gresham and Kent. Coe held off a fast finishing Kemp for 7th with Woodcroft and Rushton filling 9th and 10th, last of the finishers.
QTCC Group B Race 3
17 starters for race 3, with Haines and Lee occupying the front two spots. Haines lead away with Lee, and a pack of Commodores in pursuit. Anger, Blackwell, Rice lead the Datsun of Andrew Knight, Scott Pedley, John Phoenix, Adam Pye and Stuart Walker rounding out the top ten.
On lap two, Chris Begg spun again in Hungry and falling to rear of field.
Blackwell had the best seat in the house for what was to follow, unforetunitely for him, parked at the end of the straight with a throttle issue and out for the race.
Lee and Haines got close through the kink with Lee taking evasive action onto the grass before rejoining without losing a spot but falling into a group with Anger, Rice, Knight and Pedley.
Adam Pye ran wide across the kitty litter in Karrassel, dropping back to 12th.
John Phoenix spun on his own oil after a rock hit the oil cooler, sending the BMW in the sand and out for the day.
Lee's BMW slowed dramatically with no obvious sign of an issue, stopping on the entry to the pits and going no further.
This left Haines with a nice lead from Anger, Pedley and Knight. A gap to the Commodores of Rice, Walker, with Warwick Douglas making his way through the field after the previous races dnf.
Linton, Pye and Jolly keeping each other company down the back while the BMW's of Malcolm Douglas and Ian Soloman toured at the rear of field with Mark Giorgio splitting them for 13th.
At the finish , Haines held off Anger, Pedley and Knight, top four covered by 2.3 secs. A gap to Rice in 5th, Walker in 6th and Douglas making up half the field to finish 7th. A decent gap to Adam Pye, Linton and Jolly the last of the finishers on the lead lap. Malcolm Douglas, Mark Giorgio and Ian Solomon 1 lap down.
QTCC Group A Race 4
Kennedy and Goetz lead them away with Burridge, Gresham, Kent and lead BMW of Boulton in pursuit. Karl Begg started towards the rear in the sister car of Chris Begg after his race 3 engine issue. Justin Anthony also started further back than normal after his race 3 tyre issue resulting in a dnf.
Steve Hay's rotten weekend continued, this time not completing a lap.
Stephen Coe and Leon Kemp waged an entertaining, big car little car battle during the race.
Michael Woodcroft in the yellow Torana held up Trigger and Rushton, before Trigger retired with a tyre issue on lap 7.
Boulton, Burridge, Kent and Begg put on a great battle for 3rd to 6th before Begg put two tyres on the grass on the entry to Hungry while attacking Kent and spun off.
Gresham had a lonely race in the later stages finishing 6th, with a gap to Coe and Begg who rejoined the circuit.
Coe, Kemp and Anthony diced for 8th, before Anthony got by them both to finish 7th at the line, unfortuntely receiving a 30 second penalty and dropping to 12th.
At the front, Kennedy and Goetz finished 1-2 to Boulton, with Burridge and Kent having a drag down the front straight, Burridge getting the chocolates by 0.02 sec and the round win.
QTCC Group B Race 4
Haines and Knight got the best of the start with Anger and Rice keeping Pedley at bay for 5th. Lee made up 7 spots on the first lap after the previous races brake problem.
Walker, Linton, Begg and Pye led the fast closing Adrian Blackwell who started at the rear. Jolly lead Streat but not for long as he too, worked his way forward.
Malcolm Douglas, Mark Giorgio and Solomon rounded out the field.
Knight, Pedley and Anger reformed and continued battle as they had done at different times over the weekend.
You could through a blanket over Rice, Walker, Warwick Douglas and Greg Lee, before Lee once again had brake issues and DNF'ed.
Pye dropped to rear of the field and kept Solomon company, a position neither of them would enjoy.
With two laps to go for the weekend, it got a little more exciting. Knight got by Haines through Hungry while lapping Giorgio, only for Haines to use his superior horsepower and retake the lead by the start finish line.
Pedley took third from Anger in the Eastern Loop and set off after Knight with one lap to go.
Pedley tagged Knight on the entry to Hungry, the Datsun spinning off and both cars retiring with damage. The beneficiary was Warwick Douglas who moved up to third for the race and third for the weekend.
At the checker for the final time, Haines lead Anger by 7 seconds, with Douglas holding off Stuart Walker by 0.2 of a second for 3rd.
Begg, Blackwell and Streat pocketed points after issues at various times of the weekend.
Nick Linton had his highest finish of the weekend in 8th.
Jolly and Rice rounding out the top 10.
Malcolm Douglas held out Giorgio for 11th and Adam Pye recovered to 13th.
Solomon last of the finishers after a frustrating weekend.
