OZ BOSS Results Round 2

Round Two of the 2006 Oz BOSS Championship, for Big Open Single Seaters, was held at the fast, bumpy Queensland Raceway, June 3-4. The conditions right across the weekend were fine and sunny, if a little chilly in the mornings.

Unofficial practice on Friday saw Ty Hanger fastest in the first session in his Reynard 95D F4000, but his time was eclipsed by local Derek Pingel in his 95D Reynard. At the end of the days running, Pingel was at the top of the timesheets, followed by Hanger, close behind was Italian driver, Davide Amaduzzi on board the Team Sydney Reynard 96D F4000, having his first drive ever in Australia. Behind Amaduzzi was Melbournian Mark West, then Sam Dale, back just in time from his Navy helicopter pilot duties in East Timor. Then came the Ralt RT4 of Chris Farrell, proving that despite the long straights of Queensland Raceway, the smaller engined (1600cc!!) Ralt could mix it with the bigger capacity (3600-3800cc) F4000s. Just behind Farrell was Les Crampton in the Hocking Motorsport Reynard 97D, then Paul Hibberd in the ex-Frentzen Lola T93-50, rounding out the field was Matthew Fox in the Reynard 91D. Terry Clearihan did not take part in the unofficial practice sessions.

Saturday morning saw the first official practice session commence just before midday, and Ty Hanger was straight to the top of the time sheets in his Powrgard Mouthguards/Pluim Interiors supported Reynard. Hanger was slightly off his Friday pace however, and it seemed he wasn't the only one, with Pingel over a second slower than his Friday times, back in 3rd fastest. Davide Amaduzzi continued to impress though, and picked up second fastest in the session. The entire field was covered by just four seconds.

At 2.30pm, on Saturday afternoon, qualifying commenced. The session was marred by a number of red flags, and most drivers didn't set their fastest time until towards the end of the session. One driver who pulled out of qualifying early was Sam Dale in the ex-David Coulthard Mumbo Racing Reynard 94D - he had no engine instrumentation or warning lights, and elected to cut his qualifying run short rather than risk losing an engine. Dale would start from 8th on the grid. Also forced to sit out the session was Mark West in the Just Parts Magazine Reynard 98D - West's clutch giving up the ghost. Ty Hanger had a session he would rather forget, with a number of spins, and an engine cover coming adrift, Hangers interrupted session yielded him second fastest time. Amaduzzi managed 3rd fastest, and the Ralt RT4 of Farrell would take the grid in 6th place.

The cars filed onto the circuit for Race One just after 11am on Sunday, and Derek Pingel lead the cars around on the warm up laps. As the pace car pulled clear, Pingel was in control for the rolling start. As the green flag was waved, Pingel maintained his speed, but others took it as a signal to pull out all the stops. As the cars crossed the start line, Pingel dropped back to 6th place, and officials judged Ty Hanger and Terry Clearihan to have jumped the start. Pingel waved his arms, calling for a restart, but the officials called Hanger and Clearihan in for drive through penalties instead. Pingel managed to carve his way through the field, and as Hanger served his penalty, Pingel inherited the lead. Behind him, Terry Clearihan retired with a broken driveshaft. Davide Amaduzzi had an excellent debut race, to slot into second position. Sam Dale was close behind, and looked like challenging Amaduzzi mid-race, but greeted the chequered flag in 3rd. Hanger recovered to take 4th, Matthew Fox after running strongly in 4th during the race had a brake lock up into turn 3, and buried his car in the sand trap. Chris Farrell's Ralt RT4 brought him home in 6th position. Mark West was unable to make the start with ongoing driveline dramas.

The standing start for Race Two elicited far less controversy than the start of Race One. Pingel, starting from pole position kept his top place, and stayed there until the chequered flag. Davide Amaduzzi slotted into second place, with Hanger and Dale behind - Dale challenging Hanger in the early laps, but Hanger defending his 3rd place successfully. Mark West made the start this time, but was again plagued by driveline problems - he was only able to complete one lap before retiring. On lap five, Sam Dale lost drive through the high-speed turn two, and was forced to pull off the circuit - a sheared clutch had put a premature end to his day. On the same lap, Dale's teammate, Matthew Fox had his left rear wheel come loose through the fast turn one, causing him to spin, and subsequently retire. Shortly after, the Lola of Paul Hibberd lost drive and he too retired. To clear the stricken cars from dangerous areas, the safety car was deployed and the field closed up. At the restart, Amaduzzi was running second behind Pingel, but the Italian drivers tyres had cooled behind the safety car, and he completed a 360 degree spin exiting turn one, allowing Hanger and Farrell through. Amaduzzi caught and passed Farrell before the finish, but he was unable to pass Hanger. Pingel took a commanding victory, ahead of Hanger, Amaduzzi, Farrell, Crampton and Clearihan.

Overall, the round went to Pingel, followed by Amaduzzi and Hanger. Hanger holds onto his championship lead, followed by Pingel and Dale.

Round 3 of the 2006 Oz BOSS Championship will be held at South Australia's Adelaide International Raceway - the scene of some excellent Formula 5000 / Tasman Series battles in the past, and dormant for many years, the exciting layout is sure to bring out the best in the Oz BOSS concept. Very few of the current drivers have even seen the circuit, so it is sure to be a learning experience on a level playing field, when Oz BOSS comes to Adelaide, July 8 and 9.

© AMRS 2005