Round 4

Queensland Raceway Prepares for Healthy AMRS Fields:

The Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) has made another positive step forward with strong field of cars and a new category is set to debut for 2006 in the upcoming fourth round at Queensland Raceway on June 3 - 4 in what promises to be an action-packed spectacle of grass-roots racing.

AMRS director Rod Dale recently announced that the Super TT is on the bill at Queensland Raceway. Super TT (Tin Tops) will feature a mixture of Sports Sedans, Improved Production, Saloon Cars and Commodore Cup.

Also on the program at Queensland Raceway will see the Australian Touring Car Challenge, Formula 4000, Production Touring Cars, Thunder Sports and Street Cars of the high performance level.

In the Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC), current Championship leader Terry Wyhoon has been forced to jump into the Dean Neville VT Commodore V8 Supercar after his normal car, the AU Falcon V8 Supercar, has suffered engine woes and was unable to be repaired for the Queensland Raceway round.

With a comfortable lead in the ATCC Championship, Wyhoon should have not have trouble adjusting to the Neville car, but the likes of David Krause (VS Commodore V8 Supercar), the returning Garry Willmington (EL Falcon V8 Supercar), Luke Searle (BMW 320i V8 Supercar), Bryce Peter-Budge (Peugeot 406 Super Tourer), Andrew Gillespie (AU Falcon XR8 II Future Tourer), Dean Neville (VS Commodore Future Tourer) and a host of others are looking to cause a stir.

One of the ATCC major attractions is its handicapping system for race two and three, and watching the speed differences between the V8 Supercars, Super Tourers and Future Tourers is quite spectacular.

The battle in the Yokohama Australian Formula 4000 Drivers Championship has really heated up between Ty Hanger and Derek Pingel. At the previous round Hanger took out a dominant victory, whilst Pingel didn’t have the best of runs and as a result the former took control of the Championship.

Aside from the Hanger and Pingel, the likes of Mark West, Sam Dale and Les Crampton are looking to upstage their more fancied rivals. A number of drivers are making their first appearances in the Formula 4000 category they include Adam Proctor, Nick Power and Italian open wheeler driver Davide Amaduzzi.

A strong field of Production Touring Cars is ready to take on the Queensland Raceway circuit and heading the field is Luke Searle (2006 BMW 130) and Peter Kelly (2006 BMW 130) as fellow class A competitors David Capraro (Alfa 156 GTA) and category first timers, Len Cave (Honda Integra Type R) and Malcolm Rae (Toyota Celica) are hoping to mount a challenge to the BMW pair.

In Class B George Miedecke (2002 Hyundai Tiburon), Roland McIntosh (2005 Peugeot) and Natalie Willmington (2002 Mitsubishi Magna) are set to fight it out, and likewise in Class C between Graham Roylett (2001 Proton Satria GTI) and Tony Saliba ( 2000 Nissan Pulsar ST). The Production Touring Car Series allows current model cars to compete providing they have race belts, a fire extinguisher and rollover protection bars.

The Thunder Sports category boosts its largest field of the year with over 20 nominations that includes Porches, Future Racers and various other awesome pieces of machinery that are all keen to set the track ablaze.

North Queensland Speedway Promoter and ex Formula Ford racer Peter Roggenkamp is one of many Porsche entrants that will join Future Racer front runners Wayne Green, Paul Quinn and Chris Clearihan, along with Thunder Sport hard chargers Mike Kilpatrick (Killa Kar K27)and Robert Townsend (Minetti ZZI) in a mass of exciting racing.

Super TT and Street Cars are to complete a mixed bag of Motorsport that is sure to being entertaining around the 3.13km Queensland Raceway circuit.

Racing on Saturday and Sunday commences at 9am.

Entry for Sunday is $30. Saturday entry will be $20, and spectators keen to see both days of action can get a two day pass for $40. Entry to the pit and paddock area is no extra charge, and gives fans the chance to get up close to the race cars and drivers.

The official website for the AMRS can be viewed at: www.amrs.net.au

For further details please contact the Queensland Raceway office on 07 54619100 during business hours, or visit their official website: www.QueenslandRaceway.com.au

Queensland Raceway is located on Champions Way, Willowbank.

All the action from Round Four of the Australian Motor Racing Series, at Queensland Raceway, will go to air over two episodes of SBS Speedweek - tune in this Sunday 11 June for all the Citilink Construction Group Touring Car Challenge and Production Touring Car action, and the following Sunday 18 June will be your chance to see all the action from the Yokohama Australian Formula 4000 Drivers Championship, Thunder Sports and Super TT. SBS Speedweek airs at 12 noon - check your local TV Guide for details, and those with Pay TV can catch the action on the Wednesday of the week immediately following the Speedweek telecast, on Fox Sports Inside Speed.

AMRS Shines at Queensland Raceway:

Queensland Raceway was the venue for the fourth round of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) last weekend (June 3 – 4) and it produced a number of winners across the five categories with action that was certainly fast and furious.

The Citilink Construction Group Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC) headlined the billing at Queensland Raceway and it was Sydney’s David Krause that took the overall round victory in his former Perkins Motorsport VS Commodore. 27-year-old Krause was a model of consistency over the three races by finishing with a third, a win and a second to take the round victory ahead of John Vergotis (AU Falcon V8 Supercar) and Daniel Natoli (Ford Mondeo Super Tourer).

Ryan McLeod (VX Commodore V8 Supercar) made his ATCC debut and was quick from the outset by qualifying on pole position, winning race one and finishing second in race two. However, McLeod’s luck ended in the third race when he suffered power steering problems that forced him to retire and cost him a probable round victory.

Current ATCC Championship leader Terry Wyhoon, who drove the VT Commodore V8 Supercar normally driven by Dean Neville, didn’t have the best of weekends after finishing fourth in the opening race, failing to finish the second race due to rear axle failure, and placing third in race three. Although Wyhoon managed to hold onto the Championship lead, Krause’ round victory has closed the gap.

Also making his ATCC debut was Gold Coast based Natoli who overcame clutch dramas to win the third race and finished the weekend with third overall in what was a fantastic result. Overall the class wins were shared between Krause (V8 Supercars), BWM 320i driver Peter Kelly (Super Tourers) and Amin Chahda (Future Tourers).

In the Yokohama Formula 4000 Drivers Championship Derek Pingel (Reynard 95D) managed to wrestle the lead of the point standings back from Ty Hanger (Reynard 95D) after taking a clean sweep of proceedings via strong wins in race one and two and earlier in the weekend topping the time sheets in qualifying.

Hanger qualified second behind Pingel and in the opening race (12 laps) led the first 5 laps only to pit and return to the track to eventually finish fourth. The misfortune of Hanger played into the hands of Pingel who took victory ahead of Italian Davide Amaduzzi (Reynard 96D) and Sam Dale (Reynard 94D) in second and third respectively.

For the second race, over a distance of 16 laps, saw Pingel continued his winnings ways on home soil by leading the entire distance to finish comfortably in front of Hanger and the impressive Amaduzzi. In this event the safety car made various appearances after a number of drivers had off-track excursions.

In the Oz BOSS stakes, Chris Farrell in his Ralt RT4 proved strong against the Formula 4000 cars - qualifying mid-pack, and mixing it with cars with more than double the engine displacement! Overall for the second round of the Oz BOSS Championship, Derek Pingel was victorious, with Amaduzzi and Hanger close behind. Ty Hanger retains the lead of the Oz BOSS Championship, from Derek Pingel and Sam Dale.

Porsche 993 Replica driver Scott Lyddiard may not have won a single race all weekend in the Thunder Sports category but his consistency was enough to give him the overall round victory after finishing with a fourth, a second and a third over the three races.

Another Porsche driver in the form of Wayne Henning was lightning fast all weekend by qualifying on pole position and taking out race one and three. In race two Henning originally finished fourth but the officials slapped with a 25 second penalty due to a driving infringement that saw him put back in 11 th. Mike Kilpatrick (Killa Kar K27) emerged victorious in the second race, after Phillip Holzberger (Porsche GT3 R5) was handed a 25 second penalty due to a driver infringement after crossing the finish line in the lead only to be recorded as seventh.

The battle between Luke Searle and Peter Kelly continued in the Production Touring Cars with Searle winning race one and three, whilst Kelly won race two. Searle (2006 BMW 130) outpaced the field in qualifying and carried that form into the opening race (5 laps) by taking the win ahead of Kelly (2006 BMW 130) and Class B runner George Miedecke (2002 Hyundai Tiburon).

Kelly got the upper-hand in the second race (7 laps) taking victory followed by Searle and Miedecke. In the third and final race (9 laps) Searle trailed Kelly right up until the penultimate lap before sweeping and taking the honours with Kelly and Miedecke rounding out the podium finishes to seal the round win. Class winners for the round were Searle (Class A), Miedecke (Class B) and 2000 Nissan Pulsar S driver Tony Saliba (Class C).

The debut of the Super TT class saw the round win claimed by Henry Van Roden (Mazda MX5) after he won race two and finished third in both race one and three. Others to show form over the course of the weekend were Greg Smith (Mazda RX7), Bruce Dummett (Torana XU1), Peter Roggenkamp (Mazda MX5) and Chris Warrington (Chev Camaro). Race one and three were captured by Smith and Dummett respectively.

Adelaide International Raceway in South Australia is the venue for the fifth round of the Australian Motor Racing Series on July 8 – 9.

For further information about the AMRS visit their official website: www.amrs.net.au

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© AMRS 2005