Touring Car Challenge Round 1 Results

Round 1 Report: Lowe Storms to Opening ATCC Round Victory

The debut of Brad Lowe in the Garry Willmington owned AU Falcon V8 Supercar, running in the V8 Giant class, was a memorable one as the 22-year-old dominated the opening round of the Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC) last weekend (February 24 – 25) at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway (NSW) by taking pole position and all three races over the course of the event.

At the completion of the weekend Lowe, after taking pole position and all three race wins, took out the round (his second in a row after taking out the final round of last year’s ATCC) ahead of a very impressive Darren Saillard (EL Falcon V8 Supercar) and Peter Kelly (BMW 320i Super Tourer) in second and third respectively.

Aside from the impressive Saillard, another newcomer to make quite an impression in his first ATCC round was former 3.3 Litre Holden competitor Darren Formosa, driving the ex Imrie Motorsport VX Commodore V8 Supercar, and he just missed out on claiming a podium finish in his maiden appearance. Formosa had just one test session on the board at Calder Park Raceway in his home state of Victoria, and as the weekend drew on he gained not only more and more speed, but also confidence, and after qualifying fifth, he finished the three races in sixth, third and eighth.

Lowe took pole position on Saturday afternoon with a best lap of 1:02.1942) ahead of Saillard, Luke Searle (BMW 320i Super Tourer), Vergotis, Shelton Loughrey (EL Falcon V8 Giant), Formosa, Kelly, Bruce Oaklands (VS Commodore V8 Supercar), Amin Chahda (GT BA Falcon Future Tourer), Philip Groeneveld (VS Commodore Future Tourer), and in tenth was Neil Byers (Nissan Primera Super Tourer).

All eyes were fixed on Lowe and whether or not he could sustain that pace under race conditions, and that he did in the opening race (5-lap scratch format) on Sunday morning by running away to a comfortable victory after starting from pole position. Over the 5-lap distance Lowe was able to build a comfortable advantage and score a comprehensive victory defeating Saillard and Vergotis as the top three finishers, followed by Loughrey, Searle, Formosa, Kelly, Chahda, Groeneveld, and Oaklands completing the top ten.

The only drama from race one was for former Australian Production Car Champion (Class C) Daniel Natoli, after earlier missing qualifying, who retired after only two laps due to mechanical woes in the Mumbo Racing Ford Mondeo Super Tourer and sadly that spelled the end of the Queensland based drivers weekend.

After taking out the opening race in comfortable fashion, Lowe was faced with doing it all from the back of the grid and under the handicapping system in the second race over 10-laps. Up at the front of the grid it was ATCC rookies, Gardner and Colin Passfield (V8 powered Mitsubishi Magna Future Tourer), that shared the front row and Gardner was able to take the lead on the opening lap after Passfield had gained the jump on him heading into the opening turn.

Gardner managed to stay out in front up until the fifth lap when the EL Falcon V8 Supercar of Vicary gained the front running. Vicary held down the lead position for three laps and battled closely with Super Tourer driver Kelly for a handful of laps before the latter was able to gain the upper hand on him. Once in the lead, Kelly held onto the lead right up until the final lap only to have Lowe sneak through for the win in sight of the chequered flag. Kelly finished in second ahead of Formosa, Vergotis, Vicary, Saillard, Loughrey, Sam Dale (Ford Mustang V8 Giant), David Gardner (VK Commodore Group A), and in tenth was Chahda.

Due to mechanical dramas in the opening race Byers took no further part in the weekend and was a scratching from race two and three. Unfortunately both Searle and Oaklands were unable to finish race two. Searle collided heavily with Chahda at the fish hook (turn nine) after a brake lock up and saw Searle retire to the side of the track due to a considerable amount of right front end damage, whilst Oaklands was working his way through the field only to slow and retire to the pit enclosure on the fifth lap.

Both Searle and Oaklands were able to make the grid for the third and final race of the weekend, over a distance of 12 laps, and once again it was Gardner that took the early lead, but it was short-lived with both Dale and Vicary demoting him back to third without a lap completed. Once out in front Vicary built up a handsome lead as the heavy hitters from the rear made their way through the field. Future Tourer racer Groeneveld was able to catch up to Vicary by the seventh lap, but he challenge didn’t last long as Oaklands moved into second place behind Vicary. With Vicary still in the lead, the battle for second place took a turn for the worse on lap nine when Oaklands and Kelly became entangled in turn seven and both speared off the track and onto the grass. Both drivers managed to disentangle and continue, but their hopes of winning were shot to pieces.

On the 10 th lap it was Lowe that caught up to the pack and gained the lead from Vicary and the lead position remained the same all the way to the fall of the chequered flag defeating Chahda and Groeneveld. Vicary was demoted back to fifth place in the closing stages by a hard charging Saillard who finished fourth, whilst Kelly managed to recover from his incident with Oaklands to finish sixth ahead of Vergotis, Formosa, Searle (who suffered a spin early in the race) and Oaklands in tenth.

The only non finisher in the third and final race was Loughrey who had the engine in the ex Paul Weel EL Falcon expire on the seventh lap in a big way.

All in all, it was a solid start to the 2007 ATCC Championship with the three races producing a different plenty of closely fought action with Lowe being victorious in all three.

Class winners went to Lowe (V8 Giants), Saillard (V8 Supercars), Kelly (Super Tourers), Chahda (Future Tourers) and Gardner (Group A).

For the full results, click here.

The next round of the ATCC travels to Calder Park Raceway (Melbourne, VIC) on the weekend of March 24 – 25.

For further information about the ATCC and its drivers visit their official website: www.touringcarchallenge.com

Round 1 Preview: A Mixture of New and Old Drivers Gear Up for ATCC Opener

(For drivers names in bold, click the name to read additional articles on that driver)

The Australian Touring Car Challenge (ATCC) will blast into action this weekend (February 24 – 25) at Wakefield Park Raceway (Goulburn, NSW) which is to include a variety of new and old challengers in the category that brings V8 Supercars, Super Tourers, Future Tourers and Group A together into one event that is run under a handicapping system.

Inaugural ATCC champion Luke Searle (BMW 318i Super Tourer) back in 2004 is looking to capture his second crown after the last two championship have been won by V8 Supercar drivers Garry Willmington and Terry Wyhoon (2006), and this is going to be the Newcastle drivers best chance to do so. The likes of John Vergotis (AU Falcon V8 Supercar), Bruce Oaklands (VS Commodore V8 Supercar), Bryce Peter-Budge (Peugeot 406 Super Tourer), Amin Chahda (BA GT Falcon Future Tourer), Philip Groeneveld (VS Commodore Future Tourer) and a host of others are hopeful of getting amongst the front of the field.

After finishing fourth in the overall ATCC championship and claiming the rookie of the year honours, Oaklands has every right to feel confident of going better this year aboard his ex Perkins Motorsport VS Commodore V8 Supercar, and drivers such as Vergotis, Peter-Budge, Chahda and Groeneveld are all capable front runners, especially in the handicap races, and it was actually Groeneveld that claimed an outright round win last year (Round seven of the ATCC at Calder Park Raceway, VIC), and no doubt is looking to add another or two.

Drivers such as Mark Telfer (VX Commodore Future Tourer), Peter Vicary (AU Falcon V8 Supercar), and Neil Byers (Nissan Primera Super Tourer) are once again lining up to tackle the ATCC championship in 2007, and all three drivers are looking for more consistency, which was something that robbed them of better results last year. Vicary didn’t have the best of runs last year by being dogged by mechanical woes, and this time around is looking for race wins and podium results throughout the year.

A bunch of new and exciting drivers have entered the ATCC fray and they are headed by Darren Saillard (EL Falcon V8 Supercar), along with Colin Passfield (making a cameo appearance driving the Neil Byers owned V8 powered Mitsubishi Magna), Paul Hibberd (Nissan Primera Super Tourer), Tony Saliba (Hyundai Lantra Super Tourer), Darren Formosa (VX Commodore V8 Supercar) and David Gardner (VL Commodore Group A).

Former Sprintcar driver and NSW Sports Sedan champion (1994) Darren Saillard has purchased the former Garry Willmington owned EL Falcon and in his opening test sessions has shown plenty of promise, and should be right up there amongst the leading pack form the outset. Passfield, who has a background in Light Truck racing, has jumped into the Neil Byers owned Mitsubishi Magna for this round and there is a chance that he could become a regular feature throughout the year in the ATCC. Hibbard makes a return to the Mumbo Racing team in their Nissan Primera and his last run at Wakefield Park was back in 2004 when he finished fifth outright with co-driver Adam Proctor in the Christmas 500, whilst Saliba joins the ranks after spending last year in the Production Touring Cars, and both Formosa and Gardner have stepped up from the 3.3 Litre Holden ranks.

Joining the ATCC for the opening rounds will be the newly formed V8 Giants category and drivers include Brad Lowe (AU Falcon V8 Supercar), Sam Dale (Ford Mustang Cobra) and Shelton Loughrey (EL Falcon V8 Supercar).

The format for the ATCC is two practice and a qualifying session on Saturday, whilst on the Sunday there will be a 5 lap scratch race along with two handicap format races over a distance of 10 and 12 laps.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest ATCC news and information by visiting the official website: www.TouringCarChallenge.com or the Wakefield Park Raceway website: www.WakefieldPark.com.au

© AMRS 2005