Title Race Heats Up
THE racing will again be fast and furious with several drivers needing to bank maximum points to keep their chase for a shot at the title alive at the penultimate round of the Australian Trans-Am series at Lakeside Park on August 6 and 7.
Iwan Jones - August 2016
An impressive showing by Charlie O’Brien (Outright Series), Alwyn Bishop (Sportsman Series) and Sean English (5 Litre Series) saw the trio consolidate their respective class leads at round three, which marked the halfway point of the championship.
A capacity 21-car grid took to the historic 2.41 kilometre circuit at the previous round of the series, which lived up to its reputation as a track that demands respect with multiple casualties across the wet weekend resulting in a tight turnaround before the next event.
One of the casualties, Sportsman Series competitor Harry Charalambous, who was involved in the train of collision with Stephen Scales, Shane Wilson and Shannon O’Brien at the kink on the opening lap of race three is racing to get back onto the track.
“After a disastrous weekend for me and others I am still looking forward to the next round,” said Charalambous.
“The best way to get over that weekend was to get straight back into the shed and repair the pony with the help of Nicko and Greg, all is going well and we will be there fingers crossed,” he added.
Category Director John English praised the commitment of the drivers caught up in the chaos, to fix their cars ahead of this weekend.
“Some of our guys have been working very hard to ensure that they make the grid for our next round at Lakeside,” said English.
English said fans will be treated to double the Trans-Am action this weekend, with sibling category TA2 Racing Australia featuring a grid of modern American muscle cars set to make their racing debut.
“Also we will have our brothers in the new TA2 category hitting the track for their first official race meeting as a group and even though there will only be eight cars on track, the show will be worth coming out to see.”
A significant point haul this weekend by defending series champion Charlie O’Brien (385 points) will go a long way to securing a back-to-back title, as he leads the outright series ahead of Brett Curran (285 points), fresh from an impressive outing with the Touring Car Masters at Queensland Raceway, in second and former series champion John English hot on his tail in third (280 points). Alwyn Bishop maintains an impressive lead in the Sportsman Series to stake his claim for the inaugural class crown (352 points) ahead of Daniel Flemming (198 points) and Harry Charalambous (195 points) in third. Defending 5 Litre Series champion Sean English (361 points) leads the class ahead of a charging Rob Hackwood (298 points) and Toowoomba-based racer Mark Bowtell in third (220 points).