Winning Return for English
Two-time Australian Trans-Am champion John English claimed his first round win of the year at the fourth round of the 2018 Performance Wheels Australian Trans-Am Series at the Lakeside Classic.
The fourth different round winner from as many rounds this year, English (Pontiac Firebird) claimed two race wins and two podium finishes to top the points at the Lakeside Classic, duking it out with round three winner Anthony Tenkate (Ford Mustang) and Rob Hackwood (Ford Mustang) across the four races.
English topped qualifying, but would start race one from the rear of the grid as a result of a penalty from a previous event, leaving Tenkate to start from pole position for race one, which he went on to win after holding off Hackwood in a race-long effort, with English third.
In race two, Hackwood lead from the start as English past Tenkate into the final corner for second place on lap two. English caught Hackwood but could not pass as he hung on to take his maiden Trans-Am race win by one-tenth of a second.
English got the jump on Hackwood off the start in race three, and went on to take a green-to-chequered win. Tenkate past Hackwood through the kink on lap two, and held him off for second place.
English took another unchallenged win in race four. Tenkate and Hackwood continued their battle for second, before a stuck throttle on Hackwood’s Mustang brought an end to his race, leaving Sean English to score third place in his return to Trans-Am racing.
After a two-year hiatus and a last minute call-up, 2015 Trans-Am 5 Litre champion Sean English returned to the grid behind the wheel of Harry Charalambous’ Ford Mustang to claim the Sportsman Series victory with three wins and a second, albeit in a non points-paying appearance. 2016 Sportsman Series champion Alwyn Bishop (Ford Mustang) netted some handy points across the weekend to take the round win.
Tricia Chant (Ford Mustang) secured her second consecutive 5 Litre class victory on the trot, with two wins, a second and a third placing, with father and 2014 5 Litre champion Mike Collins (Ford Mustang) maintaining his class championship lead with another consistent weekend.
English said he is pleased to be back in championship contention, describing his performance as timely.
“The car went extremely well all weekend, and I’m very happy to take the round win after a tough weekend of racing,” said English.
“The weekend on a whole was a great one for Australian Trans-Am, and on all-accounts the next round back at Lakeside in September will see 15 cars on the grid in a return to the roots of what made Trans-Am racing a great category to be involved with.”
“Thanks to Rob Hackwood who has done plenty of work on the car between events, Corey Phie from Street Elite Restorations and my team who worked on the car all weekend.”
The Performance Wheels Australian Trans-Am series returns to Lakeside Park for the fifth and penultimate round on September 29/30.