Bowe creeps to put Bullas back on course at Muscle Car Masters
A surprise upset at the Muscle Car Masters saw John Bowe lose an almost certain victory, putting Gavin Bullas back on course in his Biante Touring Car Masters Championship defence with a win for round five at Eastern Creek Raceway (NSW), today.
Bowe, Jim Richards and Bullas took a race win a piece, but the overall round victory belonged to Bullas - his fourth of five rounds this season.
On a mission to reclaim the Group 2 lead that he previously relinquished by missing round four, Trevor Talbot once again overtook Graeme Cook and Rory ONeill to assume the championship lead.
Bowe started off the weekend strongly and set the pace in qualifying in the WesTrac Camaro with a 1:42.688min lap with Richards and Bullas trailing.
Eighth overall, Cameron Tilleys Tilley Engineering Valiant Pacer was the fastest qualifier of Group 2, narrowly holding out the Torana of Talbot and Porsches of Bernie Stack and Keene with ONeills Blackcat Racing Porsche 14th fastest.
Previously third-placed in the series, Drew Marget was notably absent from qualifying after a breaking the nose off the crank in his Marget Engineering Ford Mustang made him a spectator for the weekend; a similar fate to the Dukes Body Works 68 Camaro SS of Alastair Maclean.
Reversing the starting grid from Queensland Raceway, Bowe lined up in the pole position with Richards alongside on the front row for race one.
Richards was the quicker of the pair off the start line, but Bowe got the upper hand in a tight drag race to lead the field through the first turn.
While Bowe stretched out a lead that he maintained to the end of the 10-lap race, Richards was shuffled back down the order behind Gavin Bullas, Brad Tilley and Steve Mason.
A race of attrition, Stacks Porsche suffered a terminal engine drama; Tony Karanfilovski came to grief in the TIFS Warehousing Alfa Romeo GTAM making heavy contact with the wall at turn one which abruptly ended his weekend, causing minor injury and massive car damage.
Other casualties from the opening race; Mick Wilson suffered a diff problem, Greg Waddington crashed his Monaro and sat out the remainder of the race, while an ambitious passing manoeuvre from Cook on Cameron Tilleys Valiant put them both out of the race and left the Racemoves/Buik Motorworks Porsche with suspension damage, ending Cooks round and seriously denting his Group 2 championship bid.
Suffering a misfire, round four winner Richards struggled to maintain track position in the Shannons Falcon Sprint and slipped down the order to cross the finish line in eighth.
Bowe looked effortless as he pushed the #12 Camaro across the finish line with .779 sec advantage, despite increased pressure from Bullas in the closing laps followed by Steve Mason in third ahead of Brad Tilley.
Keene was the standout in Group 2 finishing sixth outright in the SportsMed 911 Porsche, but the heated championship battle between ONeill and Talbot continued in ONeills favour with the pair running second and third in the class.
As Muscle Car Masters ramped into top gear for Fathers Day, Sunday mornings race two featured with a reverse grid for the top eight cars, putting Richards back on pole position alongside Tony Edwards Competition Engineering HQ Monaro.
Richards held the field at bay with Edwards, Tilley, Mason, Bullas and Bowe in pursuit across the opening laps.
Bullas eventually pushed by Mason to steal fourth place, and with a wiff of smoke from the Edwards Monaro, Tilley, Mason, Bullas and Bowe stormed past before Edwards retired shortly after.
A broken conrod on the G Force Performance Centre HQ Monaro saw series newcomer Matt OBrien make a spectacular exit along the main straight, bringing out the safety car to retrieve the Monaro.
With the field bunched up, the safety car released the pack with Richards still at the helm for a four-lap sprint.
Bowe capitalised on the restart and made a move on Steve Mason for fourth, while Tony Hunter passed Keene for seventh.
Tilley, Bullas, Bowe and Mason battled for the remaining podium positions, while Richards stormed to his third win of the season with the top five separated by a mere one second as they crossed the finish line.
Cameron Tilley was the top-placed Group 2 entrant, finishing in seventh spot, with Keenes Porsche and Talbots Dukes Body Works XU-1 Torana in eighth and ninth respectively and class leader ONeill in 16th.
Bowe again lined up on pole, this time with Bullas in position two for the last Biante race. The Tasmanian racer led the field for the opening two laps before entering pit lane to serve a drive through penalty for creeping at the start line, gifting the race and round win to Bullas.
A torrid battle between Bullas, Richards and Brad Tilley ensued to the end of the race, but the Rain City Mustang held on to take the chequered flag and wrap up the round win.
After conceding round four to Jim Richards, 2008 champion Bullas returned to the top of the podium and stretched his series lead to 119 points with two rounds remaining.
Talbot retook the Group 2 series lead, but it was victory to South Australian Keene who claimed round honours in just his second appearance in the category.
The series now heads to the circuit that created legends and icons of the drivers and cars of the Biante Touring Car Masters period with round six at Mount Panorama, Bathurst (NSW) on 8-11 October.
In addition to fighting for Touring Car Masters championship points, a selection of Australias Biante field took on a number of their New Zealand counterparts as a finale to the Muscle Car Masters event.
Aussie resident and motorsport hero, New Zealand-born racer Richards defended Australia by charging to third place, but the Kiwi team took home the inaugural Tasman Touring Car Trophy, led by Australian-based V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards.
The Biante Touring Car Masters is proudly supported by Biante Model Cars, Rare Spares, Shannons Insurance, Hoosier Tires and official charity RSPCA Australia.
