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November 4, 2014 | General

BATHURST BATTLE BEGINS WITH BOWE FASTEST

THE CHASE to beat Bowe at Bathurst has begun as Round 6 of the ENZED Touring Car Masters got underway today at Mount Panorama Bathurst.

The double Bathurst 1000 winner smashed the existing TCM practice record in practice two on a fine Thursday his best of 2m20.51s a full 1.1 seconds under the existing class practice record set in qualifying last year – by Glenn Seton.

Bowe headed Chevrolet Camaro-driving rival Andrew Miedecke Ford Falcon XB pilot Kim Jane and Charger star Greg Crick in the combined practice times across two 20-minute sessions today.

Ahead of qualifying the top-four is filled with four different models; Mustang Camaro Falcon and Charger.

Keith Kassulke (5th) Andrew Fisher Jim Richards Bill Pye Jason Gomersall and Paul Freestone completed the top-10 in a competitive day with third through 10th covered by just two seconds – a fair contrast to the 1.9s gap Bowe established at the pointy end of the field in practice.

Both sessions were interrupted with red flag stoppages today the first halted two minutes from its conclusion when Mark King spun into the gravel at the Chase after a tyre delaminated on Conrod straight.

King was able to control the car – despite the blowout happening at more than 260km/hr – and escape without damage ending the day 11th in the King Springs / Whiteline transport Camaro.

The second session was called short when Will Vining backed his Mustang into the fence at Skyline – though he still ended the day quickest of the Pro Sports contenders.

The Savy Motorsport crew expect the Mustang to be back on track tomorrow for qualifying.

Returning to the track this weekend is TCM fan favourite Brad Tilley who after a lengthy repair process has returned his iconic Falcon GTHO to the circuit this weekend.

Severely damaged in a crash at the Clipsal 500 in March Tilley and his team have scrambled to raise the funds to repair the Falcon but have made a triumphant return this weekend.

Brad Tilley has returned the Beast to Mount Panorama. PIC: Dirk Klynsmith

Tilley ended practice in 13th position but says there’s more to come from the Green Machine.

“It’s been a massive process to get it back on track and I’m absolutely stuffed†he said following the second practice session.

“I’ve been getting to the workshop at 5 and working until 8 in the morning when I’d start work. I’d then pick up at 5pm and work through until I couldn’t stand up any more!

“I don’t know why people just love the car. I remember winning that race here two years ago and being able to hear the crowd over the car at the end. That’s why we’ve worked so hard to get it back for this weekend.

“It’s a labour of love for us and we’re really thrilled to have got it back on track here. It’s going to be pretty good – we changed some things in the front end so it’s different to drive.

“It has only driven from the shed onto the truck before today – so this is a big day for us. It ran well and it will get better.â€Â

The ENZED Touring Car Masters will return to the circuit tomorrow for qualifying and the first of three races that make up the TCM Mountain Masters presented by ENZED Rare Spares and Shannons.

COMBINED PRACTICE TIMES – Round 6 Mount Panorama.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL          Fastest...Lap        Gap1    18  Dunlop Super Dealers/Wilson Se John Bowe (VIC)          Mustang Trans Am     5600c             P2  2:20.5137R2    95  Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke (NSW)    Camaro SS            5800c             P2  2:22.4278  0:01.91413    48  Sydneys Cheapest Cars          Kim Jane (VIC)           Falcon XB Coupe      5800c             P2  2:23.6787  0:03.16504    75  Mopar Performance              Greg Crick (TAS)         Charger E55          5570c             P2  2:24.4248  0:03.91115    52  Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD)     Falcon XB Coupe      5800c             P1  2:24.6217  0:04.10806     9  Synergy Race Engines           Andrew Fisher (NSW)      Falcon XY GTHO       5800c             P2  2:24.8173  0:04.30367     1  Shannons Insurance             Jim Richards (VIC)       Falcon Sprint        4700c             P2  2:25.0130  0:04.49938     7  calga.biz                      Bill Pye (NSW)           Camaro               5800c             P2  2:25.3436  0:04.82999    35  iseek Racing                   Jason Gomersall (QLD)    Torana SL/R 5000     5047c             P2  2:25.3502  0:04.836510   25  Freestones Transport/Freestone Paul Freestone (VIC)     Camaro SS            5800c             P2  2:25.7910  0:05.277311   85  Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King (QLD)          Camaro RS            5800c             P2  2:26.1477  0:05.634012   88  TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Mustang Trans Am     5800c             P2  2:26.5856  0:06.071913   28                                 Brad Tilley (NSW)        Falcon XY GT         5800c             P2  2:27.2274  0:06.713714   56  Autolite Spark Plugs           Brett Youlden (VIC)      HQ Monaro            5800c             P1  2:27.2327  0:06.719015   11  Lion Mill Solutions            Adam Bressington (NSW)   Falcon XA GT         5768c             P2  2:29.0706  0:08.556916   98  Thunder Road Racing Australia  William Vining (NSW)     Mustang Coupe        5000c             P2  2:29.2811  0:08.767417    3  Hercules Engines               Cameron Mason (NSW)      Mustang Fastback     5000c             P2  2:29.5815  0:09.067818   99  Outbound Racing / Treloar Rose Les Walmsley (VIC)       HQ Monaro            5810c             P2  2:29.6751  0:09.161419   50  Flo-gineering                  Carey McMahon (VIC)      Torana SL/R 5000     5000c             P2  2:30.1104  0:09.596720    6  Chris Stillwell Racing         Sven Burchartz (VIC)     Mustang Trans Am     5000c             P2  2:30.2169  0:09.703221   46  THD Motorsport                 Leo Tobin (VIC)          Boss Mustang         5000c             P2  2:30.2848  0:09.771122   60  Tilleys Racing Equipment       Cameron Tilley (NSW)     HQ Monaro            5800c             P2  2:30.4916  0:09.977923   74  Lyndways Builders              Wayne Mercer (VIC)       Falcon XY GTHO       5800c             P2  2:31.0837  0:10.570024   10  Sunliner RV                    Tony Hunter (VIC)        Monza 2+2            5000c             P1  2:32.6899  0:12.176225   33  SportsMed                      Greg Keene (SA)          911 RS               3600c             P2  2:32.7439  0:12.230226    4  Skye Sands                     Rusty French (VIC)       911 RS               3600c             P2  2:38.7299  0:18.216227   43  Treloar Roses / Mick Wilson Pl Mick Wilson (VIC)        Charger RT           4390c             P1  2:39.1154  0:18.601728    5  Northern BM P/L                Phillip Showers (VIC)    Escort RS 1600       2000c             P2  2:45.1932  0:24.679529   72  BMR Industries                 Bruce McLeod (NT)        Falcon XA Superbird  5000c             P2  2:45.2334  0:24.7197