News
JOHNSON EDGES BULLAS FOR FIRST TCM POLE
STEVEN JOHNSON continued his impressive ENZED Touring Car Masters debut this morning by taking pole position and the lap record at Symmons Plains.
On a cool dry track Johnson picked up where he left off in practice yesterday – jumping to the top of the timesheets on his first timed lap.
Johnson would not be surpassed for the remainder of the session with his 56.51s lap two tenths underneath John Bowe’s existing lap record set during the category’s last visit to Symmons Plains in 2010.
The result also extended ‘Mustang Sally’s’ impressive pole-position streak stretching back to Bathurst in 2013.
Gavin Bullas made it an all-Mustang front row for race one with his all-out effort just under half a second shy of Johnson.
Tasmania’s Greg Crick rounded out the top 3 having appeared to be Johnson’s closest competition for the majority of practice and the 20-minute shootout.
Eddie Abelnica ended up 4th in his Falcon XB Coupe whilst Mark King completed the top-5.
Jim Richards experienced throttle issues throughout the session and will start from the rear of the field in his Shannons Insurance AMC Javelin.
Championship-leader Andrew Miedecke was not seen in qualifying after the team heard a noise in the engine whilst warming up. The team is currently changing the engine and hopes to be on track for race one.
The opening race of the Shannons Tasmania Tourist Trophy gets underway at 11.50am local time and will be broadcast live on FOX Motorsport – Channel 506.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Fastest...Lap Gap1 18 Dunlop Super Dealers/Wilson Se Steven Johnson (QLD) Mustang Trans Am 5800 5 5 0:56.5122R 2 16 Rain City Industries/Prodrive Gavin Bullas (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5800 11 11 0:56.9639 0:00.45173 75 Mopar Performance Greg Crick (TAS) Chrysler Charger E55 5570 9 9 0:57.1689 0:00.65674 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 14 14 0:57.4817 0:00.96955 85 Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro RS 5800 10 9 0:57.5001 0:00.98796 56 Autolite Spark Plugs Brett Youlden (VIC) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 16 11 0:57.5248 0:01.01267 30 Thunder Road Racing Australia Glenn Seton (QLD) Ford Mustang Coupe 5000 13 10 0:57.5425 0:01.03038 88 TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Mustang Trans Am 5800 16 13 0:57.6331 0:01.12099 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) Torana SL/R 5000 5047 17 16 0:57.6626 0:01.150410 52 Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD) Falcon XB Coupe 5800 12 9 0:57.6668 0:01.154611 60 Glennan's Transport Cameron Tilley (NSW) Valiant Pacer 4390 11 10 0:57.7793 0:01.267112 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 13 12 0:57.9447 0:01.432513 25 Freestones Transport/Freestone Paul Freestone (VIC) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 16 16 0:58.8183 0:02.306114 10 Sunliner RV Tony Hunter (VIC) Chevrolet Monza 2+2 5000 14 12 0:59.1666 0:02.654415 7 Mick Webb's SVO / calga.biz Bill Pye (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro 5800 13 12 0:59.3433 0:02.831116 20 Palmer Promotions Ian Palmer (QLD) Pontiac Trans-Am 5800 12 4 0:59.6554 0:03.143217 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5000 11 10 0:59.7671 0:03.254918 74 Mick Webb's SVO / Lyndways Bui Wayne Mercer (VIC) Falcon XY GTHO 5800 12 12 1:00.2418 0:03.729619 11 Lion Mill Solutions/Ultra Perf Tony Edwards (VIC) Ford Falcon XA GT 5768 8 6 1:01.2470 0:04.734820 5 Light Car Club of Tasmania John Talbot (TAS) Ford Mustang Coupe 4992 6 5 1:01.3593 0:04.847121 38 Shearwater Storage/Penrite Oil Leon Bell (TAS) HQ Monaro Coupe 5800 9 7 1:01.5083 0:04.996122 72 BMR Industries Bruce McLeod (NT) Falcon XA Superbird 5550 10 10 1:03.3803 0:06.868123 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) AMC Javelin 5890 6 3 1:08.0639 0:11.5517