May 7, 2015 | General

UNDERDOGS KEEN FOR BIG TCM RESULTS AT WINTON

TWO VICTORIAN drivers who could consider themselves amongst the ENZED Touring Car Masters underdog ranks are keen to show their respective strengths at Winton Motor raceway next week.

Round 3 of the 2015 series will be held at the rural Victorian venue – a circuit that has the habit of producing tight racing and surprise performances from drivers and especially cars not regularly at the front of the TCM field.

Porsche driver Sven Burchartz and Ford Falcon XA pilot Tony Edwards are two hoping for Winton’s unpredictable nature to play to their respective strengths.

Edwards switched to the XA Falcon this year after years of racing Holden TCM products and has faced a challenging start to the season as he and his team attempt to come to grips with the four-door Ford.

Major changes between rounds one and two improved the car at the most recent round in Tasmania and the development process will continue at Winton next week as Edwards attempts to set the car up to his liking.  

‘Bertha’ as the car is known has a strong history in TCM including wins and podium finishes in the hands of Leanne Tander during the 2010 season.

The car finished on the podium in the second race at Winton that year in Tanders’ hands.

Meanwhile Melbourne’s Sven Burchartz will look to use Winton’s many tight corners and braking zones to showcase the performance in his IROC Challenge-specification Porsche 911 RS.

The lightweight nimble Porsche’s lack the outright horsepower of the front-running TCM Mustangs and Camaros however Winton’s nature means they are often competitive at the Benalla circuit.

Last year Greg Keene qualified his 911 fourth outright behind only John Bowe Jim Richards and Tony Karanfilovski – and only 0.1s from the front row of the grid.

Sixth place in race one showed that the 1200kg 350hp Porsches can still compete with the high-powered muscle cars when the conditions are right.

“I’ve been having my eye on this round for a while†Burchartz a former Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series winner said.

“I knew Greg was up there last year but didn’t know he did that well. Winton is a Porsche circuit: Only about a third of the time is spent on full throttle and the rest is balance and corner speed and exits.

“The big bangers are great but around there they’re the all-original lead tipped arrow!!â€Â

Burchartz made his series debut at Winton twelve months ago driving a Ford Mustang – an excersise that ultimately led him to purchase the ex-Bill Pye Porsche to compete this year in both TCM and the new IROC Challenge series that commences this June also at Winton.

“I love the track have got some results there and basically cut most of my testing laps there over the last 15 years so if I’m ever a chance to get a result its there†he explained.

“P4 for Keene last year?  There’s the bar then. Nice symmetry as well as Winton 2014 was my first ever round but in Chris’s Mustang and as I remember it we made a bit of an impression.. on Gomersall’s rear quarter!â€Â

27 cars are entered for the Rare Spares Rose City Trophy round at Winton made up of three races on the May 15-17 weekend.

The grid includes the debut of another brand-new car to the TCM ranks – the Holden Torana SL/R 5000 recently completed by long-time series regular Gary O’Brien’s Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars business.

Graeme Alexander’s HT Monaro will make a welcome return to race for the first time this year while Rusty French is set to debut his brand new Ford Mustang coupe – a sister entry to Gavin Bullas’ Prodrive Racing Australia supported jet-black entry.

Tight competition so far this season has seen seven different drivers feature on the podium across the first six races and less than 60 points (one race win) cover the top six drivers in the ProMaster class standings after two of eight rounds this year.

Last year Winton delivered exciting racing and three different winners from three races.

John Bowe qualified on pole and won the first race while Tony Karanfilovski scored his second win of the season when he won race two. Jim Richards won the third race and the round in 2014 driving his Ford Falcon Sprint.

Every session will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 5 (Channel 506) across the weekend as part of the Winton Super Sprint V8 Supercars Championship event.

ROUND 3 – ENTRY LIST

RARE SPARES ROSE CITY TROPHY

No.	Sponsor Name	Driver Name	State	Year	Make	Model	Colour	Cap
2	Shannons Insurance	Jim Richards	VIC	1972	AMC	Javelin	Grey/Green	5890cc
3	Hercules Engines	Cameron Mason	NSW	1966	Ford	Mustang Fastback	Red/White	5000cc
4	Skye Sands	Rusty French	VIC	1970	Ford	Mustang Fastback	Black	5800cc
8	Bendigo Retro Muscle Cars	Gary O’Brien	VIC	1974	HoldenÂÂ	Torana SL/R 5000	White	5047cc
9	Jesus Racing	Andrew Fisher	NSW	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	Grey/Red	5800cc
10	Sunliner RV	Tony Hunter	VIC	1971	Chevrolet	Monza 2+2	White	5000cc
11	Lion Mill Solutions/Ultra Performance Products	Tony Edwards	VIC	1973	Ford	Falcon XA GT	Violet	5768cc
16	Rain City Racing	Gavin Bullas	VIC	1970	Ford	Mustang Fastback	Black	5800cc
17	Red Rock Winery	Rohan Little	VIC	1974	Porsche	911 IROC	Silver	3600cc
18	Dunlop Super Dealers/Wilson Security	John Bowe	VIC	1969	Ford	Mustang Trans Am	White/Black	5800cc
20	Palmer Promotions	Ian Palmer	QLD	1970	Pontiac	Trans-Am	White/Blue	5800cc
25	Freestones Transport/Freestones Roadhaven	Paul Freestone	VIC	1968	Chevrolet	Camaro SS	Blue	5800cc
30	Thunder Road Racing Team Australia	Glenn SetonÂÂ	QLD	1964	Ford	Mustang Coupe	Black/Gold	5000cc
35	iseek RacingÂÂ	Jason Gomersall	QLD	1974	HoldenÂÂ	Torana SL/R 5000	White/Blue	5047cc
46	THD Motorsport	Leo Tobin	VIC	1969	Ford	Boss Mustang	Orange	5000cc
48	Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars	Eddie Abelnica	VIC	1974	Ford	Falcon XB Coupe	Red	5800cc
52	Outbound Racing / wheels.com.pg	Keith Kassulke	QLD	1974	Ford	Falcon XB Coupe	Blue/Silver	5800cc
56	Gabriel Shock Absorbers	Brett Youlden	VIC	1972	HoldenÂÂ	HQ Monaro Coupe	Green	5800cc
57	Corio Auto Parts	Graham Alexander	VIC	1968	HoldenÂÂ	HT Monaro	Orange	5819cc
60	Glennan’s Transport	Cameron Tilley	NSW	1969	Valiant	Pacer	Blue	4390cc
72	BMR Industries	Bruce McLeod	NT	1973	Ford	Falcon XA Superbird	Blue	5550cc
74	Lyndways Builders / Mick Webb’s SVO	Wayne Mercer	VIC	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	Blue	5800cc
75	Mopar Performance	Greg Crick	TAS	1973	Chrysler	Charger E55	Black/Blue	5570cc
85	Whiteline Transport Racing / King Springs	Mark King	QLD	1970	Chevrolet	Camaro RS	Red/Black/White	5800cc
88	TIFS – Warehousing & Distribution	Tony Karanfilovski	NSW	1969	Ford	Mustang Trans Am	Orange	5800cc
90	Kalus Kenny Intelex	Sven Burchartz	VIC	1974	Porsche	911 IROC	Orange	3600cc
95	Whiteline Transport Racing / Lubrimaxx	Andrew Miedecke	NSW	1969	Chevrolet	Camaro SS	Black/Blue	5800cc