July 28, 2015 | General

TCM TORQUE – SHANNONS QUEENSLAND TOURIST TROPHY

2015 MARKS just the third time that the ENZED Touring Car Masters series will have visited Ipswich and Queensland Raceway.

Yet there’s still been plenty of notable stories to emerge from the circuit over the years as the 2015 series enters the second half of a remarkably competitive season.

With only a handful of points splitting the top three drivers in the championship – and both John Bowe and Steven Johnson not out of the equation despite missing rounds – QR could be a key round in this year’s TCM fight.   

A PLACE OF FIRSTS

QR may have only hosted two TCM rounds but it’s still been the place for several series ‘firsts’.

QR 2013 marked the first pole position for Keith Kassulke when his Outbound Racing Ford Falcon Coupe’ ousted the dominant John Bowe and a quick Jason Gomersall in qualifying two years ago. Keith would go on to score finishes of second fourth and third across the three races respectively that weekend.

2012 was also the first time that Greg Crick raced in TCM driving a Ford Falcon GTHO owned by Steve Makarios. Crick of course would go on to purchase ‘Alvin’ the Charger for regular TCM competition.

2012 also marked Mark King’s first round with Whiteline Racing a relationship that the Brisbane driver maintains to this day. King had raced the Ford XA Sedan prior to jumping in the 1970 Chevrolet Camaro.

Tony Karanfilovski took the wraps of his then-new Ford Mustang at QR in 2013 making quite an impression on its debutThe Yellow TIFS ’69 TransAm marked Tony K’s third car in TCM following stints in the little Alfa GTA-M and the somewhat more powerful Ford Falcon GTHO – but the new Mustang built by Spencer Rice’s Classic Speed Shop – was a step forward again. Karanfilovski qualified sixth on the cars’ debut and finished in the same position in race one.

Taking advantage of the field inversion for race two Karanfilovski shaded Jim Richards for the entire race but on the final lap launched an attack in the braking zone at turn three – much to the delight of the crowd. Unfortunately for Tony he out-braked himself and after leading for about five meters ran off into the gravel. The heroics may have cost him a result but instantly won him over to the Ipswich crowd!

Tony K went on to finish fifth in the final race to cap off a strong weekend.

FLUCTUATING TITLE FIGHT

The closest title fight in TCM history has been compelling since the first round at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide in March but perhaps more impressively has featured three different leaders from after the last three rounds.

Andrew Miedecke led the standings following the opening round in Adelaide leading Gavin Bullas and Eddie Abelnica.

Eddie Abelnica then jumped to the top after round two in Tasmania his consistency the key. Miedecke plunged to fifth in the ProMaster standings after a tough round with Greg Crick now second and Jim Richards third.

A zero score from Abelnica at Winton dropped him out of the running Gavin Bullas leaping to the top thanks to his second-place effort. Mr. Consistency Greg Crick retained second with Miedecke moving back to third.

Miedecke then returned to the top of the charts following his strong Darwin weekend – but Jim Richards was the big mover leaping from fourth to second in the AMC Javelin and relegating Crick to third in the progress.

So bearing in mind there’s 180 points up for grabs at each round Miedecke leads Richards 557-543 points with rounds at Muscle Car Masters (Sydney Motorsport Park) Bathurst and Phillip Island to come.

Crick in third is a further 11 points further back whilst fourth-placed Mark King is only 96 points from the lead.

Remarkably despite missing Tasmania John Bowe sits 6^th in the ProMaster points standings: just 119 points from the lead and must not be ruled out of the championship picture.  

His rivals will be hoping Steven Johnson 192 points from the lead continues to take points off his car owner and teammate!

BY THE NUMBERS:

This year marks the 2^nd visit by TCM to Queensland Raceway. 6 TCM races across 2 rounds have been held at QR since the series’ first visit in 2012.

POLE PROGRESSION

2012 John Bowe (Mustang) 1m16.8783
2013 Keith Kassulke (Ford Falcon Coupe) 1m17.6731s

Smallest margin 1^st to 2^nd in qualifying: Bowe to Jim Richards 2012 (0.0270s)

ROUND WINNERS

2012: John Bowe (Mustang) 2013: John Bowe (Mustang)

RACE WINNERS:

John Bowe – 5 Jim Richards – 1

LAP RECORD PROGRESSION

Andrew Miedecke – 1m17.4866s Race 1 2012. The lap record has not been broken since.

FASTEST LAPS

John Bowe – 3 Jim Richards 1 Andrew Miedecke 1 Keith Kassulke 1.

NOTABLE

Much has been made of the 1980s Australian Touring Car Championship / Bathurst 1000 ‘class reunion’ – featuring Bowe Crick Richards and Miedecke – in TCM this year. Well as well as the famous ‘Johnson’ surname re-joining the fray two others will also make their respective TCM Debuts this weekend.

Charlie O’Brien – leads the QLD TransAm series mid-way through 2015 and will race his 1970 Pontiac Firebird as part of an eight-car T/A pack joining the TCM grid this weekend. O’Brien held the record for being the youngest ever winner of an ATCC round from 1976 to 2003.

ENTRY LIST – SHANNONS QUEENSLAND TOURIST TROPHY

No.	Sponsor Name	Class	Driver Name	State	Year	Make	Model	Colour	Cap
2	Shannons Insurance	ProMaster	Jim Richards	VIC	1972	AMC	Javelin	Grey/Green	5890cc
3	Fataz Competition Engines	TransAm	Charlie O’Brien	QLD	1970	Pontiac	Firebird	White	5800cc
4	Skye Sands	ProAm	Rusty French	VIC	1970	Ford	Mustang Fastback	Black	5800cc
8	Faranda Automotive Service	TransAm	Martin O’Kane	QLD	1970	Chevrolet	Camaro	Blue	5800cc
9	Jesus Racing	ProAm	Andrew Fisher	NSW	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	Grey/Red	5800cc
17	PAYCE/Wilson Security	ProMaster	Steven Johnson	QLD	1969	Ford	Mustang Trans Am	Blue/Yellow	5800cc
18	Dunlop Super Dealers/ Wilson Security/ PAYCE	ProMaster	John Bowe	VIC	1974	HoldenÂÂ	Torana SL/R 5000	Blue/Yellow	5047cc
20	Storage King	ProAm	Ian Palmer	QLD	1970	Pontiac	Trans-Am	White/Blue	5800cc
22	Collins Hay	TransAm	Mike Collins	QLD	1965	Ford	Mustang	Red	5000cc
25	Angliss Meats	TransAm	Brett Curran	QLD	1967	Ford	Shelby Fastback	White/Red	5800cc
30	Thunder Road Racing Team Australia	ProMaster	Glenn SetonÂÂ	QLD	1964	Ford	Mustang Coupe	Black/Gold	5000cc
35	iseek RacingÂÂ	ProAm	Jason Gomersall	QLD	1974	HoldenÂÂ	Torana SL/R 5000	White/Blue	5047cc
46	THD Motorsport	ProSports	Leo Tobin	VIC	1972	HoldenÂÂ	HQ Monaro	Orange	5810cc
48	Brisbane’s Cheapest Cars	ProMaster	Eddie Abelnica	VIC	1974	Ford	Falcon XB Coupe	Red	5800cc
52	Outbound Racing / wheels.com.pg	ProMaster	Keith Kassulke	QLD	1974	Ford	Falcon XB Coupe	Blue/Silver	5800cc
60	Glennan’s Transport	ProAm	Cameron Tilley	NSW	1969	Valiant	Pacer	Blue	4390cc
68	Loaders ‘R’ Us	TransAm	Alwyn Bishop	QLD	1968	Ford	Mustang	Grabber Orange	5800cc
69	Tenkate Plant Hire	TransAm	Anthony Tenkate	QLD	1969	Ford	Mustang Fastback	Green	5800cc
72	Fataz Competition Engines	TransAm	Ian Woodward	QLD	1970	Chevrolet	Camaro	Orange	5800cc
75	Mopar Performance	ProMaster	Greg Crick	TAS	1973	Chrysler	Charger E55	Black/Blue	5570cc
85	Whiteline Transport Racing / King Springs	ProMaster	Mark King	QLD	1970	Chevrolet	Camaro RS	Red/Black/White	5800cc
88	TIFS – Warehousing & Distribution	ProAm	Tony Karanfilovski	NSW	1969	Ford	Mustang Trans Am	Orange	5800cc
95	Whiteline Transport Racing / Lubrimaxx	ProMaster	Andrew Miedecke	NSW	1969	Chevrolet	Camaro SS	Black/Blue	5800cc
99	Loaders ‘R’ Us	TransAm	John English	QLD	1967	Ford	Mustang Coupe	Blue	5800cc