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November 21, 2015 | General

BOWE SWEEPS TO SERIES LEAD AT PHILLIP ISLAND

JOHN BOWE has swept to the lead of the ENZED Touring Car Masters series after taking two race victories in the Rare Spares Phillip Island Trophy today.

The multiple TCM champion now narrowly leads the series ahead of Sunday’s finale’ after sweeping to a pair of victories at Phillip Island ahead of teammate Steven Johnson and the ever-consistent Eddie Abelnica.

Today’s wins were Bowe’s 10th and 11th of the season and helped him edge away from erstwhile leader Jim Richards who managed finishes of fifth and sixth in today’s two races.

Bowe also broke the lap record in both races though both Johnson and Abelnica were under the existing benchmark in race two.

Race one was a shortened affair thanks to a lengthy safety car when Royston Evans’ Pontiac GTO expired at turn one – Bowe holding out Johnson and Abelnica in a one-lap dash to the line.

Race two ran the full distance with the three leaders pulling a large margin to the remainder of the field as they diced for the lead.

While Bowe convincingly won both races Greg Ritter was arguably the star performer despite unreliability hampering his performance aboard the Sunliner Chevrolet Monza.

Starting race one from pole Ritter led the field into turn one however his race unravelled at turn two just moments later when his gearbox failed and left him slowing as the field flew past.

Starting from the back of the field in race two the long-time V8 Supercars enduro co-driver stormed through the field – leaping from 23rd to 12th in the first lap and into the top ten by the end of lap two.

Ritter climbed as high as fourth and was closing on the leaders before a throttle cable broke on lap eight – ending his storming drive through the field.

Abelnica’s pair of third place results were his fourth and fifth in a row and took to eleven his total number of top three results this season.

On home turf the Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars XB Falcon Coupe was regularly the quickest in a straight line and was clocked at 281km/hr in race two as he chased Bowe and Johnson in an exciting three-car battle for the lead.

Andrew Miedecke was another starring performer today as he was another to work his way through the pack in the opening race – jumping from 14th to sixth at the finish.

He moved forward two further places in the second race to grab fourth ahead of Tony Karanfilovski and Richards after a furious race long battle with the trio.

Mark King started race one 19th and finished the second sprint in 7th place while Tony Edwards ended a strong day with a pair of strong eighth place results – the best of his season.

Porsche ace Sven Burchartz and iSeek Racing Torana driver rounded out the top 10 in race two: the latter having a spin mid-way through the race after a lengthy battle with Andrew Fisher’s Jesus Racing Falcon GTHO.

Fisher finished a strong seventh in race one however failed to finish the second with some oil pressure issues.

Holden Monaro drivers had contrasting fortunes today: Leo Tobin recorded a strong 11th in race two while Brett Youlden failed to make the starter when a fuel pump failed on his car before he could even take to the track.

The final race of the 2016 ENZED Touring Car Masters series will be contested early Sunday afternoon at Phillip Island.

RACE 1 RESULTS

Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    18  Dunlop Super Dealers / Wilson  John Bowe                Torana SLR 5000      5047        6    16:11.6885   2 1:41.8592R2    17  Payce / Wilson Security        Steven Johnson           Mustang Trans Am     5800        6    16:12.1219   6 1:43.4162 3    48  Melbourne's Cheapest Cars      Eddie Abelnica           Ford Falcon XB       5800        6    16:13.3582   6 1:44.2196 4    88  TIFS Warehousing & Distributio Tony Karanfilovski       Mustang Trans Am     5800        6    16:15.3758   6 1:45.4950 5     2  Shannons Insurance             Jim Richards             Javelin              5890        6    16:15.8937   6 1:44.9379 6    95  Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke          Chev Comaro SS       5800        6    16:17.3365   6 1:45.8347 7     9  Jesus Racing                   Andrew Fisher            Falcon XY  GTHO      5800        6    16:17.4250   6 1:46.7371 8    11  Lion Mill Solutions /Ultra Per Tony Edwards             Ford Falcon XA GT    5768        6    16:19.9149   6 1:48.6692 9    35  iseek Racing                   Jason Gomersall          Torana SLR 5000      5047        6    16:20.1716   6 1:48.1178 10   12  Giraffe Civil Contracting      Adam Garwood             Torana SLR 5000      5047        6    16:20.3607   6 1:47.7786 11   85  Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King                Chev Camaro RS       5800        6    16:20.3632   6 1:47.6188 12   56  Gabriel Shock Absorbers / PIAR Brett Youlden            Monaro HQ            5800        6    16:20.6236   6 1:47.3929 13   60  Glennan Transport / Tilleys Ra Cameron Tilley           Valiant Pacer        4390        6    16:21.3623   6 1:47.7012 14   74  Lyndways Builders              Wayne Mercer             Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800        6    16:22.2061   6 1:47.8603 15   90  Kalus Kenny Itelex             Sven Burchartz           Porsche  911RS       3600        6    16:22.8430   6 1:48.9800 16   46  THD Motorsport                 Leo Tobin                Monaro HQ            5810        6    16:22.9438   6 1:48.9019 17   52  Angliss Meats                  Brett Curran             Mustang Shelby       5800        6    16:25.3476   6 1:50.1181 18   57  Corio Auto Parts               Graham Alexander         Monaro HT            5819        6    16:27.9650   6 1:51.6843 19   75  Quest Roofing                  Andy Clempson            Mustang Trans Am     5800        6    16:28.7965   6 1:52.6794 20    7  Red Rock Winery                Rohan Little             Porsche 911          3600        6    16:28.8005   6 1:52.8415 DNF  81  Tarosa Stairs                  Angelo Taranto           Camaro SS Tans Am    5800        4    11:17.9866   2 1:58.7926 DNF  24  RPM Electrical Repairs         Royston Evans            Pontiac Trans Am     6899        1     2:06.5538   1 2:06.5538 DNF  10  Sunliner RV                    Greg Ritter              Chev Monza 2+ 2      5800      

RACE 2 RESULTS

Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    18  Dunlop Super Dealers / Wilson  John Bowe                Torana SLR 5000      5047       10    17:05.7774   3 1:41.4254R2    17  Payce / Wilson Security        Steven Johnson           Mustang Trans Am     5800       10    17:06.0986   3 1:41.5845r3    48  Melbourne's Cheapest Cars      Eddie Abelnica           Ford Falcon XB       5800       10    17:07.5683   2 1:41.7596r4    95  Whiteline Transport Racing / L Andrew Miedecke          Chev Comaro SS       5800       10    17:24.0466   2 1:42.4579 5    88  TIFS Warehousing & Distributio Tony Karanfilovski       Mustang Trans Am     5800       10    17:24.8598   2 1:43.1567 6     2  Shannons Insurance             Jim Richards             Javelin              5890       10    17:25.1057   3 1:43.1934 7    85  Whiteline Transport Racing / K Mark King                Chev Camaro RS       5800       10    17:32.3624   3 1:43.5386 8    11  Lion Mill Solutions /Ultra Per Tony Edwards             Ford Falcon XA GT    5768       10    17:48.5946   3 1:45.5784 9    90  Kalus Kenny Itelex             Sven Burchartz           Porsche  911RS       3600       10    17:48.8813   4 1:44.3353 10   35  iseek Racing                   Jason Gomersall          Torana SLR 5000      5047       10    17:53.5754   2 1:44.0673 11   46  THD Motorsport                 Leo Tobin                Monaro HQ            5810       10    17:54.9901  10 1:45.7545 12   60  Glennan Transport / Tilleys Ra Cameron Tilley           Valiant Pacer        4390       10    17:56.1254   3 1:45.5478 13   52  Angliss Meats                  Brett Curran             Mustang Shelby       5800       10    18:24.1363   8 1:48.8137 14   57  Corio Auto Parts               Graham Alexander         Monaro HT            5819       10    18:37.7606   5 1:50.5658 15   81  Tarosa Stairs                  Angelo Taranto           Camaro SS Tans Am    5800       10    18:40.0121   2 1:49.8753 16    7  Red Rock Winery                Rohan Little             Porsche 911          3600       10    18:40.9374   2 1:50.1429 17   74  Lyndways Builders              Wayne Mercer             Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800       10    18:41.0443   2 1:46.8477 DNF  10  Sunliner RV                    Greg Ritter              Chev Monza 2+ 2      5800        8    13:54.5976   2 1:42.7391 DNF   9  Jesus Racing                   Andrew Fisher            Falcon XY  GTHO      5800        7    12:22.4182   2 1:44.1313 DNF  75  Quest Roofing                  Andy Clempson            Mustang Trans Am     5800        6    11:10.8460   2 1:50.3816 DNF  12  Giraffe Civil Contracting      Adam Garwood             Torana SLR 5000      5047        4     7:10.2098   4 1:44.3557