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RICHARDS EDGES BOWE AT SANDOWN
JIM RICHARDS has retained his status as the king of Sandown by edging out John Bowe in a Touring Car Masters thriller today.
Starting from third Richards jumped second-placed Bowe on the rolling start and assumed the lead when polesitter Greg Ritter pulled to the side of the road with mechanical dramas on the second lap.
The Chevy Monza driver had edged out Bowe for pole by 0.2 seconds earlier in the day however an apparent blown engine entering turn one at the start of the second lap forced him out of the race.
With Ritter recovered under local yellow flags what followed was an intense battle between Richards and Bowe with the Javelin’s straight-line legs just too much for the braking and cornering speed of Bowe’s Torana.
Both cars lapped within 0.1s of the TCM Sandown lap record during the battle with Bowe falling just 0.2s short at the line after a sensational fight that lasted the entire race.
Today’s triumph was the 9th Sandown TCM victory and 20th podium finish for Richards in his 25th start at the historic Melbourne venue. ÂÂ
Steven Johnson finished third in the Synergy Race Engines GTHO Falcon shading the dicing pair out in front of the field.
Behind the leaders Tony Karanfilovski finished a sensational fourth and first in ProAm class after a superb run. The Sydney driver finished just two seconds behind Johnson in his TIFS Warehousing Ford Mustang TransAm.
Eddie Abelnica finished fifth and Jason Gomersall a storming sixth having started the race ninth in the iSeek Racing Torana.
Andrew Fisher charged to seventh in the Jesus Racing Falcon Paul Freestone eighth Adam Garwood ninth and Mark King 10th in the King Springs / Whiteline Racing Camaro.
Glenn Seton failed to finish after pulling off to the side of the road on lap three with damage to the front of his car while Greg Garwood was one of several drivers caught up in a lap one turn one drama at the start of the race – though all cars were able to re-join without issue. Seton’s damage was related to the turn one drama.
Two further races will complete the second round of the 2016 Touring Car Masters series tomorrow both to be streamed live via Shannons Nationals TV.
RACE 1 – SANDOWN
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap1 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) Ford Falcon Sprint 5000 10 12:45.6890 7 1:15.8426R2 18 Wilson Security / PAYCE John Bowe (VIC) Holden Torana S/LR 5 5047 10 12:45.8926 3 1:15.8716 3 17 Synergy Race Engines Steve Johnson (QLD) Ford Falcon XY GT 5800 10 12:52.4557 5 1:16.1423 4 88 TIFS Warehousing & Distributio Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Ford Mustang Fastbac 5800 10 12:54.8980 6 1:16.5798 5 48 Melbournes Cheapest Cars Eddie Abelnica (VIC) Ford Falcon XB Coupe 5800 10 12:59.0159 7 1:16.9282 6 35 iseek Racing Jason Gomersall (QLD) Holden Torana S/LR 5 5000 10 12:59.5732 8 1:16.6377 7 9 Jesus Racing Andrew Fisher (NSW) Ford Falcon XY GT 5800 10 13:07.3114 5 1:17.2855 8 25 Freestones Transport Paul Freestone (VIC) Chevrolet Camaro SS 5800 10 13:14.0205 3 1:16.8763 9 12 Giraffe Civil Contracting Adam Garwood (TAS) Holden Torana S/LR 5 5047 10 13:14.2367 10 1:17.8518 10 85 Whiteline Racing/King Springs Mark King (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro RS 5800 10 13:14.4157 8 1:16.6722 11 74 Lyndways Builders Wayne Mercer (VIC) Ford Falcon XY GT 5800 10 13:19.6472 8 1:17.7685 12 21 Giraffe Civil Contracting Greg Garwood (TAS) Ford Capri Perana 5000 10 13:22.2024 7 1:17.9785 13 4 Skye Sands Rusty French (VIC) Ford Mustang Fastbac 5800 10 13:26.2469 6 1:18.4710 14 60 Glennan Transport Cameron Tilley (NSW) Valiant Pacer 4390 10 13:26.5055 8 1:18.1552 15 46 THD Motorsport Leo Tobin (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 5000 10 13:43.1212 5 1:20.1670 16 22 Aussie Muscle Car Run Graham Stewart (SA) Holden Monaro GTS Co 5800 9 13:06.6031 6 1:25.3280 DNF 30 Thunder Road Racing Team Glenn Seton (QLD) Ford Mustang Coupe 5000 3 4:00.7722 3 1:16.3225 DNF 10 Sunliner RV Greg Ritter (VIC) Chevrolet Monza 5800 1 1:18.7777 1 1:18.7777 DNF 97 John's Furniture Removals Allen Boughen (QLD) Mercury Comet 4736