September 5, 2016 | General

MASTERS HEAD TO PHILLIP ISLAND FOR HIGH SPEED CHALLENGE

THE FASTEST track on the Touring Car Masters calendar awaits when the field assembles at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit for the Shannons Tourist Trophy this weekend.

The series returns to the Shannons Nationals program for the second time this season with the 2016 trip to the Island the sixth in the history of the category.

The closely poised Pro Master title fight has John Bowe just 59 points ahead of local hero Eddie Abelnica while Thunder Road Racing Team Mustang ace Glenn Seton sits a further five points further back in third.

Whiteline Racing’s Mark King sits fourth in the Pro Master championship while – after a disastrous round at Queensland Raceway – Steven Johnson slipped to fifth after failing to score in the Sunshine state.

He still however remains in championship calculations 167 points from the series lead.

While Bowe has asserted himself at the top of the standings in the most recent two rounds Eddie Abelnica’s consistency has seen the Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars XB Falcon Hardtop continue to climb up the order.

As well as having already scored three podium finishes from the five rounds to date Abelnica also finished on the podium in each of the three races held at Phillip Island last year.

His Falcon XB coupe’ should also be a strong contender – the famous Ford model has twice won at Phillip Island in the hands of Keith Kassulke. In fact both times Kassulke won Abelnica finished second in his XB.

The high average speeds and challenging nature of the Phillip Island circuit has made it one of the most diverse in terms of race results across the five previous TCM visits – four different round winners and eight different race winners (from 15 races) filling the circuit’s record books.

A side effect of the varied results means that the circuit has also never produced a ‘clean sweep’ – when a driver wins all three races in the one round.

In fact the entire 2016 season is yet to see someone win every race in a weekend – the first time that’s occurred in Touring Car Masters history.

The 4.46 km circuit has also traditionally favoured the series’ ‘big’ cars: all bar two races at the venue have been won by cars powered by at least 350 cubic-inch engines: Only John Bowe’s two victories last year got a representative of the five-litre brigade to the flag first.

The competitive Phillip Island field will also continue the battles in both the ProAm and ProSports categories – and an unfortunate incident between rounds will ironically see both class leaders in the same make and model of car for the first this year.

While Jason Gomersall leads the ProAm standings comfortably in his Holden Torana A9X ProSports leader Adam Garwood will also find himself behind the wheel of a hatchback Torana this weekend.

Garwood’s regular Torana – a four door model – was badly damaged in a crash at Symmons Plains between rounds: the Tasmanian team using a state championship round as a testing opportunity.

The car was extensively damaged in a start-line accident forcing Garwood into a back-up car for the remaining three rounds this year.

To fill the void the team has dusted off Greg Garwood’s Tarmac Rally specification SS Hatchback that was last raced in Targa Tasmania in 2013.  

Though not a full-specification TCM car much of the running gear from Garwood’s existing car has been transferred into the backup vehicle to enable them to compete this weekend and potentially for the remainder of the season while a replacement car is constructed.  

Victorian Brett Youlden is scheduled to make his first TCM start of the year back behind the wheel of his familiar Holden Monaro GTS.

Youlden won the 2012 round at Phillip Island – snaring a race win in the process – and will look to showcase the impressive performance of his Monaro once again this weekend.

After a promising return to TCM competition in Queensland Adam Bressington will return to Whiteline Racing for his second start of the year this weekend having finished second in the ProAm class on his series’ return.

Meanwhile Wayne Mercer will make a welcome return to the grid this weekend having missed the most recent round in Queensland.

The Falcon GTHO driver won in his last start at Hidden Valley – his maiden TCM race win – and became the 8^th different winner this year a record for the category.

The inclusion on the Shannons Nationals program means Sunday’s pair of races will be streamed live and free via the Touring Car Masters website the Shannons Nationals website and the Motorsports TV app for iPhone and Android mobile platforms.

Highlights of the round will be broadcast on SBS Speedweek in the weeks following the round.

SHANNONS PHILLIP ISLAND TT – TCM ROUND 6

No	Sponsor Name	Ch Name	Surname	State	Year	Make	Model	Cap	Colour
2	Shannons Insurance	Jim	Richards	VIC	1972	AMC	Javelin	5898cc	Grey/Green
4	Skye Sands	Rusty	French	VIC	1970	Ford	Mustang Fastback	5800cc	Black
9	Jesus Racing	Andrew	Fisher	NSW	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	5800cc	Grey/Red
12	Giraffe Civil Contracting	Adam	Garwood	TAS	1978	HoldenÂÂ	Torana A9X Hatchback	5000cc	Red/White
17	Synergy Race Engines	Steve	Johnson	QLD	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	5800cc	White
18	Wilson Security / PAYCE	John	Bowe	VIC	1974	HoldenÂÂ	Torana SL/R 5000	5047cc	Red/White
19	Tincone Industrial Services	Darren	Beale	QLD	1972	HoldenÂÂ	Monaro GTS Coupe	5800cc	Orange
22	Aussie Muscle Car Run / PRT Fabrication	Graham	Stewart	SA	1972	HoldenÂÂ	Monaro GTS Coupe	5800cc	Silver/Orange
30	Thunder Road Racing Team Australia	Glenn	Seton	QLD	1964	Ford	Mustang Coupe	5000cc	Black/Gold
35	iseek RacingÂÂ	Jason	Gomersall	QLD	1978	HoldenÂÂ	Torana A9X Hatchback	5000cc	Red/White/Black
46	THD Motorsport	Leo	Tobin	VIC	1969	Ford	Boss Mustang	5000cc	Orange
48	Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars	Eddie	Abelnica	VIC	1974	Ford	Falcon XB Coupe	5800cc	Red
52	Outbound Racing / wheels.com.pg	Keith	Kassulke	QLD	1972	HoldenÂÂ	Monaro GTS Coupe	5800cc	Blue
56	Gabriel Shock Absorbers	Brett	Youlden	VIC	1972	HoldenÂÂ	Monaro GTS Coupe	5800cc	Green/White/Blue
74	Lyndways Builders	Wayne	Mercer	VIC	1971	Ford	Falcon XY GTHO	5800cc	Light Blue
85	Whiteline Racing / King Springs	Mark	King	QLD	1970	Chevrolet	Camaro RS	5800cc	Red/White
88	TIFS – Warehousing & Distribution	Tony	Karanfilovski	NSW	1969	Ford	Mustang Trans Am	5800cc	Orange
95	Whiteline Racing / Fabre Australia	Adam	Bressington	NSW	1969	Chevrolet	Camaro SS	5800cc	Yellow