October 7, 2016 | General

SNEAKY SETO GRABS RACE ONE WIN

GLENN SETON took advantage of a slight delay to John Bowe’s forward progress to take a thrilling victory in today’s Wilson Trans-Tasman Challenge opener at Mount Panorama Bathurst.

The Ford Mustang driver passed his long-time rival on the exit of Hell corner at the beginning of the penultimate lap when Bowe was caught up behind a lapped runner on the run up Mountain Straight.

He then held out Bowe and Steven Johnson to record his third TCM victory of the 2016 season in style.

The race started with the 49-car grid having been determined on Thursday’s practice times the 30-minute qualifying session scheduled for Friday morning ultimately cancelled when thick fog shrouded the Mount Panorama circuit and delayed proceedings.

From the thundering rolling start the entire field raced cleanly through the opening corner with Bowe – who started from pole thanks to topping Thursday’s practice charts – leading Seton and Youlden through Hell corner.

Steven Johnson was on the attack early working his way from fifth to third by the end of lap one with Brett Youlden and Mark King close behind.

Leading NZ Central Muscle Cars runner Dean Perkins charged hard on the opening lap jumping from 14^th on the grid to 9^th by the end of the first lap.

The race soon developed into a three-way battle for the lead and then a highly competitive battle group between the two Whiteline Racing Chevrolet Camaros Jim Richards’ Shannons Insurance AMC Javelin and the flying Ford Capri Perana driven by Adam Garwood.

The 17-year-old Tasmanian who turns 18 in a fortnight was arguably the sensation of the race starting 9^th but gradually working his way forward through the much more experienced runners around him.

Garwood – already a winner this year – was sixth by the end of lap one and then passed two cars on the third lap to grab fourth by the time the field had reached the half-way point of the six-lap race.

He then chased down Steven Johnson and attempted to pass the Synergy Race Engines GTHO Falcon at turn two on the final lap unfortunately spinning gently into the tyres after the ambitious move didn’t quite succeed – crossing the line in 11^th position after recovering from a light rub with the wall.  

Still the Capri was clearly the fastest car in the race set the fastest lap (2m19.3016s) and will be one to watch as the weekend continues.

Seton passed Bowe at the start of the fifth lap powering past the Holden Torana SL/R 5000 up Mountain Straight when Bowe attempted to put a lap on Kiwi runner Sean Fowler.

Fowler had done the right thing and made the move to the inside of the track to allow the leaders to pass however Bowe had to hesitate when the Torana moved out of the way in a move that allowed Seton to sneak through.

The Thunder Road Racing Team Mustang was never headed after jumping into the lead surviving a scare on the last lap – when another runner had an engine failure entering the cutting ahead of the leaders – to record his second TCM race victory.

With Bowe second and Johnson third Brett Youlden finished an impressive fourth and Mark King fifth in one of his strongest runs of the season to date.

Adam Bressington finished just behind his teammate following a race long battle with Jim Richards who finished seventh.

Dean Perkins led the charge of the Kiwi brigade grabbing 8^th spot when Garwood tumbled down the order thanks to his final lap spin at turn two.

Jason Gomersall took his iSeek Racing Torana to 9^th position while John Midgley climbed five spots from his starting position to grab 10^th in his Falcon.

Eddie Abelnica was another star performer only arriving at the track on Friday morning in time for Qualifying after battling illness yesterday – handing the car to reserve pilot Kim Jane for the day.

With that session abandoned the Melbourne’s Cheapest Cars XB Falcon driver was forced to start from the back of the grid (47^th). He ultimately finished 25^th in a charge that saw him make up an impressive 18 positions in the opening two laps.

In an impressive display of heads-up driving from all competitors the race ran its six laps without interruption – despite several close calls.

Torana XU-1 driver Dr. John Elliot found himself pointing the wrong direction at the Elbow Cameron Tilley and Keith Kassulke narrowly missing the HDT look-alike Torana after his spin.

Ross Graham’s engine failure at the cutting on the final lap could have caused dramas however the field negotiated the oil spill without incident.

Wayne Mercer parked at the Chase after five laps and was not classified while Chesters Falcon racer Greg Holden was also a non-finisher.

Race two will be held on Saturday afternoon at 1:05pm local time and will feature a jumbled up grid.

The Waeco Refrigeration Trophy Race will see the top 45-55% of the leading runners from qualifying reversed and sent to the back of the grid.

The race will be shown live on Network Ten around Australia FOX Sports and SKY Sports NZ.

RACE 1 RESULTS:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    30  Thunder Road Racing Team Austr Glenn Seton (QLD)        Ford Mustang Coupe   5000  AUS   6    14:05.4433   4 2:20.1826 2    18  Wilson Security / PAYCE        John Bowe (VIC)          Holden  Torana SL/R  5047  AUS   6    14:06.7843   4 2:20.0189 3    17  Synergy Race Engines           Steve Johnson (QLD)      Ford Falcon XY GTHO  5800  AUS   6    14:08.9437   4 2:20.3454 4    56  Gabriel Shock Absorbers        Brett Youlden (VIC)      Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800  AUS   6    14:14.9085   4 2:21.1458 5    85  Whiteline Racing / King Spring Mark King (QLD)          Chevrolet Camaro RS  5800  AUS   6    14:15.2392   4 2:20.7504 6    95  Whiteline Racing / Fabre Austr Adam Bressington (NSW)   Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800  AUS   6    14:15.6552   4 2:21.1117 7     2  Shannons Insurance             Jim Richards (VIC)       AMC Javelin          5898  AUS   6    14:16.0737   4 2:20.8690 8   175  Perkins Racing Team            Dean Perkins (NZ)        Ford Falcon          5800  NZ    6    14:18.8210   4 2:21.8330 9    35  iseek Racing                   Jason Gomersall (QLD)    Holden  Torana A9X H 5000  AUS   6    14:19.0236   6 2:21.7462 10  119  Central Muscle Cars NZ         John Midgley (NZ)        Ford Falcon          6735  NZ    6    14:20.0611   4 2:20.5345 11   21  Giraffe Civil Contracting      Adam Garwood (TAS)       Ford Capri Perana    5800  AUS   6    14:27.5699   4 2:19.3016*12   88  TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Ford Mustang Trans A 5800  AUS   6    14:28.2153   4 2:21.8859 13   52  Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (QLD)     Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800  AUS   6    14:29.8234   4 2:22.2946 14   60  Glennan Transport/ANGLOMOIL Lu Cameron Tilley (NSW)     Valiant Pacer        4390  AUS   6    14:31.8395   4 2:22.8118 15   25  Maxi-Trans Trailers            Paul Freestone (VIC)     Chevrolet Camaro     5800  AUS   6    14:34.7113   3 2:22.8786 16  160  Hopper Car Construction        David Hopper (NZ)        Chevrolet Camaro     6000  NZ    6    14:35.4470   3 2:23.1390 17  169  Pinepac E Frame                Bruce Anderson (NZ)      Ford Mustang Fastbac 5866  NZ    6    15:00.1855   4 2:25.5681 18   43  Wasn't Me Racing               Tony Galbraith (NZ)      Valiant Charger      6555  NZ    6    15:04.8248   5 2:27.1359 19   66  Vernon & Vazey Truck Parts     Steven Ross (NZ)         Holden  Commodore VK 6653  NZ    6    15:05.2462   5 2:27.3250 20   44  Colin Meadows Racing Team      Colin Meadows (NZ)       Chevrolet Camaro SS  6000  NZ    6    15:07.0453   5 2:27.8153 21    4  Skye Sands                     Rusty French (VIC)       Ford Mustang Fastbac 5800  AUS   6    15:07.3050   5 2:27.6548 22   49  Clarke Machine Hire            Paul Clarke (NZ)         Ford Mustang         6000  NZ    6    15:08.2659   4 2:28.1896 23   10  Sunliner RV                    Tony Hunter (VIC)        Chevrolet Monza 2+2  6000  AUS   6    15:08.4513   5 2:27.7973 24   97  Johns Furniture Removals       Allen Boughen (QLD)      Mercury Comet        4736  AUS   6    15:17.8644   5 2:29.3828 25   48  Melbourne's Cheapest Cars      Eddie Abelnica (VIC)     Ford Falcon XB Coupe 5800  AUS   6    15:18.4376   5 2:25.1650 26   46  THD Motorsport                 Leo Tobin (VIC)          Ford Boss Mustang    5000  AUS   6    15:18.8948   4 2:29.0616 27   27  Burger Fuel Wellington         Tristan Teki (NZ)        Chevrolet Camaro     6700  NZ    6    15:19.8299   5 2:30.1382 28   77  Dirty Boys Just Dig It         Duane Ingley (NZ)        Dodge Challenger     5800  NZ    6    15:23.3967   4 2:29.4680 29  135  Central Muscle Cars NZ         Grant Dalton (NZ)        Chevrolet Camaro Z28 6500  NZ    6    15:24.9055   6 2:27.8658 30   33  Class Harvest Centre Otago     Steve Scoles (NZ)        Chevrolet Camaro     6000  NZ    6    15:25.9895   5 2:28.6555 31   70  Ray White Real Estate          Brendan Mason (NZ)       Chevrolet Camaro SS  6600  NZ    6    15:30.2245   6 2:30.9952 32  165  GDM Retail Systems             Michael Eden (NZ)        Ford Falcon          6000  NZ    6    15:32.6637   4 2:33.0886 33   22  Aussie Muscle Car Run / PRT Fa Nigel Benson (SA)        Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800  AUS   6    15:35.2942   4 2:31.8438 34  168  Case IH                        Mark Holland (NZ)        Chevrolet Camaro     6718  NZ    6    15:43.3329   4 2:31.6196 35  121  Steve Hildred Motors           Steve Hildred (NZ)       Holden  Monaro       6000  NZ    6    15:43.9349   4 2:32.3107 36  167  PPG                            Steve Noyer (NZ)         Ford Mustang         5000  NZ    6    15:45.5977   4 2:32.0103 37   15  Nautech Electronics            Andrew Turner (NZ)       Holden  Commodore VH 6700  NZ    6    15:56.7954   4 2:32.7594 38  117  Dannevirke Honda               Greg Cuttance (NZ)       Ford Falcon          6718  NZ    6    16:40.3567   4 2:40.7955 39  130  Team West                      Cam Crawford (NZ)        Ford XA Hardtop      6100  NZ    6    16:43.2772   4 2:43.4658 40   02  Hawk Brake Pads                Dave Roberts (USA)       Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800  US    5    15:06.8659   5 2:57.1461 41  888  TDM                            Calvin Andrew (NZ)       Holden  Commodore VK 5000  NZ    5    15:06.9894   3 2:49.2931 42   26  STL                            Sean Fowler (NZ)         Holden  Torana SL/R  6000  NZ    5    15:19.7919   3 2:53.3982 43   13  Kumeu Village Medical Centre   John Elliott (NZ)        Holden  Torana XU1   3310  NZ    5    15:24.7008   3 2:57.4952 DNF  74  Lyndways Builders              Wayne Mercer (VIC)       Ford Falcon XY GTHO  5800  AUS   5    12:25.1450   4 2:26.7022 DNF 118  Chesters                       Greg Holden (NZ)         Ford Falcon          5625  NZ    5    13:50.2301   4 2:42.2979 DNF 777  TIL Freighting                 Ross Graham (NZ)         Holden  Torana Hatch 6767  NZ    4    10:50.9292   3 2:33.5130 DNF  19  Tincone Industrial Services    Darren Beale (QLD)       Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800  AUS DNF 622  Tony Barrow Racing             Tony Barrow (NZ)         Holden  Commodore VK 5700  NZ