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KUMHO SERIES SHOWING OFF TOURING CAR HERITAGE AT MUSCLE CAR MASTERS
In an appropriate nod to the heritage aspect of the Australian Muscle Car Masters event fans attending the event and watching at home via the live stream will enjoy a look back in time via the Kumho Series grid.
The diverse mix has long been a hallmark of the Kumho Series that mixes young drivers looking to forge a career in the sport with racers doing it for the love and a chance to race classic Australian Touring Car machinery.
V8 Touring Cars series partner www.v8sleuth.com.au has charted the history of every car competing in the series with some enjoying very interesting backgrounds.
Jason Foleys ex-Dick Johnson Racing BF Falcon was built in 2004 and raced by Steve Johnson and Warren Luff to a podium in the Sandown 500 that year.
The highlight for the chassis (DJR BA016) came in 2007 when it competed for victory in that years Bathurst 1000.
Now in BF specifications Johnson and Will Davison ran at the front of the field in the climactic closing stages of the race with Johnson battling with Craig Lowndes for the victory ultimately finishing third.
Grant Denyer took over the car in 2009 for use in the Development Series and won several races in the process before it was purchased by a private collector and then current owner Foley this year.
Gary Collins Perkins Engineering-built VE Commodore was built for Todd Kelly in 2008 and then was sold to the Kellys when their family team took over the Perkins Supercars operation.
Top Gears Stig Ben Collins raced the car with Nathan Pretty at Phillip Island and Bathurst in 2009 while Sports Sedan champion Tony Ricciardello raced it for the team the following season.
Cam Waters raced the car in selected rounds of the 2012 Development Series while the car was sold at the end of that season after Greg Murphy raced it in selected rounds of the Supercars championship at the end of the year.
Collins purchased the car in 2013 and restored it into the Jack Daniels Racing livery in which it raced in 2011.
Jamie McDonalds ex-Pro Duct Racing entry was originally built in 1993 by Larry Perkins for Sydney privateer Bob Pearson and was famous for sporting an iconic livery of rainbow colours on an aggressive black base.
Chassis PE016 was owned by Pearson between 1993 and 1995 and raced in both the ATCC and the Bathurst 1000 in his hands. This weekend marks its first proper race event since 1996.
Another ex-Larry Perkins Commodore is the one entered by Bradley Neill.
Neills Commodore was built by Larry Perkins for well-known V8 privateer David Truckie Parsons in 1996. After Parsons contested the 96 Australian Touring Car Championship the car was sold to Ballarat privateer Robert Smith whose team ran the car at Bathurst for the next two seasons.
The car has been through the hands of several since before Neill who hails from Toowoomba acquired it in early 2016. The 1996 Parsons Transport livery was re-applied to the car for its first appearance at the Muscle Car Masters in October 2016.
Andy Cantrell’s ex-Glenn Seton Racing Ford Falcon EL is another to sport a period livery from its 1998 campaign in the ATCC.
The Ford Credit-liveried car was the last car built by Glenn Seton Racing and was re-united with former driver Neil Crompton at last year’s Kumho series round at Queensland Raceway – the racer turned commentator filming a piece with the car for inclusion within FOX Sports’ coverage.
Longstanding Touring Car privateer Chris Smerdon whos Vectra Corporatio sponsors the Heritage Class runs his ex-Stone Brothers Racing FG Falcon in the same IRWIN livery that it sported when in the hands of the championship winning Supercars operation and driver Lee Holdsworth in 2012.
The car remains in the hands of the Stone family Matt Stone running the car for Smerdon following a stint in the Development Series in the hands of Todd Hazelwood and George Miedecke.
Meanwhile the two car Pollicina Motorsport livery continue to present their pair of ex-Tasman Motorsport VE Holdens in period liverys though running with their own current sponsors.
Michael Caine remains behind the wheel of the Tasman Chassis that finished second in the 2008 Bathurst 1000 in the hands of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards while Jim Pollicina runs the TMS003 chassis that never raced in the main game yet made several Development Series starts.
Ravage Raceworks prepares the pair of immaculately presented Commodores.
Meanwhile. Chris Delfsma’s ex-FPR / Jason Bright Falcon runs in the same Fujitsu scheme that Britek Motorsport used in the main game – however that particular car never ran in those colours Delfsma running the livery on account of liking the heritage scheme.
The Kumho series tackles qualifying (10:20 AEDT) and race one (2:00pm AEDT) on Saturday October 28 with two races on Sunday to be held at 10:40am and 2:25pm AEDT respectively.
All sessions will be broadcast via live streaming available through the Kumho Series website and Facebook page.