October 8, 2017 | General

TITLE TO GO TO THE WIRE AS JOHNSON WINS BATHURST

JUST FIVE points separate John Bowe and Steven Johnson in the battle for the Touring Car Masters series after Johnson slammed home an emphatic round victory at Mount Panorama this weekend.

Backing up his win in race two on Saturday Johnson led from lights to flag to win the third race of the weekend in front of a packed house on a Bathurst Sunday morning.

The victory for car 17 perfectly came after Scott McLaughlin powered the ‘sister’ car from DJR Team Penske to pole for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in Saturday’s Top-10 shootout.

Starting from pole Johnson’s start wasn’t perfect – allowing Bowe to run alongside through turn one and up Mountain Straight.

Johnson asserted his lead into two with Bowe and Bressington slotting in behind – though the battle continued through the opening lap.

Bowe attempted an outside move on Johnson at the Chase allowing Bressington through when he ran wide after the attempted move at the left hander.

Bressington held second for the next several laps before Bowe was able to slip through under brakes at the final corner and re-take second position.

Bowe chased Johnson hard and re-set his own Bathurst lap record to 2m17.4462s to get to within 0.5 seconds of his old rival by the time the flag fell after six laps.

Adam Garwood was the next to move up the order passing Bressington within the final two laps to grab third place – in a superb drive backing up his race three win at Winton earlier this year.

Eddie Abelnica finished fifth taking advantage of a late race spin by Ryan Hansford at the Elbow to climb into the top five.

Andrew Fisher and Jim Richards battled for a majority of the race Fisher getting his XY GTHO Falcon home in front of the seven-time Bathurst champion.  

Brad Tilley moved from outside the top-10 to eighth place in a solid return for the green GTHO while Tony Karanfilovski and Hansford completed the top-10.

Perhaps the battle of the race came from outside the top-10 with an enormous five car scrap between Cameron Tilley Bruce Williams Wayne Mercer Geoff Fane and Rusty French thrilling fans.

Tilley ultimately scrapped through while Williams’ charge from the back of the field was a strong return for the troubled AC Delco Torana after two horror races on Saturday.

French ultimately failed to finish the race after withdrawing his Skye Sands Mustang to pit lane on the penultimate lap.

With one round to go at the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 the Touring Car Masters series will go down the wire – with Bowe looking for his sixth individual TCM title and Jonson his first in what will be a winner-takes-all finale for both the overall pointscore and the ProMasters title.

Adam Bressington remains firmly in title contention sitting 25 points behind the outright lead while at the same time holding down the top spot in the ProAm title race.

Ryan Hansford will be a mathematical chance at the title – 93 points from the lead – though may well focus on trying to beat Bressington for the ProAm title in Newcastle.

Adam Garwood has moved to fifth in the overall standings in front of Eddie Abelnica Jason Gomersall Cameron Mason and Tony Karanfilovski.

Darren Beale continues to lead the ProSports title heading into the final round in Newcastle.

*Series points are provisional

RACE 3 RESULTS

Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL Laps     Race.Time Fastest...Lap1    17  Synergy Race Engines           Steve Johnson (QLD)      1971 Ford Falcon XY  5800        6    13:48.7122   5 2:17.6677 2    18  Wilson Security / PAYCE        John Bowe (VIC)          Holden  Torana SL/R  5047c       6    13:49.2784   5 2:17.4462R3    12  Giraffe Civil Contracting      Adam Garwood (TAS)       Holden  Torana A9X   5000c       6    13:54.3325   2 2:18.2736 4    95  Whiteline Racing / Fabre Austr Adam Bressington (NSW)   Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800c       6    13:55.2295   4 2:18.0381 5    48  Melbourne's Cheapest Cars      Eddie Abelnica (VIC)     Ford Falcon XB Coupe 5800c       6    13:55.2312   4 2:18.2446 6     9  Jesus Racing                   Andrew Fisher (NSW)      Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800c       6    14:07.2112   3 2:19.9820 7     2  Shannons Insurance             Jim Richards (VIC)       Ford Falcon Sprint   5000c       6    14:07.3003   2 2:19.9206 8    28  Speedgas / Tilley Auto Garage  Brad Tilley (NSW)        Ford Falcon XY GT HO 5800c       6    14:15.8872   4 2:20.4600 9    88  TIFS - Warehousing & Distribut Tony Karanfilovski (NSW) Ford Mustang Trans A 5800c       6    14:17.7113   4 2:21.5879 10    6  Multispares Racing             Ryan Hansford (QLD)      Holden  Torana SL/R  5000c       6    14:17.8233   3 2:18.4547 11   25  Maxi-Trans Trailers            Paul Freestone (VIC)     Chevrolet Camaro     5800c       6    14:35.8264   6 2:24.5588 12   60  Glennan Transport/ANGLOMOIL Lu Cameron Tilley (NSW)     Valiant Pacer        4390c       6    14:36.0500   5 2:23.9317 13    5  ACDelco                        Bruce Williams (VIC)     Holden  Torana SL/R  5000c       6    14:37.1032   6 2:22.6271 14   74  Lyndways Builders              Wayne Mercer (VIC)       Ford Falcon XY GTHO  5800c       6    14:39.7854   5 2:25.4556 15   72  GFR Industries                 Geoff Fane (QLD)         Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800c       6    14:49.3821   3 2:24.8383 16   46  THD Motorsport                 Leo Tobin (VIC)          Ford Boss Mustang    5000c       6    14:52.2722   6 2:25.7803 17   97  Johns Furniture Removals       Allen Boughen (QLD)      Mercury Comet        4736c       6    14:53.6145   6 2:26.8922 18   19  Tincone Industrial Services    Darren Beale (QLD)       Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800c       6    15:24.9632   6 2:30.2748 19   91  Performance 9 / Werks Garage   Stan Adler (QLD)         Porsche 911 IROC     3600c       6    15:59.6097   3 2:35.6534 DNF   4  Skye Sands                     Rusty French (VIC)       Ford Mustang Fastbac 5800c       5    12:16.4981   3 2:24.5572 DNF  85  Whiteline Racing / King Spring Mark King (QLD)          Holden  Monaro GTS C 5800c       4     9:34.8444   3 2:21.8138 DNF   1  Hawk Brake Pads                Dave Roberts (USA)       Chevrolet Camaro SS  5800c