The Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series returned to eighth-mile action today with qualifying for Round 3 of the 2015/2016 Championship at Fuchs South Coast Raceway in Portland, Victoria.
Intermittent rain persisted throughout the day meaning two of three qualifying runs were completed for all nine classes but the cool windy conditions didn’t pose too many problems for Super Comp’s Jim Ioannidis or Shane Baxter.
South Australian Ioannidis went .380 seconds under the B/MSA index on a 5.799 second pass to qualify first in Super Comp and have a chance to reset the National record on race day.
“In the first qualifier we battled the track due to the rain and the car turned the tyres,” said Ioannidis.
“The second qualifier the boys turned it around, we tamed it down a little bit and it ran a good number which is what we wanted. We’ve still got plenty left.
“The weather will be better tomorrow so the track should be better and we’ll just keep creeping the power up as we need.”
Shane Baxter can also reset the CC/DA national record after going .302 seconds under his index with a 4.337 to qualify second. Craig Geddes is third, Kim Fadella fourth, Daniel Camilleri fifth, Wayne Talbot sixth and Andrew Dyson completes the list in seventh.
Ballarat’s Matt Forbes, racing in both Modified and Super Gas, qualified number one in both categories putting him on the cusp of a winning double if he can safely negotiate eliminations on Sunday.
Forbes stopped the clock at 4.621 seconds in Modified and 6.310 seconds in Super Gas to get his weekend off to the perfect start.
“It feels fantastic (to qualify number one in two brackets), we’ve worked hard and made changes to the dragster with a new set of shocks that we picked up in the States – it’s working a treat” said Forbes.
“In the Corvette (Super Gas), we won this event last year and we seem to have picked up right where we left off last time.
“I put the pressure on myself to be the best we can be and I’m a firm believer we’ve got a good system, good cars and a good program so if we do what we’re meant to do good things will happen.
“I’m confident tomorrow will be better weather, the track will be better so we’ll take that into consideration in the first round for both cars tomorrow.”
Leanne Braggs qualified second in Modified from Scott Barlow, Shane Wynd, Michael Braggs, Jayden Talbot, Derek Wills, Kenny Stewart, Stewart Johnston, Craig Baker and Tim Stewart.
Behind Forbes in Super Gas are current Champion Graeme Spencer, Warren Bull, Jeff Romeo, Colin Griffin and Johnny Ienco.
In Supercharged Outlaws, 2014 Champion Doina Day put her second qualifier to good use running a 4.456 to head the field. Jason Kiely in his sleek 1934 Ford Coupe qualified second on a 4.756. The remainder of the field is completed by Brian Lockman, David Thornton, Warren Leonard, Paz Kelly and Shane Kramer.
Phil Yfantidis in the Sniper Slo Truck was only the competitor to enter the 4-second zone in Top Sportsman running a 4.931 ET to qualify number one. Stuart McBain qualified second with a 5.114 from Darren Saliba. Jeff Fitzgerald, Jason Arbery and Julian Carafa.
Grant Henley heads the list in Super Sedan with his Datsun 1200 Ute running the eighth-mile in 5.532 seconds to sit comfortably ahead of the field. Andrew Darby qualified in second position with a 5.573 elapsed time in a 25 strong field.
Mathew Allan catapulted to number one on his second qualifier in Modified Bike with a 5.531 second pass pushing Jake McFarlane to second with his 5.867 ET. Greg Sparks qualified third on a 5.947 while Shane Walker is fourth on a 5.950. Gavin Dohnt is fifth with positions 6-21 field coming in at 6-seconds or above.
The Chevy Camaro of Garth O’Hehir topped Super Street thanks to a 7.016 second pass followed narrowly by Wade Scott with an ET of 7.017. Fuchs South Coast Raceway’s own Scott Cleary qualified third followed by Glenn Knight and Jodie Kendall rounding out the top five of 23 cars.
Kelly Donnelly from South Australia leads Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster with a pass of 8.017 seconds from Jake Berias in second, Andrew Shirley, Josh Baker and East Coast Nationals winner Brooke Farrelly. Jordan Spencer, Sarah Donnelly, Brodie Tedesco, Tim Baker, Daniel Carranza and Blake Hayes complete the field.
The action continues at Fuchs South Coast Raceway on Sunday with eliminations scheduled to commence at 10am. For more information please visit: www.southcoastraceway.com
Images by Dave Hope
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