Race Report, Round 3, Winton  August 2009

 Saturday August 29 and we arrive at Sunny Winton raceway in Benalla for round 3 of the ASSA vic club championship.

 After some hard work and late nights, it was great to see Chas Talbot back out in the Pakenham Tyrepower VN Commodore that had sustained a heap of damage  in the round 2 incident at Sandown. Unfortunately, one lap in of the first practice session, Chas had a new rod end fail on the front end. This caused him to miss the days qualifying session, but he would manage to get back on track for the start of race 1. He was not the only one with troubles in practice, Ken House (Centreline Suspension Escort) had an off track excursion losing the front spoiler. He would make qualifying, but the damage affected the handling of the quick escort for most of the weekend.

QUALIFYING

 Michael Robinson (Bell Real Estate/Vital Stats Monaro) took the bonus point for Pole position with a 1:28.95, followed by Rod Smith only 0.4 secs behind in the Duggan Balancing Falcon EL. Garry Roberts (Ramsdale Wreckers/Blush Photography Torana) rounded out the top 3 a further 1.5 seconds behind Smith.

RACE 1

 Race 1 was the first of the weekends two combined races, with a field of nearly 40 cars, including Sports Sedans, Under 2litre Sports sedans and Super TT’s.
 Smith and Robinson led the pack and had a great battle all race, Robinson with the fastest lap time but unable to pass Smith for the lead.
 Chas Talbot stormed through the huge field on a mission in the short 6 lap race making his way to 5th place. However it would all be to no avail, as he came together with an under 2lss on the last lap. Chas managed to limp over the line but had sustained enough damage to the rear suspension to put an end to his weekend.
 Stephen Craig (Jamieson Craig consultants Gemini) and House had a good battle for 4th until lap 3 when Craig suffered an uncharacteristic engine failure in the normally reliable Gemini.
 It was great to see Lee Uhlhorn back in the beautifully built R&M Uhlhorn P/L Mazda RX-7. He drove a good race for 5th position.
 Dave Pettit in the PPM Plumbing Camaro also had a great result finishing 6th.  Dave is still coming to grips with the car and getting faster each outing. I think all that were there can also say, the PPM Plumbing team take out the best presented crew for the weekend. We can all learn from them.

 
RACE 2

 Race 2, and this time it was just the ASSA sports sedans filling the grid for the 10 lapper.
 Smith and Robinson again led the way, having a great battle.
 Back in the pack, Uhlhorn, House and Webster (VL Commodore) were battling away, with Webster getting in front of Uhlhorn on lap 5, and chasing down House by lap 8.
 Unfortunately for Robinson, he had a spectacular lose coming onto the front straight, ending up parked on the wet grass directly opposite his garage. He managed to get going again, eventually finishing 8th, 1 lap down.
 This gave Smith the win, from Roberts in second and Webster 3rd, followed by House, Uhlhorn, Pettit and Shane Ryding in the IPRA Mazda Rx-7.

RACE 3

 Another mixed grid 6 lap race, and lucky for Robinson starting order was determined from the first mixed grid race results, putting him back on the front row with Smith.
 Smith led the first 2 laps until Robinson finally got past on lap 3 and would stay in front for the remainder of the race.
 House had the Centreline Suspension boys and Norm Lee working hard between races to rectify his handling problems as a result of having no front splitter, and it worked. He and Roberts had a great battle for 3rd for the whole 6 laps, swapping the lead a couple of times. Roberts eventually the victor.
 Webster was 5th, followed by Uhlhorn. Pettit unfortunately retiring with engine dramas.

 Round Results,  Smith (59), Robinson and Roberts (55),  House (52), Uhlhorn (49), Pettit (31), Talbot (14).

Next round is back at Philip Island 26/27 September. This will be all rolling start races as a trial for the Island Magic round so should be an interesting spectacle. See you there!!