RACE REPORT
MAKE SMOKING HISTORY Improved Production 2019 Season Opener
2nd / 3rd March 2019 – 50th Anniversary of Barbagallo Raceway
CHERRY STAMPS HIS AUTHORITY
The new track surface was the largest part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. More of that later. More importantly, the settled political environment allowed the track to be re-opened by Sports Minister Mick Murray and Tracey Roberts (Mayor City Wanneroo). The improved situation was also reflected in other areas where WASCC invested in:
• New paddock surface and improvements to totally decayed drainage system
• Gardening – New planting and mulching
• New signage – Direction indicators at entrance, differentiation between “Track” & “Club” on all logos. The safety vehicles that we tend to take for granted looked pretty dam smikko.
Neil Pollard was a DNS after being rear-ended by a Saloon Car in Friday Practice. Damage to his car was quite severe. Sad thing is the culprit did not come down to apologise.
Now to the event. Qualifying + 4 Races.
Qualifying
It would appear that the new “high grip” surface tended to favour previously traction constrained cars. This is considered to reflect both higher grip levels (front wheel drive cars), but more importantly, reduced tyre degradation on heavy high powered RWD cars.
Matt Cherry in the Top Gear Electrical Monaro, was 2 seconds clear of the BMW M3’s of Baltinas & Mitic.
The new surface combined with being able to really “cut-loose” with the new Pace Motorsport engine enabled the U1,600 Corolla of Tim Riley to beat his Personal Best by 1.2 seconds.
Race 1
The big GM cars romped home in a short 5 Lap sprint. Cherry and Romkes both in Monaro’s followed by Callegari in a Commodore. Callegari’s drive was exceptional, coming from rear of grid after problems in Qualifying.
Then came the superfast U2L Mk 1 Escort of Grant Gellan. Awesome driver and car.
Tim Riley in the buzz-box Corolla harassed newcomer Adrian Scharenguivel in his beautiful new 6L Commodore. Riley commented the newcomer drove well and was fully in control of his car. That gave Riley the confidence to get in close to the bigger car. Adrian overtook Riley 3 times. Riley returned the compliment twice. Adrian’s times improved significantly all weekend.
Glen Melling DNS’d. Apparently, his ongoing reliability issues are all Annette’s fault. Her misdemeanour was breaking a mirror. Barry Baltinas broke a ½ Shaft on his lovely M3, so that was game over for the weekend. Another casualty was Brad Wheeler with a driveline problem. Thankfully, he made a comeback later after repairs.
Race 2
With 8 Laps available, the Generals cars sorted themselves out i.e. Cherry followed home by Callegari and Romkes. Nic Mitic just about managed to hold onto the more powerful cars to take 4th place.
Another strong performance from the Black U2L Escort of Gellan scored him a 5th, followed by Michael Sciorio in the WRX, Mark Jolly in the 6 cyl Falcon, Scharenguivel, Garry Edwards, Riley, Ron Coote, Wheeler and Paras Hatsiyiannakis. Jason Sinclair went MIA on Lap 7 in Ducky’s 2.4 L Civic.
Race 3
Basically a carbon copy of Race 2, but with the ever unlucky Jasmat Steel entry of Glen Melling disappearing in a cloud of oil smoke.
Race 4
Again very much as per Race 2.
Class Winners for the day (State Championship Points)
Class A: 3,001 – 6,000 cc. Matt Cherry Holden Monaro - 100 Points
Class B: 2,001 – 3,000 cc. Garry Edwards BMW M3 – 100 Points
Class C: 1,600 – 2,000 cc. Grant Gellan Ford Escort – 100 Points
Class D: <1,600 cc. Tim Riley Toyota Corolla – 100 Points
Thanks
Finally, IPRAWA is grateful to our principal category sponsors Healthway for their ongoing support this year. IPRAWA is proud to support the Make Smoking History campaign. As always, a huge Thank You to Yokohama, and also thanks to additional sponsors Jasmat Steel Fabrications, JP Pallets, Racing Dynamics and P1 Racewear. Please support the health message and the companies that support our racing.
The new track surface was the largest part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. More of that later. More importantly, the settled political environment allowed the track to be re-opened by Sports Minister Mick Murray and Tracey Roberts (Mayor City Wanneroo). The improved situation was also reflected in other areas where WASCC invested in:
• New paddock surface and improvements to totally decayed drainage system
• Gardening – New planting and mulching
• New signage – Direction indicators at entrance, differentiation between “Track” & “Club” on all logos. The safety vehicles that we tend to take for granted looked pretty dam smikko.
Neil Pollard was a DNS after being rear-ended by a Saloon Car in Friday Practice. Damage to his car was quite severe. Sad thing is the culprit did not come down to apologise.
Now to the event. Qualifying + 4 Races.
Qualifying
It would appear that the new “high grip” surface tended to favour previously traction constrained cars. This is considered to reflect both higher grip levels (front wheel drive cars), but more importantly, reduced tyre degradation on heavy high powered RWD cars.
Matt Cherry in the Top Gear Electrical Monaro, was 2 seconds clear of the BMW M3’s of Baltinas & Mitic.
The new surface combined with being able to really “cut-loose” with the new Pace Motorsport engine enabled the U1,600 Corolla of Tim Riley to beat his Personal Best by 1.2 seconds.
Race 1
The big GM cars romped home in a short 5 Lap sprint. Cherry and Romkes both in Monaro’s followed by Callegari in a Commodore. Callegari’s drive was exceptional, coming from rear of grid after problems in Qualifying.
Then came the superfast U2L Mk 1 Escort of Grant Gellan. Awesome driver and car.
Tim Riley in the buzz-box Corolla harassed newcomer Adrian Scharenguivel in his beautiful new 6L Commodore. Riley commented the newcomer drove well and was fully in control of his car. That gave Riley the confidence to get in close to the bigger car. Adrian overtook Riley 3 times. Riley returned the compliment twice. Adrian’s times improved significantly all weekend.
Glen Melling DNS’d. Apparently, his ongoing reliability issues are all Annette’s fault. Her misdemeanour was breaking a mirror. Barry Baltinas broke a ½ Shaft on his lovely M3, so that was game over for the weekend. Another casualty was Brad Wheeler with a driveline problem. Thankfully, he made a comeback later after repairs.
Race 2
With 8 Laps available, the Generals cars sorted themselves out i.e. Cherry followed home by Callegari and Romkes. Nic Mitic just about managed to hold onto the more powerful cars to take 4th place.
Another strong performance from the Black U2L Escort of Gellan scored him a 5th, followed by Michael Sciorio in the WRX, Mark Jolly in the 6 cyl Falcon, Scharenguivel, Garry Edwards, Riley, Ron Coote, Wheeler and Paras Hatsiyiannakis. Jason Sinclair went MIA on Lap 7 in Ducky’s 2.4 L Civic.
Race 3
Basically a carbon copy of Race 2, but with the ever unlucky Jasmat Steel entry of Glen Melling disappearing in a cloud of oil smoke.
Race 4
Again very much as per Race 2.
Class Winners for the day (State Championship Points)
Class A: 3,001 – 6,000 cc. Matt Cherry Holden Monaro - 100 Points
Class B: 2,001 – 3,000 cc. Garry Edwards BMW M3 – 100 Points
Class C: 1,600 – 2,000 cc. Grant Gellan Ford Escort – 100 Points
Class D: <1,600 cc. Tim Riley Toyota Corolla – 100 Points
Thanks
Finally, IPRAWA is grateful to our principal category sponsors Healthway for their ongoing support this year. IPRAWA is proud to support the Make Smoking History campaign. As always, a huge Thank You to Yokohama, and also thanks to additional sponsors Jasmat Steel Fabrications, JP Pallets, Racing Dynamics and P1 Racewear. Please support the health message and the companies that support our racing.
