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Back to June 2012 Motorsports News Archive
| 18-06-2012 at 07:00: Bowe Makes it 3 from 3 at Hidden Valley | |
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The twelve laps seemed like a marathon for the Masters with the classic muscle feeling the heat on and off the track, but Bowe had kept his cool like a true champion, with confidence and clarity.
From the outset, Bowe had another great launch off the starting grid to place side by side with Richards on approach to turn one, and that would be the story at the head of the field for the full 12 laps of the valley. Miedecke bogged down, but eyes were on current Class A leader Youlden and long-time series competitor Garry Treloar as they went two abreast almost against the pit wall on the charge to the first corner. As the pack turned in to start the opening lap, Pye fired his Camaro down the inside of Miedecke, contact sending Pye, Youlden and Stillwell onto the grass.
With Richards leading Bowe, the mighty Falcon of Tilley was back with the series and showing just why Tilley Racing have been racing since the first series events, drifting and sliding with style through the turns as the muscle mania behind him put the pressure on, Kassulke, Edwards, Miedecke and Treloar all forging on.
As Nittis parked his GTHO on the gravel and Pye returned to the pits with front end damage, the safety car entered the circuit to clear Nittis, allowing the line of cubic inch classics to bank up for the restart with 10 to go. As the circuit returned to green, Bowe was all over the rear of the Javelin, Richards closing the door as Kassulke slid his XB through turn two.
Karanfilovski was going strong in seventh while Bowe posted the fastest first sector – it was time for the Mustang to truly take flight. Edwards was muscling his Torana around the turns, more than a handful of horsepower working to keep the Torana in the leading battles.
With lap four came another record for Bowe, taking two tenths from Miedecke’s 2011 effort to post the fastest ever race lap in the series with a 1:16.6091, and Richards wasn’t far behind, just one tenth off the pace of the leading Mustang.
After a tough couple of years, Garry Treloar was in the top ten and looking strong, making the move around Alexander, while series debutant Michael Almond moved under the Mason Shelby Mustang to secure ninth before the clutch pedal broke, marking an early end to a promising start for the series youngest entrant.
Richards found a gap under Bowe through turn four, the champions showing their craft with Bowe moving into the lead once more just corners later, the pair locked in a battle, but still having pulled some two seconds on the following cars.
It was a hot spot in tenth, Mason, Youlden and Keene entertaining a three way battle as the laps fell away, now five to go. Treloar was holding strong inside the top ten, all over the rear of the Karanfilovski GTHO, the charging pack now gaining on the Alexander HT Monaro that would soon retire to pit lane. A big moment for Tilley allowed Kassulke to slip through, keeping it clean, Tilley and Edwards were soon closing in on the Falcon’s bumper, Edwards using the Torana’s power to weight to drive past Tilley along the straight, and there were just two laps remaining. It was a close call for Mason as Mercer spun his Falcon out of turn six, there was nowhere to hide from the bright blue GTHO facing the wrong way, but all made it through clearly and went on to start the final lap.
The King HQ GTS had started the race after ongoing work to overcome fuel and engine issues that had plagued his weekend so far, an impressive effort seeing King charge from last on the grid to the verge of the top ten before the problem struck once more and saw an end in the pits.
An ongoing battle, Bowe and Richards were out ahead, Bowe bringing it home at the valley once more to take the chequered flag, with a new lap record to boot. Pleased with his efforts, the motor racing veteran explained,
“That was a terrific race. The cars are so well matched and there’s so little in it. I’ve raced with Jim (Richards) a long time, he’s an awesome driver.
“When I passed him that second time, I think I tried to do the world’s best lap to get a gap, and then I think he may have rolled out of it a little to save the tyres as this track really kills the tyres, but it was a great race battle.
“It’s a pleasure to race against guys of this calibre, Jim here, Gavin (Bullas) at the last round, and it’s tough out there but we didn’t touch, and you don’t want to touch, so hopefully we can keep having such hard and close racing with no damage.
“The car was really hard on the rears (tyres) so we’ll look to improve that before tomorrow, but this place is always tough on the tyres and when you’re in a tough spot everything works harder. It’s pretty impressive to be racing so closely with Jim when his car is so new and that’s definitely a credit to him and his team.”
Touring Car Masters Race 1 results 1 Bowe (lap record – 1:16.6091) 2 Richards 3 Kassulke 4 Edwards 5 Miedecke
Race Two
The top ten reverse grid always guarantees action across the field, often it brings the true mania of the muscle cars to the fore, but in his renowned style, Race 1 winner John Bowe has carved his way through the pack from 10th to victory with another lap record all in a day’s work.
With the top ten flipped, Bowe once again found himself in the middle of the pack, yet the champion remained confident with his Savy Motorsport prepared Mustang race package and took a blistering start, launching off the grid to move into fourth by the first corner.
It had been an all silver start with the Class B entries of Benson and Sparks off the front row, and while Stillwell’s Mustang bogged down, Richards and Kassulke both charged to the centre of the circuit to move forward and follow Tilley who was pushing under Benson. Mason mowed towards the pit wall to find room, as eyes returned to the Tilley versus Richards battle, side by side through turn six. Edwards was pushing the Torana hard, making the move under Treloar for fifth, leaving Kassulke to join the mix and go side by side with the Charger along the main straight.
As the opening lap came to a close, Bowe shot under Tilley’s Falcon to claim the race lead. The only Porsche in the top ten, Sparks was holding in fifth, an impressive feat against the muscle that surrounded her, and for King who’d suffered through a challenging weekend, his HQ GTS was now inside the top ten having overcome the fuel issues.
In the Ford versus GM battle, Kassulke and Miedecke were moving through, now taking their battle into fifth and sixth. Outstanding efforts from those who started rear of grid, with Alexander having brought his Monaro up to 11th, Almond’s Porsche now on his bumper in 12th, Mason was impressing in his Shelby, and Pye ignoring the battle scars to charge his Camaro into the top 15.
There was a freight train of muscle bearing down on Sparks in eighth and leading the Class B cars, King, Alexander, Treloar, Youlden, Mason and Stillwell hunting down the 911. Ahead it as on for young and old with Edwards and Tilley in a dual for second position, the Falcon with the straight line speed to pull away down the main straight, but Edwards was looking to the inside and found his move in turn two on the way to hunt Bowe, now 3.7 seconds ahead.
As lap seven started, the leading ten cars were made up of ten difference vehicles, a true display of the variety of muscle cars and exotics that grace the Touring Car Masters grid. Sadly for Nelson, his ever-reliable Porsche wasn’t to be, having lost second, third and fourth gear, the 911 parked on the infield to sit out the remaining five laps. Another rare sight in the series saw he Javelin of Richards sideways and off the circuit, keeping the throttle down to rejoin in sixth, his gap on track having held his position.
With three to go, Miedecke had gained on the Tilley Falcon to secure third, Stillwell ran wide allowing Almond to jet his Porsche through for 15th, while Youlden locked the fronts into turn one and Alexander had flames from the HT as he held off Pye charging on behind.
Series debutant, Almond made a sneaky move under garage-mate Sparks, was looking to take Benson around the back of the circuit, but pushing too hard allowed Sparks to regain the place through turn 12. Richards was back on his game and on the back of the Kassulke XB before securing fifth, Kassulke having a slip but holding the mighty Coupe on line.
Rounding to start the final lap, Bowe had pulled out his lead to 4.2 seconds, Edwards was driving at his best in second, Miedecke and Tilley were still fighting over third, and Richards and Kassulke remained on the hunt as they closed out the top five positions. Bowe going on to win his seventh race at Hidden Valley, having had an epic opening lap, to make another lap record and set himself up for a second round win of the season.
“I got such an awesome start so I got a really good run and did all of the hard work on the first lap basically”, said Bowe.
“Obviously the car’s very good but when you can get away like that it makes the job all the better. It’s a shame we can’t measure the 0-100 acceleration times because it was such a good start! They’re not easy to start either coz they’ve got a metal clutch and a lot of grunt, so it’s a juggle between a bit of clutch slip and the horsepower.
“Once you get to the lead, you can conserve your tyres and brakes a bit and this track’s really hard on them, but going by the weekend so far, I’m looking forward to the last race.”
Touring Car Masters Race 2 results 1 Bowe (lap record – 1:16.4533) 2 Edwards 3 Miedecke 4 Tilley 5 Richards 6 Kassulke
Race 3
The final race under the sun of the north saw the Touring Car Masters line up for a final 12 lap blast around the Hidden Valley circuit, and the field and fans alike were wondering, could anyone catch Bowe. As the action continued across the field, it was just the man they were hunting that took off into the distance, securing his third race win and a clean sweep of the round to put Bowe back atop the series points standings.
With the lights going green, Bowe accelerated away, Tilley made a flyer to gain second, with Edwards following as Sparks darted to the inside to hold position in the charging field. Action as promised had Alexander’s HT Monaro off at turn one, King making room to avoid further dramas on his already tough weekend.
Treloar had Miedecke on the hunt, a late braking move into turn one seeing the Miedecke Camaro fire up the inside of Treloar, setting the Charger in a spin and sending Treloar to the rear of the field and into pit lane, after strong efforts to put the #21 entry in the heat of the top ten challenge. Kassulke was soon side by side with Miedecke, crafty driving from both keeping the track clear and the racing hot, but ahead it was dual race winner Bowe pulling away with a 1.2 second lead.
Stillwell made the gain around the Sparks Porsche with the Mustang’s power on show in a drag like move along the main straight. Alexander followed through turn three, the Camaro of Pye and King’s HQ looking to follow as they charged on to hunt the exotic in eighth. As Pye headed for the inside of Stillwell, racing room was granted with Bowe making his own room in the lead, now 2.5 seconds ahead and continuing to set fastest sector times.
The battle of the Porsches was on between 2011 Class A champion, Sparks, and Touring Car Masters debutant Michael Almond. Sparks drifted the #32 through turn six, Almond looking but the door was closed once, before a second attempt almost saw the pair contact as Almond tried again, Sparks wide as Keene fired past, narrowly missing the silver bullet as Sparks re-entered the racing line.
It was on for fourth further up the track with Miedecke moving to the outside of Edwards to gain position, Edwards muscling the Torana and sliding through turns seven and eight, determined to close the gap, retaking position on his way to the Tilley Falcon ahead. Mason and Youlden were in a tussle of their own for seventh, Pye soon joining the fight to leapfrog the dualing pair and secure another promising result.
With Bowe 4.7 seconds up the road with four laps remaining, King too was impressing once more in a gallant effort to rejoin the top ten, but eyes were back on the mighty battle between Tilley, Miedecke and Edwards, the Falcon securing position, leaving Miedecke and Edwards to fight over fourth, a battle the Camaro of Miedecke appeared to be winning.
Crossing the line for the final lap, Bowe was streets ahead with a comfortable lead of some 11.4 seconds, Richards was secure in second joining the straight as Bowe disappeared into turn one to bring his Mustang ‘Sally’ home for his third race win of the weekend, his eighth at Hidden Valley, and his second clean swept round at the Top End after a similar result back in 2008. A final action packed dash had Miedekce cross for fourth place, just 0.1 seconds ahead of Edwards, Tilley securing a race podium in his return to the series.
“This is a great feeling, three wins is terrific and not that easy to do”, said Bowe.
The car’s been awesome here – it was quick from the word go when we unloaded, so we’ve made only small changes along the way because we’ve got a pretty good base setup now and we understand the car very well after three seasons.
“It’s of great credit to Dick (Savy) and his boys (Savy Motorsport) that again the car didn’t miss a beat. The last race was easier than I thought it would be – I’d expected Jim to come with me out front, but it’s good to make your way and you can only do your best, so after the disappointments from last round it’s nice to win for the team and our sponsors who look ahead to the next opportunity for success and I’ll always be trying.
“I love Ipswich, even though everyone thinks the track is boring but I’ve had many times there with CAT Racing, and the only time I’ve raced a TCM car there was in Tony Hunter’s Camaro and I won, so ‘Sally’ should be a really good car around there.”
Touring Car Masters Race 3 results (provisional) 1 Bowe 2 Richards 3 Tilley 4 Miedecke 5 Edwards 6 Kassulke 7 Pye 8 Mason 9 Youlden 10 King
Touring Car Masters Class Round results (provisional) Class A Class B 1 Bowe 180 1 Mason 162 2 Richards 157 2 Stillwell 157 3 Edwards 149 3 Sparks 157
Hidden Valley Trophy (highest placed unseeded driver) – Tony Edwards
Touring Car Masters Class series points standings (provisional) Class A Class B 1 Bowe 425 1 Stillwell 489 2 Richards 414 2 Benson 463 3 Miedecke 372 3 Keene 368 4 Youlden 360 4 Sparks 362 5 Kassulke 328 5 Hunter 327
The Touring Car Masters now head back to their garages to prepare for Round 4, Ipswich, 3- 5 August. |
Under the glaring northern sun, John Bowe has once again muscled his way to the front to take his sixth win in the Touring Car Masters five years at Hidden Valley Raceway.
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