CONVENTIONAL wisdom favours V8 power on the wide open spaces of Sydney‘s Eastern Creek International Raceway, but the reality could produce an upset in round two of the 2007 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship next weekend.
Barrie Nesbitt hopes to clinch a hat-trick of pole positions in his V8 Holden HSV Coupe, Mark King aims to defend his Championship lead in a turbocharged all-wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, series returnee Beric Lynton believes his six-cylinder BMW M3 will be the most consistent and Tim Poulton says his tiny 1.6 litre Lotus has the braking and handling to scamper past the big guns.
Such is the diversity of showroom-based touring cars in the Championship, the betting is wide open for the round’s two sprints and double-length feature race over the V8 Supercar Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
Followers of the Championship will be able to watch the second race on Monday “as-live” on Channel Seven during the V8 Supercar telecast between 1 pm and 5.30 pm. On Sunday, Seven will show highlights of round one from Winton circuit during the V8 Supercar telecast between 1 pm and 3 pm.
HSV, Mitsubishi and BMW all won races when the series visited Eastern Creek twice last year.
Lynton won the last race of the 2006 season at Eastern Creek, in the course finishing a close runner-up for the driver’s Championship, and is looking forward to returning to a track that suits his BMW.
“The BMW M3 doesn’t have quite the horsepower of some of the other cars, but it has superb balance and can keep up a very high average speed at Eastern Creek, ” Lynton said.
“It’s also kind to its tyres, so the field should come back to us in the 16-lap feature race. ”
Lynton’s return brings the Donut King team back to its full strength of four cars, all unmistakable in hot pink livery, and marks the debut of the Gold Coast-based retail food franchise group as the new Championship title sponsor.
Nesbitt and team principal Tony Alford will run identical Holden HSV 5.7 litre Coupes in the Outright class, while Peter Leemhuis will contest the Privateers Cup in a Nissan 200SX.
Nesbitt has found new competitiveness after extensive off-season development and testing of his car. He has scored two pole positions, although his speed has yet to convert to a race win.
He sits third in the standings, which are headed by two-time champion Mark King, in a Mitsubishi Lancer. Gary Young in an identical car is just two points behind.
Peter Floyd, winner of two races, a pole position and a lap record at Eastern Creek in 2006, will be desperate to make ground after a disastrous start to his Championship at Winton. The 2005 Champion failed to finish two races in round one and sits just 17th in the standings.
On sheer speed, the 1.6 litre Lotus Exige coupes are an outside chance at Eastern Creek, although their drivers - Tim Poulton and John Pagonas in particular - proved the little cars are capable of giant-killing results.
Pagonas leads the Privateer Cup competition over teammates Jim Pollicina and Anthony Loscialpo in Holden HSV GTS sedans, but a strong challenge will come from David Searle, who has repaired his rapid BMW 130i after a crash a Winton.
SPEED READ
Weekend timetable – Saturday 9.40 Practice (20 min. ), 12.10 Practice (20 min. ). Sunday 10.30 Qualifying (20 min. ), 4.10 Race 1 (8 laps). Monday 9.35 Race 2 (8 laps), 1.50 Race 3 (16 laps, compulsory pit stop between laps 8 and 12).
Championship standings (after Rd 1) - Outright 58 Mark King, 56 Gary Young, 50 Barrie Nesbitt, 38 eq. Tony Alford/James Philip, 32 Peter Boylan, 30 equal Tim Poulton/John Pagonas. Privateers Cup 54 John Pagonas, 52 equal Anthony Loscialpo/Jim Pollicina.
Last time at Eastern Creek (Rd 7, November 06) – Pole Garry Holt (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) 1 min. 43.5009 sec., Race 1 Peter Floyd (Holden HSV GTS), Race 2 Beric Lynton (BMW M3). Round winner Lynton, Lap record Floyd 1:42.8562 (9/7/06, round 3).
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