Phillip Island 1st race report

Phillip Island, Race One, Round Six FITZY CHASES POINTS AS BERIC HAS BIG DAY OUT

PETER Fitzgerald put in a dominant performance to close on the points lead in the Australian GT Production Car Championship at Phillip Island today.

Fitzgerald took the lead on lap five and raced away for the win to finish only one point behind Championship leader Jim Richards in the points standings.

Richards challenged strongly early before suffering a flat tyre on lap 9, forcing him out of the race.

Cameron McConville took second ahead of a surprised GTP Lights Class D young star, Beric Lynton, who actually took third outright as well as his first class victory in his BMW 323i.

Lynton took advantage of a race of attrition with John Bowe's Ferrari outed with an engine fire on lap 8 and Jim Zerefos' Lotus seriously delayed after a flat tyre on lap five.

"I had far too much wheelspin off the start but the racing in the early laps between Jim, Cameron and myself was fantastic," Fitzgerald said.

"It was certainly bad luck for Jim but it has really hotted up the points battle."

John Bourke drove a lonely race as the sole Class B runner after Darren Palmer was outed on Friday after a practice crash. Bourke had also struggled all weekend, going through two gearbox replacements before starting the race.

Chris Sexton won Class C after passing team-mate John Cowley who had lead for most of the event.

BERIC Lynton's GTP Lights Class D win was his first for the season. The young Gold Coast BMW 323i driver (pictured right) held off a fierce charge from veteran Murray Carter.

Chris Kousparis (Mazda 626) took third ahead of Tim Shaw (Nissan Pulsar).

Ryan McLeod was first across the line in CLass E after he and Andrej Pavicevic had a coming together on the opening lap. However he was later excluded from the meeting by CAMS stewards as a result of the incident.

RACE ONE 12 laps

1.  Peter Fitzgerald (A) Porsche          20:59.924
2.  Cam McConville (A) Porsche            21:02.997
3.  Beric Lynton (D) BMW 323i               11 laps
4.  Murray Carter (D) Mazda 626             11 laps
5.  Chris Kousparis (D) Mazda 626           11 laps
6.  Chris Sexton (C) Falcon XR6             11 laps
7.  John Cowley (C) Falcon XR6              11 laps
8.  Denis Cribbin (C) Commodore             11 laps
9.  Tim Shaw (D) Nissan Pulsar              11 laps
10. Andrej Pavicevie (E) Suzuki             11 laps