Queensland Preview

CENTURY BATTERIES AUSTRALIAN GT PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

QUEENSLAND PREVIEW 5th JUNE 1999

ITALIAN PAIR FACE A NEW RACE CHALLENGE

An Italian star and an Italian car are facing a race against time to prepare for the next round of the Century Batteries Australian GT Production Car Championship at the new Queensland Raceway this weekend.

Reigning champion Domenic Beninca and new Ferrari star Wayne Park were both involved in heavy accidents at the last round of the Championship at Sandown and are now working around the clock to ensure they line up on the grid at the impressive new circuit at Ipswich in Queensland.

Beninca's Porsche 911 RSCS suffered a heavy impact with the wall at Sandown after blowing a tyre following contact with fellow Porsche driver, Jim Richards.

Park's Ferrari suffered huge rear end damage after he blew a clutch on the start-line in the second race and was struck heavily by John Teulan's Nissan Skyline GT-R.

Teulan is also frantically organising repairs to his Nissan which suffered heavy front end damage.

With Beninca's car unable to be repaired in time, the Melbourne-based driver will transfer his suspension package to a different Porsche 911 RSCS to compete next weekend in the Meguiar's Class A division.

"We have been able to source another GTP Porsche and once we put our shocks, springs and engine management system in the car, there really shouldn't be a lot of difference," Beninca said.

"Being production cars, there is not a lot of difference between the cars because you can not change the engine, gearbox or differential.

"Obviously it will not be as good as running our own car, but it is vital we make it to Queensland to keep in the points race."

Wayne Park is eagerly awaiting the arrival of parts from Italy to ensure the Ferrari F355 Challenge hits the track on home soil this weekend. The Queenslander is hoping for an incident free weekend after suffering more dramas at Sandown - even after the race meeting had concluded.

"The damage in the race was bad enough, but then my taxi driver slid off the road and crashed on the way home from the airport," Park said.

"To make matters worse, I had to stand in the rain for two hours to wait for a new cab - it certainly wasn't the best weekend I've ever had.

"The Ferrrai suffered a bent engine sub frame and ripped off the left rear suspension in the crash. It is going to be touch and go, but even if we don't make it to the track until Saturday, we will be working around the clock to make sure we get back for qualifying."

Paula Elstrek is set to step up a class this weekend, moving from the Class B Mazda RX7 she has been driving to take over the driving duties in Perry Spiridis' Maserati Ghibli.

Geoff Full continued his season-long unbeaten run at Sandown, but a host of Autobarn Class B competitors will be gunning to try to topple the Subaru Impreza WRX driver.

John Cowley returns aboard his HSV GTS-R while Jim McKnoulty will make his GTP Championship debut aboard the Subaru Impreza WRX he is sharing with Garry Deane.

The fast Queensland Raceway circuit is expected to favour the V8 machines in Class C with Peter Phelan (Holden Commodore VT SS) and Mark Cohen (Holden Commodore VS SS) expected to perform well.

Brake wear however, could result in the more nimble Toyota Camry CSi and David Ratcliff returning to the winner's circle.

Carol Jackson returns to the GTP Lights Class D division aboard her Honda Civic VTi-R and is keen to gang up with fellow female racer Melinda Price in toppling Sam Newman and Class leader, Phil Kirkham.

Consistent performances by Kosi Kalaitzidis (Proton M21 Coupe) has earned him the Class E championship lead, but Nathan Thomas is keen to chase down the Melbourne driver aboard his Suzuki Swift GTi.

Michael Simpson is keen for a strong showing on home soil as he returns aboard his Class S BMW 323i, while fellow Queenslander and NASCAR star Dean Wanless will make his GTP debut aboard the Mazda MX-5 normally driven by Megan Kirkham.

ENTRIES CLASS A 1 - Domenic Beninca - PORSCHE 911 RSCS 3 - Peter Fitzgerald - PORSCHE 911 RSCS 5 - Jim Richards - PORSCHE 911 RSCS 8 - Ed Aitken - PORSCHE 911 RSCS 9 - Ray Lintott - DODGE Viper GTS Coupe 11 - Jamie Cartwright - TOYOTA Supra RZ Twin-Turbo 12 - Geoff Morgan - PORSCHE 911 RSCS 18 - Murray Carter - CHEVROLET Corvette C5 V8 Coupe 23 - Beric Lynton - BMW M3-R Coupe 27 - Wayne Park - FERRARI F355 Challenge 30 - Paula Elstrek - Maserati GhibliCup Twin Turbo 38 - Rod Salmon - MITSUBISHI Lancer RS Turbo EVO V 41 - Terry Bosnjak - MAZDA RX-7 SP Twin-Turbo 45 - John Teulan - NISSAN Skyline GT-R Turbo 4WD

CLASS B 2 - John Cowley - HSV VS GTS-R 215i 6 - Geoffery Full - SUBARU Impreza WRX Turbo 7 - Peter Boylan - SUBARU Impreza WRX Turbo 15 - Bob Hughes - MAZDA RX-7 Twin-Turbo 34 - Mark King - MITSUBISHI Lancer RS Turbo EVO III 40 - Dwayne Bewley - SUBARU Impreza WRX Turbo 47 - John Trimbole - MITSUBISHI Lancer RS Turbo EVO III 51 - Scott Jacob - SUBARU Impreza WRX Turbo 76 - Wayne Vinckx - NISSAN 200SX Sport Coupe Turbo 91 - Jim Mcknoulty - SUBARU Impreza WRX Turbo

CLASS C 16 - Peter Phelan - HOLDEN Commodore VT SS V8 46 - Ryan Mc Leod - FORD Falcon EL XR8 55 - Mark Cohen - HOLDEN Commodore VS SS V8 88 - David Ratcliff - TOYOTA Camry CSi V6

CLASS D 10 - Carol Jackson - HONDA Civic VTi-R 17 - Sam Newman - HOLDEN Vectra GL 2.2 Sedan 28 - Melinda Price - HOLDEN Vectra GL 2.2 Sedan 71 - Phil Kirkham - MAZDA 626 V6 Sedan

CLASS E 21 - Kosi Kalaitzidis - PROTON M21 Coupe 37 - Nathan Thomas - SUZUKI Swift GTi 74 - Sue Hughes - SUZUKI Swift GTi 75 - Craig Dontas - SUZUKI Swift GTi

CLASS S 13 - Colin Osborne - TOYOTA MR2 Bathurst 26 - Wayne Russell - BMW 323i 32 - Michael Simpson - BMW 323i 35 - Ric Shaw - TOYOTA MR2 Bathurst 54 - Dean Wanless - MAZDA MX-5 Sports 77 - Nicolas Lucas - TOYOTA MR2 GT

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: OUTRIGHT Richards, Jim - 93.5 Beninca, Domenic - 87 Fitzgerald, Peter - 61 Aitken, Ed - 36 Park, Wayne - 34 Morgan, Geoff - 33 Cartwright, Jamie - 32 Bosnjak, Terry - 27 Spiridis, Perry - 22 Waldon, Garry - 17 Dean, Craig - 12 Full, Geoff - 12 Lintott, Ray - 5 Carter, Murray - 4.5 Palmer, Darren - 4 Alexander, Graham - 3.5 Boylan, Peter - 3 King, Mark - 3 Lynton, Beric - 3 Salmon, Rod - 3 White, Damien - 3 Elstrek, Paula - 2 Cowley, John - 1 Shaw, Ric - 1 Teulan, John - 1 Vinckx, Wayne - 0.5

CLASS A Richards, Jim - 89.5 Beninca, Domenic - 86 Fitzgerald, Peter - 60 Aitken, Ed - 37 Park, Wayne - 34 Morgan, Geoff - 34 Cartwright, Jamie - 32 Bosnjak, Terry - 27 Spiridis, Perry - 22 Dean, Craig - 16 Waldon, Garry - 15 Carter, Murray - 5.5 Lintott, Ray - 5 Alexander, Graham - 4.5 Palmer, Darren - 4 Lynton, Beric - 3 White, Damien - 3 Salmon, Rod - 3 Teulan, John - 1

CLASS B Full, Geoff - 112.5 King, Mark - 64 Elstrek, Paula - 48 Vinckx, Wayne - 40 Boylan, Peter - 33 Cowley, John - 16 Jacob, Scott - 16 Bewley, Dwayne - 14 Hughes, Bob - 13 Davis, Richard - 10 Deane, Gary - 4

CLASS C Phelan, Peter - 88 Cohen, Mark - 76.5 Ratcliff, David - 62 Chadwick, Robert - 62 Mcleod, Ryan - 52 Cribbin, Denis - 18 Hill, Roland - 11

CLASS D Kirkham, Phil - 60 Newman, Sam - 32 Kirkham, Megan - 30 Price, Melinda - 24

CLASS E Kalaitzidis, Kosi - 70 Hughes, Sue - 64 Thomas, Nathan - 47 Mckay, Peter - 30 Dontas, Craig - 28 Luff, Warren - 22.5 Best, Darren - 22

CLASS S Shaw, Ric - 104 Russell, Wayne - 90.5 Osborne, Colin - 49 Kirkham, Megan - 24 Haynes, Clayton - 20 Kirkham, Phil - 12 Lehmann, Matt - 10 Lucas, Nicolas - 5

MANUFACTURERS Toyota - 315.0 Porsche - 306.5 Holden - 275.5 Mazda - 224.0 Subaru - 179.5 Suzuki - 139.0 BMW - 93.5 Mitsubishi - 93.5 Proton - 70.0 Ford - 68.0 Peugeot - 52.5 Nissan - 41.0 Ferrari - 38.0 Hyundai - 22.0 Maserati - 22.0 Dodge - 20.0 Chevrolet - 5.5