Two hour night race to highlight Adelaide event

DRIVERS competing in the Century Batteries Australian GT Production Car Championship will be relying on an unusual component of their vehicles when they race in round two in Adelaide on April 8 - their headlights.

Championship organisers PROCAR Australia have scheduled a two-hour night race, finishing at 7.30 pm during the Clipsal 500 meeting on the Adelaide street circuit.

A field of 44 cars covering five classes has entered the race, which follows the success of a shorter twilight event in Adelaide last year.

All the cars will already have working headlights because GT Production rules require them to compete in near-standard specification, but it's unlikely to be a case of the car with the brightest lights being the winner.

A compulsory pit stop for a tyre change, with most teams also changing drivers, will add an uncertainty factor.

After the first round in Western Australia on March 19, line honours in Adelaide are expected to be fought out between the turbocharged Mazda RX7s, Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evolution V's and Subaru Impreza WRX STi's, plus a lone V8 Holden Commodore HSV ClubSport R8.

Sydney's Ric Shaw, who leads the championship with 32 points, clearly won both round-one legs in his Mazda RX-7 Twin-turbo but expects the other cars to be closer in Adelaide.

"I'm looking forward to defending my championship lead in Adelaide, but I expect the other guys are going to be tougher to beat after a few weeks of development since Perth," Shaw said.

There will be plenty of action in the five GT Production classes, too, with V8 Touring points leader Scott Loadsman defending against four other Holden Commodores and two Ford Falcons.

Last year's winner Jim Richards will not defend his title, having moved his Porsche 911 GT3 into the new Century Batteries GTP Nations Cup for ultra-high performance cars, which will stage its debut round on the Adelaide weekend.

<pre> ENTRY LIST

Century Batteries Australian GT Production Car Championship Round 2 Adelaide, 8 April 2000

Class A: Autobarn High Performance

15 Bob Hughes/N/A (Mitsubishi Lancer RS Turbo Evo V) 19 Sharyn Wood/Ross Palmer (Mitsubishi Lancer RS Turbo Evo V) 23 Barry Morcom/Ric Shaw (Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo) 25 Richard Davis/N/A (Holden Commodore HSV VS GTS-R) 34 Mark King/Rod Wilson (Mitsubishi Lancer RS Turbo Evo V) 35 Ric Shaw/Geoff Full (Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo) 38 Dennis Gilbert /Hart Mason (Mitsubishi Lancer RS Turbo Evo V) 40 Dwayne Bewley/Trevor Sheumack (Subaru Impreza WRX STi ) 50 Grant Kenny/N/A (Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version IV) 51 Scott Jacob/N/A (Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version IV) 57 Graham Alexander/N/A (Mitsubishi Lancer RS Turbo Evo V) 61 Trevor Haines/NA (Subaru WRX STi Version IV) 71 Phil Kirkham/Ken Douglas (Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo) 87 Peter Floyd/N/A (Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo) 91 Gary Deane/Jim McKnoulty (Subaru Impreza WRX Turbo) 96 Don Pulver/Terry Shiel (Subaru Impreza WRX Turbo) 97 Ross Dillon/Anthony Scott (Holden HSV Commodore VT ClubSport R8)

Class B: Hippies Sports Touring

4 Danny Brian/Anton Mechtler (BMW 323i) 7 Peter Boylan/Ian McAlister (Honda Integra Type-R) 13 Colin Osborne/Anthony Robson (Toyota MR2 Bathurst) 16 David Wood/Peter Phelan (Honda Integra Type-R) 27 Wayne Russell/Anton Mechtler (BMW 323i) 31 Wayne Murphy/Anthony Robson (Toyota MR2 Bathurst) 54 Megan Kirkham/Len Cave (Mazda MX-5)

Class C: Pennzoil V8 Touring

18 Warren Millett/Stephen Mantle (Holden Commodore VT SS) 22 James Philip/N/A (Ford Falcon AU XR8) 33 Roland Hill/Denis Cribbin (Holden Commodore VS Exec.) 55 Mark Cohen/N/A (Holden Commodore VS SS) 62 Scott Loadsman/Allan Marin (Holden Commodore VT SS) 85 Craig Dontas/N/A (Holden Commodore VT SS) 95 John McIlroy/Brett Youlden (Ford Falcon AU XR8)

Class D: Pennzoil Six-cylinder Touring

6 David Ratcliff/Chris Kousparis (Toyota Camry CSi) 20 Robert Chadwick/Steve Knight (Mitsubishi Magna TH Sports) 43 Calvin Gardiner (Tom Watkinson (Mazda 626) 70 Daryl Coon/N/A (Ford Falcon AU XR6) 75 Sue Hughes/Paul Buda (Ford Falcon EL XR6) 93 Jim Myhill/Trent Ulmer (Mitsubishi Magna TH Sports)

Class E: Poolrite Four-cylinder Touring

17 Sam Newman/N/A (Holden Vectra GL) 21 Kosi Kalaitzidis/N/A (Proton M21) 29 Melinda Price/N/A (Holden Vectra GL) 36 Warren Luff/Peter Ross (Peugeot 306 Style ) 37 Nathan Thomas/N/A (Suzuki Swift GTi) 49 David Crowe/TBA (Suzuki Swift GTi) 74 Paul Buda/Les Walmsley (Suzuki Swift GTi)