Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

UTE: Winton Sunday race notes/results

Paul Stokell and John Bowe will fight to the wire for the Donut King Australian Nations Cup Championship after finishing equal second in the penultimate round at Winton Motor Raceway in northern Victoria today. The pair will go to the eighth round ...

Paul Stokell and John Bowe will fight to the wire for the Donut King Australian Nations Cup Championship after finishing equal second in the penultimate round at Winton Motor Raceway in northern Victoria today.

The pair will go to the eighth round at the Gold Coast Indy next month with Stokell still 16 points ahead in the Meguiar's Drivers Championship standings in his Lamborghini Diablo.

The third driver in the standings, Nathan Pretty, slightly improved his mathematical stakes in the title chase by winning today's round in his Holden Monaro.

Stokell, Bowe -- in a Chrysler Viper borrowed to replace his damaged Ferrari -- and Pretty each won a race today, but the Holden driver from nearby Albury-Wodonga was the most consistent, also taking two second places.

Bowe rated himself the underdog in the unfamiliar Viper, but was the surprise leader of race one all the way from the first lap after pole winner Stokell and Pretty collided in a duel for the first corner.

Pretty recovered quickly and held second, but Stokell had to fight back from last place to third at the finish -- and in the chase lowered Bowe's old lap record by more than one second.

In race two, Bowe started from pole but was pushed back to third on lap two as Pretty and Stokell blasted past.

Stokell took the lead from Pretty in a deft move under braking on lap six and the order stayed unchanged to the end of the 14-lap race.

However, the most impressive mover was Pretty's Monaro teammate Peter Brock, who started last after a non-finish in race one and consistently was the fastest driver in the field as he worked up to fourth place at the chequered flag.

Pretty was the winner when he, Bowe and Stokell tried to go three-wide through turn one in the 20-lap third race.

Bowe slipped around the outside of the Lamborghini into second and within two laps Brock pushed Stokell back another spot.

Stokell struck back on lap 10 and almost immediately saw his chance to take the Viper as well.

He dived to the outside on the right-hand turn 12 but found himself out of road next to the wily Bowe. As they clashed, Brock seized the moment and dived past both to take second spot, which he held to the finish.

"Today's result was better than I expected, considering the circumstances. The Viper is an unfamiliar car and not particularly suited to Winton," Bowe said.

"Paul Stokell cost himself plenty of points this weekend. If he'd got past me in that last race he would have driven away -- but I've never been a soft touch."

The Indy meeting will see an even tighter finale in the Australian GT Performance Championship (presented by Lukey Mufflers).

The gap between series leader Mark King and closest rival Wayne Boatwright was slashed from 21 points to just seven after three torrid and at times controversial races.

Garry Holt, from Sydney, took the round with pole position, two wins and a 10th place, ahead of Boatwright's Subaru teammate Justin Hemmes and Paul Stokell, who backed up after his Nations Cup races to drive the works Volkswagen Golf.

Stokell was the busiest driver today, completing a total 78 laps -- 234 kilometres -- of racing in the Lamborghini and the Volkswagen.

Round seven of the GTP series ended in the stewards' room, with King on a charge of careless driving in his Mitsubishi Lancer in race three.

The stewards found King guilty of having pushed Boatwright out of the lead and into retirement on lap seven, but confirmed the finishing order, including King's fourth place.

However, they penalised King the 13 points he would have scored. Boatwright lodged notice of an appeal against the leniency of the penalty.

The final round of the Australian Production Car Championship (presented by Revolution Racegear) confirmed Sydney Holden Commodore SS driver Scott Loadsman as 2003 outright and class A championship, Steve Grocl (Volkswagen New Beetle) as class B champion and 21-year-old V8 Supercar driver David Russell as class D champion.

Grocl and Craig Bradshaw, in a Ford Falcon XR8, shared the round honours with a win and second place each and Grocl clinched second in the outright series, ahead of Russell.

Damien White and David Griffin shared the round seven win for Ford and Holden respectively in the Poolrite V8 BRutes Series.

White won a wild, panel-bashing first race and race three, while Griffin took out race two.

The 2002 championship and current points leader Warren Luff, in a Falcon XR8, stretched his lead slightly to 50.5 points on a day when neither he nor his nearest rival Gary MacDonald (Holden SS) achieved their usual form.

MacDonald and third-placed James Brock (Holden) -- just -- remain in reach of Luff for the championship decider on the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

This weekend's PROCAR Champ Series meeting saw the final 2003 rounds of the Production Car Championship and the Falken Tyres Mirage Cup, which was won for 2003 by karting star Troy Hunt.

The eighth and final rounds of the Nations Cup, GT Performance and Poolrite V8 BRutes Series will be at the Gold Coast Indy event on 23-26 October.

The last round of the Australian Formula 3 Championship will be at Wakefield Park, near Goulburn, on 7-9 November.

More information about the PROCAR Champ Series meeting, including entry lists, race times and championship standings, is available on www.procar.com.au

RESULTS

Donut King Australian Nations Cup Championship (Rd 7 of 8)

Race 1 (14 laps)
Outright
1. John Bowe (Vic.) Chrysler Viper
2. Nathan Pretty (Vic.) Holden Monaro
3. Paul Stokell (Vic.) Lamborghini Diablo GTR
4. Allan Simonsen (Denmark) Ferrari 360 Challenge
5. Mark Eddy (Vic.) Porsche GT3 R
6. Martin Wagg (Vic.) Porsche GT3 RS
Group Two
1. Allan Simonsen
2. Sam Newman (Vic.) Lamborghini Diablo SVR
3. James Koundouris (ACT) Porsche GT3
Fastest lap -- Paul Stokell 1 min. 23.84 sec. (record)

Race 2 (14 laps)
Outright
1. Paul Stokell
2. Nathan Pretty
3. John Bowe
4. Peter Brock (Vic.) Holden Monaro
5. Allan Simonsen
6. Martin Wagg
Group Two
1. Allan Simonsen
2. James Koundouris
3. Stuart Kostera (WA) Porsche GT3
Fastest lap -- Paul Stokell 1 min. 24.35 sec.

Race 3 (20 laps)
Outright
1. Nathan Pretty
2. Peter Brock
3. John Bowe
4. Paul Stokell
5. Allan Simonsen
6. Martin Wagg
Group Two
1. Allan Simonsen
2. Sam Newman
3. James Koundouris
Fastest lap -- Peter Brock 1 min. 24.98 sec.

Championship standings: Outright 1 Paul Stokell 486, 2 John Bowe 470, 3 Nathan Pretty 215, 4 Peter Brock 215, 5 Greg Crick 148, 6 James Koundouris 141. Group Two 1 James Koundouris 374, Allan Simonsen 276, 3 Sam Newman 198.

Australian GT Performance Championship, presented by Lukey Mufflers (Rd 7 of 8)

Race 1 (10 laps)
1. Garry Holt (NSW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
2. Bob Pearson (NSW) Mazda RX-7
3. Justin Hemmes (NSW) Subaru Impreza STi
4. Wayne Boatwright (NSW) Subaru Impreza STi
5. Paul Stokell (Vic.) Volkswagen Golf R32
6. Peter Boylan (NSW) BMW M3
Fastest lap -- Bob Pearson 1 min. 32.80 sec. (record)

Race 2 (10 laps)
1. Garry Holt
2. Wayne Boatwright
3. Bob Pearson (NSW) Mazda RX-7
4. Mark King (Qld) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
5. Peter Boylan
6. Steve Cramp (SA) BMW M Coupe
Fastest lap -- Garry Holt 1 min. 33.40 sec.

Race 3 (10 laps)
1. Justin Hemmes
2. Paul Stokell
3. Peter Boylan
4. Mark King
5. Steve Cramp
6. Rob Ogilvie (ACT) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V
Fastest lap -- Bob Pearson 1 min. 32.65 sec.

Championship standings: 1 Mark King 307, Wayne Boatwright 300, 3 Garry Holt 212, 4 Justin Hemmes 184, 5 Steve Cramp 179, 6 Bob Pearson 158.

Poolrite V8 BRutes Series (Rd 7 of 8)

Race 1 (8 laps)
1. Damien White (NSW) Ford Falcon XR8
2. Gary Young (Vic.) Ford
3. Glen Barnes (Vic.) Holden SS
4. James Brock (Vic.) Holden
5. Gary MacDonald (NSW) Holden
6. David Griffin (NSW) Holden
Fastest lap -- Warren Luff (NSW) Falcon 1 min. 41.41 sec.

Race 2 (8 laps)
1. David Griffin (NSW) Holden SS
2. Charlie Kovacs (SA) Holden
3. Warren Luff (NSW) Ford Falcon XR8
4. Grant Denyer (NSW) Ford
5. Denis Cribbin (NSW) Holden
6. Stephen Robinson (Qld) Holden
Fastest lap -- Warren Luff 1 min. 41.21 sec. (record)

Race 3 (8 laps)
1. Damien White
2. David Griffin
3. Stephen Robinson
4. Warren Luff
5. Gary MacDonald
6. Dennis Cribbin
Fastest lap -- Damien White 1 min. 41.45 sec.

Championship standings: 1 Warren Luff 326, 2 Gary MacDonald 275.5, 3 James Brock 233.5, 4 Charlie Kovacs 211, 5 Gary Baxter 205, 6 David Griffin 188.

Australian Production Car Championship (Rd 7 of 7)

Race 1 (8 laps)
Outright
1. Steve Grocl (Vic.) Volkswagen New Beetle RSi
2. Craig Bradshaw (NSW) Ford Falcon XR8
3. David Russell (NSW) Proton Satria GTi
4. Darren Palmer (Qld) Honda S2000
5. John McIlroy (Vic.) Ford Falcon XR6T
6. Martin Doxey (Vic.) Holden Astra
Class A -- Craig Bradshaw
Class B -- Steve Grocl
Class D -- David Russell
Fastest lap -- Darren Palmer 1 min. 40.66 sec.

Race 2 (8 laps)
Outright
1. Craig Bradshaw
2. Steve Grocl
3. Darren Palmer
4. Martin Doxey
5. Richard Hing (Vic.) Mitsubishi FTO
6. Geoff Russell (NSW) Proton Satria GTi
Class A -- Craig Bradshaw
Class B -- Steve Grocl
Class D -- Martin Doxey
Fastest lap -- Craig Bradshaw 1 min. 40.88 sec.

Championship standings: Outright 1 Scott Loadsman 268 (2003 Champion), 2 Steve Grocl 238, 3 David Russell 197, 4 David Ratcliff 181, Craig Bradshaw 145, Chris Alajajian 129. Class A - Scott Loadsman (2003 Champion). Class B - Steve Grocl (2003 Champion). Class D -- David Russell (2003 Champion).

-procar.au-

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article UTE: Winton Saturday report
Next article 2004 calendar announced

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia