LYNTON AND LEAHEY DOMINATE BATHURST 6 HOUR

Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey led every lap of the Bathurst 6 Hour – Photo: InSyde Media

IT WAS box ticked for Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey when they clearly won the 2019 Hi-Tec Bathurst 6 Hour today. In doing so, they led every one of the 131 laps in their BMW M3 to win by over a lap.

Second went to last year’s winners Iain and Grant Sherrin in their BMW M4 and that made for a one-two result in Class A1 for Extreme Performance, Forced Induction. Third place was taken by Nathan Callaghan, Chris Lillis and Matthew Holt in their HSV R8 Clubsport and they also took out Class A2 Extreme Performance, Naturally Aspirated.

Late in the race Callaghan was able to chase down and pass David Russell who was sharing with his dad Geoff. Their BMW 135i was struggling somewhat with a limp mode issue, yet still took out Class B High Performance.

Both finished two laps behind the winners, and also on the same lap were Paul Loiacono and Dieter Holzl (Mitsubishi EVO X) who were third in Class A. One lap further behind were Hadrian Morrall and Brad Woods (BMW 1M).

Simon Hodges, Ian Salteri and Jayden Ojeda (BMW M135i) finished seventh, and ahead of a great fightback from Anthony Gilbertson and Andrew Mills (Class A2 BMW M3) which had to be towed off the track at the start and later spent two laps bunkered at turn one.

Scott Gore and Keith Bensley (135i) were second in Class B and ninth overall and rounding out the top ten were Graeme Muir and Jamie Hodgson (Class A2 HSV Clubsport).

Class C went to Jake Camilleri, Charlie and Alfie Senese – Photo: InSyde Media

Eleventh and first in Class C were Jake Camilleri along with Charlie and Alfie Senese in the Bathurst debut of the Hyundai i30N which grabbed the Class C Performance lead from Rod Stait and Jake Williams (BMW M3 E36) with less than ten minutes to go.

It was battle for survival for many in Class D Production, except for winners Aaron Cameron, Kyle Gurton and Cooper Murray (Toyota 86) with 13 th outright and the similarly mounted Michael James, Troy Rolley and Andrew Wilton in 16th.

In contrast all three Class E Compact cars made it to the finish where David Worrell/David Noble/Andrew McMaster (Mazda 3 SP25) were first before being penalised five laps for not taking all their compulsory pitstops. That gave victory to Michael Hopp and Steve Pittman (Suzuki Swift) and Alan Turner, Chris Holdt and Ross Donaldson (Mazda) finished third.

CUE PRODUCTION SPORTS

Yasser Shahin won the interrupted Production Sports race – Photo: InSyde Media

EARLIER IN the day the second of the CUE Production Sports Car one-hour races was plagued with crashes and long safety car periods. The race went to Yasser Shahin (Audi R8 LMS) over Dean Grant (BMW M6) and Sam Fillmore (Porsche 991). The race one winning Audi of Gary Higgon and Luke Youlden was one of the early victims, hitting the concrete over Skyline.

MIDAS IMPROVED PRODUCTION

Drama at the start of the Improved Production race – Photo: InSyde Media

AFTER A storming drive to fourth in race two, Ray Hislop (Ford Falcon BF) was the winner of race three. Second went to Matt Cherry (Holden Monaro) who survived start line contact with Andy Brown that put his Toyota AE86 into the wall and brought about a safety car. Damien Milano (Holden Commodore) was third as Leigh Forrest (Toyota Celica Turbo) fought off the EVO 8 challenges from Michael King and Andrew Sarandis.

HYUNDAI EXCELS

Asher Johnston completed his domination of the Hyundai Excels – Photo: InSyde Media

AS HE did previously, Asher Johnston led the Hyundai Excels all the way through race three, finding off Michael Clemente. Further back it was tight for third between Nathan Blight and Cameron Bartholomew as several of the usual frontrunners were involved in incidents.

HERITAGE TOURING CARS

Heritage Touring Cars – Photo: InSyde Media

THE SAFETY car was also used in race three for the Heritage Touring Cars after Bill Cutler found the wall in the Cutting in his BMW M3 on the opening lap. Terry Lawlor (Ford Sierra RS500) led all the way to win from David Towe (M3) with Stephen Webb (RS500).

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action. Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.