AMRS SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK WRAP

AMRS Sydney Motorsport Park wrap – Images: InSyde Media

The Australian Motor Racing Series took to Sydney Motorsport Park for its opening round for 2021.

In the TA2 Muscle Car Series which headlined the program, debutant Nash Morris has pulled off a stunning introduction to the series by winning the fourth and final race of the weekend, denying Nathan Herne the chance to complete a weekend sweep.

Herne had looked set for the clean sweep when the dual Saturday race winner won again in race three on Sunday morning.

Drama in the battle behind the leaders saw Tim Shaw and Graham Cheney make contact, resulting in Shaw’s car requiring assistance to be pulled from the fence and Cheney with substantial damage to the front end.

The resulting Safety Car brought the race to a conclusion with Morris in second and Chris Pappas in third.

Race four began in a similar fashion, with Herne pulling away from the majority of the field. With just a couple of laps remaining, Morris clawed his way back before making a move past Herne for the race lead and the win. Pappas was third again, however he ran a lonely race with the top two up the road, and a battle for fourth unfolding a long way behind him.

In the Motorsport Sales Enduro Champs, Saturday’s leading combination of Iain and Grant Sherrin were unable to effectively compete in race three of the weekend after electrical gremlins kept the duo in the garage for most of the race.

Steven and Dalton Ellery were able to win the race after being the first team to pit, early on in the race. Beric Lynton/Tim Leahy were able to finish second after leading the middle portion of the race. Jake Camilleri continued his strong weekend with a third place finish.

In Race four, the combination of Gerry and Leigh Burges took out the race victory, leading home the Sherrin’s who drove a strong race after starting from the back. Lynton and Leahy finished the weekends final race in third.

The Australian Formula Ford Championship was dominated by Tom Sargent again on Sunday, as he notched up two more race wins.

In both races the story was much the same, Cody Burcher and Jude Bargwanna ran second and third keeping touch with Sargent for half the race before he pulled away towards the end.

Burcher and Bargwanna never looked able to challenge each other for their respective podium positions. In race three Bargwanna faced an attack from Noah Sands, but was able to just hold on.

The Formula 3 action saw recovery drivers from yesterday’s fastest qualifiers, all of whom saw trouble in race one.

In race two, Mitch Neilson was able to make early ground out front, pulling away as Max De Meyrick and Rick Astley charged through the field. De Meyrick was able to reach second place, finished 3.7 seconds away from the race lead while Astley finished third.

In Race three, original pole sitter for the weekend Ben Taylor climbed the order to claim the race win after Neilson lost track position. Despite the shuffling at the top, De Meyrick and Astley again finished second and third.

Brett Mitchell completed a sweep of the Stock Cars and Invited weekend after winning races two and three on Sunday.

In Race two Corey Gurney narrowly edged out Robert Marchese with the pair finishing second and third, respectively.

Race three was the closest of the weekend, with the leading four drivers inseparable all race long. Mitchell held on to win but behind him it was a last lap pass from Danny Burgess that put him second and dropped Marchese to third.

In Miniature Race cars, the stranglehold held by David Halls after Saturday’s two races was ended when Aaron Hills claimed the race three victory.

Halls was forced to settle for second and Peter Griffiths picked up his third podium of the weekend with third position.

Race four saw another victory for Hills, this time pushed right to the end by Griffiths who again came close to winning but had to settle for second position. Halls finished in third, just hanging on to the podium.

The Hyundai Excels had a one day event, with Qualifying and three races across the day, with Cameron Brown position one in every session.

Shannon Williams was a close challenger in qualifying but couldn’t get close enough in any of the races where he finished second. Louis Louizoi finished third in all three races, missing out on second place in race two by a small margin after being overtaken by Williams on the last lap.

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