The Bend SS wrap: Moffat beats Hazelwood to Trans Am pole

On a busy and slippery Friday at The Bend, James Moffat overcame Todd Hazelwood to Trans Am  pole position.

The two drivers were ahead of the rest in the tough conditions, being seven tenths ahead of their nearest rival, ensuring pole was a two-driver shootout.

In the end reigning champion Moffat showed his class in the GRM Mustang by sneaking clear with a 1:31.6838.

Hazelwood in the end had to settle for second, 0.1850s short while Hames Golding won best of the rest.

Lee Stibbs impressed to snag fourth as Nathan Herne beat Tim Slade to fifth.

Moffat started on the front foot by leading the opening practice session ahead of Golding and Herne with a day high 1:20.8654.

But by practice 2 the rain had set in and Golding led the way by almost a second over Nash Morris.

This ensured qualifying was anyone’s guess but class reigned supreme.

Trans Am goes racing from 10.10 ACST with another Sprint at The Bend at 14.10.

Precision National Sports Sedans

Thomas Randle’s new look SAAB was fast.

The Precision National Sports Sedans were one of the few categories to enjoy a fully dry session before the rain came.

The early morning practice session saw the beasts go close to full attack mode and Supercars star Thomas Randle wasted no time in making his intentions clear.

Randle in the returning SAAB 9-3 was lightyears ahead of the field, with his 1:16.8867, 2.0474s clear of next best Peter Ingram.

Jordan Caruso is back in town and settled into third ahead of Steve Tomasi’s Holden Calibra.

By Practice 2 the rain had set in and only five of the 15 cars ventured out with Geoff Taunton emerging a second clear of Steve Lacey.

Practice 3 was also weather affected and Lacey jumped Taunton in another MARC 1-2.

It means drivers will venture into the unknown when qualifying takes place at 7.00 ACST and race 1 at 10.45.

GT World Challenge

Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte were unbeatable in their Ferrari. Image: SpeedShots Photography

Ferrari swept Friday honours in GT World Challenge, but this time it was the Jaxon Evans/Elliott Schutte entry leading the way.

Their supremacy started in a competitive opening session where just 0.08s covered the top three.

Evans/Schutte emerged on top with a 1:15.0190, which was just enough to sneak ahead of Jayden Ojeda/Pual Lucchitti and Alex Peroni/Mark Rosser.

Brad Schumacher shot up to fourth to beat the Lamborghini of Tony D’Alberto.

Despite the weather coming in for Practice 2, neither the elements or the field could knock off Arise Racing from P1.

Evans and Schutte were in a league of their own in the 1m24s window, two tenths clear of the sister 296 GT3 spearheaded by Chaz Mostert.

Kiwi Brendon Leitch did a solid effort to get into the top three ahead of the Triple Eight Mercedes.

After early morning qualifying at 8.00 local time, the first hour long race is at 12.25.

TCR Australia

Tom Oliphant blazes a trail of spray in the rain. SpeedShots Photography

The TCRs did not enjoy any dry running but the Lynk & Co of Dylan O’Keeffe was the most the consistent out of the blocks.

O’Keeffe emerged well clear of a train of Peugeots in Practice 1 with a 1:31.5503. This was three tenths clear of Jordan Cox.

Fellow French lion drivers Ben Bargwanna, Ryan Casha and Aaron Cameron completed the top five.

Only seven cars greeted the slippery conditions and O’Keeffe was once again at the front, but was beaten this time.

He was second best to the daring Tom Oliphant.

The Brit showed his skills in the familiar wet weather by shooting six tenths clear of everyone with a 1:34.1967.

TCRs go qualifying at 9.30 ACST and racing at 14.45.

Porsche Sprint Challenge

Kiwi Osborne was fast in the dry. SpeedShots Photography

Mixed conditions saw two very different Porsche Sprint Challenge practice sessions at The Bend.

The Kiwis were fast out of blocks, setting the two fastest times in the dry.

Clay Osborne topped the dry session with a 1m18.6640s flyer but it wasn’t by much.

He was 0.01s faster than New Zealand compatriot Clay Osborne’s EBM-run machine and only 0.04s faster than TekworkX Racing’s Hamish Fitzsimmons.

Interestingly it was actually the Australians, who led the way when the track became wet.

In a session interrupted by two red flags, Oscar Targett topped the runners with a 1m28.2862s best, only 0.02s quicker than Ayrton Hodson.

Scheduled for a 7:25am start time, a 30-minute session will decide pole before the field then launches into a 25-minute sprint race (plus one lap) at 1:35pm local time.

GT4 Australia

TCR champion Josh Buchan is racing a McLaren in GT4. SpeedShots Photography

It is an open playing field in the GT4 Australia after the opening day of practice.

Super2 youngster Jarrod Hughes was the fastest in the opening session, posting a 1:22.3802 in the Ginetta G55.

This was a tenth clear of McLaren Artura drivers Nathan Morcom and Josh Buchan.

Tom Hayman and Marcos Flack then excelled in the heavy rain to lead a Method Motorsport 1-2.

The Porsche pair edged out Shane Smollen and Lachlan Mineeff who fell 0.089s off the McLaren’s 1m 35.637s benchmark.

BMW drivers Steve Jakic and Ryder Quinn made it three manufacturers in the top three.

Qualifying at 8.50 local time awaits before the first one hour race around The Bend at 15.25.

Australian Production Cars

Grant Sherrin driving his BMW as morning breaks. SpeedShots Photography

The Australian Production Cars were the first to take on The Bend as early as 7.00am.

Grant Sherrin had no dramas with the early start time and topped opening practice by a huge 2s over Iain.

It was a different story come qualifying however, with Cameron Crick coming to play in his BMW.

Crick stormed to pole with a 1:49.8755, which was a comfortable 1.4s ahead of Grant Sherrin and Simon Hodges, while Iain did not qualify.

APC goes racing around The Bend at 11.15 local time.

Main image: SpeedShots Photography

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.

Podcast: Massive debrief on Indy 500, Monaco, Charlotte and more

On this edition of the Auto Action Rev Limiter, we debrief a massive weekend of Motorsport; we certainly had some massive nights down under.

Listen to our latest episode on your podcast app of choice or here