Tamasi hunts down Taunton in Sports Sedans opener

Steven Tamasi has won a hard-fought opening race of National Sports Sedans at Queensland Raceway.

Tamasi was in a race-long battle with Geoff Taunton, and the battle was decided inside the final three laps.

After Taunton emerged in the championship lead following the SMP opener, it is an important statement from the Holinger Engineering driver.

However, neither of them was in fact the early favourite with Cadel Ambrose shooting out of the gates.

Ambrose snared pole by more than a second after posting a 1:17.7565 in the Audi A4 in dicey conditions.

Next to him was Taunton in the red IRC GT SS, and he blazed into the lead as Ambrose struggled in the rolling start.

He was also swamped by Tamasi, who shot to second, while Ashley Jarvis’ hopes of a top five were dashed by Turn 2.

The Holden Monaro was a victim of the opening lap drama, spinning at the second turn and falling to the back of the pack.

However, the moment did not stop him from taking an impressive sixth place.

Taunton almost threw his lead away at the first heavy braking area of Turn 3.

Geoff Taunton led early, but lost his lead after a series of lock ups. Image: Velocity Magazine/Darin Mandy

A big lock-up sent the #95 wide at the right-hander, but he did enough to cling onto the lead.

He was able to build a solid advantage as Tamasi hurt his race with an early off.

Ambrose settled into third and held the position for seven laps until he dived into the lane with mechanical dramas centering around the water hose.

This promoted the #3 of Michael Rowell into the podium positions, while Daniel Crompton also dropped out at the same moment in his Mustang.

They joined Tim Tritton on the sidelines, who was an early out in the Honda Prelude.

Taunton appeared to be in control of the race, but with three minutes to go the lock-ups returned.

He pinched the front right on approach to the final corner, which only hungered Tamasi as he closed the gap to less than 2s.

The same moment happened again when the leaders returned to the bend the following lap.

A third lock-up in as many laps brought Tamasi to the rear of Taunton, setting up a grandstand finish in the final two minutes.

Tamasi showed the nose at Turns 3 and 4, but knew the final corner would be where his rival would be the most vulnerable.

The Calibra launched a big dive down the inside and Taunton again locked up, seeing him lose the lead.

Now in front Tamasi did not look back and won by a solid 4s over Taunton, while Rowell was a distant third in the IRC GT SS.

“Really happy with that great result for Holinger, who have jumped on board,” Tamasi said.

“We have not had much dry running and I made life hard for myself.

“The ripple strips were still wet, which I found out very quickly.

“I saw he was pinching the front right or left under brakes and could put on the pressure.”

Taunton admitted he used up all of his tyres.

“I am normally good on cold tyres but I flat spotted the front right and had nothing in the end and my glasses were jarring badly!” He said.

Sports Sedans return at 9.05 and 14.05 AEST tomorrow.

Images: Darin Mandy/Velocity Magazine

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine