The following appeared in our glossy Velocity Magazine and during this tough time we thought…
AUSSIE RACING CARS ROUND ONE BASKERVILLE
From time to time we will run stories from our printed edition of Velocity Motorsport Magazine – today’s story is the race meeting report and story from the Aussie Racing Cars first round at Baskerville raceway in Tasmania. The event was the 60th anniversary race meeting at the circuit. (Photos: Darin Mandy)
IT had been 12 years since the Aussie Racing Cars last ran at Hobart’s Baskerville Raceway and both had undergone significant changes in the meantime. The raceway had been upgraded with a new race surface laid in 2017, while the ARC grid included current Mustang and Camaro silhouettes.
The Aussie Racing Cars were invited to Headline the 60th anniversary celebration weekend for the raceway. It was also the opening round for the 2018 Aussie Racing Cars Championship. Drivers enjoyed almost double the track time than that offered at a normal Supercars event, with two practice sessions on Thursday afternoon and three more on Friday.
The Saturday schedule included a qualifying session and two races. Inclement weather was the order of the day, not the best way to mark a milestone. Fortunately, the track had settled and the often slippery conditions associated with a newly laid surface did not seem to be an issue for the ARC competitors.
The qualifying session got underway in pouring rain. Blake Sciberras handled the conditions best and posted the fastest time in his Hertz Mustang and was almost half a second quicker than Justin Ruggier in 2nd. Kyle Ensby rounded out a trio of Mustangs at the head of the field, almost 2 seconds in arrears of Sciberras. Joel Heinrich and Adam Gowan rounded out the top 5.
Justin Ruggier took the lead at the start of Race 1 as Blake Sciberras bogged down and was consumed by the pack. Ruggier went on to lead for the duration of the 12 lap race. Adam Gowans made some inroads into the lead, but simply ran out of laps. Joel Heinrich was 3rd, reigning champion Kel Treseder was 4th and Reece Chapman rounded out the top 5. Ruth Bowler finished 19th on her return to racing after a medical condition had left the ARC veteran unable to walk.
“I think it’s important to be back, mentally,” Bowler said “The fact that I’m walking is important for me and by racing I’ll get my fitness back before I go into the next round of surgery, which will be the same again.”
Conditions had improved somewhat by the time the Aussie Racing Cars arrived on the grid for their second race of the weekend. Justin Ruggier simply continued on from where he had finished race 1 and led every lap of the race.
Sunday dawned with much improved conditions. The 20 minute warm up session ended with Kel Treseder on top in his KKP Camaro. Justin Ruggier was just 4/100ths of a second behind in what promised to be a closely fought day.
Race 3 was held with a reverse grid for the top 10. Blake Sciberras crossed the line first but was handed a 30 second time penalty for passing under the yellow flags and was relegated to 14th. Kel Treseder was handed the race win with Justin Ruggier 2nd, just 0.7 seconds behind. Adam Gowans took 3rd at the flag.
Treseder and Ruggier faced off on the front row of the grid for the fourth and final race of the weekend. Ruggier needed 2nd place to clinch the round. The reigning champion took the lead from the start with points leader right behind. Joel Heinrich made it a three way battle and passed Ruggier on lap 2. He then moved up on Treseder and took the lead on lap 6.
Both Treseder and Ruggier eventually relegated Heinrich to 3rd, with Ruggier certain to wrap up the round win. However, just 2 laps from home, the #8 Hertz Mustang slowed with a broken crankshaft.
“I need to finish second to take the round and I was there when the engine broke, I’m gutted but it’s racing, we’ll be fighting hard in round two at Philip Island” said Ruggier after the race.
Kel Treseder went on to win the final race and the round.
Second for the weekend went to Adam Gowans (Toyota Aurion) and Kyle Ensby (Mustang) in third.
Brad Ward, the Category Manager for Aussie Racing Cars was most impressed by the event.
“Twenty of our pocket rockets made the trek to Tasmania and every one of them loved the event,. The Hobart Sporting Car Club were very accommodating all weekend and once again our racing thrilled the fans, we had a great time and hope to be back”, Ward said.
The next round of the Aussie Racing Cars is in april at Phillip Island Supercar round. [This weekend]
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