Dalton Ellery took a perfect score with 4 wins from 4 starts at Morgan Park during Round 4 of the 2021 Queensland Production Car Championship.

Taking the wheel of the Beric Lynton BMW for the weekend, the young pilot kept Bradley Carr and Coleby Cowham at bay. Tristan Ellery also benefitted from Lynton’s generosity which meant both Ellery boys were able to compete against each other for the first time in the Production Car category.

Dalton had qualified on pole position, having bolted on a new set of tyres and posted the only sub 1minute 21 second lap. Bradley Carr was set to start from second just ahead of Coleby Cowham and Tristan Ellery.

Race 1 saw Daniel Clift slow off the line to trail the field as Dalton Ellery led Carr and Cowham. There were problems for Tristan moments after the start with a noticeable waft of pale blue smoke coming from the rear of the car off the line and at the exit of Turn 1. By lap 6 the Ellery BMW was back in the pitlane and out of the race. Damien Drew and Anthony Levitt also succumbed to mechanical issues.

At the front of the field it was a BMW versus Ford battle for the win when Cowham cleared Carr and looked to close down on race leader Dalton Ellery. The Lynton BMW pilot held on to a 7 second lead at the end of the race from Cowham and Carr, with Richard Beggs in 4th.

Race 2 started with Dalton Ellery and Bradley Carr at the head of the field after Coleby Cowham was unable to make it to the grid in his Ford Mustang. Damien Drew was also a non-starter after his earlier problem in race 1. Carr grabbed the early lead in the race and staged a spirited defence of the lead until Dalton Ellery eventually found a way past his fellow BMW driver. Carr remained within 3 seconds of the leader at the end of the race with John Harris 3rd. Tristan Ellery returned for race 2 and made solid progress back towards the front half of the field at the chequered flag.

Dalton Ellery led throughout race 3 to take a third win from Carr and Coleby Cowham, who had fought back through the field after his Race 2 DNS. Tristan Ellery also continued on a recovery mission to claim 4th place at the end of the race. Reliability issues began to creep in amongst the field with Damien Drew and Anthony Levitt both ending their races in the pit lane. They were joined by Robin Lacey and Paul Kee, while John Spalding and Scott Dean were non-starters.

Bradley Carr went all out in an attempt to stop Ellery’s clean sweep of the round and led from the start. Dalton trailed the white BMW for the first portion of the race and timed his attack to perfection to take the lead and pull away to a 4.5second advantage over Carr at the finish. Cowham took another 3rd place from Tristan Ellery in 4th.

“I hadn’t been in the car since the Bahturst 6 Hour, so I had been looking forwards to this weekend a lot,” Dalton Ellery said. “I was actually really nervous that this round wasn’t going to happen.

“I was a bit dusty when I first got into the car on Friday and really had to brush off some cobwebs. Then I chucked on some new tyres for qualifying and the car was insanely hooked up!

It was great to be back in a car. You kind of take it for granted when you are doing it, but when you don’t you really miss racing a lot.”

Racing against brother Tristan was somewhat of a new experience for Dalton and was used to good effect to help both drivers over the course of the meeting.

To be honest we’ve helped each other out this week,” Dalton added. “We’ve been through the data together since the first practice session and it was good to push each other all weekend. Mind you I also had Bradley Carr and Coleby Cowham pushing me as well!”

Dalton Ellery took the round with 125 points from Bradley Carr and Richard Beggs. After 4 rounds of the 2021 Championship, Jake Camilleri holds a slender 2 point lead over Mitchell Maddren with Gary Beggs 3rd.

Round 5 is a day/night enduro on 23rd October at Queensland Raceway, where Dalton Ellery will team with Beric Lynton in his BMW. For Ellery it will be another chance to get behind the wheel rather than sit out a round.

Photos via the QLD Production Car Facebook page here

MORE MOTORSPORT NEWS…

• AUDIO: MATT CAMPBELL ON HIS RETURN TO BATHURST

• ALEX PERONI DEPARTS INDYLIGHTS TO RETURN TO EUROPE

SUBSCRIBE TO VELOCITY MAGAZINE 

For all our news keep your eyes peeled on the Velocity Magazine website and social media, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for our daily updates and to get the latest edition of our glossy magazine subscribe here from just $55 for 12 months subscription.

GET OUR LATEST ISSUE NUMBER 40 HERE