2008 BIANTE Touring Car Masters.

Round 2 - Oran Park, April 26th & 27th

Race report – Round Two

Shannons Nationals

Oran Park, April 26-27.

What an amazing result for Round 2 of the BIANTE Touring Car Masters. In Division 1, there were 3 drivers in equal 3rd place, whilst in Division 2 there were 3 drivers in equal 1st place!

BIANTE TCM regular Jim Richards (guest driving Chris Stillwell's Mustang) was joined for this round by son Steven, the FPR star taking over the Stillwell Escort driven by Glenn Seton in Round one at the Clipsal 500. This certainly set the scene for some sprited mid pack action for the whole weekend.

Boss Mustang racer Gavin Bullas won Division 1, for the Round with a clean sweep of all 3 races has displaced Steve Mason (Camaro) at the head of Division 1 in the BIANTE TCM points table after a faultless performance at Oran Park.

After setting his fifth straight pole position, Bullas won the first two races with relative ease as some huge battles raged behind him. In the final Brad Tilley (XY Falcon) led for most of the way until a thrilling final lap saw the lead change several times. Bullas and Tilley rubbed panels hard under brakes entering turn two before the Mustang emerged in front and went on to make it a clean sweep.

Race One (14 laps)

Bullas beat Mason off the line but the Safety Car was despatched soon after when Chris Wilson (Torana) spun at turn one. After the restart Drew Marget (Mustang) climbed to fourth and Mason fell back to sixth after running wide on to the very wet grass verge.

Graham Alexander (HQ Monaro) and Greg East (brand new HQ Kingswood) ran in close company, but the dice of the race was the one for third between Jim and Steven Richards, Mason and Eddie Abelnica (Boss Mustang). Here we had a varied combination of both Division 1 and Division 2 cars battleing it out head to head. The big yellow Boss of Abelnica had just enough pace to keep the illustrious threesome behind for lap after lap.

The two South Australian Porsche 911RS` of John Nelson and Rory O'Neill battled closely mid pack. Cameron Tilley had shown incredible speed in his brand new slant six powered VC Pacer but received a black flag for an alleged jump start. Brother Brad tried very hard to catch Bullas but had to settle for a clear second in the end. Abelnica just beat Jim Richards to third place with Mason and Division 2 winner Steven Richards only centimetres adrift in fifth and sixth. Marget was next then Alexander and Garry Treloar (Charger) rounding out the top ten.

Fastest lap: Bullas 1:18.9560 (lap nine).

Race Two (14 laps)

Brad Tilley got the jump this time as Steven Richards rocketed up to fourth. Shortly after his race came to a smokey finish after a gearbox breather leaked oil onto the exhaust and he brought the little giant killer in to the pits. Ian McAlister (Mustang) recovered lost ground after being tapped into a spin on the first lap, an incident that saw contact to the Falcon of Mike Erwin and Rory O`Neill (Porsche 911RS) having to come to a complete stop to avoid the stricken Mustang. Jim Richards went through on Marget after bogging down slightly at the start.

Cam Tilley brought the stunning Valiant in with a split gearbox casing as Bullas wrested the lead from Brad at turn one. The mean green Falcon of Tilley was now getting very sideways as the tyres started to go away during the pursuit of Bullas.

In the battle for Division 2 honours Treloar got the better of team mate Mick Wilson (Charger) who discovered his tyre pressures were too high. Bullas won from Brad Tilley with Mason third and Abelnica half a bonnet in front of Jim in fifth. Marget was sixth, then Treloar, Mick Wilson, O'Neill and McAlister. Fastest lap: Bullas 1:18.0507 (lap two).

Race Three (14 laps)

Bullas led initially but Brad struck back exiting the famous bridge and slipped through. Marget again made a great start to beat Richards senior off the line but undid all his good work with a spin into the infield. East and McAlister tangled after the Kingswood locked a front brake, sending both gently into a tyre bundle. The Safety Car came out as the cars were retrieved with McAlister rejoining at the tail of the field.

The Richards’ were locked in another highly entertaining stoush with Steven deftly slotting the Escort under the Mustang in the corners but then not having quite enough cubic inches to stay ahead on the front straight. Abelnica also found Steven a worthy adversary, having to use all the Boss Mustang’s famed top end power to keep in front of the wailing small Ford.

At the front Bullas squeezed under Tilley entering the front straight to begin the last lap but Brad had other ideas, blasting past to claim the inside line at turn one. Bullas refused to lift as did Tilley, the two big Fords squirming under heavy braking at turn two and making contact. Bullas emerged in the lead but then ran straight on after the bridge, somehow retaining the lead and showering the Falcon’s windscreen with mud and water.

Bullas held out the two time BIANTE Series champ by just over half a second in a spectacular finish. Jim Richards triumphed over Mason in great contest for third with Abelnica just holding out Division 2 victor Steven Richards for fifth. Mick Wilson was next then Nigel Benson (XY Falcon), who harassed the Charger all the way. Marget recovered to be ninth with O'Neill tenth.

Fastest lap: B.Tilley 1:18.4680 (lap two).

So after a great weekend of racing, once all the points were tallied, the round finished with 3 equal 1st winners in Division 2, Rory O’Neill in his Porsche, Ian McAllister in his Mustang and Nigel Benson in the Bullas owned Falcon all with 145 points apiece. Steven Richards came in a gallant 4th place on 120 points after a DNF in Race 2.

Gavin Bullas in his Boss Mustang took out Division 1 (180 points), with Brad Tilley in a well deserved 2nd place (168 points), whilst equal 3rd went to again 3 drivers, Jim Richards in the Stillwell Falcon, Steve Mason in his Camaro and Eddie Abelnica in his Boss Mustang all on 145 points.

 Darren Knight

Results Division 1

Car	Entrant/Class	Driver	R1	R2	R3		Total
16	Rain City Industries	Gavin Bullas	60	60	60		180
28	Tilleys Automotive	Brad Tilley	56	56	56		168
1	Steve Mason Family Cars	Steve Mason	45	52	48		145
3	Chris Stillwell	Jim Richards	48	45	52		145
75	Eddie Abelnica	Eddie Abelnica	52	48	45		145
17	Marget Engineering	Drew Marget	42	42	42		126
57	Graham Alexander	Graham Alexander	39	DNF	DNS		39

Results Division 2

Car	Entrant/Class	Driver	R1	R2	R3		Total
5	Ian McAllister	Ian McAllister	52	48	45		145
13	Blackcat Racing	Rory O'Neill	45	52	48		145
8	Rain City Industries	Nigel Benson	48	45	52		145
6	Chris Stillwell	Steve Richards	60	DNF	60		120
21	Garry Treloar	Garry Treloar	56	60	DNF		116
43	Mick Wilson	Mick Wilson	DNF	56	56		112
91	Nelson Architects	John Nelson	42	42	DNF		84
11	Phil Morris	Mike Erwin	39	DNF	DNS		39
19	Gary O'Brien	Greg East	36	DNF	DNF		36

Season Results to date

Pos	Driver	Division	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8
	DIVISION 1
1	Gavin Bullas	Div 1 A	162	180	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Steve Mason	Div 1 A	174	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Drew Marget	Div 1 A	150	126	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Brad Tilley	Div 1 A	72	168	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	John Bowe	Div 1 A	148.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Jim Richards	Div 1 B	0	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Eddie Abelnica	Div 1 A	0	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Jerremy Mantello	Div 1 A	135	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Graham Alexander	Div 1 A	54	39	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Alastair MacLean	Div 1 A	0	0		0	0	0	0	0
	Peter McLean	Div 1 A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Tony Edwards	Div 1 A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DIVISION 2
2	Garry Treloar	Div 2 B	168	116	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Ian McAllister	Div 2 B	103.5	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Rory O'Neill	Div 2 B	67.5	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Mick Wilson	Div 2 B	94.5	112	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Nigel Benson	Div 2 A	45	145	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Greg East	Div 2 B	145.5	36	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	John Nelson	Div 2 B	90	84	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Tony Hunter	Div 2 B	168	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Mike Erwin	Div 2 A	117	39	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Trevor Talbot	Div 2 B	144	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	Steve Richards	Div 2 B	0	120	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	Mark Forgie	Div 2 B	117	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	Chris Wilson	Div 2 B	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	Glenn Seton	Div 2 B	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Cameron Tilley	Div 2 B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Greg Waddington	Div 2 B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0