Round 8 - Oran Park, December 4th - 8th

GREG AND GAVIN WRAP IT UP
Oran Park Raceway

Final round, Biante Touring Car Masters

Greg East and Gavin Bullas are the respective division champions in the 2008 Biante Touring Car Masters after the final round at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway was held over the weekend.

Bullas had already sealed the deal for Division One coming into the Oran Park event so his weekend in the Rain City Industries Boss Mustang was far less of a pressure affair than his Division Two counterpart East.

“I would have liked to have performed better than we did on the whole this weekend,” conceded Bullas, “but of course I’m very pleased that we could wrap up the Championship before the final round and just enjoy the experience of racing at Oran Park in it’s farewell major meeting.”

Greg East had to survive some tense moments and close competition from Division Two hard chargers Trevor Talbot (Dukes Body Works XU1 Torana), Rod Wilson in the Gavin Bullas GT Falcon and a rejuvenated Cameron Tilley in the Valiant Pacer as he strove to gain a points advantage in the Ron Poyser Autos (Bendigo HQ Holden.

“We made it harder on ourselves than it should have been in a few ways, including running out of fuel (East coasted across the finish line with a spluttering engine basically out of fuel in one race) but in the end we got there. That’s the main thing,” grinned East.

RACE ONE

An unexpected guest dropped by into the pointy end of the field with former NRL star Jack Elsegood punting the Eric Stanford owned NC spec GT Falcon into the top five with some considerable speed in the early part of Race One.

“I was running with the big guys for a while there,” grinned the V8 Ute Star, “until the brakes began to fade and we couldn’t do anything more to stay with them. I had a blast though.”

Elsegood had inadvertently interrupted a fierce on track battle between the usual Division One suspects John Bowe, Gavin Bullas, Brad Tilley, Steve Mason, Jim Richards and Alastair Maclean.
Bowe would go on to win but not before running many corners side by side with arch rival Bullas, with Jim Richards extracting the most from the Mick Webb fettled Shannon’s Insurance 289ci Falcon Rallye Sprint to give Mason plenty to think about in his big blue Hercules Engines Chev Camaro.

The marathon 14 lapper was a touch long in the scheme of things but the first 7-8 laps were without a doubt as good if not better than any other race of the weekend in any category.

Bullas came home second with Brad Tilley third in the Tilley’s Automotive XY GT, Jim Richards fifth, Steve Mason sixth and Alastair Maclean in the Top Shelf Motor Company Chev Camaro in seventh. Jack Elsegood chased Maclean for much of the later part of the race but eventually had to settle for eighth.

Cameron Tilley was sensational in the Pacer, leading home the field in Division Two with some power slides that delighted the crowd ahead of Rod Wilson, Rory O’Neill (Blackcat Racing Porsche 911 RS), Greg East (Poyser Autos HQ) Steve Markarios (351 Motorsport XYGT Falcon), Ian McAlister (McAlister Motors Mustang), John Nelson (Nelson Architects 911 RS Porsche) Cam Mason in the Datsun 510, the ailing Trevor Talbot (Dukes Body Works XU1) Mick Wilson (Wilson Plumbing Charger) and Richard Fairlam in the BT Excavations HQ.

RACE TWO

This event was shortened to 10 laps but the field attacked it early regardless and though the result was pretty well the same (as it was in Race One) in Division One Greg East broke the shackles in this one and wrapped up the Championship in Division Two by chasing home Cameron Tilley in the Valiant Pacer to finish second in the event and seal the title.

The moment had to be one to savour, not only for East himself but for Greg Waddington and Gary O’Brien who had toiled long and hard with the #19 Ron Poyser Autos HQ – particularly after the mechanical gremlins set in during the previous round at Symmons Plains.

Cam Tilley was again impressive in the Pacer as he led home East with an entertaining drive where he pushed the big Valiant sideways into many corners, Rod Wilson (showing good speed in the Bullas GT Falcon) Trevor Talbot (XU1) Mick Wilson (a better result in the Wilson Plumbing Portland Chrysler Charger RT) Rory O’Neill, John Nelson, Ian McAlister, Steve Makarios, Cam Mason with Richard Fairlam rounding out the field.

Bowe was again able to account for Bullas with Tilley third, Steve Mason fourth, Jim Richards fifth, Alastair Maclean sixth and Jack Elsegood seventh.

RACE THREE

Oppressively hot conditions the day prior had left many of the field with worn rubber so when the final event of the day on Sunday was held in seemingly cooler conditions most drivers were quietly pleased.

Try as he might though Gavin Bullas not the force he had planned to be and spent the majority of the race watching Brad Tilley lead John Bowe for the win.

“I couldn’t do a thing about it, I’d used up my tyres and was playing spectator behind Brad and Bowey. Not much fun. I really wanted to get up there and have a go.”

Tilley, not surprisingly had a different perspective.“I spent most of the weekend sitting back watching Gavin and Brad go at it because I knew I’d need to look after my tyres. By the time Race Three rolled around I was sick of playing the percentages and knew I’d have to go for it. I watched Mitchell Dumesny at Parramatta Speedway win the feature races last night in his Sprintcar and it got me really fired up. It was great to get the win in the last race of the year.”

Tilley led home Bowe, Bullas, Steve Mason and Alastair Maclean and in doing so, advanced Bowe advanced to steal second place overall (Championship points wise) from the defending champion Steve Mason.

Cam Tilley’s stout weekend continued as he moved the Valiant Pacer into the Division Two points lead (for the round) and into sixth overall by the fall of the chequers ahead of wild card Jack Elsegood, Rod Wilson, Trevor Talbot, Greg East, Bernie Stack in the Mark Forgie Porsche, Rory O’Neill, John Nelson, Steve Makarios, Ian McAlister, Mick Wilson and Richard Fairlam.

Jim Richards retired the Shannon’s Insurance Falcon Rallye Sprint early with mechanical woes, Chris Wilson parked the Blair Beth Transport XU1 early also and surprisingly Cam Mason’s normally reliable Datsun 510 refused to go the full distance.

That was the final race of the 2008 Biante Touring Car Masters and again the category rocked the huge crowd on hand at Oran Park’s final V8 Supercar appearance.“It’s fantastic for us to be able to put on a show in front of a crowd like this,” smiled outgoing Division One champion Steve Mason, “it’s great for the series and great for the fans too I think.”

The naming rights sponsor of the BIANTE Touring Car Masters Series is the Biante Model Car Company – Australia’s leading Model Car Company. For all the information on their stunning range visit www.biante.com.au

Commentary sponsor for the BIANTE Touring Car Masters is Rare Spares. Rare Spares is undoubtedly the most recognised name in the Australian Automotive Aftermarket, which includes the growing restoration industry. Visit www.rarespares.net.au for more.