Simon Phillips has proven there is a substitute for cubic inches, using his diminutive Datsun 1200 Coupe to defeat a field of much larger-capacity cars in the Improved Production races, held during Round 1 of the Victorian Motor Racing Championships at Winton Motor Raceway over the weekend (7-8 March).
Phillips took the overall round victory with wins in three of the four races, defeating the Holden VN Commodore Group A SS of Andrew Rhodes-Anderson and Mazda RX7 of Tony Groves, which both featured consistently in the top five throughout the weekend. Graeme Cox won the final race in his Honda Civic, but a non-finish in Race 2 hurt his weekend points tally.
The Victorian Excel Series also started its season at Winton, and reigning champion Jarrod Tonks resumed where he finished last season, winning all four races.
The action behind Tonks was fierce; Kaide Lehman was second in the first three races, briefly leading Race 3, but retired from the final, allowing Nathan Blight into second. Bronson Mercieca rounded out the podium after an intense contest with Neville Blight and former HQ Holden racer Brendan Avard in Race 4.
Also producing intense racing was Formula Vee. Race 1 was a relatively calm affair with Matt Stubbs taking the win ahead of Jake Rowe, Mitch Quiddington and Heath Collinson, but tensions erupted in Race 2, when Collinson and Stubbs came together in the first corner.
Stubbs recovered to finish second behind Quiddington, while Collinson was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to repair damage, and Rowe retired with a mechanical problem.
Stubbs was in more trouble in Race 3, copping a post-race penalty for jumping the start, as Rowe charged from the rear of the grid to second behind Quiddington. Rowe turned the tables on Quiddington to win the fourth and final race but Quiddington’s two race victories earned him the round win from Stubbs and the consistent Shane Purvis.
The Porsche 944 Series produced three different winners from the three races with Vince Misuraca, Cameron Beller and Adam Mills taking a race victory each. Beller won the round ahead of Mills and Chris Lewis-Williams.
Stefan Versluis won all three PRB Clubman races to take the round win from Chris Barry and Stuart Shirvington, while Matt Martin returned to the BMW Drivers Cup in style after a two-year break, winning all four races and the round from defending champion Sean Bell and Brian Bourke.
In the Liqui-Moly Vic V8s, Graeme Meer ensured the mechanical problems he suffered throughout 2014 became a distant memory, winning the round with victories in three of the four races aboard his Holden VH Commovore. The other race win went to Glenn Bethune, who finished second for the round.
The final podium position was a hotly contested affair between two Ford drivers, Damien Gambold (XD Falcon) narrowly holding off Victor Argento (XB Falcon Coupe) to secure third place.
Defending champion Mark Kakouri had a quiet weekend, swapping to a second-hand V8 motor after problems with his Commodore’s race engine during a pre-season test day. He circulated towards the tail end of the top 10 for most of the weekend, but accumulated valuable points which enabled him to finish seventh overall.
Steve Howard (Toyota Corolla) won the Sports Sedan round after the two front-runners from qualifying, Lee Ulhorn (Mazda RX7) and Haydn Clark (Datsun 1600), suffered mechanical problems. For spectators, the highlight of the weekend was the dice between Howard and Mini driver Daniel Zandt, the two drivers swapping positions a number of times in Race 4.
The next major event at Winton Raceway is Easter Car Mania, to be held on the Easter long weekend (3-6 April).
