Wet Weather Fails to Dampen Round 1

After some very gloomy predictions, the weather ended up playing only a very small part in Round 1 of the Queensland Touring Car Championship.  With a record number of cars entered, both Group A & B provided plenty of entertainment for the crowd in some of the closest racing the category has seen.  In the end, Group B had only one race slightly effected by rain where tyre choice proved critical as the track continued to dry out over the course of the 15 lap battle.  Group B Commodore driver Dean Rice provided the biggest heart stopping moment of the round as his car spun off coming through under what was the bridge on the run down to Hungry Corner.  A 360 degree slide and a kiss of the fence with his rear quarter was not enough to keep Ricey down as he managed to finish the race and also go on to claim third overall in Group B for the weekend. 

In Group A, Brett Kennedy returned to his championship winning ways of 2015 by taking out the round, winning all but race 4 where Steve Burridge was able to squeeze past.  Results of 4^th, 3^rd, 2^nd and 1^st were enough to clinch outright second for the weekend for Burridge with Murray Kent in third place overall.  Group B saw Gary Anger take out the round in a stunning debut for his newly built VT Commodore.  Consistent driving and quality passing manoeuvers helped Anger secure the win, just in front of the never say die Datsun 1600 of Andrew Knight with Dean Rice a gallant third.  After experiencing a couple of frustrating years with mechanical dramas, Adam Pye recorded by far his best ever round result, just missing the podium in 4^th place for the weekend.

A fantastic weekend was had by all, with plenty of newcomers to the category making it very clear that they will make an impact on results as the championship unfolds.  Michael Thompson’s RX7, Peter Longden’s VW Golf and Matt Haak’s VL Commodore are just a few cars and drivers to keep an eye on in 2017.