While Kris Walton continued on his way to win all three races of the fifth round of the Australian Saloon Car Series at Morgan Park a week ago on August 15 and restored some Ford honour, Tim Rowse placed one hand on the title trophy and looks likely to make it two in a row for Holden.
As Walton delivered three solid heat wins, he has discounted going to the final round in October but has not ruled out waging a full-on campaign in 2011. “I already have something else planned on that weekend but things could be happening next year,” Walton said.
In the meantime Rowse could have been content with shadowing the Walton and Grant Gatland Falcons through both races, but instead he took the fight up to the latter, getting past him in the last race. “When Shawn Jamieson dropped out of the first race, I knew I just third places would get me good results in the series, but once you are out there racing . . . the red mist comes down . . .” said Rowse.
Walton had a poor start to race two, whereas Gatland leapt well and led for six of the ten laps before Walton picked his spot to take over the front running and win the race. Simon Tabinor headed Lindsay Kearns for fourth until within sight of the finish line - where a puncture on the Victorian’s Commodore allowed the Queensland’s Falcon to sneak past.
The early demise of David Rogers’ Ford allowed Geoff Brown to improve to sixth overall, gamely fighting off the challengers of the Falcons of Peter Dane and Gerard Miscamble. Brad Piggott continued a good comeback after practice and qualifying mishaps to finish ninth in his Ford – ahead of similar cars of Tony Shanks and John Van Gilst.
The older model Falcon of Coleby Cowhan was twelfth in front of Nathan Garioch while Mark Primmer won a good scrap involving him, Martin Deckert and Gary Beggs. A broken gearbox dented Sam Milton’s points collection as he struggled to the line in 21st while Ryan Dane survived a couple of good spins.
The last race began in similar fashion with Gatland getting the jump on Walton. But his lead did not last nearly as long as previously. Walton went ahead on lap three and was not troubled from there. Gatland ultimately surrendered second to Rowse but was clear of Dane who ultimately passed his nemesis Brown.
The latter eventually also lost out to Shanks, Miscamble and Van Gilst yet held off Garioch and Milton while Cowhan and Kearns were also close by. Rogers finished 13th despite being minus the entire front nose of his Falcon due to a clash with first lap clash with Ryan Dane who eventually finished 19th.
Many received black flag warnings for kerb jumping but Tabinor mistakenly took his a penalty pit drive through which cost him dearly as he finished 14th ahead of Bevan Garioch, Mark Primmer, Brian Hine and Beggs. Piggott’s day ended after one lap with a shredded belt and Ian Chivas had a series of dramas over the weekend that culminated in a broken gear lever, and he was in neutral at the time.
Race Two (10 laps)
1 Kris Walton (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 14:49.4802
2 Grant Gatland (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 14:51.0410
3 Tim Rowse (VIC) Holden Commodore VT 14:56.3141
4 Lindsay Kearns (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:02.6211
5 Simon Tabinor (VIC) Holden Commodore VT 15:06.8279
6 Geoff Brown (VIC) Ford Falcon AU 15:16.7965
7 Peter Dane (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:17.1463
8 Gerard Miscamble (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:17.4089
9 Brad Piggott (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:25.5666
10 Tony Shanks (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:26.2822
11 John Van Gilst (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:26.7502
12 Coleby Cowham (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:29.3543
13 Nathan Garioch (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:29.4639
14 Mark Primmer (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:32.0605
15 Martin Deckert (QLD) Holden Commodore VT 15:33.3340
16 Gary Beggs (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:33.6976
17 Brian Hine (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:36.8226
18 Ian Chivas (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:40.7863
19 Wayne Patten (QLD) Holden Commodore VT 15:41.4074
20 Anthony Conias (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:41.8928
21 Sam Milton (SA) Ford Falcon AU 15:52.5303
22 Kelli Stephens (VIC) Ford Falcon AU 15:55.7970
23 Ryan Dane (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 16:04.1394
24 Harry Charalambous (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 16:20.4925
DNF Jonathon Fishburn (NSW) Ford Falcon EA 9 laps
DNF Bevan Garioch (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 6 laps
DNF David Rogers (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 2 laps
Fastest lap: Walton 1:27.3311
Race Three (10 laps)
1 Kris Walton (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 14:52.5552
2 Tim Rowse (VIC) Holden Commodore VT 14:56.4397
3 Grant Gatland (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 14:57.1799
4 Peter Dane (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:10.0312
5 Tony Shanks (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:14.1582
6 Gerard Miscamble (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:16.5385
7 John Van Gilst (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:17.0736
8 Geoff Brown (VIC) Ford Falcon AU 15:17.5730
9 Nathan Garioch (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:18.1129
10 Sam Milton (SA) Ford Falcon AU 15:18.8952
11 Coleby Cowham (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:19.3995
12 Lindsay Kearns (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:19.7571
13 David Rogers (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:20.6160
14 Simon Tabinor (VIC) Holden Commodore VT 15:23.4749
15 Bevan Garioch (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:24.1607
16 Mark Primmer (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:29.3188
17 Brian Hine (QLD) Ford Falcon AU 15:33.3631
18 Gary Beggs (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:34.6467
19 Ryan Dane (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 15:36.0793
20 Jonathon Fishburn (NSW) Ford Falcon EA 15:36.5117
21 Wayne Patten (QLD) Holden Commodore VT 15:37.7652
22 Martin Deckert (QLD) Holden Commodore VT 15:38.3441
23 Anthony Conias (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 15:42.9975
24 Kelli Stephens (VIC) Ford Falcon AU 15:53.4051
25 Harry Charalambous (QLD) Ford Falcon EA 16:14.4594
DNF Brad Piggott (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 1 lap
DNF Ian Chivas (NSW) Ford Falcon AU 1 lap
Fastest lap: Gatland 1:28.2469
Series Points after 5 rounds
Outright: Tim Rowse 343, Simon Tabinor 276, Shawn Jamieson 236, Kris Walton 160, Sam Milton 159, Brad Piggott 142, Peter Dane 140, Nathan Garioch 140, Geoff Brown 131, Justin Garioch 128, Ryan McLeod 116, Grant Gatland 112, Paul Pennisi 97, Corey Ludeman 92, John Goodacre 81, David Rogers 80, Mark Primmer 71, Andrew Nowland 65, Lindsay Kearns 62, Luke Westall 60, Ian Chivas 60, Alf Kuusela 58, Dave Heath 50, Gerard Miscample 46, John Van Gilst 42, Basil Stratos 40, Daniel Hodge 36, Clint Harvey 35, Tony Shanks 35, Ryan Dane 29, Kelli Stephens 28, Coleby Cowham 28, Matt Davidson 25, Dean Kelland 21, Michael Seal 20, Tony McKenzie 19, Naomi Maltby 15, Gary Beggs 15, Glenn Kenny 15, Brian Hine 14, Joel Spychala 13, Dave Youlden 13, Rod Lloyd 12, Martin Deckert 11, Meg Carra 10, Dean Crosswell 10, Jonathan Fishburn 9, Wayne King 7, George Papageorgiou 7, Rebecca Drummond 7, Brett Niall 5, Wayne Patten 4, Anthony Conias 4, Harry Charalambous 3, Collin Russell 2, Rod Dawson 1, Tony James 1, John Townsend 1, John Borich 1, Frank Panizza 1, Mark Pilatti 1, Robert Lonie 1, Dion Panizza 1, Simon Piavanini 1, Terry Mason 1, Steve Owen 0, Chris Berry 0, Malcolm Niall 0, Brenton Burr 0.
Trophy Class: Alf Kuusela 200, Tony McKenzie 105, Rod Lloyd 87, George Papageorgiou 81, Rebecca Drummond 73, Glenn Kenny 70, Colin Russell 31, Kathrynna Barnes 0.
2010 Australian Saloon Car Series Calendar
Round 1 – Bathurst – February 12-13
Round 2 – Phillip Island – May 01-02
Round 3 – Winton – June 26-27
Round 4 – Eastern Creek – July 17-18
Round 5 – Morgan Park - August 14-15
Round 6 – Sandown – October 23-24
Australian Saloon Car Champions/Series Winners
Jamieson 2009, Kwiatkowski 2008, Heinrich 2007, Heinrich 2006, Heinrich 2005, Harvey 2004, Heinrich 2003, Heinrich 2002.
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