11 October 2015
The annual Bathurst 1000 race meeting at Mount Panorama is renowned for its hallmark features – high drama, tough luck stories and changing conditions (in this case rain) – and all three were in abundance over the meeting’s four days.
With six PAYCE backed cars competing across four categories, there were some great performances from the teams. The standouts were Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat in the Wilson Security Racing GRM (Volvo Polestar Racing) #33 Volvo S60, who drove consistently hard throughout the Bathurst 1000 race to take a well-deserves fifth when the chequered flag came out. Also, both John Bowe and Steve Johnson thrilled the crowd with their spirited driving in the three Touring Car Masters races that saw existing records smashed as they notched up more podiums.
V8 Supercars
#33 Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat Volvo Polestar S60
#34 David Wall/Chris Pither Volvo Polestar S60
Both Volvo cars showed pace in the practices with Scott recording a 5th quickest time on day one and David an 11th fastest. Alex also got off to a good start in the co-drivers’ session recording 4th fastest time. Scott starred in the speed trap down Conrod Straight on day one, recording the fastest outright speed of the field with a breathtaking 296 kmh run.
Friday’s qualifier was meant to set the scene for the top 10 shootout but had to be abandoned due to a serious crash that hospitalised Chas Mostert and a number of flag marshals. The session was rescheduled for Saturday.
Saturday’s final practice saw Scott and Alex still well in contention with an 8th fastest time, while David and Chris were 21st. All attention was then directed to the rescheduled qualifying session that was subsequently shortened, but not before Scott recorded 7th fastest that put the #33 Volvo S60 into the top 10 shootout. The shootout was held in varying wet conditions and Scott was fourth car out. He did an exceptional lap that put him just behind the leading time and then the team had to sit and hold their breaths through the rest of the cars’ runs to determine the final positions on the grid. All following six drivers were slower than Scott, putting Scott and Alex on the front row of the grid.
Scott started the race in #33 and while not able to repeat last year’s rocket start that saw him first into the corner from third on the grid and lead up Mountain Straight, he soon gained the lead on lap 3 and led up to lap 32. Teammates David Wall and Chris Pither did not have any luck go their way and the race for #34 car came to an early end on lap 15 when an engine-related issue forced them from the race.
As the race progressed, different pit stop strategies as well as yellow flags saw the #33 Volvo move around in the field, albeit not far from the leaders. Ultimately, Scott brought home the car in 5th spot, just under ten seconds away from the race winners, which was a fantastic effort given the changing weather conditions throughout the race. The car especially performed well in the wet conditions and overall the team were happy with their performance and the reliability of the car under hard racing conditions. The top five finish also moved Scott into the top 10 of the championship.
Dunlop Series
#14 Macauley Jones BJR Holden Commodore
21 year old Macauley Jones in the #14 PAYCE livered Commodore had a good weekend of racing, starting with a strong showing in opening practice when he recorded 10th fastest time. Qualifying on Friday was marred by two red flags, but Macauley maintained his consistency to score a top 10 finish with 7th fastest, putting him up the pointy end of the grid for Saturday’s 250 km mini-enduro.
The 41 lap enduro was a mix of conditions, with three safety car periods and a late shower of rain, but Macauley managed to keep out of trouble and came home in a well-deserved 8th place, putting him in 12th position in the championship and eager to carry the good performance forward at the series decider at Homebush on 5-6 December.
Touring Car Masters
#17 Steve Johnson TransAm Mustang
#18 John Bowe Holden Torana SLR5000
PAYCE was strongly represented in the Bathurst round of the Touring Car Masters, with John Bowe in the highly successful #18 Torana SLR 5000 and Steve Johnson behind the wheel of John’s equally successful #17 TransAm Mustang.
The competition between these two cars was expected to be thrilling and close and they did not disappoint the fans. Steve smashed the qualifying lap record to put Mustang Sally on the pole, while John was a little off his usual pace to record fifth fastest.
Race 1 saw Steve lead all the way in an action packed race that was limited in racing time, but long enough for John to move into 2nd place and give PAYCE a 1-2 finish and a new race lap record for Steve. In Saturday’s race 2, John was determined to take advantage of his front row position and show why he is a champion. He took the Torana SLR5000 into the lead at the first corner and was never headed, while Steve had to work hard to hold onto his second position. Both PAYCE drivers swapped the lap record as they went on to again finish 1-2 again, except the positions were reversed from the previous race. Sunday’s race 3 saw John once again lead Steve home with a small buffer of half a second.
Porsche Carrera Cup
#22 Richard Muscat Porsche GT3
Richard Muscat in the PAYCE backed #22 Porsche GT3 continued his good form in early practice, recording 5th fastest, which was a great effort as he was only back in the country less than 24 hours from his flight back from Germany where he participated at the Lautizring in the Porsche Motorsport Junior Program.
Qualifying was highly contested, with the first ten drivers under the lap record. Richard was among them, putting in a very credible drive to avoid a bad crash and to post a 7th best time. He went on to finish in 8th position in race I later in the day.
Unfortunately, on the Saturday the second race had to be abandoned due to heavy rain and a number of cars skidding off track.
Sunday’s race was run under better conditions and Richard had a relatively uneventful race except for one close call to come home behind the leading pack in 7th position for race and round. Next appearance for the Porsches is at the Gold Coast in two weeks.
Overall, the Bathurst was a great meeting for PAYCE drivers and all stayed safe. The teams had challenging races and could be justly proud of their performances over the weekend.
