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Round 1 – Winton, Victoria
NEW STARS SHINE BRIGHT AS FAVOURITES STUMBLE EARLY
IPRA NSW’s first foray south of the border has proved a car breaker for a brace of key competitors – including our defending champions Kurt Macready and Steven Engel.
Considered one of Australia’s legacy circuits, Winton Motor Raceway – located an hour south of Albury – turned on a bluebell weekend of mild temperatures and sunny skies for our visiting crews, most of whom had never actually been to the track.
With terrific garage and carport facilities, friendly and helpful staff and easy proximity to the town of Benalla, it may well not be our only visit to the Victorian countryside!
The track is short but tricky to master quickly, with a brace of Victorian and South Australian racers showing the way in early running. One notable exception was Lachlan McBrien, who has pedalled his BMW to some success around Winton on previous visits.
But it was Ryan Gorton aboard his Nissan Silvia S14 Under 2.0-Litre machine who set the scoreboard alight, posting a new IPRA Winton record time of 1min 30.4sec to top the combined qualifying session on Saturday morning, with South Australia’s Andy Sarandis parking his Overs Mitsubishi EVO VIII alongside.
It was an auspiciously slow start for both Engel (seventh) and Macready (ninth)… and things would go from bad to worse for the 2023 champions.
Sarandis would romp away to an easy win in race one, with Gorton and McBrien rounding out the podium spots in a race that featured close-quarters racing right through the pack.
Macready would get no further than lap six, with a catastrophic under-bonnet failure pitching his perennially pacey Nissan off the track in front of Matt Birks’ Toyota Corolla.
The damage was such that the three-time Unders champ unfortunately wouldn’t be seen again on track all weekend, putting a huge hole in his 2024 NSW title defence.
Likewise, Engel would retire from the first race with a minor issue, but was able to take part in the rest of the weekend.
Returning after a hit-out at the Nationals in 2023, Nick Agland proved he’s an early favourite for the overall, posting fifth behind IPRA Victoria stalwart Andrew Butcher, while Danny Castro’s long-awaited return to the IPRA fray started spectacularly well with a fighting sixth overall and second Unders car home in his immaculate Nissan Silvia.
A cool and cloudy Sunday morning greeted the field for race two, with the action starting early. Victorian runner Craig Caspersz misjudged his braking mark into turn one, clattering Butcher and himself into instant retirement, while Brett Porter spun off at speed at turn three but was able to rejoin.
Sarandis consolidated his advantage in the EVO, leaving the BMW barons to battle for the minors with a relentless Gorton hounding their every move. McBrien would post a brilliant second, with Gorton in third.
Big movers included the returning Joseph Lenthall, who moved his fresh BMW up from the rear of grid in race one to hold down fifth in the second.
Engel would race his way as high as eighth, before a combination of time penalties and mechanical gremlins dropped him to 15th.
The final race went the same way as the first two, with Sarandis clean-sweeping the event. Gorton would pip McBrien for second with just two laps to go, while Agland held off Lenthall for fourth.
Castro’s solid season start with a brand new build came to an end with a handful of laps to run, while Mark Hawwa’s Mazda RX-7 would join him on the sidelines.
Plenty of tales of triumph and adversity were found throughout the paddock, including the valiant efforts of Matthew Giuntini’s friends and family to keep their Honda Civic in the fight. After a suspension failure in qualifying, two separate trips to Melbourne and Wangaratta to source parts and tools saw the car back together by midnight, with the lads embodying the spirit of IPRA to get on the track and keep smiling, no matter the odds.
The 2024 season continues in a few short weeks at Sydney Motorsport Park, where a brace of racers will join the fray for the first time this year. Entries close soon – click here to get involved!
IPRA NSW is proud to work with a dedicated group of supporting partners, including Under 2.0-Litre banner sponsor Pitcher Partners, Over 2.0-Litre banner partner Ravenol Australia, Midas Tyre and Auto and V-Sport Australia, as well as JLM Lubricants and Competition Products.
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Yokohama tyre request
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IPRA Nationals nomination form
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