The annual Fight in the Night will make its grand return next month when the Shannons SpeedSeries heads to Queensland Raceway for the fifth round of the 2023 season.
The combined Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars and Monochrome GT4 Australia Series will light up Queensland’s most premier motorsport facilities on Saturday 12 August at 5:55pm AEST when the series takes to the track for two hours of non-stop action.
It was all the way back in 2012 when Garry Holt and Ryan McLeod took honours in what was the first edition of the race – where this year, we will be celebrating the 10th running under the lights in Ipswich, and the first with the inclusion of the up-and-coming GT4 series.
Before a new chapter is written in what has been an intriguing story to date, take a look back at the action that has passed from when Holt and McLeod won in 2012 all the way through to last year where Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey won another title.
2012
Garry Holt and Ryan McLeod combined to win a race of fuel strategy that resulted in a tense finish.
The Eastern Creek Karts crew gambled on a safety car to meet their fuel numbers, only electing to make one stop for the driver change before driving economically—yet quickly—to make it to the finish without requiring fuel.
The gamble paid off, holding off a fast-finishing Dylan Thomas in the CXC Global EVO in a tense race to the flag.
Taking class victories were the Sherrin Rentals BMW 135i (B), the GWS Personnel BMW 130i (C), the Network Clothing/Dentbuster Honda Integra (D), the Sherrin Rentals Mini Cooper (I) and the BVC Racing Suzuki Swift Sport (E).
2013
An absolute cracker of a race saw Glenn Seton take victory in the Pro-Duct Mitsubishi Evo after a brilliant late race battle with Ryan McLeod in the Garry Holt Eastern Creek Karts entry.
Exactly one second separated the pair at the finish, which came after McLeod passed Seton within the last half hour of the race before Seton passed him back with five minutes to go and held on to win.
Grant Sherrin was third and first in B class, while C class was taken out by local car dealer Jake Camilleri and his Grand Prix Mazda-supported Mazda 3 MPS in fourth outright.
The Bell Heavy Haulage Ford Falcon BA XR8 and Pedders/Bosch Racing Toyota 86 took out classes D and I respectively.
2014
Garry Holt and Stuart Kostera edged out impressive then-rookie Aaron Seton (I) after a late-race battle between the pair of Mitsubishi Evos.
The race was an often-confusing affair with several lengthy Safety Car periods and a red flag to re-order a jumbled field—however there was nothing to stop the Eastern Creek Karts crew from grabbing a second ‘Fight in the Night’ win.
Once the field was sorted the leading pair battled for several laps before Kostera pulled away and grabbed the win.
Matt Cherry finished third outright in a brand-new Audi TT RS and Jake Camilleri posted a giant-killing performance to finish fourth outright and first in C class. Taking out the other class race wins were the Sherrin Rentals BMW 135i (B) and the Pedders/Grafico Toyota 86 (D).
2015
Beric Lynton flew solo for victory in a race of strategy, with the Gold Coast BMW dealer emerging from the second round of pit stops in the lead and able to manage his margin to the Grant and Iain Sherrin BMW 135i in the closing stages to record a tense, yet ultimately safe, victory ahead of the Class B brothers.
Rick Bates and Aaron Seton finished third in the leading Mitsubishi Lancer, however stopping under green conditions cost them a chance at outright victory.
They did set the race’s fastest lap and a late charge from Seton got them to within one minute of the leader in the closing stages.
Class C victor Jake Camilleri rounded out the top five, crossing the line behind the Donut King BMW 1M of Tony Alford.
2016
Beric Lynton backed up his 2015 effort to win with Tim Leahy, crossing the line ahead of the Mark Griffith/Daniel Gaunt Griffith Corporation Mitsubishi Evo X.
Gaunt’s second place followed an epic battle with third-placed Aaron Seton (co-driving with Tony Alford in the Donut King BMW 1M) and Paul Morris in the Roadchill Freight Express BMW M 135i.
The results for Griffith and Morris came after huge lap one efforts from the pair, passing 11 and 14 cars respectively after starting rear of grid.
Lamenting lost opportunities were the crew of the Sherrin Racing BMW 135i, with Iain Sherrin leading the majority of the first half only for their pit stop to go horribly wrong with a malfunctioning air gun. The brothers would push on to finish fifth outright and first in B class, while setting the fastest laps of the race.
The Doug Westwood/Danny Sugden Falcon Fire Racing BMW E36 M3, Kyle Alford/Carey McMahon Donut King Mitsubishi Mirage, Barry Black/Carly Black Gosford European Car Services/Network Clothing Renault Clio and Naylor Brothers Suzuki Swift took out classes C, I, D and E respectively.
2017
Bob Pearson and Rick Bates put an end to Beric Lynton’s stronghold over the Fight in the Night, winning the popular event to secure their fifth consecutive win in the Australian Production Car Series.
The PRO DUCT Mitsubishi EVO 10 RS duo finished ahead of Grant and Iain Sherrin after a second safety period occurred, despite the Sherrin Rentals BMW M4 dominating the whole race.
Rounding out the podium was Supercars star Chaz Mostert alongside Nathan Morcom in their TEAM DPO Ford Focus RS, while Lynton and his BMW 1M finished fourth outright.
Karl Begg and Justin Anthony made an impressive series debut in the MotorSport Life BMW E92 M3 claiming the A2 class and fifth outright.
Finishing seventh outright and winning the B1 class was Sherrin Rentals’ Michael Sherrin and Stephen Champion in the BMW 135i, while TW Motorsport’s Troy Williams and Jeff Nielsen won the B2 class in their Holden Commodore SSV Redline.
Class C saw a dramatic ending when BMW 130i pair Scott Turner and Todd Hazelwood steal the victory after the second Safety Car period, while Class D went to the Lauren Gray Motorsport Toyota Corrolla of Michael Gray and Ellexandra Best.
2018
All eyes were on the Australian Production Cars as Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey took victory in dramatic fashion under the lights at Queensland Raceway.
With three aborted starts, a rollover and even some thunder, the duo picked up the lead mid-race to cross the chequered by just over a second to Ryan Simpson and Jim Pollicina.
Grant and Iain Sherrin rounded out the podium, with Kyle Alford and Anthony Alford coming home fourth.
Taking class victories were Justin Anthony and Karl Begg in Class A2, while Robert Rubis and Scott Turner took out Class B1 honours in ninth.
In a highly interrupted race which featured four safety car periods, nine entries finished with a DNF to their name.
Borck Mitchell was the first to go in his Ford Falcon AU on lap four, while Miller and Tebbs made it all the way to lap 90 In their Mitsubishi Evo 9.
2019
The lights went on and the iconic Fight in the Night delivered more than two hours of action under the stars.
Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey were too strong in their BMW M3, claiming back-to-back Fight in the Night titles now having wins in 2018 and 2019.
The pair finished comfortably ahead of CK Motorsport’s Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns in second, with almost a minute separating them at the end of the two-hour race.
Rounding out the top three was Anthony Soole and Andrew Fisher in their BMW M4.
It was a race to forget for Iain Sherrin, who was the first retiree of the race at lap nine, while Bradley Carr was the only other non-finisher who made it all the way through to lap 37.
2022
The annual Fight in the Night returned after a two-year hiatus and there were familiar names taking out top honours – Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey.
In what was an impressive turn of fortunes for the duo, they ended up taking out a 37-second victory in their substitute BMW M3 after their main car caught fire earlier on in the weekend.
Taking out second place were fellow high-profile Production Car stars Iain and Grent Sherrin, the former Fight in the Night winners crossing the finish line ahead of Ben Gersekowski – the result confirming a BMW podium lockout.
Although Lynton and Leahey enjoyed their best day of the weekend, the same couldn’t be said for polesitters Drew Russell and Aaron Russell who were one of five retirements having only completed 16 laps.
