Production car stalwart Rod Salmon has announced he’ll be racing next weekend in the Australian Production Car Series, despite his new Mercedes Benz A45 AMG waiting on parts from Germany.
Salmon will return to his roots for the second round of the series, entering his Mitsubishi Evo 10 that will be shared with young-gun Will Brown for the first time.
“The new car is just brilliant and I really enjoyed racing it at Bathurst, but unfortunately with around half an hour to go the 4WD system gave way and we were left with only two-wheel drive,” Salmon said.
“This leaves us waiting for parts to come all the way from Germany and there just isn’t enough time to have the car ready in time for Winton next week.
“So, this means we will be bringing the old faithful Mitsubishi Evo 10 to battle for Round 2.
“This thing has done so many laps it will practically drive itself!”
Dunlop Super2 racer Brown replaces Salmon’s regular co-driver Nathan Antunes, who is unavailable for the Winton round.
“Will Brown is an up and coming superstar, he is the F4 and Toyota86 Champion and is currently driving in the Dunlop Super2 Series,” Salmon said.
“Earlier this year I drove to a class victory with him in the Bathurst 12 Hour in the MARC car.
“He really impressed me with his speed and maturity, as well as the fact that he is just a great young man.
“I think he has a real future in our sport and I am pleased to be able to give him the opportunity to show what he has in the APCS.”
“We are not going there to fill in the field that is for sure, we will be looking to be on the podium.
“At the end of the day, we want to have fun. All of our crew apart from Paul Taylor [Power-On Racing Team co-owner] and one of the engineers are all volunteers – mates, really. We have been trying to get some younger mates because all my mates are now old, captain slows we call them!”
Winton Motor Raceway will host two 300km races as part of the third round of the 2017 Shannons Nationals.