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Sydney Motorsport Park: Friday wrap

Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series

Dylan O’Keefe has enjoyed a strong start to the fourth round of the 2021 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series with the fastest time on Friday.

With every driver’s fastest lap coming in practice two, O’Keefe ended the day on top, just three-and-a-half tenths faster than the second placed James Moffat – making it a Renault Megane one-two.

After his heroics in Bathurst, Jordan Cox ended the day third fastest, half a second slower than O’Keefe.

It’s straight to business tomorrow with qualifying and the first race of the weekend on Saturday.

VHT S5000 Australian Drivers Championship

Joey Mawson has taken one giant step towards the inaugural VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and the prestigious Motorsport Australia Gold Star, claiming pole position in this afternoon’s qualifying session.

It was a highly productive day for Mawson, who qualified more than two tenths faster than Garry Rogers Motorsports’ James Golding, as his title rival Thomas Randle posted the sixth fastest time.

Starting tomorrow’s first race from the second row will be Nathan Herne and 2019 Australian Formula 4 Champion, Luis Leeds.

The championship will have two races tomorrow, the first of which will be at 10:45am.

National Trans Am Series

In what is fast becoming one of the most entertaining duels of the year, Aaron Seton drawn first blood this weekend securing pole position over Nathan Herne.

Only one tenth of a second separated the duo on the time sheets during the series’ two practice sessions with Herne holding the slight advantage, however one lightning quick lap saw Seton go almost two seconds faster than Herne.

Owen Kelly provisionally qualified in second place ahead of Herne, but was demoted to 25th on the grid.

The series has two races tomorrow – the first being at 10am AEST.

Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia

Series leader Ryan Suhle has started the weekend off strong with pole position during the category’s qualifying session under lights.

While Suhle was almost half a second faster than the next best driver in Christian Pancione, there was just two hundredths of a second separating the VCM Performance driver with Kiwi Callum Hedge.

Highlighting the closeness of the competition, just a further two tenths of a second separated Hedge and Pancione with youngster Bayley Hall.

The series has two races tomorrow with the first one being at xx.

Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series

The Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series was the first category for the weekend to hold an official race with series leader Joshua Anderson comfortably taking out top honours.

The Camaro driver enjoyed a five second victory as the battle for second went down to a photo finish.

Crossing the finish line in second place was Tom Hayman, while four hundredths behind him was Joel Heinrich. Just missing out on a top three was as he finished one tenth behind Heinrich.

There is just one race for the category tomorrow, taking place at 4:00pm AEST.

Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters

Ryan Hansford claimed provisional pole under lights, steering his Multispares Racing Holden Torana A9X to the quickest time of the session by the narrowest of margins.

Just 0.0712 seconds separated Hansford and Full Throttle Custom Garages’ Steve Johnson in the Ford XD Falcon.

Ryal Harris clocked the third fastest time of the night, half a second behind Hansford.

The category enjoys two races tomorrow, before a further two races closes out their weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park on Sunday.

RA Cup

The RA Cup saw two of the series’ titans go head-to-head all day on Friday with 2019 series winner Chris Perini having the edge over series legend Peter Paddon.

Both drivers putting in solid efforts for much of the day, it was Perini who posted the fastest time when it mattered, claiming pole by just two tenths on his second last flying lap.

Stephen Champion battled hard for much of the day, posting the second fastest time in practice two before notching up the third best time in qualifying.

The series has just one race tomorrow, the first of two endurance races taking place in the evening at 6:55pm AEST.

Australian Prototype Series

The Australian Prototype Series has begun its 2021 season in style, three practice sessions getting the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships round for the category underway.

It was a familiar top two across each session, with Jason Makris and Blake Purdie sharing the spoils throughout Friday.

In the Radical class, Chris Perini showed plenty of promise – the Bing Technologies SR3 looking super speedy taking out a pair of thirds and a fourth across Friday’s action. Garth Walden Racing teammate Peter Paddon also recorded some impressive times, including third in practice two.

Qualifying takes place at 8.30am AEST on Saturday morning. Competitors will be fighting it out for pole and also the first ever Jam Motorsport Shop Pole Position prize.

MRF Tyres Australian Production Car Series

Shane Smollen has continued his strong run of form, backing up his Hi Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour win with pole position in Friday’s qualifying session at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The BMW M4 pilot edging out Duane West by more than one second, with Jake Camilleri third in his Mazda 3 MPS.

The diverse field enjoyed two practice sessions before qualifying under lights.

Two races await crews on Saturday, before another two round out the weekend on Sunday.

Tickets for the weekend’s action at the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships are still available and must be pre-purchased online prior to attendance.

No tickets will be available at the gate, with all fans encouraged to pre-purchase their tickets before they arrive at Sydney Motorsport Park to save time.

Fans will be able to watch a large portion of the action live and free on 7plus and 7mate with Saturday and Sunday to be broadcast, while New Zealand viewers can tune into the round via Sky Sport, and the rest of the world can watch via Motorsport.tv.

There will also be a live blog for fans to keep to date with all the live results and news from the weekend, which will be available via the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships’ website.