AMRS Wrap: McElrea wins Formula Ford opener

Australian Formula Ford Championship

Hunter McElrea converted pole position into victory in the opening Formula Ford Series race of the weekend.

McElrea was forced to see off a late challenge from Liam McLellan, who crossed the line little more than a tenth of a second behind the race winner.

Rounding out the podium was Hamish Ribarits, 1.5 seconds off the back of the leading duo and 0.15s clear of Courtney Prince in fourth.

Two further races follow on Sunday, the first a ten lap encounter before the 12 lap finale.

TA2

A busy opening day for TA2 saw Ashley Jarvis top qualifying and win both races.

The Queenslander took pole in qualifying before dominating Race 1 ahead of Hugh McAlister and Cameron Sendall.

Chad Cotton, who’d qualified second, spun on the opening lap before recovering to sixth.

Jarvis won again in Race 2, once more from McAlister while Russell Wright rounded out the podium.

Cottom climbed back to fourth while Sendall fell to sixth.

Two more races on Sunday round out the weekend for TA2, the first at 1025 over 10 laps before a 12-lapper at 1345.

Formula 3 Series

A clean sweep from Cameron Shields saw the Gilmour Racing driver claim pole position and the opening Formula 3 Series win of the weekend.

In second was Harri Jones, some two seconds adrift of Shields but 22 seconds clear of Alex Baboutis in a 10 lap encounter that saw the top three end as they begun.

The seven car field will tackle a 12 lap race on Sunday morning ahead of an 18 lap exchange to round out the weekend.

BMW E30 / IROC

A combined field saw Brian Bourke and Sven Burchartz win in the BMW E30 and IROC classes respectively.

Burchartz claimed the outright pole before falling behind Greg Keene in the opening laps, reclaiming top spot on Lap 4 and holding it to the flag.

Bourke won narrowly over Chris Bell following a late-race safety car with Jeremy Payne rounding out the BMW E30 class podium.

The mixed field has two more 10-lap races on Sunday.

Mazda RX8 Cup

The opening two Mazda RX8 Cup races of the weekend went to Ric Shaw.

Having qualified third, Shaw moved into the lead on the opening lap of Race 1 to head William Harris and Nick Dunkley to the line, with the order repeated in Race 2.

Two further races on Sunday round out the event for the category.

Production TT/Super TT/ Group 4/ Super 6/Aussie Racing Utes

Merrick Malouf won the first mixed grid Production TT/Super TT/ Group 4/ Super 6/Aussie Racing Utes event of the weekend.

Kevin Stoopman was second and Joe Strickland third overall, the trio all running in the Super TT class.

The leading Production TT runner was Michael Rice in sixth overall, one place back from Richard Mork the first Ute entry.

The race was notable for seven retirements in its eight laps, with neither of the Group 4 runners reaching the flag.

Extreme TT/SCA

Cory Gillett and Michael Coulter emerged victorious in the opening Extreme TT/Stock Cars Australia race.

Gillett steered his Nissan Silvia to victory ahead of Peter Ryder and Ashley Maclurkin in the Extreme TT class.

Coulter eased clear at the head of the SCA field to win from Shane Harris and Steve Coulter in the eight lap race.

A 12-lap race and a final 8-lap hit out follow on Sunday.

Miniature Race Cars

Chad Cotton inherited victory in the opening Minature Race Cars encounter of the weekend.

A final lap mechanical problem saw Jake Klein retire from the lead, promoting Cotton with Jase Collins and Craig McWhite completing the podium.

Bradley Neilson won Race 2 from Cotton and McWhite, while Klein failed to start.

Two seven lap races complete the event for Miniature Race Cars on Sunday.

Legend Cars

James Burge sealed pole position and two race wins in the Legends Cars.

He headed home Brendan Hourigan and Byran Neal in the opening race before Ben Jagger demoted Hourigan to third in Race 2.