Brook prevails in Trans Am crash-fest

Tim Brook has picked up a second win in Round 1 of the Turtle Wax Tran Am Series in a crash-fest at Symmons Plains.

Brook was leading when the field took the chequered flag under Safety Car conditions for the third time in as many races at AWC Race Tasmania, ahead of Nathan Herne, Lochie Dalton, Dalton Ellery, and Jett Johnson.

Only 18 of the 24 starters made the finish in a contest which ended after just 13 laps of a scheduled 22.

Race 1 winner Brook and Kyle Gurton shared the front row for Race 3 and while the former held the lead through the first two corners, the latter lost a spot when Herne went down his inside.

Just behind, Cody Burcher turned around fourth-placed Ben Grice, causing chaos as the following drivers scattered in a bid to avoid them.

Elliot Barbour was not so fortunate, sustaining damage when he spun in the pack, and he joined Grice and Burcher as retirements as the Safety Car was deployed.

Upon the Lap 4 restart, Owen Kelly launched all the way from eighth to fourth, and he was up to third when Gurton ran long at the Hairpin on Lap 6.

While replays did not fully capture the moment, it appeared that Gurton had jinked right under brakes in a bid to avoid nailing Herne in the braking zone.

Brook’s lead over Herne moved beyond a full second on Lap 8, while Kelly cycled through the pit lane and resumed in 19th, suggesting he was serving a penalty for the restart.

The Safety Car was called again on Lap 10 when Michael Rowell made heavy frontal contact with the barrier on the run to the Hairpin, with the root cause of the shunt unclear.

That would be the last action of the weekend for the Trans Ams, cementing Brook as the early series leader.

Brett Holdsworth ended up sixth in Race 3, ahead of Gurton, Edan Thornburrow, Nash Morris from 23rd on the grid after his Race 2 DNF, and Hugh McAlister in 10th.

Kelly took the chequered flag in 16th.

Round 2 takes place at Phillip Island as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships on March 18-20, with live streaming on Stan Sport.

Results: Race 3

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Cls	Laps	Race time
1	38	TRADIEPAD Wall Racing	Tim Brook	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:06.4525
2	1	Team Valvoline GRM	Nathan Herne	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:06.9464
3	45	Up2 /11 Motorsport /GRM	Lochie Dalton	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:08.1906
4	31	Bruce Lynton Service	Dalton Ellery	Ford Mustang	H	13	19:09.5253
5	117	Team Johnson/Full Throttle BBQ	Jett Johnson	Ford Mustang	H	13	19:10.4975
6	99	TPS Group /Breeze Holiday Park	Brett Holdsworth	Chevrolet Camaro	O	13	19:11.2434
7	2	Micale Cabinets /Nuveau Group	Kyle Gurton	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:12.1953
8	116	Sydney Property Care	Edan Thornburrow	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:13.2352
9	67	Supercheap Auto	Nash Morris	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:16.6078
10	6	McAlister Motors	Hugh McAlister	Ford Mustang	H	13	19:18.0358
11	69	Dial Before you Dig	Jon McCorkindale	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:20.0255
12	8	Wealth Rite Racing	Chris Pappas	Ford Mustang	H	13	19:21.9519
13	777	Dream Racing Australia	Craig Scutella	Chevrolet Camaro	M	13	19:23.3279
14	4	Crutcher Devlopments	Mark Crutcher	Ford Mustang	M	13	19:24.1057
15	23	Holinger Racing	John Holinger	Chevrolet Camaro	M	13	19:25.4248
16	73	Owen Kelly Motorsport	Owen Kelly	Ford Mustang	O	13	19:26.2403
17	88	Ownit Homes /Superior Jetties	John Harris	Ford Mustang	H	13	19:27.4821
18	48	Nic Carroll Motorsport	Nic Carroll	Dodge Challenger	O	12	19:31.0191
DNF	15	Pacific Petroleum/Carroll Tyre	Michael Rowell	Ford Mustang	H	8	10:24.8754
DNF	37	Dream Racing Australia	Jackson Rice	Dodge Challenger	O	4	6:27.3244
DNF	03	All American Driveline	Ben Grice	Ford Mustang	O
DNF	36	Cody Burcher Racing	Cody Burcher	Ford Mustang	O
DNF	27	Dream Racing Australia	Elliot Barbour	Chevrolet Camaro	O
DNF	12	Shaun Richardson Motorsport	Shaun Richardson	Dodge Challenger	H

Classes: O Outright, H Hoosier Cup, M Masters Cup