Round 7 (final), presented by Coopers Pale Ale - Mallala Motorsport Park (SA), 17-19 September 2004
STOKELL, HEMMES, ALAJAJIAN & WHITE CROWNED PROCAR CHAMPIONS AT MALLALA
ADELAIDE – It was a weekend of highs and lows, but finally nine new motor racing champions carried their trophies away from the final 2004 PROCAR Champ Series round, presented by Coopers Pale Ale, at Mallala Motorsport Park today.
Paul Stokell had already wrapped up his second straight Australian Nations Cup Championship, but his plans to close the season with a bang ended instead with a whimper when his Lamborghini Diablo suffered its first non-finish in two years.
But few champions went through more than Justin Hemmes, who had to buy two business class seats on a Qantas flight from Sydney last night for an emergency “passenger”, a new bonnet for his GT Performance championship Subaru Impreza.
Hemmes wrecked the car in qualifying yesterday at the start of what should have been a “cruise-and-collect” appearance and it could have come to nothing without a shipment of parts from Sydney – the bonnet would not fit through the door of the aircraft’s cabin hold – and a frantic, 12-hour repair marathon by his Protecnica team.
Also receiving their trophies today were V8 BRutes champion Damien White, Australian Production Car Champion Chris Alajajian – at 17, believed to be the youngest winner of an Australian championship – and five class champions.
The round was the last in the PROCAR Champ Series, which was launched by PROCAR Australia in April 2001 to showcase racing for cars based on showroom-production models.
Events based around the Nations Cup, GT Performance, Production Cars and V8 BRutes attracted strong and growing support among fans keen to see close racing between many different makes and models of cars originally intended for road use.
PROCAR withdrew its involvement last April. The last five rounds have been run by businessman and competitor Peter Boylan, but now the categories are in the custody of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport while new operators are sought.
Paul Stokell finished his year in the V12 Lamborghini with a total of six pole positions out of a possible seven and 12 wins from 21 starts.
He took pole and the first two race wins today, but his car stopped with gearbox problems while leading race three – curiously, at the same place and just one lap after his teammate Peter Hackett retired with an almost identical problem in the sister car.
James Brock surged past in his Holden Monaro to take race and round honours, having finished second in each of the earlier heats.
It was Brock’s first win in his self-built Monaro and he said one of the first things he intended to do post-race was to telephone the news to his father Peter, who has shared driving duties this season.
David Stevens, was third on the day, in a Porsche GT2.
“It’s been a long day and a long year, to tell the truth,” Stokell said on the podium.
“I was hoping for a perfect score to end the year, but we had our first DNF (non-finish) in two years.”
The battle for the Trophy class championship went to Gold Coast Ferrari driver John Teulan, who came second in today’s round to young Danish star Allan Simonsen, driving an identical Ferrari.
Round six winner Garry Holt continued his recent strong form to take two out of three races and today’s round in the Australian GT Performance Championship, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 touring car.
Hemmes recovered from his setbacks to finish seventh, fifth and second in the races and score enough points to clinch the championship, an impressive achievement for a driver who took up the sport less than two years ago.
His only rival, Paul Stokell, struggled all weekend with his factory Volkswagen Golf but managed to defend his second place in the series from Holt. Stokell’s teammate Tim Leahey scored three podium finishes, including the race three win.
Team Brock driver Damien White was another with a “cruise-and-collect” mission in the V8 BRutes Series. He needed only eight points to lock away the title in race one, but almost had to postpone celebrations when his Holden dropped a spark plug lead and struggled to the line on seven cylinders.
The V8 BRutes typically turned on some of the day’s best entertainment, with Gary Baxter in a Holden taking the first race win and Marcus Zukanovic races two and three in a Ford Falcon.
Small cars in the Australian Production Car Championship turned in giant-killing performances in two handicap races today.
David Russell won the first in a 1.6 litre Proton Satria, beating home newly-crowned outright champion Chris Alajajian in a Subaru Liberty GT and lifting himself to second outright in the final series standings.
Adam Beechey won race two in a Honda Integra, from Alajajian and Ian Luff.
Luff, also in a Honda, wrapped up the Class B championship, Leanne Ferrier won class C in a works Toyota Corolla Sportivo and Russell beat his father Geoff to the class D trophy for the second time.
PROCAR CHAMP SERIES - 2004 Champions
Australian Nations Cup Championship – GT class/outright Paul Stokell (Lamborghini); Trophy class John Teulan (Ferrari).
Australian GT Performance Championship – Justin Hemmes (Subaru).
Australian Production Car Championship – Outright Chris Alajajian (Subaru), Class A Chris Alajajian, Class B Ian Luff (Honda), Class C Leanne Ferrier (Toyota), Class D David Russell Proton.
V8 BRutes Series – Damien White (Holden).
RESULTS (Round 7, Final)
Australian Nations Cup ChampionshipRace 1 (14 laps)GT class/Outright1. Paul Stokell (Vic.) Lamborghini Diablo2. James Brock (Vic.) Holden Monaro3. Allan Simonsen (Den.) Ferrari 360 Challenge4. Peter Hackett (Vic.) Lamborghini Diablo5. David Stevens (NSW) Porsche GT26. John Teulan (Qld) Ferrari 360 ChallengeTrophy class1. Allan Simonsen2. John Teulan3. Ted Huglin (Vic.) Ferrari 360 Challenge
Race 2 (14 laps)GT class/outright1. Paul Stokell2. James Brock3. David Stevens4. Peter Hackett5. Allan Simonsen6. Ian PalmerTrophy class1. Allan Simonsen2. John Teulan3. Ted Huglin
Race 3 (14 laps)GT class/outright1. James Brock2. David Stevens3. Allan Simonsen4. Ian Palmer5. John Kaias (Vic.) Porsche GT36. Peter Coles (NSW) Porsche GT3Trophy class1. Allan Simonsen2. John Teulan3. Ted Huglin
Championship standings (final): GT class/Outright 572 Paul Stokell, 415 Nathan Pretty, 309 David Stevens, 238 James Brock, 178.5 Ian Palmer, 156 Peter Brock. Trophy class 312 John Teulan, 291 Theo Koundouris, 279 Allan Simonsen.
Australian GT Performance Championship (presented by Bizmail Broadband)Race 1 (14 laps)1. Garry Holt (NSW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 82. Beric Lynton (Qld) BMW M33. Tim Leahey (NSW) Volkswagen Golf R324. Peter Floyd (Vic.) Holden GTS5. Gary Young (Vic.) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 86. Barry Morcom (NSW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8
Race 2 (14 laps)1. Garry Holt2. Tim Leahey3. Beric Lynton4. Mark King (Qld) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 85. Justin Hemmes (NSW) Subaru Impreza STi6. Chris Alajajian (NSW) Subaru Impreza STi
Race 3 (14 laps)1. Tim Leahey2. Justin Hemmes3. Gary Young4. Garry Holt5. John Falk (Vic.) Ford Falcon GT6. Beric Lynton
Championship standings (final): 433 Justin Hemmes, 343 Paul Stokell, 312 Garry Holt, 302 Ric Shaw, 276 Beric Lynton, 260 Tim Leahey.
Australian Production Car ChampionshipRace 1 (16 laps)Outright1. David Russell (NSW) Proton Satria GTi2. Chris Alajajian (NSW) Subaru Liberty GT3. Ian Luff (NSW) Honda Integra Type R 4. Leanne Ferrier (Vic.) Toyota Corolla Sportivo5. David Ryan (NSW) Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo 1:21.016. Derek Hocking (NSW) Holden Commodore Class A – Chris AlajajianClass B – Ian LuffClass C – Leanne FerrierClass D – David Russell
Race 2 (16 laps)Outright1. Adam Beechey (Tas.) Honda Integra Type R2. Chris Alajajian3. Ian Luff4. David Ryan5. David Russell6. Leanne FerrierClass A - Chris AlajajianClass B – Ian LuffClass C – Leanne FerrierClass D – David Russell
Championship standings (final): Outright, 352 Chris Alajajian, 266 David Russell, 237 Leanne Ferrier, 222 Scott Loadsman, 198 Ian Luff, 183 David Ratcliff. Class A 419 Chris Alajajian, 266 Scott Loadsman, 240 David Ryan. Class B 320 Ian Luff, 289 David Ratcliff, 264 Colin Osborne. Class C 378 Leanne Ferrier, 306 Lynne Champion, 126 Darren Best. Class D 345 David Russell, 287 Geoff Russell, 254 Rick Bates.
V8 BRutes SeriesRace 1 (16 laps)1. Gary Baxter (SA) Holden SS2. Marcus Zukanovic (Vic.) Ford Falcon XR83. Luke May (NSW) Ford4. Charlie Kovacs (SA) Holden5. Dave Griffin (NSW) Holden6. Damien White (NSW)
Race 2 (16 laps)
Marcus Zukanovic Robert Braune (SA) Holden SS Damien White Gary Baxter Adam Bressington (NSW) Ford Glen Barnes (Vic.) Holden
Race 3 (16 laps)1. Marcus Zukanovic2. Gary Baxter3. Luke May4. Damien White5. Glen Barnes6. Charlie Kovacs
Championship standings (final): 497 Damien White, 368 Jack Elsegood, 312 Gary Baxter 294 Dave Griffin, 273 Marcus Zukanovic, 261 Benn Wilson.
TELEVISION SCHEDULE (Check local guides for times)
Nations Cup – Sat. 25 Sept., Channel Nine; Thu. 30 Sept., Inside Speed, Fox Sports.
GT Performance – Sat. 9 Oct., Channel Nine; Thu. 14 Oct., Inside Speed, Fox Sports.
V8 BRutes – Sat. 16 Oct., Channel Nine; Thu. 21 Oct., Inside Speed, Fox Sports.
Production Cars – Sat. 25 Sept., Speedweek, SBS; Thu. 30 Sept. Inside Speed, Fox Sports.
