A trio of new names graced the top of the IPRA NSW ranks at Sydney Motorsport Park, with Ben Sheedy, Danny Castro and Matt Birks breaking through for maiden victories at the series’ second round. Split into Under 2.0L and Over 2.0L grids across two days saw tight tussles and contact-free racing up and down the field, as well as heartbreak for some key championship runners.
In the Unders division presented by Pitcher Partners, former champion Bob Jowett pulled his K20-powered Honda Civic EG from semi-retirement to win the weekend overall, despite only qualifying fifth.
Race One saw Castro reprising his strong form from round one in Winton, claiming a maiden win from pole in his new Nissan Silvia from Jowett and Mick Ricketts aboard his Nissan Pulsar. A close call saw Matthew Larmour (Volvo V40) avoid a spinning Cam Smyth by a whisker, while gearbox woes cruelled a strong run from Matt Giuntini (Honda Civic).
Jowett would claim the win in Race Two on a foggy Sunday morning, with championship favourite Castro succumbing to a broken diff after just one lap.
Giuntini recovered from the rear of grid after an overnight gearbox change to finish an excellent second, while Birks aboard his Toyota Corolla would log valuable points in third place. Ricketts would unfortunately join Castro on the sidelines, his weekend shortened by driveline woes.
Race Three was a ripper, with Birks overcoming a five-second startline penalty to claim his maiden win in his third season of IPRA NSW racing, ahead of Jowett and Tim Molesworth in his Toyota Celica.
Jowett would claim the round from Molesworth, while consistency paid off for IPRA NSW stalwart Matt Wildridge, who claimed a fine third overall aboard his Ford Escort MkII.
The big guns came out to play in the Overs division supported by Ravenol Australia, with a brace of the General’s finest battling Japanese and German rivals for overall honours.
Qualifying belonged to Ben Sheedy, who promptly converted pole into his maiden race win at the expense of defending Overs champion Steve Engel (Mitsubishi EVO), while Joseph Lenthall brought his new BMW E36 home in a valiant third.
Sheedy and Engel would repeat their respective feats in race two, with HSV GTS-mounted Nigel Williams displacing Lenthall for third place.
As the sun set on Sydney Motorsport Park on Sunday, Sheedy would cap a dream weekend with a hat trick of wins to claim round two, with Engel keeping a resurgent Williams at bay to hang onto second. Williams would claim third for the final race and the round.
The series returns to SMSP for a day/night round 3 on June 22, with both championships wide open as the season reaches its mid-point. Find out more about improved production racing by visiting ipransw.org.au
IPRA NSW is proudly supported by Pitcher Partners, Ravenol Australia, Midas Auto Care, Crisis Transport and Logistics, V-Sport, JLM Lubricants Australia, Competition Products and Yokohama Motorsport Tyres Australia.
