ASHLEY COOPER CHALLENGE AT BATHURST

Saloon Cars Showcase Easter at Bathurst

Saloon Cars showcased the Racing at Bathurst over the weekend with a display of close racing and endless passing. The event was promoted by Saloon Cars Queensland and had drivers from as far as Western Australia and as far north as Townsville and South as Victoria.

The weekend was sponsored by Donate Life and was in tribute to our great friend Ashley Cooper who unfortunately died in a motor racing incident. Before he passed away he had reminded his parents of his wish of donating organs and saved 6 lives as a result of his choice. This racing weekend was to make drivers, sponsors, the racing community aware of the need to think about donating organs.

The weekend unfortunately started with Gerard Miscamble smashing into McPhillamy Park wall near skyline and writing-off his brand new VT Commodore in the 1st Qualifying session and Harley Phelan having an incident in the wall near Forest Elbow.

After these initial incidents the weekend went without a safety car and ensured drivers made the most of the 130 minutes of racing time on the program. With this time on track we saw every driver produce Personal Best times in most sessions.

After qualifying we saw the South Australian and former National Champion Shawn Jamieson on Pole Position with a lap record, with QLD State Based runner Lindsay Kearns close behind with Matt Lovell showing he still has the pass on return from a couple of years away from the sport in 3rd Position.

QLD state based runner in his newly purchased AU Falcon showed good pace to beat Victorian Simon Tabinor for 4th and 5th place respectively. and Matthew Lovell showed great pace followed by Victorian Simon Tabinor, State Based Queenslander runners Coleby Cowham and Lindsay Kearns tried mixing it with their national competitors.

NSW was well positioned with Dave Rodgers pipping out Sam Milton from South Australia for 6th position. Down the field Gary Hills showed some real pace in 13th place after travelling over 3,000 km's to feature in the field and never before seeing the track.

In the original cars Jonathan Fishburn led the way with some initial good times with John Townsend and Tony McKenzie behind. Rod Lloyd and Bec Drummond from Victoria enjoyed the experience of running at Bathurst for the 1st time.

Shawn Jamieson took the lead on the opening lap and set out breaking the field with a lap record in lap 2. Coleby Cowham, Matt Lovell and Simon Tabinor tried their hardest to catch Jamieson however could not bridge the gap, however they had a fierce fight for 2nd, 3rd and 4th position with Lovell securing 2nd with some forceful driving with Tabinor edging out Cowham. We had Jamieson, Cowham and also Sam Milton under the previous race record during the race.

Down the field we had Jonathan Fishburn, Wayne Patten and Martin Deckert fighting out a tough race with all securing over 2 seconds better than their qualifying pace and racing side by side without touching.

Once again John Townsend and Tony McKenzie fought out for 2nd and 3rd position for the older cars with Townsend edging out McKenzie. It was a massive effort by McKenzie to be here after having to rebuild his engine twice prior to the event as a result of some technical issues with the Pistons. His effort in getting to the race showed the spirit of racing all weekend.

After the race most of the drivers attended the Ashley Cooper Dinner hosted by Bobby McGee, the dinner was provided at the Panthers Leagues Club and had over 260 attendees for all categories racing. The Ashley Cooper Dinner was held to raise awareness of Donate Life and was well supported with Ashley's parents and sister in attendance along with Tony Warriner (NRMA Smash Repairs Team and organ recipient) and guest speakers Kyle Clews National Champion Aussie Cars, Ryan McLeod from Racer Industries and V8 Driver Steve Owen.

In race 2 Jamieson continued to dominate with Matt Lovell in 2nd and Simon Tabinor holding out Coleby Cowham. Down the field everyone continued to better their own times and get closer to the leading bunch with Lindsay Kearns and Dave Heath coming through the field with great pace. The racing continued to be close and provide door handle to door handle racing for the spectators to watch.

In race 3 in the last race of the event Saloon Cars showed why they are seen as a great category with racing tight throughout the field with passing manoeuvres all the way into the last lap. Gary Hill showed the reason he come all the way from Western Australia to compete coming all the way from the rear of the field to 14th. Fishburn got the better of Patten in the chase on the last lap just behind Townsville driver Deckert who drove the wheels off his VT Commodore.

Jamieson won the race with Lovell and Tabinor (who had quickest time for last 2 races) coming 2nd and 3rd respectfully. This is how they finished in the overall points.

We would like to thank Donate Life for sponsoring the event, the Cooper family for allowing us to hold the event in Ashley's memory, Bobby McGee for organising the Dinner, smash repair facilities and all the friends and family that helped out in the event.

We would also thank the drivers who turned up to run on the weekend no matter what pressures they were under to not run as it was everyone's input that made it a memorable event.

With comments from National Competitors and State Competitors both saying it was the best run event they had attended and also the friendliest we are sure to continue to help continue the Ashley Cooper Challenge.

Ashley Cooper Challenge Perpetual Trophy Winner: Shawn Jamieson
Driver of the Meet: Lindsay Kearns
Manual Transmission Rookie of Year: Jonathan Fishburn
Hard Charger Award: Gary Hills
Team of meet/presentation etc: Site FX- Gerard Miscamble team

1st Place: Shawn Jamieson
2nd Place: Matthew Lovell
3rd Place: Simon Tabinor

Original Cars
1st Place: John Townsend
2nd Place: Tony McKenzie
3rd Place: Rebecca Drummond

Points Table