PERKINS WINS AFTER RANDLE'S HOPES GO UP IN SMOKE
Jack Perkins has won a classic Kerrick Sports Sedan Series encounter this afternoon in the #4 Auto Union Deutsche Audi A4 after holding out concerted pressure from title contender Tom Randle for much of the race in a classic fight.
Randle ran nose-to-tail with Polesitter Perkins in his Kerick/CKAS SAAB for nine of the ten laps before a left front ball joint failure ended his day as the car crossed the line to commence the final lap.
Randle ultimately failed to finish however did set a new category lap record at the Goulburn venue at 57.06s in his relentless pursuit of Perkins.
Tony Ricciardello finished second in the #1 B&M Ricciardello Motors Alfa Romeo GTV, while Steven Tamasi third to further close the championship race in his #9 Domain Prestige Homes Holden Calibra.
Ricciardello now assumes the points lead by one point ahead of Tamasi, while Randle remains in third but now 35 points adrift of the lead.
Shane Woodman and Michael Robinson completed the top five in their Landell's Signs BMWM3 and the Bell Real Estate Monaro respectively. Australia's fastest tin-tops to contest a further two races tomorrow.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Jack Perkins – Race One Winner - #4 Auto Union Deutsche Audi A4
"(The race) was good, it is good to have some competition - that is what we are here to do, to race and to race hard. Thomas drove well and unfortunately had a mechanical drama, but I thought we had his measure until we got to the lapped traffic and then he caught up to me. The lapper didn't make life easy for me but that's what happens. We are looking forward to tomorrow, we will put our better tyres back on tomorrow, and see what happens. No (it wasn't hard being in front and under pressure), it is no different from any race when you are leading and you've got someone fast. You are always doing your best to maintain position and ideally you can pull away. At various stages of that race we pulled away and if it wasn't for the lapped traffic I think we would have had a bit of a margin on Thomas but their car had strengths where we had weaknesses and vice versa, so we will just work on it and try and improve it for tomorrow. I think there is still a lot of car in it, I under-drove it in qualifying and ended up just saving tyres for the race. It would be nice if we had two sets in qualifying because I reckon we would smash more lap records! But it is all going pretty good, I am looking forward to seeing what we do tomorrow when we put our best foot forward in terms of tyres and make a few little tweaks overnight – so far, so good!"
Thomas Randle - #93 Kerrick/CKAS SAAB
"In qualifying we had the new tyres on and we took them off for the first race. We got a pretty decent start, but obviously we couldn't stay around the outside of (Perkins) as that was not going to work. He sort of got away at the start and then as the tyre temperatures went up and the tyre pressures went up I started reeling him in. He was really strong out of turn two and out of the last corner with putting the power down but I just tried to stick with him. The adrenalin was pumping, and I got quite close to him. Then on the second last lap, I had to pass (Bruce) Henley who obviously didn't see the blue flags, but then it was on – going into 'the fish hook' (Perkins) blocked and I went to the right-hand side, so it was side-by-side and I thought 'I am in for a good finish'. But then as I came out of the last corner to start the last lap, the front left (of the car) went down – something had broke in the suspension and that was it, game over. I am really happy with the pace considering we haven't had any running really this weekend and to grab the lap record is awesome. I have to thank all the guys including James White who has pretty much rebuilt the front, Daniel Young who has done all the new aero upgrades, and the entire Dream Motorsport team. Hopefully tomorrow I can get to the top three by the end of the first lap and then try and catch them, the championship is still alive I believe."