Jason Bargwanna’s MINI CHALLENGE winning streak has continued after a frenetic race two today at Phillip Island, taking yet another dominant victory, whilst the 18 strong field went at it hammer and tongs.
It took Bargwanna (Trivett Classic MINI Garage/Matchmaster TV Reception Systems) just four laps to hit the front – although cousin Scott – who set the early pace, didn’t make life easy for the former Bathurst champion.
The two were banging door handles for much of lap four until Jason was able to make the decisive move.
It looked as though it would be a Bargwanna quinella, however a spin with just two laps to go dropped Scott to 12th. This affected the order further back, with Todd Fiore (Shell Helix Ultra) having to avoid Bargwanna’s stricken car and dropping behind brother Todd to finish sixth.
Both were in the thick of the action from the start, working over McFadyen and fighting it out with Geier, the two Perth brothers having a sensational weekend.
The battle for the minor placings raged right until the chequered flag, Nathan Geier (Split Image Project Management) followed Bargwanna through the pack from row number three. Eventually, the young St Kilda resident - who is running with support from the BMW Apprentice Program – was able to annex second placing and secure a front row start for tomorrow’s race three.
He is aiming to take a fairytale victory after putting his team together at MINI headquarters in Mulgrave on Wednesday night.
Neil McFadyen (MPA Projects) was looking likely to take second, but ended up finishing fourth after plenty of biff and barge left the M3 Motorsport machine looking a little worse for wear. The battle surged back and forth throughout the eight lap distance.
There were battles on the racetrack wherever you looked, the final order not determined until they crossed the line.
Todd Wanless (Motorline MINI Garage) continues his best weekend of MINI CHALLENGE to date, but was swamped by the DecoRug "precision driving team" on the last lap at the hairpin, dropping him to eighth.
DecoRug racers – Grant Denyer and Paul Stokell – had a spirited inter-team battle throughout the race, recovering after yesterday’s disappointment to come in sixth and seventh respectively. Crucially, Denyer was able to limit the damage to his Series lead.
Rounding out the top 10 were Gary Young (SALTA Constructions) and David Turner (Glory Team Racing). Turner was running in the thick of the action before a deflating tyre over the last two laps dropped him a couple of places.
Beric Lynton (Crimsafe/Bruce Lynton MINI Garage) finished 11th, with Scott Bargwanna 12th, then Nick Stillwell (Bib Stillwell MINI Garage), Rob Graham (Kings Way MINI Garage), Ed Singleton (MPA Projects) – who had a spin, Brendan Cook (Terex Cranes) and UBER-STAR, Bob Holden.
Darren Berry (Clipper Motor Yachts) had a tumultuous race, after a turbo hose came loose on the grid. He was able to get away and complete the eight lap distance.
Tomorrow, race three will round out the weekend at 11:00am, where Jason Bargwanna will aim to take his winning record to six on the trot, however Nathan Geier is fired up to take Bargwanna and get his second round win.
WHAT THEY SAID:
JASON BARGWANNA – 1ST: "We’ve now won every race since the inception of this race team, it’s a real family effort and I have to thank them all for everything they’ve done to get us to this point. Today’s race was great, I got in front and thought about doing a bit of a form finish, but Nathan (Geier) was catching all the time. Next thing I look around and Scott wasn’t there! It would have been great to finish with the quinella – maybe tomorrow?"
NEIL McFADYEN – 3RD: "It was an awesome race, just really good, close hard racing. There was a bit of biff and barge, but nothing too serious, it was all good fun! The M3 Motorsport team has made a performance gain this weekend, we were a little off the pace at the last couple of rounds, but we’re back on it now, which is great. We’ve also made some gains on the Series leader – our goal is to win the Series and this weekend has gone a long way towards closing the gap at the front."
PAUL FIORE – 4TH: "It was pretty exciting out there! I was focused on staying out of trouble, which I managed to do. I got lucky when Scott spun out and Todd went off I made up a couple of spots. I lost the front splitter fairly early on and just had no downforce at the front. I’m rapt to be working with the Greg Murphy Racing team, they are doing a sensational job with the Brisbane MINI Garage Shell Helix cars."
- Matt Payne- also photo
