Jason Bargwanna and Neil McFadyen made motor racing history today at Eastern Creek International Raceway, setting the quickest times in the two practice sessions held for MINI CHALLENGE, the world debut for the R56 model MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE racecar.
PRACTICE 1:
The day started with Bargwanna setting the pace with a time of 1:46.1071, some 0.2 seconds in front of McFadyen.
Whilst Bargwanna was throwing caution to the wind, many competitors were spending their time becoming accustomed to the warm track conditions and the R56 racer.
Third for the session was the surprise packet 26-year-old Victorian, Nathan Geier. Completing the top five were the equally surprising Chris Oxley and Perth’s Dave Turner.
Grant Denyer – fresh from his commitments with the Seven Network’s Sunrise program – ended the session a steady seventh on times. Having never seen the racecar before this morning, he improved markedly in Practice 2. His DecoRug motorsport team-mate, Paul Stokell had a lot of work to do after finishing the session in 11th.
Tim Poulton - who has raced a variety of production based vehicles in his short career – finished the session sixth fastest. Rounding out the top 10 were Todd Fiore, Ricky Occhipinti and Paul Fiore.
Carrera Cup regular, Iain Sherrin set his fastest lap of the day, finishing the session 12th.
PRACTICE 2:
Whilst times in session two were slightly slower, the competition was as hot as the ambient temperatures baking Eastern Creek.
Topping the time sheets was Neil McFadyen with a 1:46.6978, leaving team manager, Peter Doulman with a grin from ear to ear, matching the hype that has surrounded the 24-year-old nine times Australian Champion, who currently leads the Australian Formula 3 Championship.
Bargwanna’s good form from P1 continued, finishing the session second. The Stillwell Motorsport team – operating the UBER-STAR CAR - spent much of the session fine tuning the former Bathurst winner’s machine ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying. Grant Denyer rocketed up the time sheets to third placing; setting a time some two seconds a lap faster than his first session.
Geier’s good form continued in fourth, whilst Tim Poulton (Trivett Classic MINI Garage) finished the session in sixth behind Oxley. Gary Young – who is racing two categories this weekend – finished his day eighth for Stillwell MINI Garage, whilst team-mate Michael Stillwell benefitted from some fresher rubber than session one in 11th. Stillwell was working hard at arriving at a suitable setup for qualifying tomorrow.
The Fiore brothers, Todd and Paul, finished the session ninth and 10th respectively. The brotherly battle in the Brisbane MINI Garage team looks set to continue throughout the weekend. Young Victorian, Ricky Occhipinti had a horror session, the fire extinguisher going off before even getting to the dummy grid, this unsettled the youngster, who comes into his first tin-top race meeting without having the opportunity to test his MINI CHALLENGE racecar.
Motorline MINI Garage competitors – Callum Ballinger and Darren Berry – hit the track for their first hitouts of the weekend and finished 12th and 16th respectively.
Tomorrow, competitors will be back on track first up for a 20 minute qualifying session before the first ever race for the R56 model MINI John Cooper Works CHALLENGE racecar anywhere in the world, the green light coming on at 11:30am.
Bargwanna was pleased with the day.
"The car’s great fun to drive, it feels fantastic and it’s a great way to start the weekend," he smiled. "There’s plenty of competition up the front and by the time the lights go green, it’s going to be pretty interesting!"
McFadyen, too was happy with his day’s work.
"You don’t win the weekend in practice, but the car felt very good. Like everyone we were feeling our way, but it was good to be quickest in this first event. We’re ready for qualifying and the race tomorrow."
MINI CHALLENGE – PRACTICE 1 (Top 5):
1. Jason Bargwanna 1:46.1071
2. Neil McFadyen 1:46.3852
3: Nathan Geier 1:46.7326
4. Chris Oxley 1:47.9750
5. Dave Turner 1:48.3057
MINI CHALLENGE – PRACTICE 2 (Top 5):
1. Neil McFadyen 1:46.6978
2. Jason Bargwanna 1:46.9038
3. Grant Denyer 1:47.0208
4. Nathan Geier 1:47.4630
5. Chris Oxley 1:48.0108
MINI CHALLENGE SCHEDULE:
Saturday, March 8, 2008
QUALIFYING – 9:00am-9:20am
RACE 1 – 11:30am-11:50am
Sunday, March 9, 2008
RACE TWO – 10:20am-10:40am
RACE 3 – 2:35pm-2:55pm
TV SCHEDULE: Sunday, March 9, 2008 – approx. 3:15pm nationally
