In our final photo gallery from the QBE Australian Superbike Championship round at Queensland Raceway we take a look at the Sports Racer category – a sportscar category that uses motorcycle engines .
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James Winslow, defending Australian F3 champ took pole
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Aaron Thompson rounds turn three in his West
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The front straight shows how dark it got by the time the SportsRacers got to their first race
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Warren Thomspson in his West WR13
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Adam Proctor takes out race 1, after passing James Winslow on the second-to-last lap
Full gallery after the race recap
The race in brief – courtesy of SportsRacer PR
A two-time Australian Gold Star Champion in F3, James Winslow showed his class by notching up two wins out of three races in Round 1 of the National Sports Racer Series at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich June 15/16. The opening round created great interest (on two wheels as well as four) with the cars running in support of the Australian Superbike Championship.
One of the best kept secrets in motorsport, the CAMS five round series for the lightweight bike powered sports cars will be running at Phillip Island, Sydney Motorsport Park, Hidden Valley with the finale at Mallala in November.
Winslow’s decision to compete for the West team is expected to spur on entries from rival makers such as Stohr, Radical and Speads, with drivers enthusiastic about the format of three twenty minute races per weekend.
Defending Sports Racer champion Adam Proctor (Stohr) took out the first race of the weekend after a close and hard fought battle with James Winslow. Winslow had the better of the start and led for the first 12 laps of the 14 lap encounter closely shadowed by Proctor. The change for the lead occurred on lap 13 in turn 3. Proctor utilized the presence of a fellow competitor being lapped to seize his chance and sneak through on the exit and assume the lead. Proctor held on for the final lap to win ahead of James Winslow and fellow West driver Aaron Steer. The battle in the second pack had been frenetic with Darren Barlow (Stohr), Mark Laucke (West) and Craig Perry (Stohr) all exchanging positions whilst trying to find a way past Steer. Next was Michael Whiting (West) followed by the debutant Aaron Thompson (West).
Race two saw Winslow bounce back to push Proctor into second place. Again it was a very tight battle with Winslow grabbing a narrow lead early in the contest. Proctor closed the gap to less than a second at the finish. Third place went to Darren Barlow after a late-race pass on Mark Laucke. Craig Perry recovered from an early off track excursion to catch Aaron Steer and seal fifth place. Steer again was followed home by Michael Whiting and Aaron Thompson. The hard luck award went to Warren Thompson (West) who encountered a braking issue & made contact with the wall.
The final Trophy race was a torrid affair with Proctor closing the gap several times but Winslow was able to respond on each occasion and maintain a winning advantage to the flag. Darren Barlow snuck past Aaron Steer on the first lap and managed to maintain that position to the chequer ahead of a fast finishing Craig Perry. Mark Laucke and Aaron Steer were next in the sequence ahead of Aaron Thompson.
So at the conclusion of the weekend James Winslow was the victor on 111 points from Adam Proctor on 108 and Darren Barlow on 98.
The strong performance by the West team has fired a warning shot across the bows of the Stohr camp and a quick response is expected at the next round at Sydney Motorsport Park, August 3-4. AB
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For more coverage of our ASBK round
– Interview with Robbie Bugden
– Interview with Glenn Allerton
– Interview with Brandon Demmery
– Interview with Wayne Maxwell
– Preview interview with Hudson Pitt
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Josh takes a message from his team during one of the session
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Photos by Sam Tickell, June 2013
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