The NSW Production Touring Cars Championship returns to Wakefield Park this weekend for Round 2, with a trio of sprint races making up the schedule.
After the opening enduro round back in March, it was Class D driver Liam Cade who emerged on top of the overall standings in his VW Golf GTI. However, thanks to the points system that places an emphasis on class positions rather than outright results, the top of the points table is seriously tight, with just four points separating the top five drivers in the championship – check out the full points situation HERE.
Cade will be out to extend his points lead this weekend, but he will face opposition from a competitive line-up of drivers in Class D. While the class has typically been fought out between Toyota 86 drivers, this year there is an encouragingly diverse array of cars including a BMW 125i (driven by former Improved Production racer Andrew McMaster), a Ford Fiesta ST (Stewart Follows) and some other VW Golfs (driven by Henderson Leslight and Mike Ferns). There are still a couple of 86s in the mix as well, piloted by Geoff Tierney and Christoph Heiniger.
In terms of the other classes, Class X will be fought out by Anthony Soole’s always rapid (if sometimes frustratingly temperamental) BMW M4 and Paul Pearson’s new VF HSV GTS. Class A1 entries this weekend include young talents Dimitri Agathos (Subaru WRX STI) and Harrison Cooper (Mitsubishi Evo X), while Alex Bryden jumps aboard the RAM Motorsport/GWR Australia Mercedes A45 that achieved fourth outright (and class honours) at the Bathurst 6 Hour last month.
Class A2 will be a battle of Robert Coulthard’s VE HSV GTS and Brent Howard’s BMW M3, while Adam Gosling is the sole representative in Class B1, but will be looking for some more outright top five results in his Honda Civic.
Class B2 will be a battle of the Holdens, ranging from the VT of Jonathan Fishburn all the way through to the KMS Electrical Services VF SS-V Redline, which will be raced by Corrine Virag’s partner Liam Evans this weekend.
The Garry Mennell-owned, John Fitzgerald-driven BMW 130i (another car coming off a good Bathurst 6 Hour result) will fight it out with the HSV Astra VXRs of Carl Climan and Oskar Butt in Class C, while the RaceAway Track Time Mazda3, this weekend driven by Stephen Doorey, rounds out the field in Class E.
Qualifying and Race 1 will be held on Saturday, with Races 2 and 3 on Sunday.
