Former HQ Holden and Saloon Car racer Daniel D\u2019Aquino has been confirmed as the highest point-scorer in Round 1 of the MRF Tyres NSW Production Touring Car Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, after winning Class B2 in each of the three point-scoring races aboard his newly-built Holden VE Commodore SS.<\/p>\n
While D\u2019Aquino was dissatisfied with the handling of his Commodore after Friday practice, he and his team improved the car over the weekend, taking advantage of the highly-variable conditions which included a mixture of wet and dry racing.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s opening one-hour race, held in conjunction with the MRF Tyres Australian Production Car Series, was predominantly wet and it was Matt Holt who ended up as the highest-placed NSW PTC competitor in the outright results, finishing in an impressive second position. The conditions produced a mixture of results, with newcomer Reece McIntosh putting in a giant-killing performance aboard his VW Golf GTI to finish fifth outright.<\/p>\n
Tom Muller, brothers Daniel and Jacques Oothuizen and Duane West also recorded outright top-10 results, while reigning Class D champion Edan Thornburrow held out a charging Zach Loscialpo in the battle of the Toyota 86s.<\/p>\n
Saturday afternoon featured a sprint race for NSW competitors only, Holt taking the outright win ahead of Muller and Stephen Thompson.<\/p>\n
The second of the sprint races, held on Sunday morning, did not count for series points but still produced an enthralling contest on a wet racetrack. A Safety Car was deployed after Barry Sternbeck crashed on the first lap, and restarted for a one-lap sprint to the line; McIntosh took an amazing outright victory after holding out a hard-charging Alex Bryden (Mercedes A45 AMG) along with Thompson\u2019s Evo X.<\/p>\n
The weekend\u2019s racing concluded with another one-hour endurance race, and this time it was Thompson who ended up as the highest-placed of the NSW drivers in fifth outright, after Matt Holt suffered a late puncture.<\/p>\n
Alex Holzl (BMW 1M) was third of the NSW runners, with D\u2019Aquino securing the points lead with another Class B2 win and an outright top-10 finish.<\/p>\n
The final class winners were:<\/p>\n
Class X \u2013 Joe Krinelos<\/p>\n
Class A1 \u2013 Stephen Thompson<\/p>\n
Class A2 \u2013 Matthew Holt<\/p>\n
Class B1 \u2013 Peter O\u2019Donnell<\/p>\n
Class B2 \u2013 Daniel D\u2019Aquino<\/p>\n
Class C \u2013 John Fitzgerald<\/p>\n
Class D \u2013 Zach Loscialpo<\/p>\n
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