Success for Bob Jane T-Marts Porsches at Sandown

Sandown provided a successful ending for Sonic Motor Racing Services in the latest round of the Paynter Dixon Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship.

Situated a half an hour drive from Sonic’s workshop in Bayswater, Sandown is the home circuit for the squad and pre-event test at the venue provided confidence for the trio of Bob Jane T-Marts-supported drivers.

Simon Fallon led the way for most of the weekend as he continues to build on an improved season.

Achieving ninth in qualifying, Fallon progressed throughout the weekend by scoring a pair of eighths and a fourth to cap off the weekend, just falling short of the podium as he aims to cement a top 10 finish in the championship standings.

While pleased with the progress, he rued some issues during the weekend.

“It wasn’t the best weekend, but not the worst,” Fallon described.

“We recovered well on Sunday to go from eighth to fourth, but on Saturday we struggled. We lost splitters early in both events and unfortunately our pace wasn’t really there.

“It was a good result to end up fourth in the end, but looking to move forward to Bathurst.”

Luck deserted Angelo Mouzouris at Sandown after qualifying 12th, but a couple of spins in the opening race led to a 16th place finish in the Pro class. A superb comeback driver in Race 2 ensured a finish inside the top 10 for Mouzouris as he drove to ninth.

An opening lap incident in front was avoided by Mouzouris as he emerged sixth. He was well placed to advance further when a radiator was punctured forcing him into retirement thought to be caused by the Turn 1 incident.

“I guess you could say this weekend was one of those character building ones,” Mouzouris summarised.

“We were quick in practice, but didn’t really put it together in qualifying and Race 1. The next race was good, we made up six or seven spots to finish ninth, while in the final I got caught up in an opening corner incident through no fault of my own. I had the smallest little graze on the front bumper and popped the radiator, so we decided to not risk any further damage and park it.

“It was a really unfortunate way to end the weekend, however there are many positives. We’re quite quick now and figured out the car, so I’m in the right headspace to move forward.

“I can’t wait for Bathurst, we’ve been quick there in the past as I scored a Super2 pole there, so it'll be good to get back there to do laps in the Cup Car.”

Pro-Am contender Rodney Jane enjoyed a successful weekend as he qualified fourth to be just 0.186s behind the pole time, but a spin in Race 1 dropped him to ninth.

Jane elevated to fifth in the 30-lap mini-enduro, before leaving the best until last when he avoided opening lap chaos to hold off a stern challenge to achieve his first Pro-Am Class win of the year.

“Michael and the Sonic boys have put a great car together, which makes it a lot easier for me as a driver,” credited Jane.

“We’ve got to string it together and make use of the tools they give us. I think I had that at the start of the first race and I had that incident to put us a fair way back.

“I managed to luckily miss the opening corner incident to emerge first and in a slightly shortened race we managed to lead the next eight or 10 laps to win. Persistence paid off as I finished third for the round.

“I really appreciate what the team at Sonic did and now we’re heading to Bathurst, which I’m really looking forward to going there.

“It’s the second time I’ve been there in the last 10 years, so I’m really looking forward to racing there and I’ve got a bit of work to get my pace up to see how we go."

The next round for the Paynter Dixon Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship is at the fabled Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit at Bathurst on October 5-8.