QPC PUTS ON A SHOW AT QUEENSLAND RACEWAY

The weekend’s round three of the 2023 Queensland Production Cars season brought no shortage of entertainment to Queensland Raceway’s Days of Thunder event at the weekend (June 2-4), with two one-hour races back to back on Saturday evening followed by a 7-lap non-championship race on the Sunday.

Sunday’s non-championship race was the perfect opportunity for the QPC racers to showcase the category to a wide live broadcast audience across Fox Sports, Kayo and SBS, while also earning points in the AASA title chase.

The Sunday outright and A2 race win went to Matt McCutcheon (sharing the #7 Local Legends Ford Mustang with Ryder Quinn), who crossed the line ahead of fellow A2 racer Anthony Levitt (sharing the #16 AMG Spares Mercedes Benz C63 AMG with Luke King) and A1 class winner, Paul Buccini (sharing the #71 Brisbane Motorworks BMW M140i with Michael Von Rappard).

Richard Shinkfield (sharing the #19 Axis Surveys BMW E92 M3 with Ettore Vosolo) took the B2 class win from fourth outright, while class X winner Roman Miller rounded out the top five outright in the #28 LKV Flooring BMW M2 he shared with Justin Anthony on the weekend.

Chris Begg (2nd for B2 - #15 Motorsport Sales BMW E92 M3, sharing with Ashley Hooper), Robert Gooley (2nd for A1 - #60 Ultimate Diesel Tuning Mitsubishi Evo, sharing with Karl Begg) and B1 class winner Karlie Buccini (#9 Brisbane Motorworks BMW 135i) claimed positions six through eight outright.

C class winner Patrick Navin (#77 IOLAR VW Scirocco, sharing with Shane Worsnop) and D class winner Amar Sharma (#39 Gtechniq Ford Fiesta, sharing with Daniel Natoli) closed out the top ten outright.

Jason Alexander (2nd for C, #46 QTR Bridgestone Renault Megane), Nicholas Winsor (2nd for D - #85 Duke Racing Subaru BRZ) and Warren King (3rd for D - #98 Toyota 86, sharing with Ryan King) rounded out the field, while Steve McHugh was unable to finish the seven lap outing after spinning off at turn two. Gooley also took a spin during the race, but was able to recover.

Round four of the Queensland Production Cars will be held at Morgan Park Raceway across July 7-9. For event and category information, contact membership@qldproductioncars.com.au

QUOTEBOARD: 2023 QPC ROUND THREE WINNERS

Beric Lynton - #23 Bruce Lynton Service BMW M3 – Outright and Class X winner

“I was glad to get the wins, I was pushed by the young fellas in the Mustang (Ryder Quinn/Matt McCutcheon), they made us work for it, but it was good. On a whole, the traffic was great, and it was good to just get the car out after the Six Hour and take it for a run. We had some new mechanics learning the car too and joining Ralph and I in the team, so it was good for them as well. It was a good event all round for the QPC, and I think it is important that we thank the committee, and especially the ones that give their time but don’t drive, who are out there on a weekend making it possible for us to all enjoy it. It really comes down to people like Deb, Tony, Gary and Dave who give their time to make it work for all of us club members. Without them, without volunteers, we wouldn’t be going racing.”

Robert Gooley - #60 Ultimate Diesel Tuning Mitsubishi Evo, sharing with Karl Begg – Class A1 winner

“Maika Ter Horst who co-owns the car with me and who I usually co-drive with was away, so Karl Begg stepped in to drive with me for the two one-hour enduros. The car has been fully rebuilt since having underlying issues last year, with a new motor, new gearbox, new everything. It ran faultlessly all weekend and Karl drove really well given it was his first time driving that car. We were stoked to win the class and also really happy to get a result of P4 and P5 outright.”

Ryder Quinn - #7 Local Legends Ford Mustang, sharing with Matt McCutcheon – Class A2 winner and 2nd outright

“It was awesome to get the A2 class win and 2nd overall, in the Local Legends Mustang over the weekend. We were so close to getting the overall win, with constant battles happening between ourselves and the X class car of Beric Lynton. The racing was clean, the track was awesome, and the cars were fast. I am definitely looking forward to the next round!”

Trent Allen - #84 ABC Building Products Subaru WRX STi – Class B1 winner

“I was really happy with qualifying, it was a fantastic result for me and a personal best, which was great. Overall, I had some issues in race one, which I learnt to drive with in race two, but it wasn’t quite up there as far as what I would have hoped for. But ultimately, I had a great weekend with some good battles with the other guys. It was another great weekend. I think it is just such a great category and a really good bunch of guys, and I can’t wait for the next round.”

Chris Begg - #15 Motorsport Sales BMW E92 M3, sharing with Ashley Hooper – Class B2 winner

“It was a great weekend. We had dramas in both races – a destroyed left front after the driver change in the first race, so we had to pit for that but still managed to hold onto first place, and then in the second race after the driver change, I went 44km through the pits and so ended up with a drive through penalty. But once again, we still managed to hold onto the lead, so we were a bit lucky, but it was a great weekend. It was a well run event, the lighting is good on the circuit, and the car was flawless which was a bit of a change for us after issues last year. It was good also to be racing alongside my son (Karl Begg, who was sharing the #60 with Robert Gooley).”

Jake Camilleri - #36 Grand Prix Mazda Caboolture Mazda 3 MPS 3 – Class C winner

“It was a very enjoyable weekend. I love those race weekends where it is all sort of in one day. The turnaround between the two one-hour races was a bit of squeeze, but it made it exciting, to be jumping from one race straight into the next. The car was super consistent, and it was good fun racing at night time, I had a really good time.”

Oliver Loiacono and Liam Loiacono - #140 Hely Toyota 86 – Class D winner

Liam Loiacono

“It was a good weekend. OIlie and I shared the drive, and it was a really well run event, QPC did a really good job and Tony the DSO also gave us some really good guidance over the weekend. It was a good race, our first win in the enduros and it was my first race win ever, so I was definitely very happy, and it was a good weekend overall.

Oliver Loiacono

“It was a great weekend, going racing with dad, Liam and everyone at Queensland Production Cars. I want to say a big thank you to Tony the DSO for giving us guidance through the weekend. It was a great weekend; it is always a good weekend in production cars. Overall, I was quite surprised with the win. The night racing was really good too, it was definitely tricky at some points, but we got used to it and it sure was interesting!