2005 Race Reports
Round 1 2005
Morgan Park Raceway
The Geminis started their season with a bang, with some of the best action we have seen in many years. It would be fair to say that the field is much stronger this year at the front, and it will no doubt be much faster. Gone are the trusty old Dunlop Monzas, and in are the new Yokahama variety, bringing the Geminis in line with their Improved Production cousins.
At the first AASA race meeting for the year at Queensland Raceway, Ash Jarvis looked to be on the pace, giving some of the bigger cars a run for their money. Jarvis, is entering his second season in the class aboard the car that won last year’s title with John Eddy aboard, and in Friday practice, he looked like the man to beat. The fast cars on Friday dipped into the 1:19 bracket, with Cam Wilson unofficially second fastest, a few tenths off the pace. Wilson, a former series champion is returning to the series full time with his Job’s On team. Also returning to the fold for the Job’s on crew is Dave Wood, after a year on the sidelines after competing in Formula Ford and Improved Production. Wood suffered a drama on Friday when the throttle stuck wide open on the run into Gumtree corner, however he made it back to the pits without damage.
Come Saturday morning qualifying, Jarvis put his car on pole position with a time of 1:19.4186, with Wilson some 0.02 behind. In third was last year’s rookie of the year, Ben Singleton, returning in a Job’s On supported car. Next on the grid was the improving Barry Tanton, driving a Rod Dawson prepared car. In fifth was Nick Large, this year running in a two-car Andersens Carpets outfit with newcomer Gavin Pates. Wood was next, struggling for straight-line speed, then Nick Rangeley. Rangeley started the weekend slowly running on Dunlops while bedding his car in, but a wrong direction on set up put him further down the field than normal. In eighth was Bec Dawes, who finally had a couple of days of solid testing under her belt, ahead of Paul Hibberd in the Stick-A-Sign car. Rounding out the top ten was Jason Eggins, starting his first full season after a run late in 2004. Eggins was lucky to make the weekend after a scary off after losing a wheel and axle at turn one in Friday practice. Gerry Van De Linde was next in a BRD supported machine, ahead of Dan Bowden, driving a re-shelled car. Pates was next, from Melissa Thompson, Bobby Ervin driving one of the former Job’s On cars in his second outing, and Jacob Brackenridge. Brackenridge is another newcomer, driving the car formally campaigned by Ash Jarvis.
Onto the start of the first race, a 10 lapper that counted towards championship points. Jarvis jumped away to a massive lead on the opening lap as the leading two Job’s On machines minced the start. Wilson made a good initial kick before having to turn on the fuel pump after turning it off prior to the start to avoid the car from flooding, while Singleton had to refire his car after bogging down. All of this chaos saw Tanton and Dawes move through to the front of the field. The charge was then on; importantly Rangeley jumped ahead of Wilson at the start, and with Wood, charged back through the field.
As the race continued on, Jarvis came back to the field. At just over half race distance, Hibberd understeered wide coming onto the main straight, giving the outside concrete wall a hefty whack. On the same lap, Lange succumbed to engine problems. In a strange coincidence, the engine was Hibberd’s car was rescued, and transplanted into Lange’s machine. While all of this was happening, Rangeley made it through for the lead, while Wilson made a lunge on second placed Jarvis coming onto the front straight, tagging the rear of his car. Jarvis ran wide allowing Wilson and Wood through. At the finish it was Rangeley from Wilson, Wood, Singleton, Jarvis, Tanton, Bowden, Dawes, Eggins, Thompson, Pates, Van De Linde, Ervin and Brackenridge.
The Sunday morning race was a cracker, Wilson and Rangeley battling it out to the end. Each car had different strengths and weaknesses, which resulted in a good hard, sometimes defensive, close race. Wilson held out Rangeley, with Singleton a close third. All told, the top three were separated by half a second. Jarvis was next, from Wood, Tanton, Bowden, Dawes, Pates showing good early form, then Thompson, Eggins, Van De Linde, Ervin and Brackenridge. Straight after the chequered flag several cars scrambled to the pits for tyre temperature readings. After the race, Wilson and Rangeley were called before the clerk of course, but it was all smiles when it became clear that it was just great racing.
The afternoon non-championship points races were dominated by the Job’s On boys. Wilson led home Singleton, Rangeley, Wood and Jarvis in the first race, while the final race for the weekend was a cracker, with Wilson leading home Singleton, Wood, Rangeley, Jarvis and Tanton. Only only a second and a half separated the top six, with Singleton second by only two-tenths after giving Wilson a love tap on the last corner. More competitors are expected out at the next round in April.
By Mark Walker
Round 3 2005
Queensland Raceway
The Geminis continued to grow with a strong entry, and some of the best racing seen in a long time. Ash Jarvis picked up pole in an enthralling qualifying session from Ben Singleton, Nick Rangeley, John Eddy, driving Jason Eggins’ car while the big man was over seas. Cam Wilson was fifth in the first of the newly liveried Platinum Auto Car cars, from Nick Lange, showing a good turn of pace, then Dan Bowden, David Wood in a brand spanker from the Platinum team, which turned its first wheels during Friday afternoon practice. Ben Tomlin was on the money to start within the top ten at his second ever race meeting, Robbie Walker was tenth, then Bobby Ervin (third of the Platinum cars), the returning Tony Chapman after three years out of the hot seat, Bec Dawes, Gerry Van De Linde, Gavin Pates, Russell Brunker, Jacob Brackenridge, Matt Taylor driving the car normally campaigned by Melissa Thompson, with Lester Ervin rounding out the field.
The first six lap affair on Saturday will go down in the books as one of the best races ever, at least the best one this century. It was on for young and old, cars going four wide in parts, but three wide every where else. It was brilliant stuff, nobody fell off the track, and the racing was incredibly clean considering the closeness of the competition. Wilson was on a flyer early, setting a new lap record of 1:35.6549, his last full lap before the engine expired at turn three on lap three. Eddy wound up on top after an epic battle, only a single second split the top five competitors over the finish line. Singleton came home in second, third going to Rangeley, then Jarvis and Bowden. Positions six through nine were a bit closer at the finish, with two-tenths of a second splitting Ervin, Wood, Lange and Walker over the finish line. Tomlin was next from Chapman, Van De Linde, Pates, Taylor, Brackenridge, Dawes and Lester Ervin.
Ervin senior would take no further part in proceedings, as he donated his engine to replace the blown one in Wilson’s car. Everyone chipped in to affect the swap, and Wilson was back out on the track Saturday afternoon for a discretionary practice session. Brunker would also return to the track on Sunday after electrical woes kept him on the sidelines for the first race.
Sunday was championship points day, and the red flag bug of the other classes would have a dramatic effect on how the Gemini race would pan out. Just before the cars left the dummy grid, the heavens opened, but only over the southern half of the circuit. Turns one, two, four and five were soaked, turns three and six were dry. Eddy was an early retirement with engine dramas, as cars slid around the race track. Dawes and Brackenridge suffered several spins, as did Gerry Van De Linde, while Wood, Walker and Chapman also looped it. Luckily nobody bunkered, and they all made it to the finish. Rangeley took the win from Jarvis, using experience gained the previous weekend at the AASA to good use in the wet sections, including some impressive power slides out of the corners. Singleton was next, from Lange, Chapman, Bowden, Tomlin, Ervin, Taylor, Wilson, who had a good battle with 11th placed Brunker, then Pates, Wood, Walker, Van De Linde, Brackenridge and Dawes.
The final race was reduced to seven laps, with the event running into near darkness after 11 red flags slowed proceedings. The last race saw a bit more carnage than the previous races. In a hectic lap one, Walker hit Wilson down at turn three, with Wilson soon retiring with engine dramas. There was a hot battle for the lead between Rangeley, Singleton and Jarvis which was partially resolved when Singleton turned Rangeley around exiting turn two. Rangeley came back aggressively, setting the fastest lap of the race. Singleton took the win from Jarvis, with a pass being made on the last lap. Bowden scored his first ever podium with a fine drive into third position, from Lange, Ervin, Walker, who drove a cracking race from the back of the pack, then Tomlin and Taylor, both improving with every race. Chapman finished ninth, from Rangeley, Wood, Dawes, Pates, Van De Linde, Brunker and Brackenridge.
By Mark Walker
The Annual Gemini 1 Hour
The second annual Gemini One Hour was held at Morgan Park on October 1-2, headlining the Warwick District Sporting Car Club 51st Anniversary race meeting. A strong field of 18 cars fronted, with some very strong driving combinations. The meeting featured separate qualifying sessions for both drivers, with the best lap from each car counting towards the grid positions for the One Hour. Also on the program were scratch races for the main driver and the co-driver, as well as a top ten shoot out.
Qualifying & Shootout
The Top Ten Shootout proved to be a hit with drivers and crews, tossing up some surprises and an exciting battle until the final lap. Surprisingly, seven of the top ten cars came from the co-drivers qualifying session. First out was Aaron Hodges, in his first ever Gemini meeting, co-driving for Jason Eggins. Hodges did a neat and clean lap, with a 1:20.3023, slotting car 51 onto eighth grid position. Michael Dawes was out next in sister Rebecca’s car, with his 1:20.5347 dropped him back a spot to tenth. Nick Lange, who shared the driving with Trent Usher was next out, and fell a spot down the order to ninth with a 1:20.4137. Chris Donnelly made a return to the Geminis in Ray Connors car, and he remained steady in the shootout in seventh with a lap time of 1:20.2843.
The sixth car out onto the track was the car of Robby Walker, with V8 Ute and Historic Touring driver Jack Elsegood behind the wheel. Elsegood started out in motorsport in the Geminis, and on resumption in the shootout, jumped up to fifth spot with a lap of 1:19.7818. Benn Wilson was next out in the car he was sharing with brother Cam, and fell a spot back to sixth with a time of 1:19.9422. From here on in, the battle for pole was on, with each successive driver setting a new benchmark.
Matt Picken, sharing driving duties with Dave Wood was another to crack the 19s, with a time of 1:19.7596. Matt Taylor surprised everyone in the car he has shared this season with Melissa Thompson. In only his third ever meeting, Taylor retained his provisional third grid position with a time of 1:19.5272. It was then time for the big guns to come out, with Nick Rangeley (above) the second last car to hit the track. Sharing the driving for the weekend with another former champion in the form of John Eddy, Rangeley cracked into the 18s with a time of 1:18.8018. The last car to hit the circuit was Ash Jarvis, who was sharing driving duties with Carrera Cup pilot Klark Quinn. In a thriller, Jarvis set a time of 1:18.7935, 0.0083sec quicker than Rangeley, setting up a cracking one-hour.
Outside of the top ten, Ash Lowe in his first ever Gemini meeting put Tony Chapman’s car on grid spot 11. 12th was David McNab and Paul Jarvis (father of Ash), them Bobby Ervin, sharing the drive with V8 Ute driver Matt O’Grady, Ben Tomlin and Kandice Walker, then Jake Brackenridge with Steve Robinson, Russell Brunker with Ian Lees, Andrew Hagen with Kyle Organ-Moore, and two first timers, in Greg Willis who was paired with Matt Mackeldon.
Scratch Races
The first of the scratch races was for the main drivers, a race that saw a great deal of on track aggravation. At the start, Ash Jarvis got the jump on the field from pole, and had a fantastic battle with Rangeley through the entire eight laps. Cam Wilson made a shocking start, which sent the field scattering four and five wide into the first turn, including his Platinum team mate Ervin who went to the grass in avoidance. Lange was involved in some on track incidents and headed to the pits to serve a stop-go penalty.
Another incident at turn two took out a pair of cars. Rebecca Dawes went up the inside of Walker, which spun Dawes into the path of the hapless Ervin. Dawes retired on the spot with an extremely battered drivers door, while Walker limped back to the pits with a front end full of dirt. While that was going on, Ben Tomlin had a wild spin coming onto the straight, luckily being avoided by the rest of the field. Jarvis held on for the win from Rangeley, Wood a somewhat distant third, from Eggins who overcame many challenges. Thompson came home in sixth, from Thompson, McNab, Connor, Chapman, Hagen, Brackenridge, Brunker, Ervin, Lange and Willis.
The co-drivers race on Sunday morning, was another action packed eight lapper, with a bit less carnage than the opening race. John Eddy made the best of the getaway, initially challenged by Taylor, and then Picken, but eventually cleared off to an easy win. Taylor fell back down the order, and Picken was pinged for alleged off track excursions. This elevated Donnelly into second from grid position six, and Lowe into third from grid ten. Taylor came home in fourth, from a hard charging Elsegood, Michael Dawes in a rebuilt car, Usher, Quinn, Picken, Robinson, O’Grady, Cannon, Paul Jarvis, Organ-Moore, Benn Wilson, who also copped a stop-go, Mackeldon and Lees.
One Hour
The format for the one-hour was a compulsory pit stop for a driver change between the twenty and forty-minute marks, with safety cars included if needed. The driver changes would once again take place on the infield short circuit, with any additional pit stops attracting additional time penalties. Ash Jarvis started his car from pole, and jumped into the lead from Rangeley and Picken. Benn Wilson made another poor start in the 25 car, but he charged through from being rear of field in the opening stages. There were dramas on the run up to the bridge on the first lap, with Michael Dawes coming into contact with Eggins, with Eggins limping back to retirement in the pits
Donnelly finished the first lap in sixth, but by lap three he was up to fourth. Walker had an up and down run in the early stages, battling with Donnelly first, then Wilson and Thompson. The second retirement of the race occurred on lap 12, when Wilson brought his car into the pits with a blown engine. The first official stop of the race was for Robinson swapping over to Brackenridge, with the car coming into the pits in 13th, dropping two spots on the stop. Chapman handed over to Lowe on the next lap, with a relatively tardy stop, not helped by the window net, however the car gained a spot up to ninth.
The next lap saw Tomlin to hand over to Cannon, with the car dropping a spot back to tenth on the stop. This saw the its turn into a hive of activity, with Brunker taking over from Lees in the slowest stop of the race. Paul Jarvis handed over to McNab, the car dropping back a spot to 14th. Picken came in from third, handed over to Wood who re-entered the track in fifth. Thompson, who had fallen back to sixth by lap 20 swapped with Taylor, who resumed in eighth.
The 22nd lap saw Walker come in and strap Elsegood aboard, in the second fastest stop of the race, seeing the car drop from sixth to eighth. Willis came in and hand over to Mackeldon on the same lap, with the car falling from tenth to 12th. On the 24th lap the dramas hit for Wood, with the car receiving a meatball flag for a dislodged bonnet pin, which needed a further stop to rectify. With time penalties included for the additional pit stops, the car was well out of contention.
The pits were quiet until Hagen came in and handed over to Organ-Moore in a leisurely stop on lap 27, which saw the car restart three spots lower in 14th. By lap 28, Donnelly was comfortably in third, but a shocking stop saw the car rejoin in eighth. Usher swapped over with Lange, in the slickest stop of the race, jumping up into third after the dramas at the other end of the pit lane with the Connor car. Ervin came in and handed over to O’Grady at the same time in a neat stop, keeping steady in seventh position. The last two schedule stops of the race were for Eddy to get into the Rangeley car, and Quinn to take over from Ash Jarvis. Both occurred on lap 30, with the cars rejoining the track once again first and second on the road.
The Dawes machine suffered some mechanical dramas in the mid stages of the race, and eventually retired with five minutes to go, many laps down. After the pit stops, the race became fairly sedate. Lowe made it by Elsegood, and Mackeldon made his way past O’Grady.
After 45 gruelling laps Eddy brought the 72 machine home 30 seconds ahead of second place Quinn/Ash Jarvis car. The win was Rangeley’s second in as many one-hour races. Another fifteen seconds back was Usher in the Lange car, seven seconds ahead of Taylor and Thompson. Four seconds back was a charging Lowe, then Elsegood another six seconds back. Connor was next home, a lap down in seventh, ahead of Cannon, Mackeldon and O’Grady. McNab was another lap back, ahead of Brackenridge, Organ-Moore and Picken. Brunker completed 40 laps after suffering a series of mechanical woes.
By Mark Walker