Forbes Set For Massive Day

Forbes Set For Massive Day

By Mark Humphrey

Portland, Vic/Aus. 15^th November 2015. As we move into finals day for round 3 of the Summit Sportsman Series at the Fuchs South Coast Raceway former dual national Super Gas champ Matt Forbes finds himself as top qualifier for not only Super Gas but also Modified Eliminator. In what has been a busy weekend for Forbes steering cars in 2 different categories he has set himself up for what could turn out as a very successful weekend of racing for the Victorian?

Forbes has re-found the form in Super Gas which saw him collect back to back championships in the class to just edge out current Aussie champ Graeme Spencer who also looked solid during his 2 qualifying runs yesterday.

In Modified Forbes goes into today’s eliminations having narrowly edged out the ever consistent Leanne Braggs with champ Simon Barlow a whisker behind as 3^rd qualifier. Too many options in this quality field but by the end of the day Matt Forbes could quite possibly walk away with 2 Xmas trees.

Modified Bike as usually was well represented with more than 20 entries. Mark Allan takes a handy #1 qualifier spot into today’s eliminations but with a quality field ahead of him will have to be on his game to advance into round 2. Lots of tough competition in this bracket with Shane Walker and Edgell Mallis consistent runners at plenty of events around the country and definitely in the mix for silverware. Summit Sportsman Series round 1 runner-up Brian Finn has made the journey over from SA and goes into today’s eliminations leading the National Championship and should be considered a real chance on the Honda.

Junior Dragster sees Kelly Donnelly as the #1 qualifier yet again and should figure deep into the day’s eliminations. Once again the JD ranks are busy with talented runners throughout the qualifying list with last weekend’s Gold Xmas tree winner Brooke Farelly looking to add to the collection.

Super Sedan had 2 dozen racers line up in qualifying with Glen Henley in a Datsun Ute taking out the #1 qualifier tag with a 5.53 pass at 124.53 mph. Quality racers all through the list with Aussie Champ John Kapiris qualifying mid pack. Kapiris looked a touch off yesterday which for most racers would be on the money and needs to find the groove today if he is to add to the silverware collection.

Super Street like Super Sedan was well represented with 2 dozen racers lining up in qualifying. Garth O’Hehir top qualified in his Chevy Camaro with local hopeful Scott Cleary dropping into the #3 spot. Normally running in the 7.1’s Cleary had fallen away recently to sit around the 7.5’s with a close inspection of the power plant showing some head gasket issues the cause of the slower times. A freshen up for the event had Cleary posting 7.0’s for both qualifying runs and goes into today’s eliminations as one to watch along with Dave Yanko, Kylie Tanner and a host of others.

Top Sportsman sees South Aussie Phillip Yfantidis as the #1 qualifier with the only 4 second pass in the class. Yfantidis posted a 4.93 @ 141.10mph to easily head the list but will need to be on his game with last season’s hard chargers Stu McBain and Darren Saliba qualifying well.

Doina Day qualified in the #1 slot for Supercharged Outlaws and looks the one to beat in today’s eliminations. Having won the championship in 2014 and then backing that up as the series runner up last season Day is certainly the favourite to take out round 3 here at South Coast. In what was a fantastic result Jason Kiely picked up the #2 spot with a solid pass of 4.75 @ 144.12mph in his 34 Ford Coupe. Kiely has been slowly getting the rod into shape and his recent trip to Whyalla to contest the Supercharged Shootout seems to have paid off for the Calder Park regular. Having found the speed in the car Kiely now needs to find some consistency with his racing but if yesterday is anything to go on he is definitely heading in the right direction. Who knows what will transpire today but you can bet the Kiely camp is as proud as punch with yesterday’s result.

The last bracket to be contested at the Fuchs South Coast Raceway today is the Super Comp bracket. Supercharged Outlaws has always been my favourite bracket but Super Comp is fast becoming another favourite with runners like West Aussie Kim Fardella putting on another awesome display of qualifying yesterday in the Ford Falcon. Big time winner Craig Geddes never seems to put a foot wrong in this class and is always at the pointy end when finals time comes around. Geddes uncharacteristic had a dummy pass yesterday when the car sounded off after the burnout. Although this could be considered just a slight hiccup in most camps you never see anything short of perfect every time this race team rolls out onto the track so it will be interesting to see how the camp comes back. Geddes did manage to drop into the #3 spot just ahead of Fardella and behind Shane Baxter. Baxter who is well known for his Altered racing managed to go 0.30 under his index to drop into the #2 spot just behind top qualifier Jim Ioannidis who went 0.38 under his national index. Wayne Talbot in the Pluger Funny Car posted the day’s top ET and mph with a 4.31 pass @ 180mph over the 1/8 mile distance. Andrew Dyson competing in Super Compact and Daniel Camilleri in the Super Stock bracket rounded out the bracket in what was a very exciting day of qualifying. No doubt this will be one of the highlights of today’s racing. Eliminations commence at 10am with a full day’s racing expected to be completed around 6pm this evening.

For more info on the day’s activities go to: http://www.southcoastraceway.com/

Share this article