Who would have thought that the Mixed League Championship would come down to the last race of the series. The top 2 contenders Jeremy Pernesz and Scott Durham were on equal points leading into the final round. The stage was set as we visited the Australian classic Oran Park in the Legends Cars which are similar to the "Aussie Racing Cars" series. After some pre-testing Scott Durham was showing some early pace that Jeremy couldn't match so Jeremy came in earlier in the week to get some serious practice in. On the night he surely showed that he found the pace as in the practice sessions it was he that was 1 second faster then the entire field.
Qually:
The race format had changed on the day and Qualify was reduced to only 5 mins due to 2 extra races being added to the program. This gave the guys 1 out lap and at best 2 hot laps. All scrambling for track position they got out in a hurry. Practice definitely made perfect as Jeremy nailed the best lap with Allan Marks the next best with Shane Gilfeather starting from P3. Scott after showing great pace struggled in Qually to finish in P4 with Chris Naumovski.
Racing:
The racing was set to 5 races at 10 laps each. This was designed to remove the need for pit stops and to keep the action on the track and that's exactly what it did. Straight away the Jeremy showed that he was the man to beat as he streaked ahead of the field leaving the others to play catch up. It looked like Chris jumped the start as he was served with a drive thru penalty which pretty much deemed him out of the race from that point on. Allan was impressive in P2 forcing Scott and Shane to try and make the move to get through. While Jeremy dominated to take the win Shane and Scott came home ahead of Allan in P4 ahead of Chris.
With the Championship slipping from Scotts grasp he decided to turn it up a notch as fired in the next win ahead of Shane again by .4 of a second with Jeremy home in P3. Race 3 and it was tit-for-tat as Jeremy firing the next shot taking the win just in front of Scott. Chris has posted the 2nd fastest time of 1:20.560 but couldn't translate that into a win as he come home in 5th.
Race 4 and Chris definitely stepped it up a gear as he dominated from the start. He led the field into turn 1 and never looked back to take the win. The others struggled in his wake as they staggered home. Jeremy in 2nd but Scott strolled over the line in 4th. With the placings varying between Jeremy and Scott the Championship would come down to the last race.
As the start grid was a reverse of the previous race results Scott and Allan were front row while Shane and Jeremy started from Row 2. The green light lit and they were off. Who would take home the title of "Series 2" 2014 Mixed League Champion ?. The entire field got a great start and it was all on into Turn 2. Unfortunately Chris got spooked by Jeremy locking up and as he touched the rear it was enough to turn him around. It was not Chris's night. This left the others to race it up the front. Jeremy and Allan fighting for the lead and Scott and Shane playing the waiting game. probably hoping for a mistake. Jeremy And Allan were swapping turns up front but this only kept the pack together and provided an exciting race for the crowd on Lap 6 they were going over Yokahama bridge when Scott locked up on exit and ran straight into the tyre barrier getting airborne. This took him out of the battle and maybe out of the Championship? The other 3 kept going and Shane was just happy watching the tyre smoke rise from the front 2 cars knowing that the bubble may burst. On Turn 2 of Lap 7 thats exactly what happed. Jeremy went in too hot on the inside and pushed Allan out into the sand trap were they both lost a bit of time. This left Shane out in front all on his lonesome. All he had to do was bring it home safely for 2 laps. he did that and took the final win for the night. Jeremy managed to rejoin the race and with his pace take home 2nd and the overall Championship win. Scott finished behind Jeremy but it was not enough as he conceded the title to Jeremy. Allan came home in 4th and Chris in 5th.
By Shane Gilfeather
You can watch the video of race 5 here: Race 5 Round 8 Mixed League 2014
Race Results:
| Driver | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Points |
| Jeremy Pernesz | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 89 |
| Shane Gilfeather | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 82 |
| Scott Durham | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 80 |
| Chris Naumovski | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 68 |
| Allan Marks | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 66 |
Final Championship Points:
| 2014 Mixed League - S2 | |||||||||||||||
| Drivers | State | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Drop Points | Total Points | Final Placings |
|||
| Jeremy Pernesz | NSW | 17 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 109 | 1st | |||
| Scott Durham | NSW | 20 | 15 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 26 | 104 | 2nd | |||
| Shane Gilfeather | NSW | 13 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 94 | 3rd | |||
| Chris Naumovski | NSW | 9 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 82 | 4th | |||
| Allan Marks | NSW | 15 | 12 | 11 | 20 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 82 | 5th | |||
| Nick Fittock | NSW | 8 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 6th | |||
| Ryan Hedger | NSW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 7th | |||
| Andrew Subiacco | WA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8th | |||
| Tim Hamilton | QLD | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 9th | |||
| Rob Cooper | QLD | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 10th | |||
| Enda Murphy | QLD | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11th | |||
| Adam Gill | NSW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 12th | |||
| Micheal Tyquin | NSW | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 13th | |||
| Ryan Healy | QLD | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14th | |||
| Iain McIntosh | QLD | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15th | |||
| Sam Owen | NSW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 16th | |||
Keep an eye out for our Next Mixed
League Comp !!!!!
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