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After the concrete jungle of the Gold Coast it was nice to head down to Phillip Is for the 13th Round of the V8 Championship. With plenty of run off it was a bit more forgiving. But with a full grid was the racing the same ??

Qually:

With a changed format the guys now had a private qualify session and the feedback was very positive. It was extended to 15 mins so they had plenty of space and time to post a good lap. It was good to see Frank Papoutsis finish in P4 with Matt Pisani starting from P3. But it was the usual suspects in the top 2 Chris Beresford and David Lord who claimed pole with a 1:33.722

Race 1:

The tiny green lights lit and they were off. The leaders off down the track and some of the back markers were off into the grass. Most of the field got away cleanly with David, Chris and rookie Nick Charlier leading them into Stoner corner. Every turn after that had its casualty. Frank the worse off dropping back to last after losing out of Lukey Heights, P3 down to P16. Nick soon dropped to P6 as there was a strong 4 car battle for 3rd. Daniel Oppedisano and Enda Murphy were having a good scrap until they came together under braking at Honda corner. Daniel lost further positions as he ran wide coming onto the home straight and spun. From P5 he rejoins in P11. Mick Spiteri got caught up in someone else's spin and ended up on his roof. Lord now stretching his lead from Chris by 4 seconds. greg Gavalas doing his best to stay close to his arch rival Wade Keenan with only 1 car between them keeping that old scrap alive. Lord takes the win with Beresford in 2nd and Matt Pisani in 3rd

Race 2:

What a start !! All but 1 car got off ok. The stronger field trying to get to the front early as the reverse grid had started them at the back. This was causing a bottle neck and a few incidents. David Lord was forced to redress after coming together with Matt Pisani. Meanwhile Spiteri was keeping Murphy honest out front but Spiteri spun which left Murphy to race away with a healthy 4 sec lead. Spiteri now back to P6. Iain McIntosh and Troy Czislowski having a good battle for P9. Lord still mid pack trying to make his way through after his earlier incident. Greg Gavalas holding out Beresford for P2. On Lap 8 however Beresford get the job done as he is keen to maximise his gap to Lord. With 2 laps to go Beresford is going for the win as he is chasing down Murphy. He is only .8 sec's behind and gaining quickly. Beresford gets caught up with the back markers as Murphy crosses the line victor and Greg Gavalas in 3rd.

Race 3:

A poor start to race 3 brings out the safety car. The field is forced to slow it down and take it easy. Spiteri took the opportunity to pit for a replacement front bumper. This might-en be enough to for-fill his compulsory pit stop. Will his tyres last that long? 25 laps to go and we will see as he restarts from the rear of the field. Once the Safety Car dives into the Pit Lane the call comes over the radio "Green Flag.....go..go..go.." and David Lord set the pace across the start/finish. While the top 3 sorted themselves out Iain McIntosh and Wade Keenan are swapping paint for P4. This charge has moved them up to the back of Greg Gavalas who is struggling to hold P3. Four seconds back is another 4 car battle between Papoutsis,Pisani, Murphy and Spiteri. 

At the half way mark and Beresford is still keeping Lord at bay with a 1.5 sec buffer but he soon relinguishes the lead when he is one of the first ones to pit for tyres. Will the undercut work in his favour ?? Garry Kingma is one of tonight's rookies and as the night has progressed so has he. He is currently in P10 with a healthy 15 second buffer. Nick Charlier is the other rookie, he was showing good pace early on but has since slipped back a bit. Papoutsis just got caught up with some back markers and lost a couple of spots. With 3 to go has spun losing a further 4 seconds to Beresford in the lead. Pisani, Keenan and Ben Weeks are 3 wide down Gardner straight to give the crowd something the cheer about but its Beresford to take the win and the round ahead of David Lord and Greg Gavalas in 3rd.

By Shane Gilfeather

Race Results:

 Drivers Standings: