Press Release Courtesy of the Super Sedan Association.
Rockhampton’s Matt Williams has claimed the fourth edition of the GP53 at McCosker Gladstone Speedway in an epic feature race last night.
Tasmanian Steve Latham kicked off his night with a hard fought win in the opening heat of the night. Latham was pushed all the way by Sam Hughes in second, and Mick Nicola Jnr rounded out the podium in third.
Brock Atkins dominated proceedings in heat two, leading home WA Champion Dave Gartner from South Australia in second, and NSW & Victorian Champion Matty Pascoe in third.
The top six were separated by just 1.6 seconds in heat three. Mick Nicola Snr fought off enormous pressure to claim victory, from fellow Victorian Todd Atkins in second, and Harry Doyle in third.
Another tight tussle in heat four saw Josh McLaren take a narrow victory over Queensland Champion Brad Pascoe in second, and Hayden Brims in third.
Track prep between the first and second rounds of heats saw a completely different surface for the second round of heats.
Toowoomba’s Sean Black claimed victory in heat five from Brad Pascoe in second, and Tania Smith in third. Tasmania’s Callum Harper became the first driver on the night to break the lap record with a 14.017 second lap.
Mitchell Gee was flying around the Gladstone venue in heat six, breaking Harper’s lap record with a 13.617 second lap. Gee led home Hayden Brims in second, and Tyson Moon in third.
National Champion Darren Kane was too good in heat seven, leading home Matty Pascoe in second, and Matt Williams in third.
Trent Wilson claimed a narrow victory in heat eight, taking the win from Zac Pascoe in second who pushed Wilson all the way, and Zac Brims in third.
Zac Pascoe would get his win in the final round of heats taking a comfortable victory in heat nine from Moon in second, and Tasmanian David Nichols in third.
Harper was too good for the field in the tenth heat of the night, leading the way from Nicola Snr in second, and ‘The Joker’ Steve Jordan in third.
Zac Brims took out the penultimate heat of the evening leading home Williams in second, and Matty Pascoe in third.
Latham became the only two time heat winner in the final heat of the night, leading home Brad Pascoe in second for his third runner up finish of the night, and Justin Randall in third.
Mitchell Gee was victorious in the B Main. Nichols, Adam Beechey, Randall, Jordan and McLaren would join Gee in the twenty four car field for the fifty three lap main event.
Brad Pascoe went QuickTime in the shootout, to claim $500 and would start the fifty three lap main event from tenth position.
Pascoe started the driver draft by selecting Tyson Moon to start ninth, Moon chose Callum Harper to start eighth, Harper selected Matty Pascoe to start seventh, Pascoe selected Mick Nicola Snr to start sixth, Nicola locked Zac Pascoe into position five.
Pascoe chose Harry Doyle to start fourth, Doyle selected Steve Latham to start third, Latham chose Sean Black to start from the outside of the front row, which left Zac Brims on pole position for the main event.
Brims and Black headed through turns one and two side by side on the opening lap. Black edged ahead down the back straight before Brims dove deep into the turn three to take the lead at lead at the stripe on lap one.
Black was second at the line from Doyle in third, Matty Pascoe jumped to fourth on lap one after starting from sixth, and Latham rounded out the top five.
Doyle was pressuring Black for third, but a small mistake made him vulnerable to Pascoe who capitalised to take third on lap four.
Williams had moved to sixth after starting from twelfth on the grid, and Gee was the other big mover in twelfth after eight laps after starting from nineteenth.
Brims was driving well up front as the chasing pack of Black, Pascoe and Williams who took fourth on lap eight began to reel the young gun in.
Williams rallied the top side to take third from Pascoe, as Black showed the nose to Brims with thirty eight laps to run.
Black got a good run out of turn two and took the lead into turn three on lap seventeen.
Pascoe fought back in his battle with Williams and reclaimed third position and then second in one fell swoop powering around the outside of Brims into second through turns three and four on lap eighteen.
Meanwhile Gee had powered his way through to eighth position after just nineteen laps.
Black stretched his legs and got away by five car lengths as he worked through lap traffic.
Brad Pascoe entered the chat and the top five on lap twenty three, powering by Doyle and Brims on consecutive laps to be in fourth with thirty laps remaining.
Back up front Pascoe and Williams reeled Black in and Pascoe rallied the top side to take the lead at the stripe with thirty laps to run.
Black was baulked on the inside by a pair of lap cars leaving the top side wide open for Williams to blast by into second position with twenty nine laps remaining.
Pascoe split a pair of lap cars right through the middle to give himself a bit of breathing room, before Williams reeled him back in to battle for the lead.
Williams worked the bottom of the track to take the lead on lap twenty eight, and completed the circulation just in the knick of time before the first caution of the race was out for a stricken Steve Latham.
The yellows were out again straight away after the restart when Gee and Moon made contact which saw Gee spin in front of the field and be sent to the rear for the restart.
Williams led at the resumption from Matty Pascoe, Black, Brad Pascoe, and Harper who entered the top five for the first time in the race.
Brad Pascoe moved to third position on lap thirty, relegating Black to fourth.
Williams continued to lead up front, as Matty and Brad Pascoe had a great side by side dual over the minor placings.
Brad had just moved to second position when the caution came out with nine laps remaining when Michael Hally’s race came to an end.
Randall rode the wall on the restart and was very lucky to come away without a major wreck as his race ended with right front steering damage.
Brad Pascoe powered around the top side at the restart to take second from Matty Pascoe.
Black, Harper and Kane fought over the placings at the back end of top five as Harper took fourth, and Kane fifth, as Black fell to sixth in the closing stages.
Williams out front built a comfortable lead and went on to become the first driver without Pascoe as his surname to win the GP53, and the $5300 winners prize.
Brad Pascoe crossed the line second, ahead of Matty Pascoe in third. Harper was next across the line fourth from Kane who rounded out the top five.
Black finished sixth, ahead of Doyle in seventh, and Zac Pascoe in eighth. JJ Hamilton crossed the line ninth ahead of Hayden Brims who rounded out the top ten, and officially wrapped up the McCosker Super Sedan Series title for the first time.
The Queensland Title at Bundaberg will wrap up our season next weekend.
GP53 & McCosker Super Sedan Series GF
A Main – 53 laps
1. RK3 Matt Williams, 2. Q1 Brad Pascoe, 3. N1 Matty Pascoe, 4. S1 Callum Harper, 5. A1 Darren Kane, 6. Q26 Sean Black, 7. RK31 Harry Doyle, 8. B6 Zac Pascoe, 9. B48 JJ Hamilton, 10. N77 Hayden Brims, 11. Q44 Trent Wilson, 12. N29 Zac Brims (52), 13. V23 Mick Nicola Jnr (52), 14. T3 David Nichols (52), 15. Q10 Steve Jordan (51), DNF V36 Todd Atkins (44), Q33 Justin Randall (44), C98 Michael Hally (42), Q11 Mitchell Gee (35), N47 Tyson Moon (31), T8 Steve Latham (28), GL95 Adam Beechey (26), C96 Josh McLaren (16)
The GP53 was proudly supported by;
The Service Centre
KRE Race Engines
Anning Grader Hire
Duce Timber Windows & Doors
McCosker Contracting
Century 21 Platinum Agents
Downunder Graphics
North 2 West Tyres & Wheels
Range Star Service Centre
Nick Shyun
Proline NQ Plaster Board Contractors
Sweet Chassis
LJ Air
Bergmeier Engineering
Kempy Race Pipes
Cush Clothing
Wandin Heavy Haulage
Brims Concrete Haulage Materials
Brims Coastal Cement
QLD Coast Concrete
The Super Sedan Association is proudly supported by;
McCosker Contracting
AFCO Shock Doctor (ASD)
Ash Media
Brims Coastal Cement
Cush Clothing Co
Down Under Graphics
Fusion Graphix & Signs
Ian Boettcher Race Parts (IBRP)
Integrity Extended Warranties
Kempy Race Pipes
Larsen Air Conditioning Hire
QLD Coast Concrete
Think Investment Realty
