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24th
March, 2002
Future Tourers
Oran Park - Round One
Sidebottom's day but Mitsubishi scores a win
Commodore driver Ray Sidebottom won the round
with two wins, but Terry Bosnjak showed that a new threat had emerged as
his Mitsubishi Magna won its first race.
After missing pole by the narrowest of margins to the earlier model
Commodore of Tim Shaw, Sidebottom claimed the lead instantly the lights
went green. He was able to fend off the poleman for much of the race
before his rival began suffering clutch problems and slackened the pace.
Bruce Williams (Commodore) held third for much of the race before being
worn down and passed in the latter stages by Bosnjak.
The Commodore of Mark Papendell was next from Kerry Wade's Ford Falcon
while Shanan Sidebottom's (son of Ray) race was impeded by a bent steering
rack following wall contact early, and finished with a blown engine.
Sidebottom was an all-the-way winner in race two. But the battle for the
minor positions would not be settled easily as Papendell led Williams and
Bosnjak after lap one. A forced pitstop put Williams out of contention,
while Bosnjak hounded Papendell until the latter relented nearing the half
way mark. Wade was fourth, edging out the advancing Commodore of Mark
Telfer.
In the final leg, Sidebottom again shot off to lead early, however Bosnjak
was right behind and not about to be shaken off. Even before the end of
lap one, his Magna had hit the lead, one he would not surrender. The gap
at the end was 2.4 seconds with a handy break to Papendell, Wade, Telfer
and Andrew Gillespie's Falcon.
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