Clean Sweep for Tim Brook Under Lights at Sydney Motorsport Park

IES Motorsport’s Tim Brook has dominated the opening day of Round 3 of the TFH Hire TA2 Muscle Car Series - presented by Maritimo Luxury Yachts at Sydney Motorsport Park, taking the clean sweep with pole position and two race wins.

Brook put the #118 Chev Camaro on pole position with a time of 1m34.1400s; a stellar start to his campaign while standing in for series points leader Jarrod Hughes, who is unable to compete this weekend due to other commitments. 

In the opening twilight race, Brook led the field into Turn 1 with Ben Gomersall close behind in second, while Dodge driver Hayden Jackson moved from sixth to third in the opening few corners.

TFH Racing’s Josh Thomas consistently applied pressure on Tom Davies for fourth but wasn’t able to pass before a safety car was called on Lap 3.

It was drama for Marcos Ambrose Racing’s Josh Webster who dropped a tail shaft, scattering debris down the front straight and ending up down the escape road at Turn 1. Rookie Brock Paine was caught up in the aftermath, picking up debris and causing the front left tyre to delaminate and ending the Queenslander’s race.

Racing resumed with three minutes to go, and three flying laps left for Brook to hold onto the lead; a lead that was 7/10ths ahead of Gomersall prior to the yellow flags came out.

On the restart, Jackson slid sideways into Turn 1 and dropped to sixth, while Domain Ramsay also went off due to oil on the track, almost rolling into the sand trap before continuing on and finishing a lowly 16th. Mark Crutcher also had an off-track excursion and fell back to the rear of the field.

On the penultimate lap TFH Racing’s Josh Thomas was able to pass Davies around the outside at the hairpin and finish on the final step of the podium, while out front it was Brook who took the chequered flag by a mere 0.4seconds over Gomersall in second.

The 25-minute Race 2 held under lights saw Brook again capitalise from pole, with Hi-Tec Oils Chev Camaro driver Brad Gartner moving up three places on the start to be up into second out of Turn 1.

Josh Webster pulled into pitlane at the end of the opening lap, disheartened after a stellar effort by his Marcos Ambrose Motorsport team who rebuilt the #200 Autofix Mustang to get out on track in time.

Jackson and Cameron Laws came together at Turn 5 before Gomersall and Gartner also clashed at the back of corporate hill, with Laws and Gomersall both served with 15 second penalties.

Domain Ramsay and Michael Coulter failed to finish while Gartner and Davies continued to battle for position lap-after lap in the closing stages of the race.

Despite Gartner’s fightback efforts, he just missed the podium finishing 4th outright behind the Brook, Gomersall and Josh Thomas, all finishing in the same positions they finished Race 1. 

After a disastrous first race, Brock Paine recovered strongly to finish inside the Top 10 in ninth, while Diesel Thomas was the best of the rookies in fifth and Graham Cheney first of the Circo Master Class drivers in sixth.

Day two of the Sydney Sundown event at Sydney Motorsport Park sees qualifying at 12.30pm, followed by Race 1 at 5.10pm and Race 2 at 8pm under lights.

QUOTES

Tim Brook, #118 Road Active Suspension, Chevrolet Camaro
“It’s been absolutely fantastic to be here this weekend. I’m super stoked to have taken pole position and backed it up with two race wins, it’s honestly more than I ever expected when the day started.”

“The competition has been tough, so to come out on top is incredibly rewarding. I’m just really grateful for the team and everyone who’s supported me. It’s been an awesome experience, and I’m having such a great time out there.”

Josh Thomas, #69 TFH Racing, Ford Mustang
"Converting my best qualifying position in my TA2 career into a podium finish in Race 1 and 2 is unreal. We’ve been pushing hard to find pace and consistency, and to finally see it come together like this feels incredible. The team put in a massive effort, and I can’t thank them enough for giving me a car that could fight at the front.”

Tom Davies, #42 Hotel Exchange Kilcoy, Ford Mustang
“We’ve been struggling quite a bit with car setups and finding the right lines, but we still managed to fight our way up to third. Race 2 was intense, there was a spin, oil on the track, and we really had to dig deep just to stay on the tarmac.”