The Northern Territory news Mon 22 Jun 2015
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2015-06-22
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
News Corp Australia
Darwin
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News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/258151
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/505580
MONDAY JUNE 22 2015 SPORT 35 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA PRODRIVE Racing Australias Chaz Mostert earned a triple crown of sorts at the SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin, finding himself on the podium for each of the weekends three races. Tony Hunter battles to stay inf ront of Bill Pye during yesterdays Touring Car Masters race at Hidden Valley Picture: IVAN RACHMAN JORDAN McARDLE WHILE New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen couldnt grab a podium finish in Darwin, his weekend of racing got better as it went on. It wasnt an ideal finish in Race 1 (14th) for the Team Darrell Lea STIX driver, but fifth and fourth respectively in the following races at Hidden Valley had him feeling a little more upbeat. Fellow Kiwi Fabian Coulthard (Freightliner Racing) also had a good outing following a forgettable Saturday, coming in third spot behind David Reynolds (The Bottle-O Racing Team) and Chaz Mostert (Pepsi Max Crew). Van Gisbergen described his new car, which he raced for the first time at the weekend, as really responsive and was pleased to bounce back from a tough couple of rounds. It was fine, it was really responsive all weekend, he said. We struggled the last couple of rounds so it was good to move forward. The 26-year-old said the warm Top End conditions were just what he needed to recover from a bad case of the flu which he picked up in Perth. Im feeling good now, Ive got a week off in New Zealand before preparing for the next race in Townsville (July 10-12), he said. Compared to the two chaotic 21-lap races on Saturday, yesterdays 70-lap event was fairly trouble-free with only Mercedes driver Ashley Walsh not finishing. Van Gisbergen leaves Darwin today fifth in the championship points with 940, 225 points behind leader Mark Winterbottom. Mostert was the big mover of the weekend, securing three podium finishes to move to fourth in the overall points. Masterful racing mark of Touring Car competition AS Steven Johnson and John Bowe battled for the overall victory in the ENZED Thunder in the Valley and round four of the Touring Car Masters series, Andrew Miedecke has rushed to the top of the ProMaster points standings at the series halfway point. Johnson maintained his perfect ENZED Touring Car Masters round record by winning in Darwin, his two wins and a second allowing him to edge out teammate and longtime friend John Bowe for overall honours. A genuinely thrilling display of racing between the pair and the likes of Andrew Miedecke and Jim Richards entertained the huge Darwin crowd all weekend with three sensational races. Jason Gomersall enjoyed a supremely consistent weekend in his iSeek Racing Holden Torana to win the ProAm class over Cameron Tilley and Andrew Fisher, while Wayne Mercer scored the ProSports win ahead of Leo Tobin and Garry Treloar. Gomersall also won the Rare Spares Achievement award, while Steven Johnsons PAYCE Mustang won the Meguiars/Liqui-Moly Looks Good Goes Great award. Johnson won race two yesterday morning and then battled with Bowe in race three, the pair trading the lead on three occasions before the Torana was able to edge in front for a narrow, side-by-side victory. After winning round two of the series in Tasmania, Johnsons victory came ahead of Bowe and Andrew Miedeckes Lubrimaxx Camaro. I have to thank my sponsor for this weekend. John Bowe! Johnson joked of his car owner on the podium. Its been a fantastic weekend and really hard work battling with JB and everyone else. The consistent Miedecke scored third in the ProMaster class this weekend and provisionally rockets to the lead of the standing ahead of Jim Richards and Greg Crick. No van ordinaire as Shane sparkles Triple treat for Chaz Having won race one and finishing third in race two on Saturday, Mostert almost had his second win in yesterdays 200km, 70-lap race but could not hold off PRA teammates David Reynolds blistering form. For the Pepsi Max Crew, it was just a matter of time before Mostert caught Reynolds, particularly given his soft tyres were 10 laps fresher than those on the Bottle-O Racing green Ford, but it still wasnt enough. Now Mostert wants to grab a look at Reynolds race data so he can beat his teammate next time. I caught him a little bit but once I got caught behind him, and when you start getting a bit of aero-wash behind someone the tyres start to degrade a bit quicker than the car in front, Mostert said. Ive got a little bit of homework to do from his data and hopefully get a little bit closer to him but he did an awesome job this weekend and credit to him and his team. Fingers crossed we can steal some of his data and make it a bit quicker, he said. Mosterts impressive form on the resurfaced Darwin track has seen him jump up to fourth in the championship leaderboard, just 19 points behind number three Fabian Coulthard. Mark Winterbottom remains in the lead, followed closely by Red Bull Racing Australias Craig Lowndes. Mosterts form also helped push the Pepsi Max Crew into first on the team points leaderboard, 167 points clear of Red Bull Racing Australias Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. Rebekka Wake rebekka.wake@news.com.au The AFL is coming to Darwin when Melbourne take on West Coast at TIO Stadium on July 4 and the NT News has your ticket to the event. Weve got 25 double passes to giveaway WIN TICKETS TO THE AFL IN DARWIN To enter, simply visit ntnews.com.au/competitions and enter your details along with the daily code. Todays code is: FOOTY Open to residents of NT. Todays competition closes midnight 23/6/14. Winners drawn 10am 23/6/15. For full terms and conditions see ntnews.com.au/competitions. M46651