• by APS MEDIA
• August 03, 2020

APS stars on track

The Australian Prototype Series may be on hold temporarily, but it hasn’t stopped a number of our stars getting out and racing at any possible opportunity.

With national competitions halted and borders restricted, the drivers have taken to their local state championships and australianprototypeseries.com.au has taken a look at some of their performances over the last weekend.

Motorsport Australia SA Motor Race Championships 

Mallala Raceway hosted the best South Australian circuit drivers over a two-day event with more than 100 entries taking part in the State Championship’s first official round of the year.

While there were Hyundai Excels, Formula Vee and Production Cars in the thick of the action, there were some very familiar names competing in the Australian Sports Cars Championship.

Headlining the category was Jam Motorsport’s JP Drake with the South Australian behind the wheel of his trusty Wolf which has led him to a number of Protypes podiums over the past few years.

Unfortunately he didn’t have the best of weekends despite having a brilliant start where he secured pole. Running in just two of the five races, he finished a gallant third in the opener before receiving a penalty in the second to drop to last.

It was a different story for Philip Andrawos, who might have had a slower start to the weekend qualifying in fourth and finishing there in the opening race, but he clicked into gear from then on, winning two and placing second twice in the remaining four races.

Before Andrawos won his three, Yasser Shahin was on top, comfortably winning the opening two races before missing the final three races like Drake.

Having yet to make his debut this in the APS this year, Ian Eldridge showed why he will be capable of contending for the Series’ title after he won a race and finished in the top three ofer all five races, including three consecutive runners-up.

Outside of an opening race DNF, Drake’s Jam Motorsport teammate Brian Smith had a solid weekend, claiming three podiums and a fourth place.

Motorsport Australia NSW Motor Race Championships 

In New South Wales, Sydney Motorsport Park was hosting its first state championship since COVID-19 restrictions were eased and similar to their South Australian counterparts, more than 150 drivers were in action.

From the RX8 Cup to the Production Touring Cars, there was plenty of thrilling contests across the nine categories including the Supersports Championship where drivers from the Radical class kept busy.

Leading the series’ representatives over the weekend was current Radical class leader Peter Paddon, after he turned in a good performance when the APS was at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this year.

However, while he enjoyed success in March, he was unable to repeat the feat on the weekend weekend after recording a third place either side of a runner-up.

Fellow Radical driver Stephen Champion also had a tough day at the office and like March’s outing, couldn’t get past Paddon in any of the three races. As a result Champion was forced to settle with two fourths and a sixth.

Champion’s Garth Walden Racing teammate Sue Hughes also put in some solid performances – claiming two top 10 finishes during the round.

Fellow Radical driver Stephen Champion also had a tough day at the office and like March’s outing, couldn’t get past Paddon in any of the three races. As a result Champion was forced to settle with two fourths and a sixth.

Champion’s Garth Walden Racing teammate Sue Hughes also put in some solid performances – claiming two top 10 finishes during the round.