Dunlop

Here and Now with JOHN BOWE: June 2010

A couple of months ago I mentioned in my column that I had purchased myself a new race car, a 600 horsepower 1969 Ford Mustang, to compete in the Autobarn Touring Car Masters so I thought I would give you a quick update on how it is progressing.

After a disastrous start to the series at Clipsal where I hit a wall, I am happy to say that we have really come back strongly. The second round took place at Winton Raceway in Victoria where I managed a clean sweep with three wins out of three races. This took me to the top of the table heading into the Darwin event at Hidden Valley Raceway.

I love going to Darwin – it’s a great event. I’ve raced there every year since the event began. This was also the third different car I’ve raced in three years up there – the Chev Camaro in ’08, the HQ Monaro last year and now the WesTrac Cat / Wilson Security Mustang.

Things were looking really good for me with the ‘Stang’ showing some great speed. I was quickest throughout all the practise sessions and also top qualified. In race one I took the runner up position, with another podium in race two finishing in third place.

The second race was actually some of the best fun I have had on track in a while with the top 8 positions from race one reversed on the grid which made for some hard and fast racing. Sometimes you get more satisfaction from this than actually winning!

Disaster struck in race three though where I was a DNF.  My oil cooler split and dumped all of my engine’s oil over the race track making a hell of mess and ending my weekend.There shouldn’t be any major damage though so I will be back for the next round.

Until next time, drive safely

Tags: Autobarn Touring Car Masters, Hidden Valley Raceway