News

Jul 23, 2012

THE SHANNONS NATIONALS presented by Hi-Tec Oils will quite literally ‘turn on the lights’ when they return to Queensland Raceway this August – the first time in five years the series will race at the Ipswich venue.

Australian Manufacturers Championship (AMC) organisers have announced that Hydraulink will support the inaugural ‘Fight in the Night’ at the Ipswich circuit – a pair of 200km endurance races for Production Cars to be staged on Saturday and Sunday nights as part of a blockbuster round six of the Shannons Nationals on August 10-12.

The Hydraulink ‘Fight in the Night’ will commence Saturday night at 17:45pm Saturday night and will run for upwards of two hours, finishing under lights at a floodlight Queensland raceway.

The Sunday ‘leg’ will commence at 16:30pm and run into the early evening twilight.

| Full schedule - click here to go to the Queensland Raceway Round Page

Hydraulink are the leading manufacturer and repairer of hoses and fittings in the Asia-pacific region and have long been a supporter of Motorsport.

“We are very pleased to welcome Hydraulink as the title sponsor of the ‘Fight in the Night’ at Queensland Raceway,” AMC category manager Aaron McGill said.

“They have been great supporters of Motorsport in Australia and New Zealand for a long time and we are very excited to have such a well-respected brand on board for our first ever night race under artificial lighting.

“This is an exciting step forward for the championship and there is a lot of interest in it. The fight at the front between the four-wheel-drive Turbo cars will be exciting and the battle throughout all the classes will mean there is action everywhere on track.

“We can’t wait to get on-track in Ipswich and put on a show.”

The blockbuster Shannons Nationals event also includes the debut of the Kumho V8 Touring Cars Series to Queensland Raceway – the cars with plenty of V8 Supercar heritage set to race at QR one week after the ‘main game’ series in a double-dose of Supercar action for local fans.

A blockbuster round features eight different categories – the most of any Shannons Nationals round this year.

The Kerrick Sports Sedans, Porsche Staff Solutions International GT3 Cup Challenge, Radical Australia Cup, Hi-Tec Oils Swift Racing Series, Australian Superkarts and Dial Before you Dig Australian Saloon Cars also feature on the packed schedule.

A strong field of Production Cars is expected to tackle the event and will include local team, the Gold Coast-based Wilson Brothers Racing.

The Subaru squad has run only a limited campaign this season, but has saved resources for their home round where they hope to challenge the all-too dominant Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions that routinely top the AMC ranks.

A host of Mitsubishi Lancers will challenge the Queenslanders, including the leading TMR Australia Evo driven by two-time AMC Champion Stuart Kostera and Kiwi legend Inky Tulloch.

Garry Holt and Ryan McLeod’s identical car was a winner last time out at Phillip Island and should also challenge in August – having recently undergone a complete ground up rebuild in preparation.

The Queensland event may also feature the racing debut of the BMW 1-Series M Coupe, the only such example known to be under preparation for competition anywhere in the world in the final stages of completion of Queensland BMW dealer Beric Lynton’s Gold Coast base.

Class racing will also feature; the ‘giant killing’ Queensland Mazda team of Grand Prix Motorsport and driver Jake Camilleri set to use their local experience to the maximum in their Mazda 3 MPS.

All-female team Lauren Gray Motorsport will enter the smallest car in the field; the tiny 1.5 litre Toyota Echo to be driven by Maddison Gray and Samantha Bennet.

Action commences on Friday Afternoon, August 10, with racing commencing Saturday and continuing into Sunday.

Admission is $20 on Saturday and $30 Sunday, with weekend passes available for $40.