Round Two of the Allied Metal Recyclers 2006 CAMS Speed Event Series held at Northam's Mount Ommanney hillclimb track delivered fast times and a surprise winner as 2005 series winner Jamie Lister slipped under the radar to take the overall honours.
All eyes were on opening round winner Dick Ward and his Fiat Abarth in group one, but the early pace was set by Richard Catchlove, campaigning Kim Ledger's TFR Le Mans, covering the 780m asphalt dash up the 'mountain' in just 30.97 seconds.
Group two saw the emergence of the 4WD drive class and the competition became fierce. First to crack Catchlove's time was Tony Flood in his Subaru WRX setting a 30.60, followed closely by Lister with a 30.81.
By the end of the second run it was clear that competitors and spectators alike were in for a real treat as the afternoon began to heat up, on and off the track.
Flood lowered his own mark and set a new standard of 30.43 seconds only to be bettered minutes later by Lister with a 30.37. Ward had recovered from a sluggish start to post a 30.64 and Catchlove backed up his first run with a time of 30.76 seconds.
Lister set the eventual winning time of 30.32 seconds on his penultimate run as Dick Ward threw everything his Go Gear Fiat had to try and run him down, but could only manage a time of 30.43 seconds.
By the end of the third run Lister's time looked tough to beat, but as always, someone obviously forgot to tell the competitors.
Ward and Catchlove launched one final assault on Lister's time but fell fractionally short, Ward setting a 30.48 whilst Catchlove settled for a 30.65. Attention then turned to Tony Flood as the 4WD class lined up for their fourth and final run.
But is was Michael Lloyd, running a near identical Subaru WRX to Lister, matched his time of 30.32 seconds in his fourth and final run of the day forcing a count back to decide the class and overall winner.
The victory went to Lister who's second quickest time was the better, with Lloyd taking a narrow second.
Third place too was decided on a count back with Dick Ward just holding on to the final podium spot from Tony Flood, with Catchlove finishing 5th overall.
Other standout performers for the weekend include Eoin Douglas-Smith who's Ford XR8 proved that V8's aren't just for circuit racing, and the Curtin Motorsport Team of Bart Mickalski, Robert McMahon and Brett Silich, who all shared their custom built FSAE racer to finish 11th, 12th and 20th respectively in their first ever speed series event.
The series now moves to Jack's Hill for round three of the series on Saturday 29 April. [Ends]
Media Release 31 March 2006 courtesy Emma Costello, Press Officer for the AMR 2006 CAMS WA Speed Event Series