More than 160 racers have taken to Portland’s South Coast Raceway today for day one of the South Coast 660 – the latest round of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series.
Today’s on-track running hosted three rounds of qualifying for 10 brackets, with the on-track action to continue with racing tomorrow (Sunday 8 January).
At the close of Saturday’s proceedings, it was Renee Cockerill (Super Gas), Dylan Knezevic (Summit Racing Equipment Junior Dragster), Zac Shepherd (Super Street), Peter Bartlett (Modified Bike), Tony Miskelly (Super Sedan), Simon Barlow (Modified), Dean Cleary (Top Sportsman), Doina Day (Supercharged Outlaws), Steve Norman (Super Comp) and Edge Mallis (Competition Bike) who claimed the Decoglaze Glass Splashbacks Top Qualifier Medallions for their respective classes.
For Mallis, the top qualifier result continues a run of form despite the fact he has been away for 12 months recovering from a 2019 accident at South Coast Raceway.
“I always said I wouldn’t come back, but I have been running in the left lane all day today, and being the top qualifier lets me go in the left lane all day tomorrow, so I am happy about that,” Mallis said.
“We have top qualified at every event we have ever showed up to; I am more worried about getting through the whole weekend – you see, I have been a bridesmaid way too many times!
“If I can get through the weekend and use the top qualifier position to get a win, I will be really, really happy!
“We know where the track is now and have looked at everything and if something goes wrong, I am learning to get off it. It headed to the wall today for instance in one of the passes and I just got off it, it isn’t worth the risk, but other than that, everything is great and we are very happy with how the bike is running and the whole lot, so we are not touching a thing and tomorrow should be good.”
For Zac Shepherd, today’s top qualifying result in Super Street indicates he is going in the right direction with a new set-up in his Holden Torana.
“I am pretty happy with that result. This is really only the second meeting that I have had with the car with a new set-up, so we are really just having a play around with it, so that was good,” Shepherd said.
“I was pretty inconsistent today though, so it could be a bit challenging for us tomorrow, but we will see how we go.
“It has been really good to get back into racing after all the weather delays, and it is really good to see great numbers here supporting Portland’s South Coast Raceway,” Shepherd concluded, while thanking his dad for crewing for him this weekend.
Sunday’s South Coast 660 racing program will commence at 10.00am, with the finals scheduled to hit the track from approximately 3.00pm local time. For more information, visit www.southcoastraceway.com.au
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