Tin Tops Event Townsville Super Sprint

Published on the 29th of August 2020 by McElrea Racing

The team was ecstatic to get back to racing after a seemingly endless break. We always enjoy Townsville for the warmer weather and the challenging street circuit.

The weekend was made up of practice, qualifying and three 30 minute sprint races with rolling starts.

Harri Jones

1st 1st 1st - Super Sport Touring Class /

1st 2nd 1st - Outright 'Tin Tops'

In the first race, Harri was outrun by the much faster Aston Martin of Tony Quinn which was much better suited to the rolling starts that were the format for the weekend. Regardless Harri kept the pressure on until an issue with the faster car allowed him to get past. Harri then led to the chequered flag with a convincing margin of more than 13 seconds.

Harri Jones was stoked to win the opening race at the Tin Tops Event in Townsville

He got another great start in the second race behind the high-powered Aston and he kept the pressure on but the GT car proved to be too fast in a straight line for him to make a move so he had to settle for a respectable second outright and first in class.

Harri Jones kept the pressure on the much faster Aston Martin

In the final race, he made another consistently good start and this time was able to take advantage of slower traffic during the race to get past the Aston and hold his position to take the outright win for the race and the round!

Harri Jones won the final race of the weekend making him the outright winner of the Tin Tops Event in Townsville

Ryan Suhle

3rd, 3rd, 3rd, Super Sport Touring Class /

4th, 4th, 4th - Outright 'Tin Tops'

Ryan didn't make the best of starts on his first attempt and ended up getting swamped from behind by the more experienced drivers pushing him back in the field. He stayed focussed and worked his way back through to finish third in class behind Bathurst champion Luke Youlden.

Ryan Suhle had a rough start in the opening race at the Tin Tops Event in Townsville

He made a much better start second time around but with Youlden on fresh tyres, he was unable to close the gap. He kept the pressure on throughout the race but Luke's experience made his car too wide for Ryan to get past. He finished another solid third in class and fourth outright.

Ryan Suhle kept the pressure on Youlden to finish fourth outright in the second race at the Tin Tops Event in Townsville

In the final race, Ryan got a good start and was right on the back of his teammate before Harri made his move on the Aston but Ryan got tangled up with the Aston and a slower car when Harri made his pass. Ryan managed to keep it together and recover to keep on Youlden once again but was unable to get past the faster car and finished another solid and consistent result placing him 3rd in class and fourth outright for the round.

Ryan Suhle got caught-up in the final race but still managed to finish fourth outright behind some much faster cars at the Tin Tops Event in Townsville

Summary

It was a great weekend for our young drivers giving them some much-needed track time with both of them competing at Townsville (and on a street circuit) for the first time. It was a great event and great to get back into it again!

It was also some great exposure for our drivers' loyal sponsors who have stuck by them during this challenging time.

We are looking forward to another "yet to be confirmed" Tin Top event, possibly in a few weeks, fingers crossed!

Thanks to Velocity Magazine for some great shots!