Sydney Motorsport Park Michelin Sprint Challenge Round 2
Published on the 16th of May by McElrea RacingThere is no doubt the awesome MR Michelin Sprint Challenge crew was far from satisfied with our results from the opening round of the season at Phillip Island, so we were very keen to get our drivers back on the podium at SMP.
We are pleased to welcome rookie Kent Leicester who is joining Eric Constantinidis and John Papantoniou in the Pro Am class. Our solo Pro class contender Lockie Bloxsom was underwhelmed with his results from PI, so had put in a huge amount of work between race weekends and was very motivated to show his true class.
Our Monochrome GT4 Australia pilot Nathan Murray was also looking forward to his second round in the Morris BMW GT4 Evo.
Nathan Murray #5
6th, 10th – SRO Monochrome GT4 Australia 'Am Class'
Nathan had another great weekend in SRO Monochrome GT4. He did an excellent job improving his craft, especially in race 1. In the Saturday race he took an impressive P6 after a great race against other Pro-Am entries who typically have two drivers sharing the car to keep the drivers energy & concentration levels higher. Sunday’s race wasn’t as strong, but lots of lessons learned.
Lockie Bloxsom #23
2nd, 1st, 4th - Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge 'Pro Class'
Lockie simply had a break out weekend. He missed pole by only 0.007 of a second. In race 1 he nibbled the rear bumper of the leader for the whole race, before getting a cracking start in race 2 then dominating the race pulling an impressive lead on lap 1 and again after a safety car restart. In race 3 he got elbowed off the track on lap 1 which made life tough.
Eric Constantinidis #11
2nd, 6th, 4th - Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge 'Pro-Am Class'
Eric was understandably upset with the driveshaft failure in race 3 at Phillip Island and came to SMP very motivated to get on the Pro Am podium. He drive wisely and showed he the mindset to finish races near the front which should lead to a strong championship result.
John Papantoniou #96
5th, 4th, 6th - Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge 'Pro-Am Class'
John enjoyed his weekend but a little frustrated by his results in races 2 and 3. He will be doing 2 test days at QR before the next round to build more speed on his solid level of experience.
Kent Leicester #14
6th, DNF, 7th - Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge 'Pro-Am Class'
Kent did a terrific job and had an absolute blast in his first ever race weekend. He had on off in race two and damaged some rear bodywork, but inevitable for someone on such an impressive learning curve. There is no doubt he will be challenging for Pro Am podiums later this season.
Summary
That was much more like it! After having is first win in 2023 taken off him, it was outstanding to see Lockie taking his first race win, finishing first equal on points, eventually taking second for the round after finishing behind Lodge in race 3. Eric took 3rd for the round in Pro Am, John P was 5th for the round and sits 3rd in the Pro Am championship. After missing round 1 at Phillip Island Kent sits 7th in the Pro-Am championship.
Many thanks to the awesome MR crews and we look forward to collecting more silverware at round 3 at Qld Raceway.
