LIVESTREAM LINK: Combined Sedans Race Three
The third and final race for the Skye Sands Combined Sedans, including 13 cars from the TA2 Muscle Car Series will be live streamed online.
Please find the link below, with cars on track at 3:50pm local time.
Australia: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/australia/
New Zealand: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/new-zealand/
Global: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/international-streaming/
Miedecke Praises TA2 after Bathurst showcase
A strong showing from the TA2 Muscle Car Series at the Bathurst 12 Hour concluded on Saturday afternoon with the third and final race with the Skye Sands Combined Sedans support category.
Dodge Challenger George Miedecke emerged as the clear pace setter in the 13-car TA2 contingent, with the former Super 2, V8 Ute and Australian GT racer firmly announcing himself as a serious title contender for the 2019 series.
After a strong run in the opening two races, Ford Mustang racer Ian McAlister’s weekend ended early after finding the wall coming over skyline on lap five while battling with Matthew Ingram’s Mazda RX8.
After ending race two in the gravel trap, Rusty French elected to sit out the final race of the weekend, leaving 10 of the 13 TA2 cars to start and finish every race of the weekend after Greg Willis’ fuel pump issue before race two.
Miedecke finished third outright in the final race of the weekend, leading home two-time American TA2 champion Gar Robinson in fifth, while Hugh McAlister finished third for the weekend after a seventh place finish in the final outing.
Russell Wright and Michael Kulig also scored top ten finishes in eighth and tenth respectively.
Peter Robinson and Anthony Tenkate enjoyed a race long battle, as the pair followed Kulig home just outside of the top ten.
Greg Willis drove a strong final race to climbing 20 positions from the rear of the grid to finish 25th, while Cameron Sendall, Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher all took the chequered flag after three consistent showings.
Reflecting on the weekend, Miedecke was impressed by the performance of the TA2 cars throughout the weekend which allowed him to battle at the front of the Combined Sedans field.
“I’m stoked to take the win this weekend. They say you can’t have too much of a good thing, but I don’t think you can have too much of TA2 at Bathurst!”
“I think we’ve got a pretty good grip on the car now. It would have been nice to have Aaron [Seton] here this weekend to give us a real gauge on how we were going but the lap times speak for themselves, the car was absolutely honking!”
After joining the series at the final round of the 2018 season, Miedecke praised the TA2 package and looks forward to his upcoming championship campaign.
“I’m not surprised by how this series is growing. These cars are just awesome and they’ve been Australian motorsport’s best kept secret for the last couple of years.
“Now people are starting to see them on the track, they see them lifting wheels and spitting flames and doing all this cool stuff, also the fact that these cars are very cost effective to run.
“Bring on the rest of the season, I don’t think i’ve ever been so prepared for a championship in my life, so to come here and grab a trophy and go home knowing we’re on the right track is a really good feeling.”
The TA2 Muscle Car Series will announce their 2019 plans shortly.
Lap times drop as TA2 impresses at Bathurst 12 Hour
The 13-car TA2 field within the Skye Sands Combined Sedans continued to impress the crowd at the Bathurst 12 Hour following race two held on Friday morning, with a new fastest lap and some great racing through the pack.
A clean start amongst the pack saw all but one TA2 car make the grid, with Sunshine Coast racer Greg Willis’ Chevrolet Camaro not making the grid due to a fuel pump issue which has been rectified for race three.
George Miedecke continued to set the pace in the Miedecke Motorsport Dodge Challenger. Starting second, the Port Macquarie racer was passed by Tony Groves’ MARC Mazda 3 early in the race.
Miedecke lowered his previous benchmark to set a new fastest lap time for a TA2 car around Mount Panorama with a 2:15.7.
Starting fourth, Texan Gar Robinson got to within a car-length of Miedecke mid-race, before slipping back to fifth, ahead of Hugh McAlister who battles alternator issues late in the race to finish sixth.
Russell Wright climbed through the pack from 20th to 9th in the RoadBees Transport Mustang, with Ian McAlister following him to ensure five TA2 cars featured in the top ten.
Michael Kulig recovered from a spin at Murray’s Corner on the final lap to finish 12th ahead of Peter Robinson and Cameron Sendall in 13th and 14th respectively, after the pair swapped positions multiple times in the race.
After an early ace battle with Rusty French, Anthony Tenkate finished where he started in 17th, as French spun at turn one late in the race after dropping the right side of the car off the track in the braking zone to finish in the gravel trap.
Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher both improved with solid races to finish 24th and 32nd respectively.
TA2 cars star in Combined Sedans at Bathurst 12 Hour
Dodge Challenger drew first blood on the opening day of on-track activity for the TA2 Muscle Car Series in 2019, as George Miedecke lead the TA2 field and sat second outright in the Skye Sands Combined Sedans support races at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
The former Super 2, V8 Ute and Australian GT racer lowered the TA2 benchmark around the 6.12km Mount Panorama circuit to a 2:16.3640, three seconds quicker than the previous year’s best set by two-time American TA2 champion Gar Robinson. The Texan driver qualified in sixth with a 2:19.7, while 2017 champion Russell Wright scored a top ten start in ninth.
Outright category pole-sitter Steven Lacey failed to take the start in his Camaro Sports Sedan, leaving Miedecke to start the opening race from pole position, ahead of Geoff Taunton’s MARC car.
Miedecke battled through lapped traffic to take the chequered flag in second, as Robinson moved up two spots to fourth, while McAlister Motors driver Hugh McAlister climbed from 12th to sixth place.
Chevrolet Camaro racer Michael Kulig rose nine positions to 11th, as Ian McAlister and Peter Robinson followed in 12th and 13th respectively after a great battle in the mid-pack.
Rusty French, Cameron Sendall, Anthony Tenkate and Russell Wright secured top 20 positions, ahead of Greg Willis, Don Dimitriadis and Mark Crutcher rounding out the TA2 pack.
Thursday’s top performer George Miedecke was pleased with his opening day performance while still chasing more from the Miedecke Motorsport Dodge Challenger.
“Steve Lacey unfortunately didn’t take the start and I got to lead the first lap which was pretty cool, but I was a sitting duck when the quicker Sports Sedans made their way through the pack so I just focussed on my own race and it was great to get second,” said Miedecke.
“I’m really enjoying driving these cars, this is a great chance to race at the mountain and in these TA2 cars they’re just awesome.”
With track temperatures rising, Miedecke hopes the cooler weather forecasted in the following days will bring lap times down further.
“I was absolutely cooking out there today, the soles in my race boots are starting to come off so it was definitely hot out there.
“Cooler conditions will certainly be better for lap times and we’ll see if we can go for that 2:15 lap tomorrow.”
The Skye Sands Combined Sedans field will take to the track at 8:05am on Friday for race two, and at 3:50pm on Saturday for the third and final race.
Saturday’s race will be live streamed via the Bathurst 12 Hour website, www.bathurst12hour.com.au.
American Trans-Am Champion Arrives Down Under for Bathurst 12 Hour Supports
Two-time American TA2 Champion and Pirelli World Challenge driver Gar Robinson has arrived in Australia ahead of next weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Texan ventured out to Queensland Raceway on Australia Day for a pre-event shakedown of the 74 Ranch Resort Camaro which he will compete within a 13-car TA2 contingent in the Skye Sands Combined Sedans support races at Mount Panorama.
“I love coming down here to race with the Australian TA2 series. It was so much fun last year and I was the first to put my hand up to come back again,” said Robinson.
Robinson unveiled the tribute livery which he will campaign at Bathurst, paying homage to the livery used by his father George Robinson’s Trans-Am Camaro of the early 1990s.
“With IMSA’s 50th anniversary this year and all the throwback liveries revealed in the US, we decided we’d do our own throwback to our original Trans-Am colours of 30 years ago.
“The ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ slogan which we ran on the car was used for a no-littering campaign at the time, it fit really well on our car so we put it back on the car for Bathurst.”
On his Bathurst debut, Robinson scored second outright and first in the TA2 class in the 55-strong Combined Sedans field in 2018, and hopes to go one better on his return to what immediately became his favourite race track in the world.
“I have the lap record for the TA2 cars around there so I have to come back and defend it!”
“I didn’t want it [Mount Panorama] to be my favourite track because it’s so far away, but it went to the top of my list straight away.
“If you took Virginia International Raceway and turned it into a street course and then added walls, kangaroos and tim tams, that’s Bathurst and I can’t wait to get back there.”
The Skye Sands Combined Sedans field is set for practice, qualifying and race 1 on Thursday, followed by a race each on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday’s action live streamed at www.bathurst12hour.com.au.