Rice/Everingham sizzle in Darwin Practise for the TA2 $20K Kings of the North Clash

Series frontrunner Jackson Rice and co-driver Tyler Everingham set the benchmark in combined practise times for Round 2 of the TA2 Muscle Car Series - framed by HYTEK Steel Framing at Darwin’s Hidden Valley today.

The Pedders/Dream Racing Mustang laid down a 1.10.7 edging out the Josh Haynes/Nicholas Bates combo by 1/10^th of a second, 4/10ths faster than Nathan Herne’s Dodge Challenger. Herne has returned from the USA to race this weekend with TA2 Asia champion Paul Manuell.

The Dylan Thomas/Tim Brook pairing was 4^th overall, from the Jordan Cox/Mark Crutcher Mustang to round out the top five.

Graham Cheney and Eden Thornburrow were also within 5/10ths of the fastest time from Brad Gartner and Carrera Cup star Max Vidau, with Zach Loscialpo, George Miedecke/Hugh McAlister and Andrew Fisher/Paul Hadley within the top 10 and all within a second of the fastest time.

Drivers will have individual qualifying sessions tomorrow, followed by a 12 lap sprint race each, then the first of two longer races with mandatory pit stops and driver change.

Series leader Lee Stibbs had a frustrating day in the Arrow Financial Services Mustang with transmission issues to be well outside the top 10 but is expected to be back on the pace tomorrow for the MVA team.  Stibbs is one of four drivers going solo in the twenty car field, however will still have a mandatory stop and tyre change during the feature races.

The action at Hidden Valley carries over to the holiday Monday with another two sprint races and a 35 lap final race, with $20,000 cash going to the highest point scoring combo across all races.

Monday’s races will be streamed from 9am Eastern Standard time, and televised live for three hours on SBS and Fox Sports/Kayo from 12.30 Eastern Standard time.

#7 Pedders Suspension and brakes, Ford Mustang - Jackson Rice

“Hidden Valley Raceway is awesome, the track is super technical and super fast. There is a massive breakdown into turn 1. It is a very busy track and it is very technical over the back as you have a lot of elevation changes to deal with The best passing opportunities for this weekend would have to be turn 2 as it is probably the safest turn to overtake on this track.”

#10 CUBE 3, Dodge Challenger - Nathan Herne

“It’s great to be racing TA2 back in Australia and I’m grateful to Peter and Moana Robinson for giving me the opportunity.  I’ve raced S5000 here so I know the track pretty well, but I’m actually really enjoying being back in a PBR Australian Spec TA2 Dodge. The car is a lot more fun to drive than the Trans Am car in the USA, they run a different tyre over there which has more grip,  however I love this style of racing because the car moves around a lot more which really suits my driving style - plus its great fun!”

Combined practise times:

1 7 Pedders Suspension & Brakes Jackson Rice (VIC) Ford Mustang

2 37 Beaches Sea-Doo Josh Haynes (NSW) Ford Mustang

3 10 CUBE 3 Nathan Herne (NSW) Dodge Challenger

4 68 CXC Racing Dylan Thomas (NSW) Ford Mustang

5 Crutcher Developments Crutcher / Cox (NSW) Ford Mustang

6 51 IES Motorsport Graham Cheney (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro

7 22 Castec Rural Supplies Brad Gartner (SA) Ford Mustang

8 21 Tempest Solutions Zach Loscialpo (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro

9 6 McAlister Motors McAlister / Miedecke NSW Ford Mustang

10 50 IES Motorsport Paul Hadley (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro

11 99 Kubota Racing Matthew MacKelden (QLD) Chevrolet

12 45 Total Parts Plus Hayden Hume (QLD) Dodge Challenger

13 66 Arrow Financial Services Lee Stibbs (SA) Chevrolet Camaro

14 20 Localsearch.com Adam Hargreaves (QLD) Chevrolet Camaro

15 81 MGW / Team RSG Hayden Jackson (NSW) Dodge Challenger

16 11 Kobelco/Sydney Truck and Mac Michael Coulter (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro

17 40 Access Linemarking Equipment Rob Leonard (QLD) Ford Mustang

18 93 Waltec Motorsport Aaron Tebb (NSW) Chevrolet Camaro

19 15 Rowell Logistics /Pacific Pet Michael Rowell (QLD) Ford Mustang

20 49 Allgate Motorsport Christopher Formosa NSW Dodge Challenger