Gurton returns to 18-strong TA2 field at Winton 

The PROMAXX Performance Exhausts TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by Hytek is back in action this weekend for Round 3 of the national series and the TA2 Southern Series at Winton Motor Raceway near Benalla, Victoria.

18 cars make up the entry list, with Round 2 winner Josh Haynes looking to carry the momentum after his round win at The Bend over series leader Jett Johnson.

Johnson holds a 38 point lead over Zach Loscialpo and John McLaughlin in the series standings with Haynes back in 11th after his first round was plagued by mechanical issues.

Johnson heads to Winton fresh off a Supercars evaluation day in a Shell V-Power Racing Mustang with Dick Johnson Racing, the team owned by his Australian Touring Car champion and Bathurst winning grandfather Dick Johnson.

McLaughlin, who scored two race wins at the last round at The Bend is missing from the field after selling his car to Victorian teenager Jackson Rice.

Rice, 18, hails from Albury and after racing go karts as a junior he stepped up to TA2 in the Trans-Am Australia series with the Dream Racing Australia squad this year. DRA stablemate Kyle Gurton makes his return to the TA2 Muscle Car Series this weekend fresh off a Supercars evaluation day with Erebus Motorsport at Winton earlier this week.

Gurton, 23, works full time with the Blanchard Racing Team in Supercars alongside his racing commitments. With experience in Formula Ford and Carrera Cup to his name, Gurton heads to Winton looking for valuable seat time in his TA2 Muscle Car Series return to bolster his Trans-Am campaign after placing fifth in last year’s series.

Series front-runners Murray Kent, CXC Racing’s Dylan Thomas and IES Motorsport’s Graham Cheney head to Winton in a tight battle for what will be effective third in the championship with McLaughlin’s absence, while Michael Coulter also returns to action in the Kobelco Mustang.

Mark Crutcher leads the Masters Series by five points from Nicholas Bates and Paul Hadley. with Chris Sutton, Michael Rowell, Peter Robinson, John Holinger, Jason Hassett and Rob Leonard completing the grid for Round 3.

Cars first hit the track for three 20-minute practice sessions on Friday, followed by a 20 minute qualifying session and two 12 lap races on Saturday, and two final 12 lap races on Sunday.

All of Sunday’s action will be live streamed on the TA2 Racing facebook page, with post-produced highlights airing on free-to-air channel 7Mate following the event.

QUOTES

Josh Haynes, driver #17 Elvin Group Chevrolet Camaro

“It was unreal for everyone to get over to The Bend and have good pace and have some good battles with John McLaughlin and Jett Johnson, it was a pretty cool experience and to get my first win the TA2 Series was not just unreal for me but for the whole team. We’re a small team who have put in a lot of work so it meant a lot for us.

“The standards between the drivers has been unreal, as you could see in Race 3 between Jett and I, it was close hard racing, we touched a few times but nothing too serious and you can still come out of the race with a good result and look back at it with some good memories.

“Sydney was hard and then The Bend was a great round for us so I’ve just got to stay consistent for the rest of the season and keep bagging good points and keep chipping away and hopefully get further up the front and by the end of the year be closer to the podium which is the aim.

“I came down to Winton four years ago when I was 14 in the Nissan Pulsar, so it’s been a change since then in the car and driving, so how we approach the weekend will be fairly different but really looking forward to getting on track.”

Kyle Gurton, driver #2 Micale Cabinets/Nuveau Group Ford Mustang

“The evaluation day with Erebus here at Winton was amazing. To drive my dream race car, the reality of it is still settling in, but driving something with that raw pace was incredible compared to a TA2 car.

“My journey in Trans-Am has been very up and down, as the pace improved in the field it’s really come down to the real minute one-percenters in the setup of the car, so the big thing for us is focussing on those and finding more pace from them, but our experience has been really positive as a whole in the series.”

“The idea for this weekend for us is to learn a bit more about the car and figure out a setup direction, obviously we don’t want to affect the championship that’s currently going on but depending on what happens whether it’s wet or dry we’ll just aim to keep our nose clean and work on getting our Dream Racing Australia cars quicker.”

SCHEDULE 2022 PROMAXX Performance Exhausts TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by Hytek Round 3 - Winton Motor Raceway, June 10-12

Friday Practice 1 - 10:45am (20 minutes) Practice 2 - 1:45pm (20 minutes) Practice 3 - 4:35pm (20 minutes)

Saturday Qualifying - 10:20am (20 minutes) Race 1 - 12:20pm (12 laps) Race 2 - 3:00pm (12 laps)

Sunday Race 3 - 10:40am (12 laps) Race 4 - 2:15pm (12 laps)

ENTRY LIST 2022 PROMAXX Performance Exhausts TA2 Muscle Car Series framed by Hytek Round 3 - National Series & Southern Series, Winton Motor Raceway, June 10-12

PRO, #2 Kyle Gurton (QLD), Ford Mustang - Micale Cabinets/Nuveau Group MASTERS, #3 Rob Leonard (QLD), Chevrolet Camaro - Access Line Marking MASTERS, #4 Mark Crutcher (NSW), Ford Mustang - Crutcher Developments MASTERS, #10 Peter Robinson (QLD), Dodge Challenger - Wagner Corporation PRO, #11 Michael Coulter (NSW), Ford Mustang - Kobelco/Sydney Truck and Machinery MASTERS, #15 Michael Rowell (QLD), Ford Mustang - Pacific Petroleum/Carroll Tyres PRO, #17 Josh Haynes (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - Elvin Group/Gulf Oil PRO, #21 Zac Loscialpo (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - Tempest Solutions/Excelerate Motorsport MASTERS, #23 John Holinger (VIC), Chevrolet Camaro - Holinger Racing MASTERS, #24 Nicholas Bates (NSW), Ford Mustang - Nicholas Bates Motorsport MASTERS, #26 Jason Hassett (VIC), Chevrolet Camaro - Hass Pumps MASTERS, #37 Jackson Rice (VIC), Ford Mustang - Delatite - Ovens Ford MASTERS, #50 Paul Hadley (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - Illawarra Engineering Services PRO, #51 Graham Cheney (NSW), Chevrolet Camaro - Illawarra Engineering Services MASTERS, #68 Dylan Thomas (NSW), Ford Mustang - Sensational Kitchens/CXC Racing PRO, #74 Murray Kent (QLD), Chevrolet Camaro - Retro Motorsport/Fit Flask PRO, #117 Jett Johnson (QLD), Ford Mustang - NAPA Auto Parts MASTERS, #321 Chris Sutton (NSW), Ford Mustang - Motofit