10-03-2007 Race Report Queensland State Championship R1

The first round of the Qld State Formula Vee championship provided all the excitement and anticipation the drivers were looking for. With a field of 16 cars including a strong contingent of rookie drivers, the stage was set for a good weekend's racing on the newly resurfaced Morgan Park circuit.

As expected, in qualifying the times were very quick with the Mick Motors Jabiru of Shane Hart pulling out a blistering time of 1:09.54 to grab pole position 6 tenths ahead of Grant Bromley. A strong pack of cars were looing to challenge Grant with the likes of Tim Hamilton (Jacer), Paul Kellaway (Jabiru) and Mike Russell (Concept) all within striking distance. Jason Gomersall (Jacer) had a time to forget in qualifying in his return to Formula Vee racing, unable to bank a time. In the 1200 category Scott Rhodes took pole position ahead of the ever consistent Paul Manteit, although it is thought that a lap timing was behind the Hollywood time of 1.11.42 of Rhodes as has his lap times in subsequent races never got near this mark.

Race 1 saw a number of battles throughout the field, but up front it was all Shane Hart trademark flames on full display, smashing the former lap record by nearly a second on his way to a 15 second victory. Tim Hamilton and Paul Kellaway had a good dice as well as the two Planbuild Home cars of Stephen Bradbury and Rob Thomson. In the 1200 class Paul Manteit took a comfortable victory over Scott Harrison by 17 seconds - Paul spending most of the race dicing with 1600 cars only to be just pipped at the line by David Harrison. Jason Gomersall and Grant Bromley had a race to forget with both failing to reach the chequered flag.

Race 2 saw the competitors awake to a perfect day with racing conditions almost perfect for this time of year. Unfortunately, perfect racing conditions didn't result in a perfect race. Shane Hart again asserted his dominance over the field with another comfortable victory over the battling Tim Hamilton and Paul Kellaway. Lap 2 saw Mike Russell have an off at "T-Junction" where he would sit until the whole field passed before he could rejoin. Lap 3 saw a coming together of David Harrison and Rob Thomson at Siberia which resulted in terminal damage to Thomson's car with him being a spectator for the remainder of the weekend. All this carnage opened the door for Paul Manteit and Jason Gomersall to have a last lap battle to the flag for 5th place in which Jason took the honours. Grant Bromley again with a weekend to forget failed to reach the chequered - bad luck for someone who would have been looking at taking it to the #81 car of Shane Hart this year.

Race 3 was a 6 lap scratch race for Formula Vee. True to form, Shane Hart took another comfortable victory over the field with the inseparable Tim Hamilton and Paul Kellaway again coming in 2nd and 3rd. In the 1200 class it was again Paul Manteit taking out race honours over Scott Harrison by a little under 20 seconds - Paul finishing ahead of 3 1600 cars.

Race 4 was the final state championship race for the weekend. Again Shane Hart took out victory, but this time he didn't have it all his own way with Tim Hamilton fighting tooth and nail for what would have been a deserved victory. The final finishing margin only 2.6 seconds. Grant Bromely put in what many could consider one of his better drives coming from the rear of field to finish the race in a very respectable 3rd position only 10 seconds behind Hart. In the 1200 class it was again Manteit who took victory by tagging onto the back of a field of 1600 competitors. Lap 2 resulted in a time of 1.11.99 for Manteit, the fastest official race lap ever done by a 1200 car around the Morgan Park circuit - a good achievement considering he was on the same tires he raced at in the Oran Park nationals and all last year.

We hope all competitors had a great weekends racing and very much hope that the new drivers to the category went home thinking that this Formula Vee racing is better than what people say it is. Some work still needs to be done to try and catch the flying Shane Hart but there was some promising signs that by the end of the year he may not have it all his own way.

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