Round 7: Sandown podium double confirms Klark’s best GT Championship result

Klark Quinn, driving V.I.P. Petfoods' Mosler, placed second in his first full Australian GT Championship assault

NOVEMBER 20, 2011.  Two third placings at Sandown last weekend cemented Klark Quinn's second place in the 2011 Australian GT Championship – his best ever result in the series.

Klark was the only other driver with a mathematical chance of beating championship leader Mark Eddy going into the finale at the 3.1km Melbourne circuit. But despite finishing well ahead of his rival in both races, he fell 36 points short.

In the final analysis, failing to finish one race cost the V.I.P. Petfoods Mosler MT900S driver the 2011 title.

During the first four rounds, Klark steadily built a 22-point lead over Eddy, in an Audi R8 LMS. But it all came unstuck in the next round at Phillip Island in September.

A problem with the Mosler’s engine during practice forced Klark to share Tony Quinn’s V.I.P. Petfoods Aston Martin DBRS9 for the weekend. The pair placed second in first race but retired from the second race, leaving Eddy 47 points ahead.

Klark closed the margin to 40 points in the penultimate round at Mt Panorama in October, but realistically only a non-finish in either race by Eddy at Sandown could turn the tables.

That didn’t happen. Even lowly eighth and sixth placings in the two 30-minute races were sufficient for Eddy to claim his second championship.

Tony finished the series strongly with seventh and fourth placings in the Aston Martin. They enabled him to hold onto eighth place in a campaign thwarted by a quartet of nil race scores: one due to a crash; and three caused by mechanical failures.

PRACTICE & QUALIFYING

The V.I.P. Petfoods team didn’t get off to the best start at Sandown when Klark’s Mosler experienced low engine oil pressure during the first of Friday’s two practice sessions.

The rear main bearing seal was the culprit, the same as at Phillip Island, but this time the engine wasn’t terminally damaged. Klark was back in action for the second session, only for a faulty throttle body sensor to give the Mosler’s seven-litre V8 all the smoothness of a light switch.

Denied the opportunity to fine-tune his car, and with Saturday morning’s qualifying session held on a damp circuit, Klark took an understandably cautious approach. Nevertheless he set the the fourth fastest lap, less than two seconds off the pole position time of Peter Hackett in the Mercedes AMG SLS.

“I only did five laps in the first practice session because of the oil pressure problem, and then the throttle sensor made the car almost undriveable in the second session,” Klark explained. “I had to do enough laps on Friday afternoon to make sure that the oil pressure was okay, but we couldn’t do any set-up work before qualifying – which was wet!

“I had a couple of spins even though I was being extra careful. If I’d damaged the car, that would have ended any chance I had of winning the championship.”

Meanwhile, Tony’s Aston Martin had a problem with its traction control, caused by a faulty wheel speed sensor. That put the V.I.P. Petfoods owner back in 12th starting position for the first race, but Sandown has more overtaking places than most racetracks so it wasn’t necessarily the end of the world.

QUALIFYING RESULTS
  1. Peter Hackett (Erebus Racing / Mercedes AMG SLS)   1min. 21.0057sec.
  2. Greg Crick (Jeep / Dodge Viper)                                        1min. 21.4807sec.
  3. Mark Eddy (Penfold Audi Sport / Audi R8 LMS)               1min. 22.2369sec.
  4. Klark Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Mosler MT900)                  1min. 22.7156sec.
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12. Tony Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Aston Martin DBRS9)       1min. 26.8116sec.

RACE 1
Klark’s luck looked to be changing for the better on Saturday afternoon: the morning rain had temporarily cleared (without electronic driving aids, the Mosler is more at home on a dry racetrack); fellow second-row qualifier Mark Eddy spun on the warm-up lap; and pole-sitter Peter Hackett mistakenly continued for a second preparatory tour.

Race officials directed Eddy and Hackett to start from the back row, leaving Klark alone on the second row with only Greg Crick’s Dodge Viper ahead! He duly slotted into second place at the start, and although he was able to keep Nick O’Halloran’s Lamborghini Gallardo at bay he couldn’t stop Crick from disappearing into the distance.

All the while, Hackett was charging back up the order after his rearward start. Lapping more than a second quicker than Klark could manage in the unsorted Mosler, he caught and passed the distinctively paw-printed car on lap 14.

Thereafter Klark retained third place until the chequered flag. Eddy was content to take eighth place, safe in the knowledge that only a DNF in Sunday’s second race could threaten his 40-point advantage.

Tony did his bit by rocketing from 12th starting position to sixth place by lap three. He had to surrender that position to Hackett the next time around, but kept Eddy a safe distance behind for the remainder of the race.

RACE 1 RESULTS – 21 laps/65.1km
1. Greg Crick (Jeep / Dodge Viper)                                         25min. 31.7693sec.
2. Peter Hackett (Erebus Racing / Mercedes AMG SLS)    25min. 56.6112sec.
3. Klark Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Mosler MT900)                   26min. 02.3191sec.
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7. Tony Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Aston Martin DBRS9)        26min. 10.0231sec. 

Klark Quinn leads through Dandenong Road corner during race 1

RACE 2
Knowing that the only way he could become the 2011 Australian GT Champion was in the unlikely event that Mark Eddy didn’t finish Sunday’s race, Klark concentrated on making sure he didn’t put a foot wrong – just in case ...

Greg Crick proved that his win in the first race was no fluke by repeating the dose in the second.

Klark was a safe third, with Dean Grant’s identical model Mosler in close attendance during the early stages of the half-hour event. Grant’s car had the edge on Sandown’s two long straights, but Klark’s was better under brakes and in the twisty stuff.

The fun ended when Grant retired on lap 16, leaving Tony Quinn, who had passed Ash Samadi’s Mosler earlier, to play tail gunner in the Aston Martin. Mark Eddy was only two places further back, but there was as much likelihood of him challenging Tony as Julia Gillard inviting Tony Abbott to dinner!

Klark scored his second podium result for the weekend, confirming his Australian GT Championship runner-up position. Tony finished fourth after a series that didn’t mirror his tarmac rally successes this year.

Afterwards, Klark had mixed feelings about the outcome.

“On the one hand I’m happy to finish second in my first full attack in the championship, but I’m also disappointed because one bad round was the difference between winning and losing,” he said. “The Mosler was generally quicker than the Audi, but not finishing that race at Phillip Island really hurt our chances.

“Finishing races wins championships, and Mark Eddy finished every race this year. If he’d come last in both races this weekend he’d still have scored enough points to win the championship. I wasn’t surprised that he just cruised around.
“It was a cool and calculated performance, so hats off to him for that.”

Klark added that he had enjoyed competing in the entire championship immensely, and was looking forward to an even better series next year.

“I’ve had a fantastic time contesting every round this time, instead of just the ones I could manage between business commitments,” he said. “The competition has been great, and my confidence has improved out of sight – especially after winning the first two races in Adelaide.

“The standard of driving has been high too. Most of the guys have been around motorsport long enough to know that there’s no need for the bash and crash that you find in many series. Another incentive to drive sensibly is that most of the cars are owned by their drivers, and they have to pay for any repairs!

“From what I’ve seen and heard, 2012 will be another step forward for the championship. Now that the rules have been stabilised, people are showing more confidence in the GT3 category. A lot of new cars are already here or on the way, and that’s bound to create more excitement for fans who want to see variety instead of just one or two makes.”

RACE 2 RESULTS – 24 laps/74.4km
1. Greg Crick (Jeep / Dodge Viper)                                         31min. 51.5542sec.
2. Peter Hackett (Erebus Racing / Mercedes AMG SLS)    32min. 09.6356sec.
3. Klark Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Mosler MT900S)                 32min. 04.5045sec.
4. Tony Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Aston Martin DBRS9)         32min. 51.3385sec.

Tony Quinn finished the championship strongly in V.I.P. Petfoods' Aston Marton DBRS9

FINAL POINTSCORE AFTER 7 ROUNDS
1.  Mark Eddy       761
2.  Klark Quinn    725
3.  Greg Crick      662
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8. Tony Quinn      421

SANDOWN MOTOR RACEWAY (3.1KM) – SPRINGVALE, VICTORIA

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