Round 2 Mallala 2012 News - Symes Motorsport

ROUND 2 Mallala 2012
Action Packed Mallala
22 April 2012

Mallala Motorsport Park saw the return of Commodore Cup this year for round 2 of the Australian championship. A small but very determined field of cars headed to the South Australian circuit for which would turn out to be quite an eventful weekend. With all the main championship contenders still entered for the round, it was not a time for the Symes Motorsport team to relax.

Saturday’s two practice sessions proved a success for the team, testing some new and upgraded components from round 1. Also with this being the first time Jordan has competed at the circuit, the pressure was on to set some quick lap times ahead of the afternoons all important qualifying session. With the grid positions for round 1 being a random draw, this would be the championships first real qualifying session.

The lap times throughout the twenty minute qualifying were extremely close with the top five being split by only a second. The Symes Commodore finished the session in fifth position only 0.0055 seconds behind forth positioned Chris Stevenson and 0.56 seconds behind the second placed car.

Sunday consisted of three 14 lap races, which kept the teams and drivers on their toes all day to prepare the cars between the races. Race 1 was the usual action packed Commodore Cup style with Jordan battling with two of his main rivals for 3rd position. Jordan managed to move into 4th position until overheating brakes caused quite a spectacular off at the end of the back straight resulting in Jordan parked in a cloud of red South Australian dust and a large cleaning job for the team when he returned to the pits.

Throughout races 2 and 3 the hard and fast racing continued. Jordan gained some crucial championship points during both the races managing to finish race 2 with a slight gearbox problem. Race 3 was a much better story with a 3rd place podium finish. The team worked hard between the races to rectify the faulty gearbox and send the car out for race 3 in perfect condition.

After round 2, the Symes Motorsport Commodore still holds onto a close forth position in the championship and with four rounds and 11 races to go, there is still a lot of points up for grabs. The next round to be contested at Winton Motor Raceway is a 2 driver endurance format and is certain to provide plenty of action.

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