Bilstein
 
   

April-July 2003
 
 
Symmons Plains
April 2003
 
GTPerformance
After making the big trek across the Bass Strait we thought it was going to be a predominately horsepower track with the V8s the sure bet on the weekend winners.
Not so with Wayne Boatwright putting the STI on the front row of the grid alongside the HSV of Peter Floyd and Justin Hemmes, in his second race weekend in the Subaru, finding 6th on the grid. Nathan Pilkington also placing the 350Z in a very credible 15th place.
From the start of the first race Wayne was up in front where he kept the Protecnica Racing Subaru for the entire weekend.
Justin had a great start and took 2 cars before the first corner and kept the WRX going well the rest of the race to place him 6th at the end of the race which would place the WRXs first and 6th for the start of race 2.

Race 2 saw Wayne keep his great starting position and lead the race from the grid to the chequered flag. Justin getting another great start and working well the whole race to finish 4th. This placed him on the second row for the last race.

Race 3, Subaru Protecnica Racing in the two front rows! Wayne having a great start as he did in both of the previous 2 races and leading the whole race. Justin getting another great start got himself up behind Wayne early on and going well the whole race to even give Wayne a scare on the last corner for a Protecnica 1-2 finish!
 
 
 
F3
Kenny Habul and Alan Gurr both in their F3 cars for the racing at Tassie - Alan placing well in Qualifying 1 at position 3 and Kenny on the 5th row. With Qualifying 2 not being as good for Alan, P7, and Kenny, even though he went quicker, stayed at P10.

In Race 1 Kenny got his usual great start but lost the places back to finish 10th, while Alan Gurr had some great dices with the front runners but eventually finishing 4th. Race 2 saw Kenny gain places to finish him 7th and Alan unfortunately after taking the lead not finishing due electrical troubles.
 
 
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Wakefield Park
May-June 2003
 
Ah, the infamous Wakefield park trip that in 2002 was an expensive exercise for the Bilstein Racing trailer. You will be pleased to know that the story ends well.
 
 
GTPerformance
With both Protecnica WRXs having success ballast from their good weekend in Tassie it was going to be difficult to make the cars handle the tight track and still keep up with the EVOs.
This was the case with Wayne and Justin qualifying 11 and 9 respectively. Nathan placing the 350Z in at 13th and the VW returning with a 19th still sorting out engine and driveline but not having a successful weekend with DNFs in the last 2 races due to accidents and the 350Z also having trouble with overheating problems.

The WRXs did well over the weekend to continue finishing in the top 10 with a good result in the last race with Justin coming in 2nd and Wayne finishing in 5th.
 
F3
With both Alan Gurr and Kenny Habul joining the PSC team again it was looking good. Alan having being here before, and Kenny not, it was going to be a steep learning curve for Kenny. Alan placed well in first qualifying at 5th and Kenny coming in 10th.
While still working towards a race setup Alan put his car in at 3rd by the narrowest of margins. The top cars separated by less than 0.5s, it was going to be close racing.
In the first race Alan finished 4th and Kenny retired with gearbox troubles. Race 2 saw Alan finish in 7th and Kenny came in 9th.

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Queensland Raceway
June 2003
 
F3
It was only Kenny who headed out to a track much nearer to home.
With the PSC team only having one driver for Queensland it was going to be a quieter weekend.
Kenny liking the Queensland Track layout qualified in 7th and 8th for the two races. Even with a spin in both races, Kenny managed to finish in the top 10.
 
GTPerformance
With Queensland having its 2 long straights and big sweeper it was going to be a track that suited the cars with big motors and, as suspected, the Ford of Falk and the Holden of Floyd were on the front row from Saturday's Qualifying. Wayne and Justin were still in the top 10 with Wayne in 10th and Justin doing very well for his first time at Queensland to be in 8th.
The 350Z could not make it due to the engine troubles they had at Wakefield but the VW was there in at 13th, still sorting out a very tricky vehicle management system.

Race 1 had a very messy beginning involving Justin’s car that was too badly damaged to be included in the restart. Wayne carried the banner to finish in 5th.

Race 2 was a much cleaner affair with Justin finishing in 10th and Wayne in 7th. Race 3 was much the same as race 2 but a bigger split between the 2 blue WRXs, Wayne finishing in 5th and Justin outside the top 10 at 12th.

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Oran Park
July 2003
 
GTPerformance
What a weekend for the Protecnica team! Qualifying in the top 10 again, Wayne in 5th and Justin in 8th, the WRXs had a huge support group mostly from the WRX Club.
Nathan in the 350Z was going well qualifying in 11th in the big 29 car field. The VW qualified in 21st. This weekend saw a different format for the GTPerformance with a sprint in race 1 and a longer race with a compulsory pit stop in race 2.

Wayne went well going from 5th to win in race 1 and Justin finishing in 7th after an altercation with an RX7 that brought out the pace car which closed the field up onto Wayne’s tail. Nathan’s 350Z spun in the final laps and the VW finished 20th.

Race 2 was exciting especially with the added unknown of the pitstop which made it difficult to see who was going to win. Both WRXs had great race pace and thanks to great team work in the pits Wayne went onto win with Justin behind in second place to make it another Protecnica 1-2 finish. The 350Z finished 14th just in front of Stewart McColl in the Golf R32.
 
F3
A new driver joined the PSC F3 Team this weekend and Marcus La Delle qualified well in 9th in his first qualifying session in a F3 car.
Kenny had never driven at Oran Park before so his highest grid position of the year so far in race 2 at P5 was encouraging.

After another great start Kenny moved to 3rd through turns 1 & 2. Over the bridge and things turned ugly when car 75 clipped the back wheel of 2nd placed Cressy that sent Kenny skyward. The PSC car landed back on earth with many of its original parts missing. The driver is OK, bruised and sore. The car looks a bit second hand but will be readied for the next outing. Marcus, meanwhile, had his own drama coming off the bridge, he ran wide and spun. Kenny was a non-starter in race 2 so Marcus held the PSC flag high in 7th place until a safety car, then a spin ended his first F3 race weekend.

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Clipsal 500 Adelaide
All the action.
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