Tilley Wins After Karanfolovski Hit with Penalty

Tony Karanfolovski had his feature race win denied after being penalised 22-seconds by race control for a Safety Car re-start infringement, handing Brad Tilley the win in the third of the weekend’s three Touring Car Masters races in Adelaide. Karanfilovski had originally taken the flag first, however a restart after an early safety car saw him accelerate too early and, as such, be penalised by race control.

The TIFS Warehousing Ford Mustang driver made the best start in today’s trophy race and led the field through the Senna chicane, avoiding an unfortunate crash behind him to take the early lead. A three-way battle with Brad Tilley and Adam Garwood saw the trio finish in that order, with Tony K storming home to record a stunning win before he was penalised.

As such Tilley won from Garwood and Ryan Hansford. Given the penalty occured during a trophy race, the change of result does not change the round points order.

The first corner was a wild affair as Ford Mustangs stole the headlines – for good and bad reasons. While Cameron Mason and Brad Tilley both caught enormous slides and continued onwards, Terry Lawler was less fortunate and after clipping the turn two kerb, made contact with the inside circuit wall.

That impact then sent him into the path of an unfortunate Jim Richards and Cameron Tilley, with all three cars immediately out of the race, while Brett Youlden and Sven Burchartz were also delayed.

On the restart Karanfilovski, Tilley and Garwood were able to pull away from the field while behind an enormous fight was underway for fourth place – several heavy-hitters boxed in behind Alan Boughen’s Ford Mercury Comet. Boughen was able to keep the field behind him for several laps, while behind him John Bowe, Steven Johnson, Mark King, Adam Bressington and Ryan Hansford more all battled over the minors.

Hansford was the first to escape through the Mercury racer, ultimately completing his charge from 18th position in fourth at the end of the 7-lap affair. Steven Johnson stormed his way to fifth, but had to pass, then re-pass John Bowe several times after a highly competitive mid-race battle.

ROUND 1 RESULTS:

PRO MASTER: John Bowe, Mark King, Jason Gomersall

PRO AM: Adam Bressington, Andrew Fisher, Tony Karanfilovski

PRO SPORTS: Leo Tobin, Sven Burchartz, Darren Beale

IROC CHALLENGE: Bernie Stack, Sven Burchartz, Rohan Little

RACE 3 RESULTS:

1 Brad Tilley (Ford Mustang Coupe, 4735cc) 7 laps in 15m23.1046s

2 Adam Garwood (Holden Torana SL/R, 5047cc) 15m23.6307s

3 Ryan Hansford (Holden Torana SL/R, 5000cc) 15m32.1020s

4 Steve Johnson (Ford Mustang Fastback, 5800cc) 15m35.9673s

5 Wayne Mercer (Ford Falcon XY GTHO, 5800cc) 15m39.3650s

6 John Bowe (Holden Torana SL/R, 5047cc) 15m39.5205s