Young guns outdraw veterans in Eastern Creek enduro!
 - the winning Nathan Morcom-Chaz Mostert BMW [low-res].jpg)
The Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo BMW 335i upset the form guide at Eastern Creek.
The form guide tipped one of the Class A cars – six Mitsubishi Lancer Evos and a Subaru WRX Sti – to win the six-hour production touring car race at Eastern Creek Raceway. The all-wheel drive cars dominated qualifying, had more experienced driver pairings, and with rain forecast they looked unstoppable.
But motorsport has a habit of turning the form guide upside-down. Victory in the soggy six-hour enduro went to a two-wheel drive Class B car driven by two 19 year-olds with less than a handful of long-distance races between them!
Nathan Morcom and Chaz Mostert won the race in their Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo BMW 335i, with skilful driving backed by great pit strategy and teamwork. It was the first time that the two young guns had co-driven in an long-distance event, and the first major success for the Morcom Motorsport team.
Ironically, a mid-race thunderstorm played a significant part in Morcom and Mostert’s win. They battled severe tyre wear in the warm, dry early portion of the race, running as low as seventh and dropping a lap behind the leaders. But the deluge washed the tyre problem away, and the two teenagers worked their way back into contention.
In a marathon 88-lap final stint, Mostert caught and passed the Stuart Kostera-Ian Tulloch Lancer to move into second place at the four-and-a-half hour mark. Half an hour later he assumed the lead when the Tony Quinn-Klark Quinn Evo made its final pit stop.
A safety car period in the final half-hour closed up the field before the dash to the chequered flag, but by then the Morcom Motorsport team had seen off all challengers. Mostert crossed the Finish line just under nine seconds clear of Kostera, with Klark Quinn a lap down in third place.
The winners completed 254 laps of the 2.8km Eastern Creek ‘North’ circuit, a distance of 711.2km.
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The chequered flag falls after more than 700km of hard racing.
Afterwards Nathan Morcom recounted his experiences in the topsy-turvy race.“I knew we were in trouble when the car started sliding around only 20 laps after the start,” he said.“The rear tyres were blistering, and there was no way I could have stayed out until around lap 80, which was our original strategy. So I just hung on until there was a safety car, and when it came out on lap 59 I came straight into the pits.
“Then in my second stint the rain came just after the grip had gone again. It was pretty diabolical driving on the wet track with blistered tyres, but I managed to keep it together until there was another safety car. Chaz did a great job to bring the car home in first place.
“Thanks to the guys at Morcom Motorsport for preparing a car that didn’t miss a beat all day, and for their perfect pit work during the race.”
Chaz Mostert had similar comments about the changing race conditions.
“In my first stint I pitted nearly 30 laps early because the car was undriveable after the tyres went off,” he said. “The new tyres were fine when the track was wet in my second stint, and I was able to pull back the gap to the leaders. The grip started to go away again as the track dried out, but I was able to maintain a safe lead until the finish.
“Thanks to Morcom Motorsport for offering me the drive, and to everyone in the team for a fantastic job all weekend.”
Team owner Barry Morcom was understandably delighted with the race win.
“I really wanted to win outright after coming second last year, and after qualifying I thought we were in with a shot if things went our way,” he said. “Nathan and Chaz can do quick laps all day, the BMW is terrifically reliable, and although the Class A cars are faster we were banking on going further on a tankful and spending less time in the pits.
“The tyre problem was a bit of a worry early on, but the rain fixed that! And our fuel strategy worked perfectly when Chaz did a full stint to the finish.
“Both boys drove brilliantly in the dry and the wet, so congratulations to them. Well done to our crew as well for great car preparation and pit work.”
RESULTS
QUALIFYING (times set by first named drivers)
1. Tony Quinn-Klark Quinn (V.I.P. Petfoods / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1min. 09.6464sec.
2. David Wall-Des Wall (East’s Holiday Parks / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1min. 09.7357sec.
3. Glenn Seton-Greg Symes (Dodgy Racing / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1min. 09.8331sec.
4. Stuart Kostera-Ian Tulloch (TMR Performance / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 1min. 10.0030sec.
5. Chaz Mostert-Nathan Morcom (Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo / BMW 335i) 1min. 10.3339sec.
RACE
1. Nathan Morcom-Chaz Mostert (Direct Plasterboard Outlet-Rondo / BMW 335i) 254 laps 6hr 0min. 46.2037sec.
2. Stuart Kostera-Ian Tulloch (TMR / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 254 laps 6hr 0min. 55.1034sec.
3. Klark Quinn / Tony Quinn (VIP Petfoods / Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 253 laps 6hr 0min. 48.4531sec.
EASTERN CREEK ‘NORTH’ CIRCUIT (2.8km) – Eastern Creek, NSW
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MORE INFORMATION
Direct Plasterboard Outlet website
