Hawkes Bay teenager Tom Bewley staged three impressive fight-back drives at Queensland Raceway to remain in contention for championship honours halfway through the Australian Michelin Sprint Challenge series.
After winning pole and his first race in Sydney last month, Bewley had a difficult third round at Ipswich, unable to capitalise on a second-row starting position for the first race, but he did manage to snare a podium in the final race.
“I didn’t get off the line very well, almost stalled it, so I had to grab the clutch, which dropped me down a row, but on the second lap going into the last corner, I ran wide and ended up going through the sand-trap and dropping to P14,” recounted Bewley, who also lost the front splitter but still managed to drive his way back to grab sixth place at the chequered flag.
With drivers starting the second race from the position they finished the first, Bewley looked to regain lost ground from sixth on the grid but again had eventful opening laps.
“I got around the outside of a couple of cars through turn one, and then around turn two, I was on the outside but kept getting fed wide until I couldn’t keep the car on the track and went for a pretty rough ride through the grass and over the bumps, getting a lot of air time!”
The high-flying off-track excursion also put a hole in the tub of his #4 Porsche GT3 and took off the whole front splitter.
“That dropped me to the back of the field, but I was lucky enough to drive back through to P9. I was amazed at the damage that I was still able to drive the same lap pace as everyone else,” said Bewley.
That result meant a ninth grid start for the final, longer endurance race.
“I noticed on the out lap the car didn’t feel a hundred per cent; it pulled one way and had a pretty big vibration in the front, so I had to deal with it for 45 minutes.
“I got a really good start, made up a couple of spots on the opening lap and then just picked my way forward during the race, but then by the time I was at the front, I didn’t have enough tyre left and couldn’t really get by the next couple of guys without it being a risky pass so I just kept it there and got some good points and finished third.”
The six-round Michelin Sprint Challenge has reached the halfway mark, with Bewley retaining second place, even after a disappointing Queensland experience.
“I’m a bit hard on myself, but second place in the championship is very good considering I’m racing people who’ve done this series before and are familiar with all these tracks. We’re close enough to the championship lead that it’ll be all on for the last three rounds,” said the 17-year-old rookie.
The series joins up with the V8 Supercars championship for two rounds in the second half of the season, one on the streets of Townsville and the other at Sandown for the finale.
Heading to the Townsville street circuit in mid-July, Jake Santalucia holds a 38-point lead over Bewley (421-383) with a further eight points back to Ryan Casha (375).
Header Image: McLeod Media
