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AASA Production Car Championship News




Heath Opens the Ledger

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Newcomer to the PCC David Heath has enjoyed a stunning debut, blitzing the competition during Round Two at Calder Park.

Friday evening brought grey skies and rain to the Calder Park circuit, and the surface was greasy on Saturday morning. So much so that proceedings were a little delayed. When things did get underway, it was Clark Stott in his BlackberryStore.com.au Mazda 3 MPS who jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1m09.2s lap. Round 1 winner, Jeremy Gray (AU Falcon XR8) was next quickest, heading Hans Riehs (Mini Cooper S), Anthony Soole (Toyota Celica), David Heath (BF Falcon XR8), Joshua Riehs (Mini Cooper S), Daniel Flanagan (Hyundai Sonata), Phil Buggee (Fiat Punto Sport), Lauren Gray (Toyota Echo), Shane Tanner (Proton Satria) and John Willmington (Nissan Pulsar).

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By the time the cars finished qualifying, the order had changed somewhat, with the V8-powered Falcons able to stretch their legs, and enjoying the long straights of Calder. David Heath moved his carstockade.com BF XR8 to the top of the timesheets, with a 1m08.2s lap. Just 2 tenths behind (and at the top of the sheets for most of the session), Jeremy Gray was running strongly. Within half a second of pole was Clark Stott, followed by Hans Riehs - the first of the Class B cars, Soole, Flanagan, Buggee (top Class D), Tanner (top Class C), Lauren Gray and John Willmington. Josh Riehs didn't make it out as his car was suffering hydraulic problems. Neil Byers was also relegated to spectator duties, with his Mitsubishi 380 suffering an electrical gremlin that could not be resolved.

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Again the rain fell overnight, and the competitors were faced with a slippery circuit for Race One on Sunday morning. Jeremy Gray got off to a terrific start, and held the lead for most of the race, from David Heath. He relinquished it on the last lap though, Heath sneaking through for the win, with under a second between the two at the finish. A strong performance from Hans Riehs in the Hansinsure Mini Cooper S saw him finish 3rd (and first of the Class B cars), ahead of Clark Stott, Soole, Flanagan, Buggee, Tanner (first Class C) and Willmington. Flanagan ran as high as third early in the race, but slipped back as the race progressed (he was also handed an 11 point penalty for his part in an incident during the race). Absent from the race was Lauren Gray after problems with her Toyota Echo.

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The circuit dried out in time for the reverse-grid Race Two, but again it was Jeremy Gray who took the early lead, holding onto it for the first 5 laps. Flanagan also did well out of the reverse grid, holding second place for the first lap. He was gobbled up by David Heath and Anthony Soole on the second lap though, and eventually dropped back to 6th. Heath made the pass stick on Gray on the sixth lap, and held the lead to the finish. Clark Stott ran as low as 6th early in the race, but drove forcefully to make his way up to third by the 5th lap. Soole was the best of the Class B runners, finishing 4th overall, ahead of Riehs, Flanagan, Buggee, Tanner (top Class C) and Willmington.

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For the third and final race the grid positions are determined by each driver's fastest laptime from the previous races. This gave Heath pole position, and he used it to full advantage - never headed throughout the race. Behind him Gray held second place throughout, while Clark Stott ran strongly in third until he ran into fuel pressure problems which put him out of the race. Hans Riehs was elevated to third (and first Class B), ahead of Flanagan, Soole, Tanner (first Class C), Buggee and Willmington.

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Overall, David Heath's clean sweep saw him take overall honours for the round, and Class A honours. Second outright was Jeremy Gray, and third was Hans Riehs after a strong performance in the Mini Cooper S. Hans also took class honours in Class B, and Shane Tanner won Class C. Philip Buggee took out the Diesel Class D honours.

The next appearance for the AASA Production Car Championship will be at Ipswich's Queensland Raceway 17-18 May.

New Contender Joins the Fray

Dave Heath BF Falcon XR8

New competitor, Dave Heath, is set to shake things up in the AASA Production Car Championship from Round Two onwards.

After conquering the mountain at the Bathurst Motor Festival, 27 year old Heath is set to join the PCC for an all-out assault in his beautiful BF Falcon XR8. He was partnered by veterans Warren and Ian Luff at Mount Panorama, and plans to use some of the lessons he learned driving alongside them in his pursuit of success in the PCC.

Heath is supported by The Car Stockade, Autotech21, The Blue Oval Garage, Penrite, Xtreme Clutch, Rural Welding Sheds & Garages and Xtreme Industries, and is expected to mount a strong challenge to the dominance Jeremy Gray enjoyed at Wakefield Park.

Round Two of the AASA Production Car Championship heads to Melbourne's Calder Park, 26-27 April. Keep track of all the latest developments on www.productioncarchampionship.net.au

New Logo Unveiled

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The brand new AASA Production Car Championship logo has been unveiled.

Intended to reflect on the Production Cars that make up the PCC, the logo is based on a generic vehicle badge, with a glossy badge and chromed text.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank competitor Anthony Soole for his numerous contributions to the Logo Competition, and we hope that he finds his Permatex product pack useful!

A variety of file formats of the new logo are available for download from the
page.

Kumho to Support Production Car Championship

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Kumho has announced it's support for the 2008 AASA Production Car Championship today, in an exciting coup for the category. In the spirit of the Championship (pitting various manufacturers against each other) and in order to allow competitors continued freedom of choice, Kumho has come on board not as a control tyre for the category, but as a supporter nonetheless - so confident are Kumho in their product, that they are prepared to let results speak for themselves.

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The support from Kumho comes in the form of a free set of Kumho tyres (to the value of $1,500) awarded to one competitor per round (for use at the following round).

The criteria for awarding the tyres will be division based for the first four rounds, with the Division C winner at Round 1 taking the first set of Kumhos. The winner of Division B will take them at Round 2, Division A at Round 3 and Division X at Round 4. For the second half of the season, the "Kumho Top Gun" award will be introduced, where the tyres will be awarded to the competitor who is judged to have demonstrated the most consistent performance, and who has maximised their machinery to the highest level.

In order to be eligible for the awards indicated above, competitors will display Kumho Tyres logos below their side number panels.

The 2008 AASA Production Car Championship will bring 'showroom racing' to four different circuits during 2008, between March and November, and travelling between New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The Championship will be televised on Fox Sports Inside Speed.

Round One is set to take place at Goulburn's Wakefield Park, in two weeks time - 1-2 March. If you can't make it to the circuit you can keep track of all the action via the official website:

New Cars for AASA Production Car Championship

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Production Car Championship competitor, Hans Riehs, is set to shake things up, with his brand new car.

Riehs will tackle the 2008 PCC in this BMW Mini Cooper S. The car features a Supercharged 1.6L 4-cylinder engine, boasting 175hp, a 6-speed manual transmission and a top speed of 240km/h.

Hans (our current featured driver - click
for more info) placed 8th outright in the 2007 Production Touring Car Championship, then driving his Peugeot 206 Gti. It is believed that car will reappear this year, in the hands of a new driver - watch this space for details on that one...

Joining Hans in getting to know a new car will be Anthony Soole in his brand new Celica ZR. Anthony faces a tight preparation deadline to make the first round at Wakefield Park in three weeks time. Check back soon for photos of Anthony's new car.

The brand new AASA Production Car Championship heads to Goulburn's Wakefield Park for Round One, 1-2 March 2008.

2008 Regs and Forms Finally Out of the Box!

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After many hours of work and review, and plenty of anticipation from the competitors, the 2008 AASA Production Car Championship Sporting and Technical Rules are now available for download.

For those who just want to go to the download, click on the image to the right. To save, right click and select "Save file/target as".

For a brief rundown of the highlights, please read on.

• Four major class divisions: X, A, B and C, two seat vehicles permitted (classified by power-to-weight ratio)
• Provision for two alternate race weekend formats - in addition to the regular 3 race event
• Provision for limited brake upgrades depending on weight
• Budget data acquisition systems allowed in the interests of driver development and vehicle troubleshooting
• New points system

The rules are available by clicking
, or clicking the image on the right. They are also available from the "
" page, by clicking on the "Regulations" section.

In other news, the Round One entry form is now available to download from the "Forms" section of the "
" page. To access the form directly, click
.

The entry fee for PCC competitors is $860. This includes a levy for 20 minutes of TV time on Fox Sports Inside Speed.

Meeting Rules for Round One are expected to be available in the next couple of days. The schedule is available now though. Click
, or access it through the Admin page.

PCC Logo Competition

The 2008 AASA Production Car Championship is set to get a brand new logo to replace the existing interim logo, and you have the chance to play a major role in its design!

We're running a design competition, for interested parties to design the new logo for the AASA Production Car Championship. The winning logo, as selected by the PCC administrators, will be used on the website, on the cars, and other promotional material, so you have a chance to really make your mark on the championship.

And not only that, we're offering a great prize to the winner. The winning designer will be given the choice between a Permatex product pack (containing sealants, adhesives, threadlocker and lubricants) or a ZX1 Extralube engine treatment (which reduces engine friction, freeing up power, improving fuel economy and increasing performance) or a two-pack of passes to the AMRC round of his or her choice.

To enter this great competition, simply send your design (in JPG, PNG or AI format) to webmaster@productioncarchampionship.net.au Include your own details in the email (contact phone number and obviously email address), and by sending it in, you are agreeing that if selected, your design may be used by the AASA PCC as the category sees fit. Submissions should feature either the words: "AASA Production Car Championship" or "AASA PCC". The AASA component may be smaller than the remaining text.