Ashley Seward Motorsport’s four Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia drivers are all looking forward to hitting the track for the third round of the series at the NTI Townsville 500 this weekend, after enduring mixed fortunes in the previous round of the series at The Bend in May.
The driver who enjoyed the best weekend at The Bend was Geoff Emery, who scored the overall round win in the Morris Finance Pro-Am Class to elevate himself to second in the Pro-Am standings.
“The first round at Sandown was tough for us, getting caught up as the innocent victim in a couple of incidents, but Tailem Bend was much better,” Emery said.
“After the dramas of Sandown, the Tailem Bend result put my championship campaign back on track.
“I haven’t raced at Townsville since 2015 in the Super2 Series, but it’s a track I enjoy and I’m looking forward to heading back there.”
ASM’s other Pro-Am drivers, Dean Cook and Scott Taylor, also enjoyed competitive weekends at The Bend; Cook won the first race and finished third for the round, while an improving Taylor was fourth overall.
“The challenge for me is always starting the weekend on the right note in practice,” Taylor said.
“At The Bend, I felt comfortable in the car from the outset and I felt that gave me a good base to build upon for the rest of the race meeting.
“Our preparation for Townsville has been solid and it’s a track where I’ve had some decent results in the past.”
Cook is also eagerly anticipating the Townsville round, with his Carrera Cup car to carry a striking new livery, which will be unveiled on Friday.
Meanwhile, ASM’s Pro driver, Dale Wood, is also enthusiastic about Townsville after a successful ride day for his sponsors at Sandown last week.
“We’ve had a difficult start to the season, but I’m not letting that affect my approach to Townsville,” Wood said.
“The preparation for myself and the ASM team has been really thorough and we’re all giving it maximum effort.
“The biggest thing we’re focusing on is qualifying; our race pace has been strong, but I’ve been qualifying in the mid-pack and as we saw at The Bend, that leaves you vulnerable to being caught up in other people’s accidents.
“I love Townsville – it’s one of my favourite tracks. It has all the advantages of a street track combined with the advantages of a permanent circuit, so you really get the best of both worlds.”
Practice for Carrera Cup commences on Friday.
Event Schedule
Friday, 9 July
9:25am – Practice 1 (25mins)
1:05pm – Practice 2 (25mins)
Saturday, 10 July
9:55am – Qualifying (25mins)
1:45pm – Race 1 (17 laps)
Sunday, 11 July
8:50am – Race 2 (28 laps)
12:45am – Race 3 (17 laps)
