<font color="#FF0000">Hughes Racing Enterprises</font>

 

When brand new race cars are trotted out by Formula 1 teams each year, ‘evolution, not revolution’ is often the catch cry. In some cases it works, in others it doesn’t.

 

For Anton Mechtler, a different kind of Evolution - a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII to be precise - helped him dominate in the opening round of the 2006 Disc Brakes Australia Combined Touring Car Championship at Wakefield Park. Mechtler steered the Selmor Displays sponsored entry to three wins from three starts.

 

The only driver to prevent Mechtler from leading every lap was Jim Stewart (Byron Bay Premium Ale Subaru WRX STi). He took the lead in race from the outside of the front row and led for a number of laps en-route to second place, however a blown gearbox saw him play no further part in the weekend.

 

On Sunday, it was Peter Hennessey (Road & Race Performance BMW M3R) who finished second behind Mechtler in each race. Hennessey started the opening race in seventh place, but worked his way up the order well despite a couple of niggling problems.

 

Third and fourth in race three were the Saloon Cars of Gavyn Croft (Croft Motorsport  Commodore) and Brett Howard (The Dent Man Commodore). The pair were barely separated on the track all weekend.

 

Brendan Murphy ( #23 EmbroideMe Liverpool Falcon)  after being the fastest Falcon all weekend Brendan scored a pair of podium finishes, which could have been a trifecta if not for a clash with another competitor. The trio were the dominant force in the Saloon Car ranks. Brendan showed clear speed throughout weekend on a track that favoured the Commodore not the Falcons

 

Adam Hughes ( #66 EmbroideMe Liverpool Falcon) further back was on fire over taking several cars in the 1^st two races but spare a thought though in the Trophy race Adam  suffered a power steering failure on the warm-up lap of the twelve-lap final race Adam fought his way back from dead last to 15th in what was a very tough race for him after finishing the race, he collapsed momentarily.

 

Throughout the pack, there was the usual mix of great racing, with battles up and down the order. Class C in race two provided one of the best battles seen for some time.

 

 

Battling it out for third in class was Brian King (Luminar Websites Commodore), Steven Kent (Metalair Commodore VH), Anthony Loscialpo (Tempest A/C & Mechanical Commodore VK) and Steve Hodges (Transport Repair Services Commodore VK).

 

Hodges won the battle, but Allan Marin (Commodore VK) won the Class C war with a pair of race wins, ahead of  Stephen Mantle (Commodore VK).

 

 

Saloon: Croft 42, Howard 39, Murphy 31, Seal 25, Rubis 25, Mackay 18, Hughes 14, Smollens 13

 

 

Round2

SCM 4th and 5th THE freight train begins

was at Eastern Creek a favourite for Adam but it has not been Brendan's happiest of hunting grounds and this weekend was again not the best for him

Race 1 sort Brendan has a less than great start with his accelerator cable melting on his exhaust headers (this would set the tone for his weekend )

breaden who quailfied 3rd slipped to 7th and thats where he finished race1 , Adam whom quailfied 6th drove a soild race to finish 5th .

Race 2 saw Brendan have a great start coming from 7th to 5th by turn 2 just head of Adam both SCM car drove freight train style though a massive

field to have a 3way fight with No7 Mackay for 3place after Seale had a coming together with a GTR and parking the car in the kitty litter

Mackay , Murphy, Hughes went lap after lap nose to tail with Brendan making a last mintue dive at turn 9 (hairpin) to grab 3rd from Mackay

then Adam in 5th place .

Race 3 saw masive drama with Murphy make a little to good a start and been shown the black flag for jumping the start and puting him to rear

of grid , then a Saftey car was brought out for 3 laps with a massive 4 car pile up into turn 9 and then a tight finish between Adam and Seale for 3rd place

with Seale coming out on top and Adam have to settle for 4th place .

Weekend Results

Croft , Howard,MacKay,Murphy,Hughes,Seale,Smollen, Rubis

SCM frieght train continues with a 2nd and a 3rd

        

 

Qualifing saw Brett Howard stop the clock with a 1:21.93 followed by Brendan Murphy-1:22.42, Adam Hughes-1:23.16 just 2/1000's ahead of MacKay-1:22.18 and Shane Smollen who is improving every round on 1:24.57.
The start of race 1 saw Howard jump away to lead Murphy, his team mate Hughes then MacKay and Smollen. The order remained until lap 4 when Hughes, with rear tyres well passed their best, slid just a little wide off the bridge which all the opening MacKay needed to take the spot away from him, so at the finish it was Howard ahead of Murphy,MacKay, Hughes and Smollen.
Race 2 again saw Howard lead away from Murphy, MacKay, Hughes and Smollen. Lap 6 and Hughes and MacKay had a small coming together causing the latter to spin. Race 2 ended with Howard taking the win from Murphy, Hughes, Smollen and MacKay.
The trophy race was once again lead away by Howard,Murphy,Hughes,whose crew had a hasty repair to front hub after race 2, Smollen and MacKay. Lap 4 and MacKay passed Smollen and set out in pursuit of Hughes only to frustrated behind a street sedan for the remainder of the race. Shane Smollen had a coming together with another of the street sedans on lap 6 and was forced to retire with damage to his rear end. So at the end of the 10 laps the order finished Howard who had lost a rear bumper after a small tap from a VZ SS who was unable to pass, Murphy closely followed by Hughes and then  MacKay
The Combined Touring class continues to provide great racing with the Saloon Cars more than capable of mixing it with VT/VZ SS's and V8 Street sedans so hopfully a few more people will dust off their cars and come and take up the challenge

Weekends Results

Howard,Murphy,Hughes,Mackay,Smollen

SCM roadtrain left Oran Park on round 2 with a  second and third and Oran continue to delivery to SCM good results in Round 4

both Brendan and Adam continued the roadtrain forum with a 3rd and 4th placing with Brendan taking 3rd with both Croft and Howard ahead in 1st and 2nd

Adam was close in chase of Brendan in 4th with a gap to Shane in 4th then rookie Luke in 5th place

 Wakefield is next stop on the list for round 5

WHERE IS SCM ??????

Round 5 was a quite affiar with the smallest grid in 06 the event was still hard and fast but the abcents of SCM was noticed

Croft took the honours with Howard a close second and Mackay taking full advantage of the SCM dissappering acttak to grab 3rd and a clear 2nd place in the Tascco Challange

then the ever improving Luke to Shane then new comer Mathew Newman .

so where was SCM ? well quite simply put Brendan Murphy sold his car at the last mintue which put a hold on the weekends racing due to sponsorship deals

this giving Adam the weekend off . So where does this leave SCM ? well SCM has now fell back into the hands of Adam Hughes and HRE racing . This is how the team

will be entered for the remainder of the year . "I'm disspointed for sure. But we will pick up we have extra time to play with the car till the Creek and now we can focus on

one car . " said Adam about the above events "Brendan has made a clear step for next year and thats all good , I wish him all the best and we are still the closeset of friends

but in the sport you have to grab the moment " Adam went on to say "I'm more upset about the Championship fight with Greg for 2nd place in the Challenge now I have to focus on making

3rd place mine " 

HRE has Arrived !!!!!!

Quaily
sore Rob Rubis burn the trrack up with a 1.50.37 in a kirs waldon sandown winnig car , with Gavin Croft in case with a 1.51.63 and Brett Howard out punch the vn's weight with a 1.52.56round out the top 3
ever improving (had to say it ) Adam Hughes was next with a 1.53.73 to hot Shane Smollen on 1.54.07 next was newcomer/ Rookie Luke Westall with a impressive 1.54.84 with Greg Mc Kay following in a 1.55.33 due to broken extractor, Pete Hogan came next in a 1.55.57 and Mathew Newman at his first time at the creek punch out a 1.56.38 follwed by Sean Rose with a limping Falcon (head gasket ) in a 1.56.83

with hot temps on the card things where looking good for race 1


with ambiment temps a 30 and track a 52deg it was a hot race 1

Race 1
with Rubis making a good start but coming to a turn 2 worries a small hit occured sending Rubis off track and falling down the order to 5th
this opened the door to Gavin Croft to bolt and take out the Saloon race and set fastest last in the process , Brett was pushed up and grabbed 2nd and finish 2nd , but the turn 2 action pushed Adam Hughes up to 3rd which he held for a lap then was caught by a blue rocket Rubis then both Rubis and Adam where held up and finished in that way which tail out the front pack .
the second pack was tight and had many changes but the finishing order of the pack was Smollen , McKay , Westall , Hogan , Newman . Now with all these drivers starting nose to tail for race two things will be tight

R1
1.Croft
2.Howard
3.Rubis
4.Hughes
5.Smollen
6.MacKay
7.Westall
8.Hogan
9.Newman
10.Rose DNS

 

Race 2

Gavin Croft lead the way driving strongly with fast drive and showing the New VT has pace with a consitant 1.51 lap time and topping out with a 1.51.09, Rubis was making up for lost time and fight back after a trapped race 1 and made a pass on Brett Howard to take 2nd place with Brett down to 3rd , Adam Hughes was fighting the V8 gang in a strong 4th place but being held up never the less , Further Back in a great show as the Saloon schuffle with Smollen ,Mackay,Hogan, Westall ,Newman and Rose all fighting for the same slice of track and basicly nose to tail
the ordered from 5th with Mackay taking 5th was
Mackay ,Hogan to Smollen(with fuel surge) then Newman and Rose then Westall with exhaust failure

1.Croft
2.Rubis
3.Howard
4.Hughes
5.Mackay
6.Hogan
7.Smollen
8.Newman
9.Rose
10.Westall

Race 3

Race 3 was a tight fight with Gavin and Rubis finally duking it out which every one was waiting for the VT and AU going for it .
Gavin lead the charge but the Rubis grabbed to upper hand on lap 6 to take the lead and the win and Gavin taking 2nd place just back from them Howard was in 3rd the Adam Hughes on his tail until a tight moment with a Vk in which Adam suffered heavy streeing damage on the second to last lap causing him to drop from 4th to 6th , In the mean time Mackay and Smollen a little further back where at it like hammer and tongs both changing place a few times in 5th and 6th until the two passed Hughes on the last lap promtoing both to Mackay to 4th and Smollen to 5th leveing me in 6th and a hard charging Hogan in 7th the two Rookies where fighting hard to Westall driving a steller race pushing back to 8th (after a shocking luck race 2) and Newman impressing with a solid drive in 9th Sean Rose driving hard with the little track time he had in 10th

1.Rubis
2.Croft
3.Howard
4.Mackay
5.Smollen
6.Hughes
7.Hogan
8.Westall
9.Newman
10.Rose


this being the final round I would have to say was the best and the strongest saloon field we have seen in sometime
a special Mention to Greg MacKay whose hanging up the boots (sorry to see it happen Greg ) .
and proud new owner Micheal Seale for a very fast blue AU (ex Sandown winning and Final ECreek race winner ) good to see you back in a car and a Ford at that .

Next year shows much promise the 4 new model cars in the and of Croft,Seale,Murphy and King and the ever strong older cars in the number of 5 giving us a good number of base grid numbers in NSW

 

"The car worked so well and I'm driving so well to, everything just worked a treat , The Boys to a great job and I must commend them for a year of great work  Alex has been fantasic as have Peter and Simon

have a shocking 1st year we have achived all our goals with a 3rd in the Tascco Challange and a 5th on the NSW Saloons and a 12th in the Combined all this and we missed a round " comments from Adam after the race