2022 Round 20 Cup Results
Michelmore snatches victory in all-time ANZCAR classic!
The 247 Cup Series rolled in for its yearly visit to The Tricky Triangle knowing that the odd three cornered track would once again call for compromise. The car setup, although decided in advance, is always a compromise for it is impossible for any car to be perfectly suited to three different types of corner. So the drivers may also find a satisfactory technique for one or even two of the turns, but all three? Very unlikely. Any weakness at Pocono is amplified for the world to see.
So then to qualifying. Dyson would take pole with Foster joining him on the front row, with Scurlock and Jones lining up behind. The green flag would not herald many large changes in position, with Dyson leading from Foster and most just looking to sort themselves out and log laps before making any major moves. Indeed the early running would punish a driver stepping out of line, the momentary benefit of diving inside a competitor usually being negated and exceeded by being out of line once the road went straight.
As Jaiden Russell forced his way forwards, the resulting loss of momentum left Dyson and Foster in a two car breakaway, the two clearly not interested in fighting one another in the early stages. As the race moved into its nineteenth lap, Martin decided that he would be a far better holder of third place and attacked Russell. This in turn led to Pearson, Scurlock, Maloney and Turner beginning to run side by side, with the jostling leading to Pearson and Russell making contact and the 28 Camaro spinning through the grass and into the wall, continuing across turn three and collecting Barry Neale.
The restart would see Dyson retain his lead but Maloney and Jones would shuffle Foster back two places, the three engaging in a battle for the lead lasting several laps. Dave Douglas would move to the front with a series of outside moves on lap thirty one, while Maloney would go straight on at turn three on lap thirty two. The race would remain green but Maloney would be out for the day. Pearson would take a turn in the lead on lap thirty five while Michelmore would cycle to the front seven laps later. Dyson and then Foster would take their turns in second place as both pace and strategy came into play, with Foster moving to the point on lap forty eight.
The green flag stops started on lap fifty seven but seven laps later the race was under caution. Wellman bouncing off the wall while three wide into Trahair and collecting Paton in the process. When all was said and done Michelmore now lead from Martin, Phelps and Jaie Schultz, all of whom had stayed out. Foster was fifth on two fresh Goodyears and Dyson, Jones and Douglas followed them on four fresh tyres a piece.
When the green flag flew with twelve laps to go it was anyone's race, with the front part of the field running in a theoretical reverse order of pace based on tyre age. While the whole pack jostled for position Williams would tag Trahair and send him spinning across the turn three infield, causing the yellow to fly once more. The resulting restart only lasted one turn as Martin ran up into Schultz and kicked off the wreck of the race with half the field seemingly involved. A further wreck after one lap of racing saw Nankervis ejected from the pack and sent into the inside wall, setting up a green/white/checquer finish.
What happened next would live long in the memory as Foster moved to the outside of Michelmore, the 31 bouncing the 53 off the wall along the run between two and three. Foster would clear Michelmore to take the while flag, weaving along the straight to break the tow. As Foster attempted to take the low line into turn one, Michelmore fed him the bumper and sent him up the track, the rear tyres of the 53 slid and scrabbled to regain any form of grip while the field streaked past. This loss of momentum allowed Jones to attack, with Michelmore throwing a savage block on the 11 as they approached the final turn. Jones would put his entire car on the kerbing to try and unseat the 31 from the lead, and Dyson would tag the back of him, spinning out and having a monumental accident of his own. Pearson would squeeze between Jones and the wall to be second behind Michelmore, with Hetterscheid outdragging Jones to the line for third after Douglas copped a late incident point penalty. Schultz would get back to fifth, Raymond sixth, Foster seventh with Scurlock, Whitcher and Lobb completing the top ten.
With Michelmore taking the spoils, one could be justified in feeling there was another winner at Pocono, this being the entirety of ANZCAR which every now and then likes to give us something extra special to remind us of how good it can be.
With a rescan of IMS on the cards, it has swapped dates with Michigan. Therefore next week will come to us from the big two-miler!
Incidents
Lap 19 - Neil Pearson
Lap 19 - Jaiden Russell
Lap 65 - Garry Wellman
Lap 69 - Steven Williams (5th strike one race ban)
Lap 73 - Jason Martin
Restart Infringements
Lap 77 - Garry Wellman
No Further Action
Lap 77 - Trahair/Nankervis - Large check up in front, chain reaction
The 247 Cup Series rolled in for its yearly visit to The Tricky Triangle knowing that the odd three cornered track would once again call for compromise. The car setup, although decided in advance, is always a compromise for it is impossible for any car to be perfectly suited to three different types of corner. So the drivers may also find a satisfactory technique for one or even two of the turns, but all three? Very unlikely. Any weakness at Pocono is amplified for the world to see.
So then to qualifying. Dyson would take pole with Foster joining him on the front row, with Scurlock and Jones lining up behind. The green flag would not herald many large changes in position, with Dyson leading from Foster and most just looking to sort themselves out and log laps before making any major moves. Indeed the early running would punish a driver stepping out of line, the momentary benefit of diving inside a competitor usually being negated and exceeded by being out of line once the road went straight.
As Jaiden Russell forced his way forwards, the resulting loss of momentum left Dyson and Foster in a two car breakaway, the two clearly not interested in fighting one another in the early stages. As the race moved into its nineteenth lap, Martin decided that he would be a far better holder of third place and attacked Russell. This in turn led to Pearson, Scurlock, Maloney and Turner beginning to run side by side, with the jostling leading to Pearson and Russell making contact and the 28 Camaro spinning through the grass and into the wall, continuing across turn three and collecting Barry Neale.
The restart would see Dyson retain his lead but Maloney and Jones would shuffle Foster back two places, the three engaging in a battle for the lead lasting several laps. Dave Douglas would move to the front with a series of outside moves on lap thirty one, while Maloney would go straight on at turn three on lap thirty two. The race would remain green but Maloney would be out for the day. Pearson would take a turn in the lead on lap thirty five while Michelmore would cycle to the front seven laps later. Dyson and then Foster would take their turns in second place as both pace and strategy came into play, with Foster moving to the point on lap forty eight.
The green flag stops started on lap fifty seven but seven laps later the race was under caution. Wellman bouncing off the wall while three wide into Trahair and collecting Paton in the process. When all was said and done Michelmore now lead from Martin, Phelps and Jaie Schultz, all of whom had stayed out. Foster was fifth on two fresh Goodyears and Dyson, Jones and Douglas followed them on four fresh tyres a piece.
When the green flag flew with twelve laps to go it was anyone's race, with the front part of the field running in a theoretical reverse order of pace based on tyre age. While the whole pack jostled for position Williams would tag Trahair and send him spinning across the turn three infield, causing the yellow to fly once more. The resulting restart only lasted one turn as Martin ran up into Schultz and kicked off the wreck of the race with half the field seemingly involved. A further wreck after one lap of racing saw Nankervis ejected from the pack and sent into the inside wall, setting up a green/white/checquer finish.
What happened next would live long in the memory as Foster moved to the outside of Michelmore, the 31 bouncing the 53 off the wall along the run between two and three. Foster would clear Michelmore to take the while flag, weaving along the straight to break the tow. As Foster attempted to take the low line into turn one, Michelmore fed him the bumper and sent him up the track, the rear tyres of the 53 slid and scrabbled to regain any form of grip while the field streaked past. This loss of momentum allowed Jones to attack, with Michelmore throwing a savage block on the 11 as they approached the final turn. Jones would put his entire car on the kerbing to try and unseat the 31 from the lead, and Dyson would tag the back of him, spinning out and having a monumental accident of his own. Pearson would squeeze between Jones and the wall to be second behind Michelmore, with Hetterscheid outdragging Jones to the line for third after Douglas copped a late incident point penalty. Schultz would get back to fifth, Raymond sixth, Foster seventh with Scurlock, Whitcher and Lobb completing the top ten.
With Michelmore taking the spoils, one could be justified in feeling there was another winner at Pocono, this being the entirety of ANZCAR which every now and then likes to give us something extra special to remind us of how good it can be.
With a rescan of IMS on the cards, it has swapped dates with Michigan. Therefore next week will come to us from the big two-miler!
Incidents
Lap 19 - Neil Pearson
Lap 19 - Jaiden Russell
Lap 65 - Garry Wellman
Lap 69 - Steven Williams (5th strike one race ban)
Lap 73 - Jason Martin
Restart Infringements
Lap 77 - Garry Wellman
No Further Action
Lap 77 - Trahair/Nankervis - Large check up in front, chain reaction
