TOUGH FIGHT BUT STILL ON TOP
The factory TMR driving pair of Stuart Kostera and Inky Tullock remain the series leaders after a tough fought race at Phillip Island recently.
Driving their familiar TMR Mitsubishi Evolution X RS, Kostera and Tulloch finished fourth at round three of the Australian Manufacturers Championship at Phillip Island. The event held in what can only be described as dismal conditions, some of the worst seen at the circuit in many years.
With the world famous Phillip Island circuit closed due to flooding from torrential rain all teams were on an equal footing with lost track time however this effected some more than others.
The slippery conditions caught out many drivers when the track re-opened including Tullock who left the circuit at over 200km/h heading through the infamous ‘hayshed’ sweeping bends.
Damage to the car was inevitable at that speed with the entire right hand side of the car damaged yet remarkably still drivable. Thankfully Tullock was not injured.
TMR’s team and gun engineers took about repairing the car to race trim and with no time recorded in qualifying Kostera and Tullock were forced to start from rear of field.
Always up for a challenge, the triple championship winning team took the bull by the horns and raced smart and hard across the event.
Race one was a one hour enduro where a conservative tyre choice and heavy rain threw any race plan out the window and it all came down the management and driving performance.
Rewarded with third outright from rear of field was certainly a bonus the team had not expected.
TMR team boss Alan Heaphy spied a star of the future in young Dylan Thomas driving a similar EVO X Lancer. The young driver took out the win using softer compound tyres, a good strategy and the reassurance of ABS which was lacking in the factory car following the crash.
Race two and the TMR pairing of Kostera and Tulloch started from third and all was looking good. A potential mistake by Tullock at the start saw him penalised five seconds for an alleged jump-start.
In the lead by lap seven, Tulloch pitted early to put Kostera into the car. As can often happen in endurance racing another competitors car was blocking the TMR pit bay.
In the heat of racing and all the confusion, Tullock hit the other competitors door as they opened it to do a driver change, badly damaging the TMR EVO X left hand front fender and front spoiler.
Another lost minute in the pit lane mishap and Kostera hit the track to fight back up the order, however it was not to be.
A strange electrical problem arose on the heavily damaged TMR EVO X RS causing intermittent electrical problems. Kostera nursed the wounded TMR EVO X RS home to fourth place, where the crew took enough points to maintain their championship lead.
TMR hold a series lead but also take much pride in being beaten on race day by their own creations with overall winners Gary Holt and Ryan McCleod driving their TMR built EVO X to victory.
“Whilst it’s disappointing not to win the round, we’re here to win the Championship to make in four in a row. From a business perspective, I’m rapt to see the cars we build at TMR taking on the factory cars and at time winning. It goes to show we build each and every car to the highest standards and I’m very proud of that.” said TMR boss Alan Heaphy.
