Records Are There To Be Broken.

Chris Anthony, Team BRM, Formula 3. (C)

    As we travel west from Sydney over the Great Divide, the rolling hills of the western slopes offer spectacular vistas whilst tackling a challenging, undulating drive. We sweep past the idyllic Lake Lyell, the quaint town of Tarana, admire the farmlands whilst plowing over blind crests and corners, all the time dodging the road side feeding galahs. A beautiful part of Oz and great fun. We slow for the one-lane bridges after a tiny town called The Lagoon, and then we see it. A radio mast standing defiantly above the green on top of The Mountain. We turn right out of Lagoon Rd and start to fidget with anticipation in the driver's seat. We glance to the left and spot proudly emblazoned on the side of the mountain, "Mt Panorama". We're here! Even if you're not privileged enough to be racing, The Mountain has an effect.
    We're here for the Bathurst Motor Festival and thoughts immediately turn to Formula 3. Media speculation was rife leading into the event. Will F3 reclaim the Mt Panorama lap record? 
    Last year Chris Gilmour hailed F3 as Australia's fastest racing cars by claiming the Mt Panorama lap record. However, at this year's Bathurst 12 Hour GT race, Shane Van Gisbergen claimed the spoils in the impressive McLaren MP4-12C. 
    A small F3 field still provided great racing. Cooma local Chris Anthony claimed the spoils in both races for Team BRM, winning a thrilling Sunday race by 0.1sec to Ben Gersekowski with Simon Hodge in third. The result spices up the championship with Gersekowski taking a one point lead over Hodge with Anthony lurking. Anthony is competing on a round to round basis and has been undertaking various fund raising exercises to continue in F3. Let's hope he completes the season and beyond.
    After Chris Anthony shaved a couple of hundredths off Van Gisbergen's time in the Saturday race to reclaim the lap record for F3, it was Simon Hodge in the Sunday race that utterly blew the record away. On his last tour of the 12 lap race, he smashed the lap record by 1.2 sec. to record a 2.02.67. Completely flat from The Cutting all the way to The Esses, grabbing sixth gear before McPhillamy Park. Wow! 
    As we blast back along Mutton Falls Rd sending the easily startled sheep scurrying for cover, a sense of satisfaction arises. Big fields in Group N, Production Sports, NSW Production Touring accompanying Formula 3 around an iconic circuit, supporting a fantastic charity like Legacy, all translates to great motorsport entertainment and an awesome Bathurst Motor Festival. 
                                                             See you there next year.... 
    

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