Photo: Priceless Images
Phil Chester continued his winning ways at Sydney Motorsport Park taking three wins including the Peter Bennett Trophy Race on Sunday morning. Fittingly Chester piloting the ex Bennett owned B GT V8 brought smiles all round to Bennett who was sitting in the pits cheering on his former car to a clean sweep.
The Peter Bennett Trophy race was a fittingly exciting race, with Peter Bennett and the Taylor family all watching on it was a drag race to turn 1 which was won by Phil Chester from Vince Gucciardo, Paul Vernall, Simon Elliott and Chris Gidney.
The opening lap Gucciardo and Chester were separated by not much more than a chrome bumper if it was on, Chester soon pulled a small gap as the difference in tyre compounds came to the fore. As the race continued and the lap traffic started making a difference the tables turned and Gucciardo pulled the gap back. During the last two laps Gucciardo was right on the back of Chester but with lap traffic it made it hard for Gucciardo to try and get by. Ultimately having to settle for second place, while Vernall comfortably finished third overall.
Paul Vernall had a lonely race in third place, clearing out from Elliott and Gidney behind while Elliott suffered lots of tyre degradation and had to settle for 5th in the end. Gidney overcame Elliott mid race and kept pushing to move into 4th by the finish. Ian Branson made his debut in MG Racing in an MG F and with a strong history in karting he pushed his way to u to 22nd outright and first in the modern 1 class.
Trevor Dunford in his B GT V8 took the classic V8 class while Michael Herlihy surprised with classic 4 cylinder after finishing 21st overall. Andrew Sebesfi was the sole NSW competitor to win their class, a strong weekend comfortably in the top 10 and took the Group S class win ahead of David Anderson. Keith Ondarchie recovered from a poor start to the weekend to take the Invited British V8 win.
The Peter Bennett trophy winners are listed below
Open 1 Paul Vernall MG ZR
Open 2 Phil Chester MG B GT V8
Modern 1 Ian Branson MG F
Modern 2 Chris Gidney MG ZR
Classic 1 Michael Herlihy MG B Roadster
Classic 2 Trevor Dunford MG B GT V8
Group S Andrew Sebesfi MG Midget
IB 1 Simon Elliott Lotus Elan 26R
IB 2 Keith Ondarchie Triumph Stag
