Andre Heimgartner has claimed the 2017/18 BNT V8s Championship at Hampton Downs this weekend, while Liam MacDonald clinched his second title in class two.
Locked in a battle with his teammate Jason Bagwanna, Heimgartner had to merely finish all three races this weekend to gather enough points to win.
Bargwanna backed up his win on Saturday with another win this morning where he was followed to the line by the Nissan of Nick Ross and the Holden of Jack Smith. However Bargwanna was later relegated down the order following a post race penalty for contact with class two competitor Chelsea Herbert. This elevated Nick Ross into first place.
Smith won the final race of the day followed by Ross and Bargwanna.
For Heimgartner, it was his first title for a number years and his first in a V8 category.
“It’s been a while since I’ve won a championship and my first one since Formula Ford, so good to get that out of the way,” said Heimgartner.
“The weekend didn’t go as smoothly as I had planned. I had the issue yesterday where I lost the mirror so I was being a bit conservative. The wrong gear ratios were also in the gearbox, put in at the last rebuild, so we weren’t that quick. We battled with a few things over the weekend, but so glad to get it home and seal the championship.
“Coming here, the aim was to win the championship, and to have some good competition in the form of Nick Ross and Bargs does make the championship win that little bit more satisfying.
Liam MacDonald claims the class two championship for the second year in a row.
“I’ve been doing a lot of driving lately, and this mileage I’ve done here at home, definitely helped me in the first round of Supercars at Adelaide last weekend. Looking forward to doing more racing back here next season.”
In class two, the second race of the weekend was won by Liam MacDonald followed home by Brock Timperley and Matt Podjursky.
The final race saw Brock Timperley clinch another win and rookie of the year, and was followed to the line by MacDonald and Podjursky.
Despite late season charges from Chelsea Herbert and Brock Timperley, reigning class two Champion Liam MacDonald managed to hold on to secure a second title.
For MacDonald who was the dominant driver in the class last season, he was relieved to get his Speedy Signs Ford home and ‘stoked’ he clinched a second Championship title.
“Pretty stoked to be honest. This season we just concentrated on finishing races and getting wins if I could,” said MacDonald.
“This year was harder for sure, the other drivers lifted their game. It was harder for sure, we had couple of penalties, our first DNF and a some protests to deal with, but just pleased to come out on top.”