Gemini One-Hour Blockbuster

A star-studded field will take to the challenging Morgan Park circuit on October 1-2 with the second running of the Gemini One Hour.

Confirmed drivers include Carrera Cup ace Klark Quinn and V8 Ute aces Jack Elsegood and Matt O’Grady, as well as many other distinguished racing drivers in the 20-car field.

On track action will consist of separate qualifying sessions, a top ten shootout, races for both the main and the co-driver, as well as the one-hour, finishing off competition on Sunday afternoon.

The Queensland Gemini Series has been a proving ground for many race drivers over the past 26 years, with the class booming this season following the introduction of a Yokohama control tyre, which has seen lap records lowered at every circuit.

The Morgan Park Raceway circuit is a hidden jewel in the local Queensland motorsport scene.

Located just outside of the Darling Downs town of Warwick, two hours southwest of Brisbane, the circuit has been in existence for nearly fifty years, although recent renovations have seen circuit standard raised for drivers and spectators alike.

Other classes on the program include the ever popular historic touring cars, formula vee, and local short circuit touring cars.

Some of the entered driving combinations-

In a coup for the Cuisine Kitchens team, regular series front-runner Ash Jarvis will team with Carrera Cup driver Klark Quinn. Quinn has never raced a Gemini before, but his experience gained racing Porsches, a BMW, Formula Ford, Aussie Racing Cars, and at the Bathurst 24 Hour should put him in good stead.

Current front-runner in the V8 Ute series and former NRL player Jack Elsegood will return to the class where his motorsport career began. Elsegood has been a race winner in the utes and currently drives for the Coopers Pale Ale team. Elsegood will be partnered by another former footballer Robbie Walker in one of he Job’s On Motorsport entries.

Another leading contender in the V8 Utes Matt O’Grady will return to the Geminis after 12 solid months competing in the Donut King ute. O’Grady has been on the podium throughout the year, and will be partnered in one of the Platinum Auto Care entries by up and coming driver Bobby Ervin.

In the second of the Platinum Auto Care entries, brothers Benn and Cameron will team up. Benn raced season in the V8 Utes for Team Brock, with the pair previously teamed together at Bathurst 2003 aboard a Brute Strength ute. Both drivers have extensive experience in Geminis, and should be on the pace.

Another former Ute competitor racing will be Steve Robinson, who is teamed with Jake Brackenridge in the Bryant Engineering entry. Since racing in the ute series, Robinson has been a front runner in the Ford versus Holden Saloon Car class, where last time out at Morgan Park was on the podium.

Chris Donnelly steps back in to the Geminis, the class where he started in motorsport. Over the years, Donnelly has won three Queensland Sports Sedan championships, the latest aboard his 500HP Falcon that has run very competitively at a national level. Donnelly teams up with Forest River Australia driver Ray Connor.

If it has wheels, there is a good chance that Ash Lowe has driven it. From Formula Ford to Sports Cars, Lowe has been a front-runner in everything. This year he has been a leading contender in the national F4000 title, and for the Gemini one hour, he will be teaming up with Tony Chapman.

Local Warwick brother and sister combination Michael and Rebecca Dawes will be racing together. At the recent state championship meeting at Morgan Park Raceway, the pair qualified at the front of the grid, pace which should see them as serious challengers for the one hour.

One of the favoured combinations for the one hour will be last year’s winner Nick Rangeley, who will be teaming up with the runner up from last year, John Eddy. Both are former champions and have wins on the board this season.

The Ingear Industries-Castrol team have picked up two new drivers and backing from Grove Fruit Juice. Matt Mackelden and Greg Willis will team up, both having experience in many different classes in the past 12 months, including V8 Utes, Aussie Racing Cars, Saloon Cars and Formula Vee. The second car will be driven by regular Gemini racer David Wood and Matt Picken.

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