Mount Panorama proved to live up to its reputation of being a true drivers' circuit. The event was made even more special by the tributes to, ten times Bathurst winner, Peter Brook!

Practice 1 saw Sharpe dial himself back into the circuit that he competed on back in 2003 for the 24hrs in the Morgan Aero8. A few teething problems were found during the practice which did not help the progress for that practice session. After resolving the full throttle problem and anti roll bar issue the car was back ready for practice 2.

During the second session Sharpe was able to fine tune the AU for the steep trip up the mountain and rapid decent down the other side. With walls either side of the circuit, a good setup was required to achieve consistent lap times. “A frustrating start to the practice sessions meant that time was not on our side during practice 2. However, I felt the car was about right and that qualifying should see us improve again” commented Sharpe after the practice day.

Qualifying proved to be highly inconclusive as the field got split in half, each getting 15 mins. ASM were in the first half and it riddled with red flags and finally the session was stopped with only one flying lap having been completed by the ASM Falcon! However, this still saw Sharpe 3rd in the group. Following the second half group’s session, ASM’s final qualifying position was 21st. Sharpe remarked, “Again, this was a frustrating time for the team! I was only able to put in one quick lap, which was hindered by traffic up the mountain. However, we did come out with 3rd in the group. I’m sure there’s more in the car”.

Race one got under way with a great start from the ASM Falcon. This brought the ASM Falcon up a couple of places through the field early on in the race. However, a large hit from behind by a fellow competitor sent Sharpe sideways into turn 2. Fortunately this collision did not affect the Falcon’s race position but did lose them ground on the leading pack. The race eventually came to a very sad conclusion. The race was red flagged due to a massive crash on top of the mountain. Clark and Porter had come together through no fault of their own – a simple loss of traction for Porter sent him sideways leaving Clark no where to go. Later that weekend the Porter family received the tragic news that Mark had passed away. Clark had been rushed to hospital but, following medical attention, remained stable. Sharpe finished the race in 20th, another top 20 finish to ASM’s name.

With that news in mind race two was a tough on everybody. Again a good start from Sharpe meant that a gap was created behind Sharpe, leaving him to concentrate on the cars in front. This was a tough race lasting all the way to the final lap, as Sharpe battled with the newer BAs and VZs and some very quick AUs too. A good battle to the end with soaring temperatures saw the ASM Falcon finish in the top 20 taking 16th.

“Overall it was a good weekend for us. I would have liked to have had the car sorted earlier in the weekend as this would have avoided our being hurt on time in both Practice and Qualifying! The AU did a good job but we were down on straight line speed, which hurts at Bathurst. I would like to thank our new sponsor OzGrog.com.au and continuing sponsor Cardstream.com for all their help this weekend”