January 19, 2015 - Lucas Oil’s Matt Forbes has kicked off his Australian Super Gas title defence with a win on the weekend at the opening round of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series at Fuchs South Coast Raceway in Portland, Victoria.
Forbes defeated Graeme Spencer in a tight final, the reigning champion sealing the victory with a 6.424-second pass on the 6.30-sec fixed class index.
“It’s great to begin the new season with a win, especially as it was the first-ever event under the new Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series banner, and bank 100 championship points early,” Forbes said.
“The final was a bit of a battle – the numbers weren’t pretty, but we got the job done. I didn’t get a good start, and the run was messy, but we managed to straighten it up and catch Spence.”
Forbes admitted the weather threw a curve ball for eliminations, with conditions vastly different to when he tested at Portland just two weeks ago.
“The conditions weren’t really suited to my Lucas Oil Corvette roadster on Sunday, but it was the same for everyone. The wind was stronger, there wasn’t as much heat in the track and I was getting wheelspin coming off the throttle stop,” he said.
“I’ve never felt my car do that. It made for a real pedal-fest.”
Forbes started the weekend on top; recording a near perfect 6.302-sec run to earn the top qualifying spot in the 18-car field.
He then knocked out Warren Bull in the first round of eliminations. After a bye in the second round, Forbes defeated former Nationals winner Colin Griffin in the semi-final.
The second round of the 2015 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series takes place at Adelaide International Raceway on 14-15 March - and Forbes is confident he can continue his winning form.
“We’re really looking forward to Adelaide – we debuted the Corvette Roadster there with a win last October and it seems to be really suited to the track,” Forbes said.
“Our goal is to go there, get a good haul of points and reach the cap of 160 to take some pressure off for the rest of the six-month season.”
