National Sports Sedans Island Magic
- National Sports Sedan Series
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Shiels Steals Home Plate
In baseball, stealing home plate is a feat achieved not from outright strength and the ability to hit that round ball out of the park. It’s won through guile, opportunity and a liberal dose of good fortune in the most unlikely of circumstances.
That is exactly what B
rad Shiels on Sunday afternoon.
Shiels must have headed back to Sydney still scratching his head wondering what on earth had happened across the Island Magic weekend at Phillip Island Raceway.
From the highs of pole position to the lows of post race penalties, excursions and drive through penalties, Shiels’ weekend was a simmering cauldron of mixed metaphors.
If bad luck comes from walking under a ladder, crossing a black cat or breaking a mirror, then Brad had done so in droves.
As reported in an earlier post, Shiels had stormed to pole position for Saturday’s opening race, which he led from start to finish.
The official results paint a different story after a post-race penalty, stemming a qualifying infringement, brought a forty second time penalty.
Brad and the Said Team revealed the nature of that offence on Sunday morning, just before a further dose of officialdom had Shiels’ face almost match the bright red hues of his Fiat 123 Sports Sedan.
It all began when Brad Sherriff was shown the black flag for a noise level infringement during qualifying.
When Sherriff didn’t respond, race control ordered the red flag to be shown, effectively stopping the session and bringing the #66 Nissan R34 into the pitlane. That flag caught a number of drivers, including Shiels, at the worst possible moment.
The #999 Fiat was bearing down on Paul Konig’s Mazda RX7 with a substantial speed differential. Konig had slowed to allow Shiels past, but that actually exacerbated the situation. Shiels locked the brakes to maintain position, but drew alongside before the Mazda driver responded and accelerated once more.
Summoned by the stewards, Shiels was found to have breached the red flag by passing the car ahead. He then faced an additional investigation for trying to address the situation, which was thankfully judged in his favour, though a forty second penalty still applied.
Having held off a fast finishing Steven Tamasi, whilst nursing a badly blistered rear tyre. Brad Shiels was dropped from first to fifth as a result.
At least he got to keep pole position for race 2.
One might call this a ray of sunshine on an otherwise miserable day, however Sunday dawned even more miserable as overnight rain glazed the Phillip Island circuit.
That in itself was a blessing for the Said Team Fiat 123, which was a noted thoroughbred in such conditions. The power delivery of the rotary engine and lighter chassis was much kinder in these conditions than many of the V8 powered rockets around him.
However once again, lady luck, good fortune or overthinking conspired against Brad Shiels in the cruelest of ways.
Electing to run slick tyres on the slowly drying track surface, Shiels found the outfield during the formation lap and dropped to the tail of the field.
Rather than risk a collision by weaving between the bunched cars ahead, Brad elected to stay at the rear of the grid.
Apparently, that was against the rules and he should have weaved back into position in the short run to the start.
If tip toeing around the mid pack on slick tyres wasn’t enough punishment, Shiels was then issued with a drive through penalty for failing to start from his allocated position on the grid.
Whilst one might argue the absurdity of such rulings, especially given the conditions and the subsequent self-inflicted penalty, Brad was handed a drive-through penalty.
That brought a premature conclusion to a race which had offered much more.
Having spoken to a Motorsport Australia official, it was explained that Brad had a little known option available that would have negated any penalty. Had he simply driven through the pitlane on as the race began and then back onto the circuit, he would have addressed the situation.
It was a rather harsh lesson to add into the memory bank.
Steven Tamasi inherited the lead and win in Race 1 and was on hand to capitalise on Shiels’ misfortune to take the second race. In doing so he also sealed a second National Sports Sedan Series crown for the Holinger sponsored Calibra driver.
Ashley Jarvis and Steven Lacey completed the podium, with Jarvis extending his narrow lead over Lacey in the fight for the series runner up.
Jeremy Davidson had finished the opening race of the weekend in eighth place, though not all was well with the Bandit Security Mazda RX7 FD.
High temperature readings as the race progressed and a whining noise from under the car suggested gearbox problems. A web of metal fillings mixed amongst the gearbox oils pointed to a potentially bigger issue and the car was packed away on Sunday morning.
For Brad Shiels, those woes in race 2 may well have given him a distinct advantage in the final race of the season.
Whilst the series had been won, that final race brought with it the 50K plate and the Des Wall trophy, two treasured prizes in Sports Sedans folklore for the winner of this race alone.
It looked to be a force majeure for Tamasi, who had finally overcome the intermittent misfire which first hindered him at The Bend and then returned during qualifying.
Jarvis and Lacey were also close by to pick up the silverware in the event of any unforeseen troubles for the champion elect.
Strong winds had hit the circuit late Sunday morning, bringing with it near-freezing temperatures, with dribs and drabs of sleet like mists of rain.
Post race Ashley Jarvis and Steven Lacey described the conditions as unpredictable, somewhat dangerous, yet also rather fun in a challenging, almost masochistic way.
Shiels had experienced that very situation in Race 2 and carried that knowledge as the grid trundled down the front straight as the race began. The rest of the field had run wet tyres earlier were yet to experience the limited grip offered by the Hankook tyres in such conditions.
As the lights went out to start the race it was Tamasi and Jarvis on the front row that stormed towards the southern extremities of the circuit, with Lacey in close pursuit.
While each of the leaders encountered their own moment of reckoning during those opening laps and slowed accordingly, the opposite was true for Brad Shiels, who started from the rear of the grid.
He rocketed past his fellow tail enders and carved through the midfield, running three-wide down the front straight as he capitalised on his relative familiarity with the conditions and the nimbleness of the 123 Fiat Rotary powered #999.
Ashley Jarvis and Steven Lacey found themselves fighting for the lead after Tamasi’s moment, but were also encountering more than the odd moment in their V8 powered Monaro and IRC GT SS.
Tasmanian Alexander Williams found the conditions more familiar and better suited his Mazda RX7 as he stormed to the front, with what appeared to be a race winning lead, but Shiels was not to be denied.
The #999 left Lacey and Jarvis in his wake as he then set sights on the #37 Mazda RX7. Steven Tamasi had also gained confidence in the Calibra and began to gain ground on the two leaders.
Brad Shiels recorded his fastest lap in pursuit of Williams, taking the lead in sight of the finish and edging out to a two second lead at the chequered flag to cap off a remarkable last-to-first win.
Williams held onto second with a fast finishing Tamasi around a half-second further back.
Ashley Jarvis was fourth and Lacey fifth, securing second and third in the Championship respectively.
Daniel Crompton and Michael Robinson overcame earlier mechanical problems to take sixth and seventh, with Ryan Humfrey, Allen Nash and Nicholas Smith round out the top 10 on the twenty car field.
Brad Shiels took home both the Ramada Resort 50K Plate and the Des Wall Trophy, with Steven Tamasi winning his second National Sports Sedans Series crown.
That brought down the curtain on an entertaining 2025 National Sports Sedans Series, with a mix of new cars and seasoned campaigners.
It was one of highs and lows, with Steven Tamasi getting a run of reliability to match the outright pace of the ever developing Calibra, while John Gourlay endured a horrific run of issues with his new Audi beginning with rear wing issues at Sydney and ending with fires at Queensland Raceway and The Bend.
Michael Robinson’s long awaited Mustang, prepared by Darren Hossack must be getting close to completion, while the IRC GT SS ranks will welcome the return of Geoff Taunton and the debut of a new car for John Holinger in 2026.
The potential for a new naming rights sponsor, new cars and even new opportunities to race paints a bright picture for Sports Sedans in the year ahead.
Now if Santa can just answer a few more requests…
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