Sherrin Racing is off to a successful start in its bid for the 2023 Mobil 1 Australian Production Car championship, taking out 1st and 3rd outright and 1st and 2nd in Class X at the 2023 season opener at Phillip Island at the weekend.

Across the four 30-minute sprint races held for the category – which is running a combined grid alongside Monochrome GT4 Australia this year – Sherrin Racing took three of the four outright APC wins, and all of the Class X victories.

Grant Sherrin claimed first for APC and in Class X in the #27 Sherrin Rentals BMW M4, courtesy of two APC outright wins (races two and four), one outright runner-up (race three), three Class X wins (races one, two and four) and one Class X runner-up (race three).

Iain Sherrin claimed second for APC and in Class X in the #72 Sherrin Rentals BME M4, thanks to one APC outright win (race three), one outright runner-up (race four) and one outright third place (race two), alongside one Class X win (race three), two Class X runners-up (races two and four) and one Class X third place (race one).

“It was a really good weekend,” Grant said.

“We had a bit of rain on the dummy grid for the first race on Friday which caused a little havoc, but overall, I was pretty happy with how the new car went in the wet, as the M4s traditionally do not like the rain.

“The second race, held on Saturday, was really good, and I was able to fight my way through to take the APC outright and Class X win.

“Race three on Sunday morning had a delayed start due to heavy fog, and with the cold weather and everything my tyre pressures ultimately weren’t up enough for when the race started, so I was a bit slow out of the mark. Iain was able to get the jump on me and he raced well. It was a really good battle, lots of fun and with very close action. When my tyres started to come back on and I was catching him, it was really close, and he was able to hold me out to win.

“It was good fun, although I think it would have been better if I was in front of Iain,” Grant laughed.

“To have both Sherrin Racing cars up the pointy end and winning trophies is fantastic, and I am really looking forward to the rest of the year.”

This season marks the first time the brothers have raced against each other since 2008, when they were racing in the Mini Challenge.

“It was awesome having the battle with Grant. I used his race set-up from Saturday for the Sunday morning outing, and we had a really good run of it.

“I would have liked to have done it again in the last race, but unfortunately another competitor lined up in the wrong grid box, which meant I started off 8th on the combined grid instead of 6th, with Grant alongside me instead of behind me. And then that competitor was slow off the line, so I had to swerve to avoid him, and Grant was able to get through.

“Even so, it was still a good race once we got going. There was a lot going on across the field and later I had to take some big evasive action when two other racers came together behind me as we approached turn four – thankfully I spotted what was unfolding in my mirror and was able to get out of their way as they fired through, so I wasn’t also collected.

“It was a really great weekend. I had a really good time, and we slowly tuned the car up to get better and better. The rain on Friday was tough as our car does not like the rain, but the last three racers were fantastic to come back through the field and get up the front. And it was great to be racing at Phillip Island in the sun – that doesn’t happen often!

“This has been a great start to the year for the team, and we can’t wait to try and keep this momentum going at round two in Sydney next month.”

Sherrin Racing will next be on-track for round two of the Mobil 1 Australian Production Cars at Sydney Motorsport Park across June 16-18.

Sherrin Racing is supported on-track by Wirtgen Group, Sherrin Rentals, Hi-Tec Oils, Industrial Protective Coatings Qld, Custom Plastic Fabrication, Action Mechanical Specialists, Symmetry Engineering, Hydraulink Brisbane North, Welding Solutions, Great Whites Lighting, Sherrin Equipment, Construction Equipment Australia and Brisbane Isuzu.

For more information, visit www.sherrinracing.com.au