SMILES, hugs, handshakes and one huge smile - that was how Brad Shiels celebrated the end of a Mount Panorama jinx on Saturday morning.
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For the first time the Bathurst talent drove his way onto the podium in a sports sedans race behind the wheel of the J.S Racing Fiat, charging from sixth on the grid into third on the track where he first fell in love with racing.
Having endured a series of mechanical dramas, frustrating safety car periods and even having a tyre pop off the rim at high speed when racing the 1974 Fiat 124 Coupe at the Mount over the past two years, Saturday's third race of the National Sports Sedans Series round finally saw Shiels enjoy an incident free run.
"It is a big relief, for the car to run well, to get a green session and have everything work out, it was exactly what we like," Shiels said.
"I think in every other race I've done here in this car we've had something go wrong. So finally.
"To come back and see everyone, they are so happy. They put in so much effort, I've got the easy part I just drive it. They were here until 2am Friday morning swapping the clutch, so it's awesome to give them a good result."
![Brad Shiels standing with his J.S Racing Fiat after the race on October 7, 2023. Picture by James Arrow Brad Shiels standing with his J.S Racing Fiat after the race on October 7, 2023. Picture by James Arrow](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gfyFBZ2A3aREPWrpf4KzA3/9bbd5b52-9576-43b0-b833-ede44f0dd6c8.jpg/r0_0_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Having already claimed the NSW Sports Sedans Championship in the Fiat, Shiels and the J.S Racing team arrived at Mount Panorama eager to make their presence felt on a national level at the iconic 6.213 kilometre circuit.
Shiels was second fastest in qualifying, but a gear issue meant he did not get to fire from the front row in race one. He didn't even do a lap.
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In race two on Friday morning, Shiels powered from the rear of the grid into sixth spot. He made up 17 places, but two safety car periods denied him any chance of a podium.
However, on Sunday morning things finally played out in his favour.
He picked up a spot the first time through Hell Corner, made another passing move on lap two down the inside of The Chase and by the end of lap three, he was into third.
![It was a mix of relief and joy for Brad Shiels on Saturday as he earned a podium in the National Sports Sedans Series. Picture by Warren Hawkless It was a mix of relief and joy for Brad Shiels on Saturday as he earned a podium in the National Sports Sedans Series. Picture by Warren Hawkless](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gfyFBZ2A3aREPWrpf4KzA3/18ddb43d-557e-4994-93fd-c5f23d50c367.JPG/r0_147_3892_2456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
With a tick under five minutes remaining, and the two frontrunners more than 14 seconds down the road, Shiels peeled off his fastest lap of the race - a 2:08.48.
It wasn't enough to see him climb further, but he comfortably held onto third with some six seconds back to his nearest rival.
"The race went to plan, a podium was our goal," Shiels said.
"It was hard to get past the other three guys without losing sight of the front guys. Unless we got a safety car - I was hoping for just a quick one to bunch us back up again - but we didn't get one and I burned my tyres up trying to get past the other guys too.
"But I am really happy with third."
![Brad Shiels with his fiancée Ange Massey, who he will marry at Mount Panorama in a few weeks. Picture by James Arrow Brad Shiels with his fiancée Ange Massey, who he will marry at Mount Panorama in a few weeks. Picture by James Arrow](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gfyFBZ2A3aREPWrpf4KzA3/13fd8b71-a3f2-460e-873a-00ce9a7c6029.jpg/r0_0_2432_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
That podium place, as well as the 2:05.299 lap he did in Thursday qualifying, made it a good weekend for Shiels.
"To get third was great and also walking away with the lap time we did, I'm stoked with that. My max speed [in race three] recorded was 293 and that speed trap is at the end of Conrod, so it probably would have nearly been 300, it's always a bit higher what you actually do," he said.
"I knew I had the speed over the guys behind me today so I wasn't too worried about them, I just had to focus on getting past the three in front of me. That's about all I could do."
Having already secured his second NSW Sports Sedans championship win in three years, Shiels is opting to head to the Gold Coast later this month to race in the finale of the national series.
He's also thinking ahead to his next trip to Mount Panorama in six weeks as well, but it will be a different kind of suit he will be wearing then. Shiels is set to marry his fiancée Ange at the iconic circuit.
"I'm really looking forward to that, it will be pretty cool to have a wedding here," he said.
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