Holden driver Gerard McLeod and V8 Supercar regular Chris Pither staged a stunning drag to the flag in the final race (Sunday, 21st June) of Round 3 of the East Coast Bullbars Australian V8 Ute Racing, delivering one of the closest V8 Ute finishes in history, with Pither taking the race and the overall round win. McLeod earlier today won the second race, his first in 3 years of V8 Ute racing, which gave him the pole shot for the final.
Pither came out of position six, but had the pace to the take the fight to McLeod. A mid race safety car allowed the former champ to close right up on McLeod’s Ryco 24-7 Holden and make a dive down the inside on the final corner, setting up the side by side run to the flag, the final margin was under 2/100ths of a second.
“I’m rapt that All Purpose Pest Control and Matt Stone Racing gave me the opportunity, it was a great car, and to win the opening race and back that up with a Race 3 and round win was just fantastic,” said Pither.
McLeod was also extremely happy after his earlier race win, and the fact the final race went right down to the wire.
“It’s been a long time coming, however we showed great form in Perth, and to come away with a race win, and a competitive Ute has been fair reward for all the effort that has gone in. We are a small team, we really do punch above our weight and todays result hopefully says there’s more to come,” McLeod explained.
Third overall was series leader Ryal Harris, however the result is provisional pending a post-race investigation following a race 3 incident which resulted in Adam Marjoram spinning at Turn 1 early in the race. Marjoram showed excellent pace again, finishing 3rd in Race 2 and was running with the front pack in the Auto One Holden before the incident with Harris.
NSW Hunter Valley driver Jeremy Gray has a strong weekend, finishing 2nd to McLeod in Race 2, and 3rd in Race 3. George Miedecke, David Sieders and Kim Jane all ran with the front pack over the weekend, with good results in the final 2 races.
Craig Dontas had a stout drive in Race 2, starting from the back of the pack to finish 9th outright and win the DBA Hard Braker Award.
Leigh Nicolaou and Bruce Oaklands had a major hit at Turn 1 in Race 3, triggering the safety car, while rookie Jordan Skinner claimed a great 9th in Race 3, before heading off to London next week for a recording contract opportunity. Perth star Rhys McNally finished well back over the weekend, after a number of incidents in Race 2 in the Stratco Holden.
Adam Beechey won the Rookie of the Round Award, Kim Jane the Masters Award, and George Miedecke the ARMOR ALL Best Presented.
Harris still leads the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship on 441 points, however Miedecke has now moved to second on 387 in the iSeek Ford, while Erebus Academy driver Adam Marjoram has dropped to third on 376.
All the action from Round 3 of the East Coast Bullbars Australian V8 Ute Series will be televised on ONE HD next weekend. (Check local Guides)
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