Down to Top Four Scrum at Eastern Creek
It has come down to golden point suspense in the final round of the 2006 YokohamaV8 Ute Racing Series on November 24-26 at Eastern Creek International Raceway.
Former NRL Roosters star Jack "The Hustler" Elsegood, is aiming for a grand finalvictory but current series leader Marcus Zukanovic is set to play hard ball and notgive any ground to the hard charging Sydneysider. Sitting only 40 points ahead ofElsegood, Zukanovic has his heart set on the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series title.
"I am keeping the same mentality as Indy, I will roll up and race my hardest,driving a clean round and focusing on finishing ahead of Jack" said Zukanovic "I amin with a chance at both the V8 Ute Racing and Commodore Cup titles, to win bothwould be a great achievement, I believe I am the next person in line since MarkSkaife in 1992 to take out two Australian titles in two different categories in thesame year"
The multitalented Melbourne based star is also up for the CAMS MotorsportPersonality of the Year, with big challenges to face next season when he moves intothe Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, recently sealing a deal to purchase the in form TollHSV Commodore of Garth Tander.
Elsegood has been striving for the overall series win since his inception into thecategory five years ago.
"This is crunch time for me, hopefully I can use the home advantage to finish theseries with a win and take out the title before moving into V8 Supercar territorynext year" Elsegood said "I was runner up in 2004, but I would love to leave theseries on a championship high for the Coopers team."
The Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series Driver Standards Advisor and former Bathurstlegend Andrew Miedecke will be on the lookout for any foul play or offsidebehaviour.
"I am expecting sheer class, with most of these drivers at their absolutely peakcondition for the year, however, coming into the last round of the series,everything is on the line" said Miedecke "You can guarantee every time the Utes getonto the track whether it be practice, qualifying or a race each driver will betesting the limits of courage, speed and skill to get in front."
The winner of each race is awarded with 39 points whilst second place receives 35,third place 31 and fourth place 29 points, with each consecutive placegetter afterthat awarded one point less, for example, 28, 27, 26 etc.
The championship is still on the line, the slightest mistake, a mechanical issue orunrepairable damage from a crash can cause a major change in the leader board.
There is only 40 points between current series leader Marcus Zukanovic and fellowFord BF Falcon XR8 driver Jack Elsegood, with both Holden SS Commodore drivers GaryBaxter in third and Grant Johnson in fourth still in with a chance at the title.
"After placing third in both 2004 and 2005, I'm now aiming for the hatrick" saidSage Racing's Gary Baxter
Perth driver Grant Johnson is also set to be a Holden frontrunner at Eastern Creek."Breaking an axle at Queensland Raceway hurt my title chances, so hopefully I canstill manage to finish on the podium" the Grove Fruit Juice driver explained.
With 117 points still up for grabs, mathematically any one of the top four driverscan take out the title.
The high octane action kicks off on Friday November 24 with three practicesessions. There will be two more practice sessions Saturday morning followed byclose qualifying on Saturday afternoon. The action will culminate with all threeraces for the final round on Sunday November 26.
Trophies will be presented at the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series Gala PresentationDinner to be held at Rydges Parramatta on the evening of November 26.
Round 8 of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series
FRIDAY November 24
10:25 AM Practice 20 mins
12:40 PM Practice 20 mins
01:55 PM Practice 20 mins
SATURDAY November 25
10:05 AM Practice 20 mins
11:45 AM Practice 20 mins
02:30 PM Qualifying 20 mins
SUNDAY November 26
10:50 AM Race 1 8 laps
01:35 PM Race 2 8 laps
03:55 PM Race 3 10 laps
