DAVID Sieders recorded his best Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series race and round results at last weekend’s event at Sandown International Motor Raceway.
After missing the last event at Townsville, Sieders used the meeting to ‘get his eye in’ before competing in the V8 Supercar endurance races at Phillip Island and Bathurst.
Sieders qualified 13th before racing up to seventh in Race 1. Things got even better in Race 2 when Sieders claimed third place – his best result in his three years of competition in the category. Remarkably, that result came in a race that he really shouldn’t have competed in. Forty minutes before the start, a fire in the airbox destroyed many components under the bonnet of his Falcon BA. A frantic repair job got the car out on the track, albeit down a few horsepower.
From third on the grid for Race 3 (another personal best), Sieders was hoping to secure a top five position for the round, but those chances were scratched at turn one when he was collected by series returnee Karl Reindler. Sieders raced on to finish 13th. He ended the weekend sixth overall.
David is likely to return to the sidelines for the next round of the series at Queensland Raceway, with a strong chance that his brother Colin will compete at that round in two weeks time.
David and Colin will pair together in the V8 endurance races, competing in a Triple Eight Race Engineering Falcon BF (the car that won the Bathurst 1000 in 2006).
DAVID SIEDERS :
“It’s our best result ever and the first time we’ve been in contention for a podium,” he said.
“It’s also the first time we’ve finished a race in the top three. It was a pretty good feeling. We finished sixth overall, and if it wasn’t for a little bit of bad luck, we could have been even further up.“The car was just so good in the chassis department and under brakes. The chassis was just so good. It was good to know that we can compete with some of those guys.
“The engine fire before Race 2 made life interesting for us. It really hurt us quite a lot in the horsepower department. If that hadn’t happened, we may have been even further up.“It was an airbox fire. All eight trumpets, wiring and connectors were all damaged. We managed to get the KRE (engine builder) representative who was there for Triple Eight. We managed to get him for 20 minutes to come over and change the trumpets for us. It’s the first time we had a spare mor at a race track and that paid off for us!“But it was a miracle just to get it out there for the second race.
“Race 3 was a major disappointment. My start probably led to that a bit, though. Starting third, dropping to fifth didn’t help because it put me in that danger zone where some of the wallys are about. Reindler just came from too far behind and drilled me in my rear wheel quite hard. At first, I though the suspension was damaged, so I thought I was out of the race. When the car got going, there was only a slight vibration in the rear so I kept going so either the rim or hub had damaged.
“It was shame, but I think there’s a bunch of positives to take out of the meeting. Now we can move towards endurance races with some extra confidence.”
