- Beric Lynton becomes newest MINI Challenge winner in the series history.
- Chris Alajajian wins race 1 with Beric Lynton taking honours in race 2.
- Alajajian second in race 2 and will start at the front of the grid for tomorrow’s final race.
- Dylan Thomas with two top-9 finishes despite sustaining damage in qualifying yesterday.- Driver error saw John Magro heavily damage the front of his R56 during race 1 and retire from the event.
- Pizza Capers UberStar driver Glenn Seton third in race 2 this afternoon.
Gold Coaster Beric Lynton has become the fifth race winner in the 2010 Hertz MINI Challenge – delivered by Pizza Capers series during today’s second race at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 event.
The Gold Coast MINI dealer led from the second lap all the way to the end and was never challenged despite this being his first event for the year and being pitted up against some of the world’s best MINI Challenge drivers.
Today’s fantastic MINI action saw current series leader Chris Alajajian take race 1 honours after a dicing battle with main championship rival Paul Stokell and young Victorian Peter McNiven who eventually finished in second after a mistake by Stokell saw him run wide and lose two spots on the penultimate lap this morning.
Pizza Capers UberStar driver Glenn Seton got off to a sluggish start finishing race 1 in fifth position but a few changes to the set-up of his MINI R56 over lunch saw the V8 legend climb on the final step of the rostrum of race 2 this afternoon.
The biggest moment of the day went to Mareeba-based John Magro who slammed hard into a concrete wall on the street circuit during race 1 forcing him out for the weekend with the damage sustained far too heavy to continue. His moment was caused by driver error and once again shows how close to the limit these MINI Challenge drivers are competing at.
Queenslander Brendan Cook continues to improve with two top-10 finishes today while 2010 MINI Challenge debutant John Modystach was back in fine form with two eighth place finishes. Gavin Yortt was looking strong in the Squawking Magpie Wines entry but his glory run ended short after being penalised for a jump start in race 2 where he started on pole thanks to the top 50 percent, reverse grid system.
There were mixed emotions in thesupportersclub.com camp with Wootton senior enjoying his first race back in over 25 years with a trouble free run in both races. Unfortunately son Chris was not so fortunate after finding a faulty brake issue, only discovered this morning, forced him to sit out race 1 and a CV Joint problem saw him stop during the halfway point of race 2.
Hertz MINI Challenge – delivered by Pizza Capers is the most exciting, premium single-make series in the world. The seven round series runs as an official support category of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Race 3 of round 4 commences tomorrow at 11.35.
MINI Challenge Race 1 winner Chris Alajajian said:“That was a great race because we were all in and amongst each other for the entire session. Paul [Stokell] would gain some time in places and I would gain some in others and it was a good battle between us but then he hit the curb and nearly capsized in front of me which allowed both McNiven and I to pass him and before I knew it the race was over and we took the victory. I’m surprised Paul was able to keep his car off the wall but it just goes to show how hard we are racing out there. We start P1 tomorrow but with 50kg ballast so it’s going to be interesting that’s for sure.
MINI Challenge Race 2 winner Beric Lynton said:“We finished on the podium last year at the Grand Prix but this is my first win and it’s a great feeling. I was hoping Seto [Glenn Seton] would have a slow start and I knew I had to pass the other two guys on the first lap if I was to have any chance at winning the race and the plan worked perfectly. Sean [Carter] did a top job to hold Alajajian, Stokell and Seto at bay long enough for me to extend a healthy gap over those quicker guys. We made a couple of changes to the car after Qualifying yesterday and tuned it this morning which made it perform superbly over the two races today.”
MINI Challenge driver John Magro said: “I was heading round the corner pretty quick and just ran a bit wide over the ripple strip but thought I was fine so stayed on the throttle over the ripples. Unfortunately it just kicked the car sideways a little which unloaded the rear, unsettled the car and spun me directly right into the wall. I jumped on the brakes but by that stage there was nothing I could do. It’s disappointing for me because this is my local event and all my sponsors are from this area but that’s racing sometimes unfortunately.”
