Despite placing no lower than fourth in any session this weekend (10-12th September 2010), the Nulon Oil Falcon of David Sieders has finished in seventh place for Round 5 of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series – protected by Armour All at Phillip Island (VIC).

Sieders, who also recorded the fastest lap times in two sessions, was given a 38 second penalty in Race Two for overlapping the car in front of him prior to the restart, which cost him 22 points for the weekend.

“Unfortunately, this weekend was an example of how to turn the fastest car on the track into a non-winning one,” said Sieders, “we were the fastest car in Practice, Race 2, two of the three sectors in Race 3, second fastest in Race 1 and should have been towards the top of the points for the round”.

“The car was amazing this round, and it felt like it was on rails in all sessions… I’m sure we could have gone faster in some of the sessions with some more clear air, so it’s really disappointing to finish where we did because of one mistake."

Starting from the second row of the grid in Race 1, after a finding traffic at critical points in qualifying on Friday, Sieders’ was on the back foot straight away with a poor start.

Fighting his way back through the field, Sieders had set the Island’s fastest V8 Ute race time on the fourth lap, as he also passed stable-mate Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher, but a safety car period forced him to wait three laps to get past Garry “Macca” MacDonald, before battling Jack “The Hustler” Elsgood until the end.

“I had the worst start in six races on Saturday, which meant I spent most of the race getting back to where I started,” said Sieders, “by the time I got onto Jack’s tailgate I couldn’t get past him, with blocking for position permitted at that part of the race, and it was extremely frustrating”.

“We could be holding the lap record if we had some more space at the end of the race,” said Sieders, “I set the quickest time on lap four, before the safety car, and bettered in on lap eight whilst fighting for second, and there was only one person able to better either time, and only once, and that Grant Johnson who had clear track in front of him”.

Sieders started Race 2 from 13th position, after Race 1 winner Grant “Grunta” Johnson pulled the number 15 from the ‘Reverse Grid Lotto’.

Again, with the fastest car in the session, the Nulon Falcon was quickly up to eighth from the start, and a late surge saw him finish in fourth place on the road.

However, an early safety car period forced Sieders to restart behind a significantly slower Holden of fellow Series Rookie Rhys McNally, which lead to a post-race time penalty and ultimately cost the former Ford Performance Racing’s Test and Development Driver any chance of winning the round.

“We had the fastest car in Race 2, a second faster per lap all race than Rhys, and on the restart I had a lot more pace down the straight and found myself alongside him,” explained Sieders, “I actually had to get on the brakes before the control line and ended up losing another place to Grant Johnson as a result.”

“Unfortunately, under the V8 Ute rules, you are not allowed to overlap prior to the control line, which is different to other categories I’ve been in recently where you can overlap but not pass,” said Sieders, “it was a stupid error, and I have to live with the penalty”.

Sieders’ post-race penalty effectively dropped him to a finishing position of 24th for Race 2, and had him starting from the fourth row of the grid for the final race of the weekend.

With a solid start, Sieders was again quickly inside the Top 5, and a race-long battle with the Ice Break Holden of Garry MacDonald culminated in a photo finish for third place, with the race finishing two laps early due to scheduling.

“I managed to get off the line really well for the final race,” said Sieders, “I was behind Garry [MacDonald] for almost the whole race, and finished 0.0267 seconds out of third position… I reckon if we had an extra 100m I would have been able to get him in the end”.

“At the end of the weekend, I’ve given the Championship leaders another 32 points’ gap, but the team can be really proud of the effort put in, as the car was sensational, and really deserved to be on the podium.”

The next round of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series – protected by Armor All will be at the Mecca of Australian Motorsport in support to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama (NSW), 7 – 10th October 2010.

“Bathurst is always a big challenge to any team or driver, and I can’t afford any more mistakes if I want to stay in the hunt for a Championship win this year.”