David “Sideways” Sieders has taken his second podium finish in as many rounds, in a tough fought weekend on the streets of Surfer’s Paradise for Round 7 of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series – protected by Armor All.
Having kept his Nulon Oil Ford XR8 off the concrete walls, Sieders credits keeping the car straight all weekend as a major contributor to him finishing in third place for the round.
“I actually didn’t put a scratch on my car this weekend, although a few of the others took care of that for me,” said Sieders.
“Every other time I have been here I have literally crashed and burned, so it’s great to break that record, and to actually finish on the podium is a great feeling.”
Sieders started the final race of the day on the second row of the grid, and with his best start of the season, managed to pass the Holden of fellow 2010 Ute Series Rookie, Rhys McNally, before the first chicane.
“That was a Holden killing start,” said Sieders, “even with the staggered grid at this round I caught the front three really quickly, and as we were coming to the first chicane I considered filing behind but I was carrying so much pace that I decided to make the move on Rhys [McNally]”.
Despite only 22 cars finishing Race 3, a lack of safety car interventions saw only one change of position for the first seven spots, from the end of lap one until the chequered flag, giving Sieders his second third placing for the weekend, having done the same in Race 1.
“We had the fastest car out there again today, but it’s clear that on a circuit like this one, unless you start at the front and get a good start, it’s unlikely that you’ll get through for a win.”
In the morning’s reverse grid race, Sieders was ahead of the turn two carnage that ended the weekend for three cars, but with an unsettled car in traffic, he conceded a couple of places to preserve his standings.
“The set-up, and getting baulked in the traffic, just didn’t let us get through the field,” said Sieders, “after a bit of tussling with [Chris] Pither and [Grant] Johnson, we felt it a better move to let them get through and lose one or two points, rather than risk not finishing”.
Recording 118 points for the round, Sieders has shortened the gap to stable-mate Andrew Fisher, who sits in third position, to only four points and finds himself 36 points away from second placed Jack Elsgood, whilst Championship leader Grant Johnson has stretched his lead to 122 points.
The final round of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series will be held 3-5th December 2010 on the streets of Homebush (NSW), in support to the Sydney Telstra 500 Grand Finale of the V8 Supercars.
“The points are really close from second to fourth at the moment, and heading to our home race for the final round will be added motivation we’ll use to try and get two Sieders Racing prepared cars inside the top three of the Championship.”
