HOMEBUSH OLYMPIC PARK RACE 1
P. DRIVER (CAR #) MAKE POINTS
1 Charlie O'Brien (#15) Ford 39 2 Jack Elsgood (#1) Ford 35 3 Gary Baxter (#3) Holden 31 4 Grant Johnson (#47) Holden 29 5 Rhys McNally (#26) Holden 28 6 Ryal Harris (#58) Holden 27 7 Jeremy Gray (#7) Ford 26 8 Chris Pither (#42) Holden 25 9 Craig Dontas (22) Holden 24 31 David Sieders (#8) FORD DNF
HOMEBUSH QUALIFY P. DRIVER (CAR #) MAKE TIME 1 Charlie O'Brien (#15) Ford 1:48.8617 2 Jack Elsgood (#1) Ford 1:48.9873 3 Jeremy Gray (#7) Ford 1:49.3349 4 Gary Baxter (#3) Holden 1:49.3766 5 Grant Johnson (#47) Holden 1:49.5453 6 Rhys McNally Holden 1:49.9754 7 Chris Pither (#42) Holden 1:50.3449 8 Ben Kavich (#23) Ford 1:50.5105 9 Ryo Orime (#12) Holden 1:50.5707 15 David Sieders (#8) FORD 1:52.0645
V8 UTE SERIES STANDINGS P. DRIVER (CAR #) MAKE POINTS 1 Grant Johnson (#47) Holden 909 2 Jack Elsgood (#1) Ford 832 3 Andrew Fisher (#9) Ford 750 4 David Sieders (#8) Ford 748 5 Chris Pither (#42) Holden 735 6 Gary Baxter (#3) Holden 661 7 Gary MacDonald (#41) Holden 633 8 Jeremy Gray (#7) Ford 623 9 Rhys McNally (#26) Holden 576 10 Kim Jane (#27) Holden 534
2010 Rookie of the Year, David Sieders, has had his hopes of a debut Championship win come crashing down on the opening day of points for Round 8 of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series on the streets of the Homebush Olympic Park today, 4th December.
After a qualifying in the middle of the grid, David Sieders' Nulon Oil Falcon had nowhere to go when Japanese V8 Ute newcomer, Ryo Orime, went offline and into the wall at turn eight on the opening lap. Showing good pace in the middle of the pack, Sieders was looking to make his move on the Bob Jane T-Mart Holden of Jim "The Assassin" Jane, but was caught in a concertina effect by the debutant two places ahead.
"This circuit is a really tough one, and turn eight was notorious for eating up cars last year, and getting through the field safely was a genuine concern going into the race, having qualified so far back." "I was right behind Kim Jane going into turn eight," said Sieders,
"I was actually looking to make my move on him at that corner and had no time to avoid running into Kim after he was collected when Ryo Orime went into the wall". "It all happened so quickly that there weren't even any brake lights ahead before we all came together."
"Most of the damage was to our front right chassis," said Sieders, "I probably could have continued, but the impact busted a few fuses in that area, and the car had no power". Despite only completing three of the 10 scheduled laps, the race was deemed to being complete as a chequered flag was flown at the end of the session, leaving five cars without a result. And whilst Sieders' chances of taking out the Championship in his debut season have disappeared, a Series podium is still on the cards as he sits just two points out of third position after the Jesus Racing Falcon of Andrew Fisher, also prepared by the Sieders Racing Team, was not classified as a finisher today. "Talk about putting the pressure on between the guys in the team," said Sieders, "the Championship was a long shot, but the team had a possibility of a double Series podium, albeit an uphill battle".
"[Fisher] and I came into this round only separated by four points," said Sieders, "I clawed a couple back in qualifying, so we'll really be fighting for what is realistically only one podium spot, but also trying to make sure we don't lose either spot to Chris Pither who is now 13 points behind me". Despite topping the time sheets on the opening day's practice sessions on yesterday (03.12.10), the Sieders Racing prepared cars got off to a bad start today, struggling on a drying track during the most hotly contested V8 Ute Qualifying session this year that saw 16 genuine pole sitters.
"The cars looked great yesterday, with all three Sieders-prepared cars in the Top Four," said Sieders, "it was obviously a wet track that was going to dry up during qualifying this morning, and we just didn't have outright pace".
"The Top 10 all dropped around 3-4 seconds on their final lap, but unfortunately I went through turn one on my second last lap and threw off our timing to miss a final dash by 50m, leaving us in 15th." The final day of racing for the 2010 Yokohama V8 Ute Series will start with a reverse grid race tomorrow (05.12.10) at 9:05am and the final race of the year starts at 11:40am televised on Network Seven at 12:30 (AEDT). "It's going to be a really tough day tomorrow, with a lot up for grabs...I'm just hoping to bring the car home straight and now if I can get on the podium, it'll be a bonus."
