Chris Alajajian has been crowned the 2010 Hertz MINI Challenge - delivered by Pizza Capers Series Champion at this weekend's Sydney Telstra 500.
Alajajian's fifth place result in race 2 was enough for the Sydneysider to clinch the overall series victory heading into today's final MINI Challenge race with an insurmountable 40.5 point lead. After dicing with Paul Stokell all year in 2009 - to lose out by the thinnest of margins - the tables turned this year and it was Alajajian who takes 2010 spoils over Stokell after the most consistent year of his racing career.
Race 2 MINI Spain competitor Jose Manuel Del Los Milagros drove superbly to cross the chequered flag in first place for race 2 only to be excluded by the stewards for a jump-start, handing the win to Pizza Capers UberStar Glenn Seton.
With the exclusion of De Los Milagros, Peter McNiven bumped-up to second with the high flying John Modystach recording his best ever result to claim third in the Prosurv Racing entry in race 2. Fiji Water driver Aaron Zerefos put in a sterling effort to post his best ever MINI Challenge result in seventh while Brendan 'Cookie' Cook rounded out the top-8 with a consistent drive despite some steering issues mid-race.
It wasn't all smiles however with Spanish driver and former GP2 star Javier Villa who encountered engine mount issues which forced him from position 2 on lap four to and unfortunate DNF result. Race 3
For race 3 it was all the Alajajian show as the 25-year-old blitzed the field to claim victory and take overall round honours. McNiven again claimed second with Seton rounding out the podium for today's final race. Grant Doulman and Gavin Yortt were at it again in a fierce battle for eighth while Gold Coast MINI Dealer Beric Lynton was dicing things up with 2010 MINI Challenge Spain winner Javier Villa with Villa eventually getting the better of the Aussie to finish sixth for his final Australian MINI Challenge race.
Zerefos was in the action again but for all the wrong reasons this time when he lost a wheel coming onto the back straight mid-way through the race, with the stray wheel nestling nicely at the far end of the straight for 2 laps before officials had it removed. Dylan Thomas also came to grief, but before the race had even begun, when he slid into a wall on the out-lap warming up his tyres causing too much front-end damage to his CXC MINI to continue. Championship Standings
With the retirement of Carter after Race 1 Squawking Magpie Wines owner Yortt finished the year fourth overall in the Championship with Carter unfortunately slipping back to fifth. Seton too advanced to sixth in the Series pushing Cookie back to seventh but it was still a fantastic year for the Transquip Hire driver after three successful years in the category. DecoRug Racing's Stokell was solid all year for his second placing in the MINI Challenge series but Mr Consistency Alajajian reigned supreme to be crowned 2010 MINI Challenge Champion!
2010 MINI Challenge Champion Chris Alajajian said:"This is an amazing feeling I'm almost lost for words! I really want to thank all my sponsors, my dad, Nigel, friends and family for supporting me this year. I also want to thank the competitors for making this such a fantastic series and giving the MINI Challenge a real family feeling. Consistency this year was key and we didn't put a foot wrong all year apart from at the Gold Coast, and this was a major factor in our success. The points system this year made racing really close and I think we have showcased the best season out of the three years this series has been run. It would have been nice to sport the number 1 next year but unfortunately tomorrow will be our last ever MINI Challenge race in Australia which is a sad day for such a great product. I really want to thank all the MINI Challenge personnel who made this series so awesome and once again I can't describe the emotion I'm feeling for finally winning after two great years of racing."
Round 7 results - Sydney Telstra 500
Pos.Sponsor Driver Points
1 JAXQuickfit Tyres Chris Alajajian 134 2 Pizza CapersGlenn Seton 119 3 Superchare BatteriesPeter McNiven 116 4 DecoRug Racing Paul Stokell 115 5 Prosurv Racing John Modystach 101 6 Squawking Magpie Wines Gavin Yortt 95 7 MINI Spain Javier Villa84 8 Transquip Hire/ABC Autogear Brendan Cook 82 9 Box & Lock Storage Rob Knight 72 10 MINI SpainJose Manuel De Los Milagros 69 11 Doulman Motorsport Grant Doulman 66 12 Bruce Lynton MINI Garage Beric Lynton 65 13 Fiji Water Aaron Zerefos 62 14 thesupportersclub.com Chris Wootton 57 15CXC Dylan Thomas 35 16Plan4Growth/ON TIME EARTH Sean Carter 25 17iSeek Allan Jarvis 20
2010 MINI Challenge Series Standings
Pos Sponsor Driver Points
1 JAXQuickfit Tyres Chris Alajajian 825 2 DecoRug Racing Paul Stokell 777.5 3 Supercharge Batteries Peter McNiven 688 4 Squawking Magpie Wines Gavin Yortt 604.5 5 Plan 4 Growth/ON TIME EARTH Sean Carter 584 6 Pizza Capers Glenn Seton 441 7 Transquip Hire/ABC Auto Gear Brendan Cook 437 8 Bruce Lynton MINI GarageBeric Lynton 374
