Despite a stellar start to Round Four of the Auto One V8 Ute Series – protected by Armor All at Townsville this weekend ( 8-10th July), the Australian Industrial Supplies XR8 of David Sieders has had a horrific final day, and slipped to fourth in the Enzed Driver’s Championship.
The 2010 Rookie of the Year had topped the timesheets on Friday, and banked 61 points out of a possible 64 from Qualifying and Race One on Saturday, however, Sunday’s races netted a total of only 16 points finishing the weekend in 13th position.
Rubbing salt into an already gaping wound, Sieders was also given a post race penalty of 11 Championship Points for contact with Jack Elsgood in the final race of the weekend, dropping him 37 points off the Championship Lead of Chris Pither, and sits fourth behind Ryal Harris by 8 points.
“We’ve had some great results this year, coming into Townsville, and we started this round really well,” said Sieders, “we had the fastest car in Practice and held a 12 point buffer in the Championship before today, so to only score 16 points from two races is very disappointing.”
“We’re now a little more than one session’s worth of points out of first, but with over 500 points left in the year, we’ll just keep chipping away at that lead, and hopefully it will be enough by the end of the season.”
“There’s exactly half of the season to go, and there are some pretty tough rounds to come, including Bathurst and Gold Coast which are up next,” said Sieders, “these tracks can be brutal and anything could happen to anyone.”
Having topped both Practice Sessions on Friday, a minor adjustment for Qualifying failed to deliver the results expected, leaving Sieders to start from the second row on the grid in third.
“Unfortunately three degrees probably cost me $1000 [awarded for Pole Position],” said Sieders, “we gave the car a fine tune with the set-up, which basically didn’t work how we wanted, but at least it was still quick enough to stay towards the front”.
Getting a strong start in the opening Race on Saturday afternoon, it took five laps to manage a pass on Chris Pither, which gave Pole and eventual Race One Winner, Ryal Harris, a comfortable break, with Sieders coming in second.
“I had a few good runs on [Chris] Pither, but couldn’t quite get it done early enough,” said Sieders, “by the time I was in second, Ryal [Harris] had over six seconds over me, and it’s just too much to get back in six laps”.
The result of the Reverse Grid Lotto had Sieders starting from 17th for Race Two, and it didn’t take long for the carnage to begin, with panel damage coming from all angles.
On lap five, a concertina at Turn 11 saw the back of Auto One Wildcard entrant, Dean Canto, breaking the bonnet pins on the AIS National Ute, and with the panel flying up and covering the windscreen down the straight, Sieders was left over a lap down after having it taped down in Pit Lane, and was the last classified finisher in 25th.
“My seat is quite low in the car, and I could actually see alright, but obviously the officials won’t let you run around with a bonnet on your windscreen,” said Sieders, “other than panels and the windscreen, the car was pretty much ok”.
Lined-up for the final race alongside stable-mate Ben Dunn’s Mother Energy Drink / Red Ass Mexican Food Ute, Sieders’ weekend went from bad to worse when damage sustained at turn two on the opening lap, again sent him to Pit Lane for repairs, falling a lap down to finish in 25th for the second race in a row.
“I think that the only difference between today’s races and a pinball machine is that a pinball machine is actually fun, only costs two dollars a go, and gives you a lot more points.”The Auto One V8 Ute Series – protected by Armor All will have a three month break before resuming in support to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, 8-10 October.
“We’ve now got a 12 week break until we hit the track again at Bathurst, so we’ll take the time to really go over everything, regroup, and come back that much hungrier for that number one spot again.”
