With chronic steering issues plaguing the Bisley Workwear Falcon, Colin Sieders has had a disappointing return to Mount Panorama for Round Five of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series this weekend, 6-9th October 2011.
Penrith-based Sieders struggled for consistent pace throughout the weekend, and having only recorded points in one of the two races, Colin has finished in 25th position for the weekend.
“It was a really tough weekend,” said Sieders, “We just couldn’t get the car to where we wanted it, and unfortunately it meant some pretty poor results for what I believe we’re capable of”.
“I haven’t raced at Bathurst since 2009, and it’s a track you always want to do well at, so to go home with only one race finish is really disappointing.”
Poor weather played havoc all weekend, with Practice Two of the Fujitsu Series cancelled on Thursday due to poor visibility, but with a strong initial run in the first session of the weekend, Sieders would not have been unhappy to see more rain.
“I was a little shocked to be well within the Top 10 for the early part of Practice One,” said Sieders, “I managed to find a good rhythm, but watching the video, I probably could have pushed a little harder, but was happy with the car in the wet...if only it stayed that way for the weekend”.
During Qualifying, Sieders found his Supercar lacking straight-line speed, losing three seconds both up and down the mountain, and was only able to achieve a 23rd placing.
“The car was pretty good across the top of the mountain, but with the car down on the straights, we just couldn’t move up the results very far.”
Despite the greasy track conditions, Race One was very uneventful, with all 14 laps being run without any Safety Car period, and Sieders was able to move himself up to 19th position.
“We had some pretty good battles in Race One and managed to make up a few spots, so it wasn’t bad, but we just couldn’t get enough out of the car to get much further.”
Continuing to fight against severe understeer, the Bisley Workwear Supercar eventually found itself a victim, as Colin found himself offline and into the wall just before Forrest Elbow and out of Race Two with only four laps remaining.
“The car was right off the apex coming out of The Dipper, which put me offline for the approach to Forrest Elbow and clipped the wall on the right-hander, which bounced me into the opposite barrier.”
“We broke the Watts Link and front left suspension, and managed to drive it back to pit lane,” said Sieders, “it’s a shame, because if I actually finished the race I should have been 13th, which would have made for a much better weekend result.”
Colin Sieders will miss the next round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown, and will rejoin the Series for his hometown Grand Finale at the Sydney Telstra 500, 2-4th December 2011.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to both fix the damage and find some speed and turn ahead of Homebush, but I’m really looking forward to finishing the season on a high.”
