Dave Sieders has topped the opening sessions of the Auto One V8 Ute Seriesprotected by Armor All today, 19th October, taking out his second Pole Position in three years on the Surfers Paradise street circuit.
Having taken the inaugural Pole Position on the new circuit layout in 2010, Sieders managed to hold by 0.0028s despite a late session attempt by Gold Coast local Ryal Harris and doing so set a new lap record of 1:26.1988.
Its great to take that number one spot again, said Sieders, weve been close a few times this year, and lost it right at the end of the session, so Im glad this one stayed in our favour.
Theres not even a tenth between me and [Chris] Pither in third, so Im pretty lucky to have plucked this one out I reckon.
The 28 year old from Londonderry in Sydneys West started the weekend in perfect fashion, topping the one and only Practice Session in the morning, ahead of 2012 Holden Racing Team Enduro Driver Cameron McConville.
The car was pretty spot on right from the word go, said Sieders, I managed to bank five good laps without contesting any traffic, and was pretty happy with the consistency of our pace.
Unlike practice, Sieders was caught up from the very start by the rear of the pack still cycling onto the track, and wasnt until lap six that he banked his time for Pole.
I had to abort what could have been some good laps due to being baulked, said Sieders, I had to come to almost a complete stop on my first flyer due to traffic, and it took some effort to find some clear space for that quick one.
Sieders had a comfortable half second gap on the field until the final laps of the session, where an array of contenders all had their shots at Pole, but ultimately fell short.
I actually couldnt get it in gear at in the final sector on that flying lap, but knew it was the one, and was a little surprised by the time we still managed to bank, said Sieders, if Id lost Pole, it would have been for that one issue and I would have been dirty on myself, but we get to go celebrate instead.
The Auto One V8 Ute Series will hit the track again tomorrow for Race 1 at 8:25am, with two races on Sunday at 8:45am and 12:20pm, with Race 3 televised as live on Network Seven.
Ive been really happy with my starts recently, so Ill be going out there to get a good jump off the line and hopefully lead right through to the chequered flag for the win.
