Nathan Nitrous Pretty is leading the 2013 Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by Armor All after claiming two race wins at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
Pretty started on pole for Race 3 and had a comfortable lead in his Milwaukee backed Holden for the whole race, which landed him the round win.
Im extremely happy, its good for the new sponsors we have on board this year, Milwaukee and CQ group they were here this weekend so it was great for them. Also for Holden, Ford has dominated here in the past so its good to see the lion up there. Im loving life at the moment - all of the guys have been hard at work back in the workshop and its culminated into a win, which is what hard work does, said Pretty. |
Pretty started alongside Andrew Fisher on the front row, and from flag fall held his spot till the end of the race. Fisher came under pressure from Reigning V8 Ute Champ Ryal Harris who passed him mid-race. Fisher dropped down to fourth on the last lap, when Hawkins Transports Ryan Hansford over took him in the final lap, however Hansford was penalised 5 seconds for a jumped start dropping him to 5th for the race, handing Fisher the extra spot and also second for the Round.
Stratco Racings Rhys McNally had a great race with enormous pressure from local Gary Baxter, Elliot Barbour and Kris Walton, and did well to hold them all at bay and claim fourth for the race and third overall for the Round. This was McNallys first podium win in the Series and hes over the moon.
It feels awesome. Its been three long years in the Utes trying to get up there. Weve been close a few times but weve never quite been able to finish it off. Im absolutely wrapped with the car and the team. At Homebush last year, and the last couple of rounds, we were miles away, and couldnt get close to the top ten so we went away in the off-season and Ive come back third in the first round and cant be happier, thats for sure, said McNally.
Baxter held onto sixth in his Sage Automation Holden, ahead of Barbour in seventh and Kris Walton in eighth. David Sieders finished in ninth after moving up five positions from Jack Elsegood who rounded out the top ten in his Fuchs/Hustler Mower Ford.
Phonsy Mullan had one of his best results since Winton placing 12th overall, ahead of Gerard McLeod in 13th, Tony Longhurst in 14th and Jesse Dixon in 15th. Dixon also claimed the Armor All Best Presented Award in his Hayman Reese Holden.
Rookie Rhett Noonan was unfortunate to retire his Accuwiegh Ford early in the piece following contact from Noel Edge at turn 1 off the start. Edge was penalised 10 points for the incident. Richard Bloomfield was also caught up in the incident and was unlucky to clip Noonan, exposing his front end. The West Aussie ended his race in the run-off.
Heat Treatment Australia driver, Grant Bromley was also penalised 10 points, for contact with Troy Dontas at Turn 9 in lap 2.
Jeremy Gray had an unlucky weekend and shortened his final race suffering brake failure.
Adelaides Craig Dontas received a drive-through penalty mid-race for contact with Cam Wilson, which turned the Gold Coast Karting Ford around in spectacular fashion. The Big Gun Racing driver locked a wheel before running wide, Dontas unfortunate to clip the back of him.
Peter Burnitt had a remarkable end to his race in the LCE QLD Ford after hitting the tyre bundle at Turn 1, breaking the lower and top control arm, which pulled the tyre under the Ute and ending his race in spectacular fashion.
Pretty now leads the ENZED Drivers Championship on 133 points from Andrew Fisher and Jake McNally each on 112 points.
The V8 Utes will head over to the West Coast 35 May for Round 2 of the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Seriesprotected by Armor All at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth. To re-cap on all of the action from this weekend tune into Network Seven, Saturday, 9th March at 2:30pm.
