Dave 'Sideways' Sieders will be working to change his streak of luck in Western Australia when the Auto One V8 Ute Series hits the Barbagallo Raceway for round two of the season this weekend, 3-5 May.
Despite showing great pace and ability on the circuit in previous years, the two-time V8 Ute Series Runner-Up has not finished inside the top five in the two times he has competed in a V8 Ute at the circuit.
I havent qualified off the front two rows at Perth, and was only 6-hundreths off pole last year, said Sieders, in 2011 we struggled to make it through the field in the reverse grid race, starting from 19th, and last year we had a hub failure into the final turn on the opening lap of race one that sent us into the sand trap.So yeah, we have had some issues here in the past, but this year were looking to make sure we come home with the results that these cars are capable of.
The Barbagallo Raceway is one of the harshest tracks on tyres in the calendar, and the Sydneysider knows that tyre management will be critical to posting a top result in Perth.
The sand here really hurts the tyres, so its a fine line between getting the best out of the bank you have, but not pushing them too far that they may fail, said Sieders, theres not a lot of ways to replicate the conditions for testing back home, so we will have to make quick adjustments as we go.The V8 Ute Series will feature Formula 1 style qualifying on Friday, with the 30-minute session split into three sections, with the top 20 cars from the 10-minute all-in session progressing to Q2 for seven minutes, and the top 10 from that session hitting the track for a five-minute flyer.
Im really looking forward to this new qualifying session, said Sieders, I think it is something exciting for the fans and something different for the drivers...we just need to make sure were there at the end and look after the tyres enough to get a couple of really good laps.
Sieders currently sits in 11th place in the Series, 45 points away from leader Nathan Pretty, but knows that a strong showing in Perth can make all the difference at the end of the season.
Im really looking forward to getting my Championship well and truly back on track, said Sieders, Im looking to get as close to the Top 5 as I can after this weekend, but most importantly, try to cut the points difference to first down to near one sessions worth.
The last couple of years, all of the top drivers have had at least two, or more, bad rounds each season, so if we can break through here at Perth and keep it going like we did from Darwin last year, well expect to be right in the fight at the end of the season.
The V8 Utes will hit the track on Friday for two practice sessions and the new Qualifying format, races one and two on Saturday at 11:05am and 3:50pm, with race three at 1:35pm on Sunday, televised as live as part of the coverage on Network Seven.
