David “Sideways” Sieders continued his stunning form coming off a recent Bathurst win, by claiming Race 1 today (Saturday, 26th October),for Round 7 of the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series – protected by ARMOR ALL at the ARMOR ALL Gold Coast 600.
Sieders had a great start off the front row alongside Rhys McNally, and the Australian Mine Fencing driver held onto the lead for the entire race.
“It was a tidy start, wasn’t a great start but still just a lights to flag victory, which is the way I like it. I got in a nice rhythm and just did it easy I could have pushed if I needed to, I lost a second to Nathan (Pretty) in traffic, and then I thought I had better try and build a gap and went straight back into the 25’s, so the car is obviously a jet,” said Sieders.
Nathan Pretty got a great start on Rhys McNally and took him off the line to move into second and hold the position for the race ahead of McNally, who had a great run to finish in third. The Milwaukee Racing driver is only a few points away from McNally in the Championship title.
“I’m just trying to get up there to beat the other guys, I haven’t even thought that much about Rhys, he’s doing a fantastic job this weekend but unfortunately for the both of us, we have no answer for Sieders, he’s just too fast,” said Pretty.
The Stratco Racing driver is moving closer to the championship title, sitting a few points in front of Pretty at the moment.
“I’m just really proud of the team the way it’s coming together now; it took most of the season to work out what we wanted to do. Our pace isn’t quite there, but we’re still one of the front running cars which is good and leading into the last round, the more points the better really,” said McNally.
Queenslanders Ryal Harris and Kris Walton had a battle for 4th, while Elliot Barbour, running 5th at the time, was called into the pits to fix his loose bonnet. The Rookie finished in 23rd for the race, whilst Harris bought his Tapout Energy Ford home in 4th ahead of Walton’s Rentco Ford.
George Miedecke set a new lap record in a time of 1:25.8172, and walked away with 6th for the race in The Boat Works Holden and is really wrapt with the result.
“It’s definitely that little bit of a finesse you need to make the Ute go quick, I’m still lacking that, but when I did put a lap together is was quick so obviously the Ute is really good. It’s a credit to the team to be able to jump in a Ute I haven’t’ driven in a year, and put a lap record down. It is really cool, it would be nice if I could put 11 or 12 of them together, more time in the car will help,” said Miedecke.
Andrew Fisher and Kim Jane had a fierce battle for 7th, the Jesus Racing Ford holding out Janes Holden.
Jeremy Gray walked away with 9th, ahead of Craig Dontas who rounded out the top ten in his Thirsty Camel Holden.
Stephen White and Ryan Hansford came into turn 1 two wide, but unfortunately White bent the steering arm of his Dunlop Super Dealer Holden forcing Hansford into the wall at the same turn. The two still managed to finish the race, unlike Danny Buzadzic who broke a diff, and Ben Dunn, who broke a tail shaft on his warm-up lap.
Warren Millet hit the ripple strip half way through the race, which destroyed his wheel and forced the Wake Up Backpackers owner into the pits.
Matt Nolan also suffered a broken steering arm from contact from Gary Baxter and was no too happy about the incident.
“It wasn’t Gary’s fault, he had nowhere to go cause Rohan Barry was driving like a monkey,” said Nolan.
Sieders pulled number nine out from the Ballot draw, which determines the number of cars that will be reversed for Race 2 tomorrow, putting Gray on the front row alongside Jane.
The V8 Utes will hit the grid tomorrow morning at 8:15am followed by Race 3 at midday (12:10pm), which will determine the winner of the Round. Race 3 will also be aired live through Network Seven (check local guides).
