The 2013 ENZED Drivers Championship will come down to the final race tomorrow after Kris Walton claimed Race 1 and Rhys McNally Race 2, leaving Nathan Pretty and Ryal Harris to fight for the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series – protected by ARMOR ALL at the Sydney NRMA Motoring and Services 500.
Harris needs just to finish Race 3 to walk away with the big prize, however if the reigning champ doesn’t finish, and Pretty goes on to win, they will both end up on the same points. The win will then go to the driver who has won the most races in the season. Both Harris and Pretty currently have 5 wins a piece, and a 6th win tomorrow could seal Pretty’s first Championship, should Harris strike trouble.
The TapOut Energy driver is looking for back-to-back championships, and isn’t too worried about not finishing tomorrow.
“I was actually really calm in that race, we know what we need to do and that’s just to finish it. I haven’t got a scratch on the car yet and I plan to keep it that way. If anyone wants to argue with me on the track, I’m just going to let them through. Obviously, we’ve been lucky to be in this position, the other guys have had penalties but we’ve had penalties too. It hasn’t been the quickest car, but it’s been reliable and that’s what wins championships,” Harris.
Pretty is looking for his first V8 Ute Championship and hoping to bring his Milwaukee Holden home on a high no matter what the outcome.
“I’ve had a good year, up and down with a few disappointing rounds. Otherwise, it’s been extremely competitive and now I just need to bring it home, finish on the podium and the rest will play itself out,” said Pretty
Rhys McNally had a mixed day, slowly slipping from the clutches of the championship after a 13th run in qualifying, followed by a 9th overall in Race 1. This landed him on Pole for the reverse second race. (Reverse of the Top 9).
McNally ran away with the lead, crossing the chequered flag 4 seconds ahead of the field to claim Race 2. The Stratco Racing driver is still in for a chance at his first V8 Ute Podium.
“Qualifying this morning definitely didn’t go to plan, we really struggled and were on the back foot from the get go. In race 1 we had a few dramas, we managed to get up to ninth which ultimately set us up for the reverse grid, so to get a win is awesome and try and claw back some points. Every point we can get now is going to help for tomorrow’s race,” explained McNally.
Gary Baxter was hunting McNally down the entire race to try and jag his first win this year, but the young-gun was too fast for the veteran, who came home in 2nd from a fast finishing Kris Walton. Ryal Harris and Ryan Hansford also put the pressure on in the final lap, Walton coming home 3rd, Harris 4th and Hansford 5th.
David Sieders was hot on Pretty’s heels for the entire race, but the Milwaukee Holden held out the New South Welshman for 6th. Fellow Sydneysider, Ben Dunn, bought his Red Ass Mexican/ BP Securities Ford home in 8th one of his best results this year, ahead of Rookie Jesse Dixon and Muswellbrook based Jeremy Gray, who rounded out the top ten.
Kim Jane’s podium chances fell to pieces when he blew an engine in Race 2. They Bob Jane T-Marts driver was sitting in 4th, when he had clutch issues leading to the engine failure. He will retire the Holden for the rest of the weekend, hanging up his boots for the 2013 season.
Another driver who had an unfortunate end to their season was Erebus Motorsport’s Stephen White, with his Dunlop Superdealer Holden ending up in the Wall at turn 2, after a bump from Gary MacDonald in Race 1.
In Race One, Kris Walton pushed to a 7 second win over the rest of the field, getting a jump from the start over pole sitter David Sieders.The Queenslander was ecstatic with the result and has kept his hopes alive of a podium finish.
“It was good from start to finish, which was a change for me, I got away from Sieders who dropped back a little bit, and we just cruised for the rest of the race. We just need to keep putting points on the board now,” said Walton
Sieders also got a good break and steered his Mine Site Fencing Australia Ford home in second for the race.
Nathan Pretty did well to push through to third position, taking Kim Jane on lap 7 who held onto fourth following a broken shock on lap 2.
Ryan Hansford brought his Hawkins Transport Racing Ford home in 5th ahead of Harris in 6th and Andrew Fisher in 7th. Gary Baxter had a great run claiming 8th overall, ahead of Rhys McNally who came home in 9th. Craig Dontas Rounded out the top ten, but his weekend result was cut short when he blew a front tyre in Race 2.
The V8 Utes will hit the track tomorrow for the final Race of the year at 10:50am. The race will be shown on Network Seven later that day at 2pm.
