With 140 points up for grabs, four drivers are still in with a chance of being crowned the 2014 ARMOR ALL Drivers Champion and the winner of the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series – fuelled by Hogs Breath Café, which will hit the streets of the Sydney Olympic Park for the Grand Finale’ 5 – 7 December.
Kris Walton, David Sieders, Jesse Dixon and Rhys McNally give both Ford and Holden an equal shot at the title. Walton sits on 850 points only 61 points (less than two races) in front of David Sieders, who is becoming a bridesmaid to the Championship title having been in the top three since 2010, and he would love nothing more than to clinch the top spot.
“I would love to be the bride, it has always been the plan, basically I’m going to get out there and charge hard and hopefully Kris will fail and give me a shot at the title. It will be a really big weekend for us, we are debuting a new naming rights partner Qualify Me, so it would be great to bring the title home for them as well,” said Sieders.
Rentco Racing’s Walton is the reigning Sydney champion and in his third year in the Series’ He won the 2012 V8 Ute Rookie of the year title, last year finished 5th in the Series and has been the dominate performer all year.
“Yes I hope its third time lucky, we have a good lead there if we stay out of trouble and around the top ten, we will hopefully take the win. To get the win for Rentco and Peter’s Motorsport would be a bonus as all the guys have worked so hard and supported me for a long time now. I’d love nothing more than to give them the championship,” said Walton.
Coming off his best round result ever at the Gold Coast (2nd overall) and his first pole win, Dixon is 109 points off the Championship title and 61 off second place, which would be a dream come-true for the young-gun.
“It’s great to be in the top three and mathematically we can still win, it’s something that’s basically out of our control. I can perform as best as I can, but it’s really up to the guys in front, they’d have to crash out in every race. Being 14th last year to now a top three contender is pretty awesome. He’ll (Rhys) will be fighting hard to try and catch us and I have to make sure I finish every race and bag points, it’s not wise to push hard and try and catch the front guys, I just need a solid weekend to hold third for the championship,” said Dixon.
Rhys McNally remains in with a chance at the title sitting 137points off Kris Walton, although his chances are quiet slim. McNally only just missed out on a top three finish in 2013 and is definitely in with a shot of a podium finish, 76 points from Sieders in second and only 28 points off Dixon in third.
“We started off slow at the start of year and only half way through the year we started getting round wins, and that’s our plan in Sydney. Realistically to win the championship is a bit of a long shot, it’s really the last thing on our mind, we’re just going to try win each race and put on a good show. If we win, or manage to get on podium, it will be an awesome bonus,” said McNally.
Although he won the last round on the Gold Coast, Two-time and reigning V8 Ute Champion Ryal Harris, and 2011 – 2013 front-runner Nathan Pretty are now both out of the Series battle, however could still end up with a podium finish. The two are 98/99 points off second and 49/50 points off a third place.
See below top 5 in the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship1 Kris Walton 68 Rentco Transport Equipment Rentals 8502 David Sieders 8 Qualify Me/Sieders Racing 7893 Jesse Dixon 49 Hayman Reese Racing 7414 Rhys McNally 26 Stratco Racing 7135 Ryal Harris 1 All Purpose Pest Racing 6926 Nathan Pretty 56 GoPro Racing 691
All drivers will hit the Sydney Olympic Park track, 5 – 7 December to decide the winner of the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series – fuelled by Hogs Breath Café and the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship.
