Harris cleans-up with a V8 Ute Victorian Victory

 

Victorian Elliot Barbour claimed his first V8 Ute Race Win (Race 2), whilst Ryal “The Pest” Harris walked away with a Race 3 victory, sealing Round 5 of the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series – fuelled by Hogs Breath Café at the Wilson Security Sandown 500, Victoria, Sunday 14th September.

Jeremy Gray started off pole for the Top 10 inverted Race 2 and had a blinder of a start, moving into a comfortable lead by lap 4, until Elliot Barbour pushed on and caught the IXL Lubricant Ford taking him in a spectacular move on lap 9 to claim his first V8 Ute Race Win.

“I’m pretty comfortable over the top, I like that corner and I thought, I didn’t want to sit here in second so I had a crack and it paid off. It’s good to get the first win and get the monkey off the back, there has been a bit of pressure to get that win so I think it will be a lot easier now” said Barbour.

Macmahon Mining’s Gerard McLeod had a great Race 2 start, pushing from third to second off the line, until he and Barbour came together over the hill, forcing McLeod off track. He battled through to come home in 12th overall, earning him the Hogs Breath Café Hard Luck Award and a $100 Hoggy voucher.

David Sieders moved into second position, but he was soon pushed wide moving Ryal Harris into the spot which Gray took back by lap 10 when Harris missed a gear. Harris came home in third ahead of Go Pro Racing’s Nathan Pretty (6th), David Sieders (5th) and Kris Walton (6th), who set a new lap record on lap 4 in a time of 1:21.941.

Jesse Dixon came home in seventh ahead of Andrew Fisher in eighth, Adam Marjoram in ninth and Thirsty Camels Craig Dontas in tenth.

A safety car was called when Kiwi Sam Barry and Danny Buzadzic had a coming together at Turn 1, Buzadzic was stuck in the sand-trap but was able to re-join the field, retiring in the pits.

Carpentaria Fuels Scott Nicholas started the Race from position 27 and earned himself the V8 Utes Hard Charger Award and a $100 Hogs Breath Café voucher for passing 10 Utes to finish his Race in 17th.

Rhys McNally was due to start Race 2 from grid position 6 but was forced into the pits after he blew a drive-shaft on his warm-up lap. He was in the top 5 in the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship behind Ryan Hansford in 3rd coming into the Round. Hansford was excluded from Race 2 for an ineligible vehicle (front ride height) and the two started from the back of the grid for Race 3, battling all the way through the field to end the Race in 12th and 13th. Hansford has now moved to 9th in the Series and McNally to 8th leaving him disappointed with the weekend.

“It wasn’t a really good weekend to be honest, obviously Ryan was having a shocker and it looked like a good time to pick up some points in the Championship, but we blew a drive shaft in race 2 and in race 3 we were down on horsepower, but Bathurst is a few weeks away so we should be good by then,” explained McNally.

Harris started on the front row for Race 1, screaming off the line and didn’t look back holding a comfortable lead for the entire race and moving him into 5th in the championship.

“Better late than never, we will keep pushing, it will still be a long shot in the championship but we’ve see that in the past, Matt Stone has been great, the car is really fast and we will just keep doing that for the rest of the year and see what happens I guess,” said Harris.

Series leader Kris Walton started from Pole position for Race 3 but was left behind off the start line, with young-gun Jesse Dixon taking second position, which he held onto for the remainder of the race handing him his first V8 Ute Podium, claiming third overall.

“I’m really happy for the Hayman Reese team, we’ve put in so much hard work the past six months and this is what we came here for, our first podium and a big thanks that they’ve given me a great Ute and onwards and upwards from here,” said Dixon

Walton managed to move into third position by lap 3, overtaking Barbour who walked away with 4th for Race 3. The third place earned the Rentco Racer second overall for the Round and moved him further in front of the ARMOR ALL Drivers Championship, leading David Sieders by 49 points.

Nathan Pretty pushed home to fifth in the race, moving him into third position in the ARMOR All Drivers Championship.

Auto One Racer Adam Marjoram had a good run to come home 6th ahead of Jeremy Gray (7th), Gerard McLeod (8th), David Sieders (9th) and Andrew Fisher who rounded out the top ten, Fisher also walking away with the Masters Award for the round.

Phillip Woodbury was unlucky not to finish the race due to a broken wheel but he still walked away with the Rookie Award and a $100 Hogs Breath Café voucher.

With two of their drivers in the top ten for the Round, (Nathan Pretty (4th), Elliot Barbour (5th)), Murphy Motorsport took out the Teams Award.

Stewards finally resolved an outstanding issue from the Darwin round with Kris Walton being penalised for passing under a yellow flag at Round 3, losing one position and one point, however he still holds the ARMOR ALL Championship Lead.

See below top 5 ARMOR ALL Championship Points
1 Kris Walton 68 Rentco Transport Equipment Rentals 623
2 David Sieders 8 Sieders Racing 584
3 Nathan Pretty 56 GoPro Racing 506
4 Jesse Dixon 49 Hayman Reese Racing 502
5 Ryal Harris 1 All Purpose Pest Control 484

The V8 Utes will head to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for Round 6 of the 2014 Australian V8 Ute Racing Series – fuelled by Hogs Breath Café at Mount Panorama, 9th – 12th October but to catch all of the action from Round 5 tune into Network Seven next Saturday, 20th September (check local guides).

See below top ten results for Race 2