Ryal “The Kid” Harris had a clean-sweep on the final day (Sunday, 16th June) of Round 3 of the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series – protected by ARMOR ALL at Hidden Valley Raceway, claiming 3 race wins and sealing the overall round victory.
The Gold Coaster has also moved further into the ENZED Drivers Championship lead and couldn’t be happier.
“I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get pole but I can’t really complain. I got three wins, “he said with a grin. “This is the first time the Tapout Energy guys have been involved in motorsport, and to come here for the first time and win three out of four races puts me in good stead with their plans for the future. It would be good to progress to Supercars next year. I couldn’t believe what a good weekend I had,” said Harris.
For Race 3, the Tapout Energy Ford was joined by the Dunlop Super Dealer Holden of Stephen White on the front row, White got the better start but Harris held the lead through the first lap until a safety car was deployed after Danny Buzadzic and Wayne Wakefield had a coming together sending Buzadzic backwards into the guardrail between turn 4 and 5.
Buzadzic was ok but unfortunately his Western General Body Works will need a rebuild.
On the restart, Perth’s Richard Bloomfield jumped the gun and was penalised 10 championship points for contact with Auto One Racer Adam Marjoram.
Kim “The Assassin” Jane made a move on White when he ran wide into turn 1 and took second spot. White held on to third ahead of Elliot Barbour, who was having a great battle with teammate David Sieders, who walked away with fifth. Rhys McNally came home in 7th, Nathan Pretty in 8th and Craig Dontas and Jack Elsegood rounded out the top ten respectively.
Based on aggregate points from the first 3 races, Harris was back on pole for the final race alongside White on the second row, Jane in 3rd and Sieders alongside.
On lap one, Peter Burnitt helicoptered into the Tyre Barrier at Turn 4 after contact with Jeremy Gray, whilst “Spud” Wood rolled heavily after hitting the tyre barrier avoiding the Burnitt incident. Both drivers were ok, Burnitt, who was boasting some of his best results to date, was really disappointed with the result.
“I came out of turn 2 and next minute I was tagged in the rear, on the grass and into the wall before I knew it. Looking at the footage, I saw that Jeremy Gray was forced off track and clipped the rear of my car coming back on and turned me around. I then saw Spud Wood rolling towards me, it was pretty spectacular but wasn’t a good end to the weekend,” said Burnitt.
After the restart, the battle was on for the lead with Sieders, Jane and Pither all trying to hunt down Harris’ Tapout Energy Ford. Pither passed Stephen White after the re-start and Harris was under pressure from Sieders, who was nose to tail with “The Kid” the whole race. Sieders was trying desperately for a win to take home in memory of his friend Rodney Crick who passed away recently but still walked away with third overall for the round.
“I’m really happy with how we represented Captain Kangaroo this weekend. We really wanted to get a race win for Rod, and we pushed right to the end. Happy to come away with a lap record, a podium finish and moving up to second in the Championship,” said Sieders.
Jane held onto third for the race, which gave him second overall for the Round, and the Ute veteran was excited about the result after an interesting start to the year.
“After a terrible start to the year at Adelaide where we didn’t even get through five laps of the race, then working on the car getting it fixed for Perth, it came out of the truck in Darwin perfect, and the team hasn’t put a foot wrong. It’s been quick, not quick enough to knock off Ryal but we’re just happy with a good result,” said Jane.
Pither walked away with fourth in Tony Longhurst’s Boat Works Holden. White had dropped back to fifth and although didn’t make the podium, claimed his best result to date including the ARMOR ALL best presented Award for the Erebus Racing Team.
Rhys McNally came home in sixth ahead of team mates Craig Dontas and Nathan Pretty who claimed seventh and eighth. Ryan Hansford drove home in ninth place, whilst Gary Baxter closed out the top ten and also walked away with the Masters Award.
Elliot Barbour came 6th in the Race, however was hit with a 5 second penalty for jumping the start, yet still leads the Yokohama Rookie of the Year Award, followed by Adam Marjoram and Jesse Dixon.
Dixon claimed the SS Inductions Hard Charger Award and $500 cash for overtaking 15 Utes in Race 2.
Sieders Racing won the Teams Award for the weekend with Dave Sieders now comfortably sitting in second in the Series, only 29 points from Harris. Rhys McNally is 3rd, a mere 10 points shy of Sieders on 359 points.
Veteran Gary Baxter picked up the Masters Award as the highest placed driver over 45.
The V8 Utes head to the Sucrogen Townsville 400 for Round 4 of the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series – protected by ARMOR ALL 5 – 7 July but to recap on all of the action from this weekend tune in to Network Seven next Saturday, 22nd June at 1:30pm (check local guides).
See below top 5 results from Race 3
| 1 | 1 Tapout Energy Racing | Ryal Harris | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.3189 |
| 2 | 27 Bob Jane T-Marts | Kim Jane | Holden Commodore VE | 1:23.2627 |
| 3 | 19 Dunlop Super Dealer Racing | Stephen White | Holden Commodore VE | 1:23.2909 |
| 4 | 12 Absolutely Environmental | Elliot Barbour | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.9313 |
| 5 | 7 Seiders Racing Team | David Seiders | Ford falcon FG | 1:22.9759 |
Click here to download full results from Race 3
See below top 5 results from Race 4
| 1 | 1 Tapout Energy Racing | Ryal Harris | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.7471 |
| 2 | 7 Seiders Racing Team | David Seiders | Ford falcon FG | 1:23.8483 |
| 3 | 27 Bob Jane T-Marts | Kim Jane | Holden Commodore VE | 1:23.7272 |
| 4 | 25 The Boat Works | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore VE | 1:23.5090 |
| 5 | 19 Dunlop Super Dealer Racing | Stephen White | Holden Commodore VE |
1:24.4525 |
Click here to download the full results from Race 4
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