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| Race Report by Tim Lee (Mod) Nathan Reese (Stock) Photos: Paul Smith |
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ISTC Stock 17.5
Xray gun and full time professional Keith Chui has taken out the 2012 NSW Sate Titles followed by Gavin Hatherly, at the world class SMA facility in Sydney. Team Xray had a strong presence at this event and placed 5 cars in the A Main.
The event was looking like a washout with both practice days being inundated with rain, however the fantastic SMA club did everything in their power to dry the track and allow practice on the Friday night. the track conditions were a little up and down, but Keith set a new track record for SMA on multiple occasions throughout the weekend.
Keith Chui set the pace from the first qualifier and never looked close to losing the TQ position, rounding the top 3 qualifiers was fellow Xray Driver, Nathan Reese. Keith's car was pretty much spot on all weekend, having done plenty of testing at the track leading up to the event, the entire team had different setups and were bouncing ideas off one and other all weekend. eventually settling down on their own setups, although Keith setup seemed favourable. I have to say I am very impressed with the Australian Xray team as we really have a great group of guys that thrive on seeing each other do well.
In the first final, Keith had a clean start and never looked close to relinquishing his lead, Nathan had driver error and ended his race prematurely giving Gavin a chance to make a flying past on second and bring home an Xray 1 2 finish in the first final.
Final 2 seen Keith get off to a brilliant start with Nathan's car not leaving the grid in A2 due to radio problems. (It's becoming a common occurrence for Nathan in A2's) This gave Gavin another chance to easily get past 2nd place and take on Keith for the win, Gavin found some miraculous power and was on Keiths Tail from the 2 minute mark making for some exciting racing, really trying to put the pressure on Keith, but he didn't budge, the young pros asian fingers were as calm as can be. Giving Keith his third State Title and team Xray yet another state title.
In the third final which Keith elected to run for testing purposes making a rare mistake and leaving the opportunity for Nathan Reese to take out A3.
A special mention must go to Gavin Hatherly who didn't get off to a brilliant start this weekend and had no time to practice leading up to the event due to work commitments, but managed to qualify 4th and put the car in second place. Well Done
Id like to say a big congratulations to all the Xray drivers who made the A final
1. Keith Chui - XRAY T3
2. Gavin Hatherly - XRAY T3
3. Andrew Seniak
4. Alex Ilievski
5. Brett Douce
6. Nathan Reese - XRAY T3
7. Paul Smith - XRAY T3
8. Alex Tyson
9. Phillip Merick
10. David McInerney - XRAY T3 |
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| ISTC Modified |
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As always the level of competition in mod was high and a good mix of local and interstate drivers made for some great racing.
After not driving for a month and having not seen the track since it was repainted I didnâ™t know what to expect. I had planned on doing as much practice on Saturday morning as I could but only managed to complete about 2 minutes before the track was closed at 8:30, so I was a bit rusty to say the least.
With my normal setup the car felt very strange, I was hoping that it was just the very cold/dewy track early in the morning.
In the first qualifier the car felt the same, very disconnected with little front grip.
I made changes every round trying to get rid of the understeer, the car was the best in the qualifying four where I finished second for the round but the car was still hard to drive. I couldnâ™t attack the corners and was just waiting for the car to turn.
I felt like the car had plenty of grip but the required setup for the new surface would be so totally different that there was almost no chance of finding it without any practice.
End of qualifying result:
1. Simon Nicholson
2. Ryan Maker
3. Tim Lee â“ XRAY T3â™12
4. Corey Broadstock â“ XRAY T3â™12
5. Sandy Iavazzo
6. Antoni Caretti
7. Jordan Cullis
8. Justin Vergunst
9. Cristian Silva â“ XRAY T3â™12
10. Craig Mcphee
After qualifying third for the A main I had a clean race in all three finals. In the first I was second after Ryanâ™s drive shaft failed with only a few laps to go, and I was third in the other two finals. I made some small improvement to the car in the last final but still not as good as it was in qualifying round 4. Unfortunately Corey Broadstock (XRAY) who had qualified well lost some positions in the final after coming off second best in some unlucky racing incidents. Cristian Silva (XRAY) had some electronics issues for the finals but still managed to make up some places.
Final result:
1. Simon Nicholson
2. Ryan Maker
3. Tim Lee â“ XRAY T3â™12
4. Craig Mcphee
5. Antoni Caretti
6. Sandy Iavazzo
7. Cristian Silva â“ XRAY T3â™12
8. Jordan Cullis
9. Corey Broadstock â“ XRAY T3â™12
10. Justin Vergunst |
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