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Fildes Ends Tricky Season Sixth In Championship |
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Monday, 16 October 2006 |
Irish star Jonathan Fildes concluded his 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship campaign sixth overall in the final driver standings on Sunday, the 31-year-old once again suffering an unfair dose of misfortune.
Bidding to end the season on a high during a year which hasn’t delivered the kind of results he deserved, the Co.Meath driver hoped for at least one podium result during the final weekend of the championship but instead had to settle for fifth place in round 17 and sixth position in round 18 as he struggled with a lack of straight-line speed.
Although sixth place in the standings is by no means bad, for a competitor who is more used to winning titles the season hasn’t produced the results he had hoped for and the Applied Signs & Display, Asgard Taverns, Atari Expo and AM Speedsport-backed ace is now unsure what 2007 will bring in terms of racing action.
“It’s not been the year we had hoped for”, said the Total Control
Racing driver at the end of the final race of the SEAT season, “We’ve
had far more than our fair share of issues with the car and more often
than not we’ve been at the wrong place at the wrong time, getting
caught up in other people’s incidents.
“The season started fairly well but we really should have been
challenging for the title and I’m very disappointed the year hasn’t
delivered what we had hoped for. I just hope my sponsors keep the faith
with me for next season and give me the opportunity to return to taking
podiums, winning races and winning titles in another category.”
Unfortunately for Jonathan, qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday did
him no favours and the Irishman was incredibly frustrated to have
posted the eighth fastest time during the round 17 session and seventh
on the grid for the 18th, and final, round of the season.
At the start of round 17, Jonathan maintained his eighth position and
on lap three he made a move on team-mate Neil Waterworth to take
seventh place.
With ground to make up to catch sixth-placed Ben Winrow, Jonathan set
about the task but on lap five an overly robust move by Carl Breeze on
Jonathan Adam resulted in the latter spinning off the circuit, thus
promoting the Irish ace into the top six.
Jonathan certainly appeared to be catching Winrow but on the straights
he was losing ground due to an unidentified problem with the power. Try
as he might he just couldn’t quite get on terms with the five cars
ahead but then, on lap 15, Mat Jackson slowed meaning Jonathan would
move into fifth place where he would stay to the flag.
For round 18, the TCR sensation would start one place higher on the
grid and immediately came under pressure from Winrow but Jonathan
managed to stay ahead of his pursuer and soon made his way inside the
top six.
As the laps counted down, Jonathan got ever closer to fifth-placed Ian
Churchill but continuing to suffer with a lack of straight-line speed,
the Irishman was unable to gain another position before the finish.
“We couldn’t get to the bottom of the problem with the lack of speed
down the straights”, said Jonathan, “We checked the data and I was six
10ths of a second quicker than any of my team-mates through Copse and
on the run through Becketts.
“But as soon as we got to the end of the back straight I had lost four
or five 10ths of a second to everyone else. It was a struggle and I’m
disappointed we weren’t able to end the year on more of a high.
“I do want to express my thanks to everyone at TCR, it’s a fantastic
team, and also my sponsors who have been fantastic this year through a
very tough season.”
Jonathan’s last two races in the SEAT Cupra Championship, which were
broadcast live earlier today on Motors TV, will be replayed in full on
Tuesday morning, 17th October, at 08.00. Motors TV is available via
channel 413 of the Sky Digital platform and through cable provider NTL
on channel 545.
Final 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship Provisional Driver Standings:
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1st |
Mat Jackson |
266 |
| 2nd |
Alan Blencowe |
222 |
| 3rd |
Jonathan Adam |
216 |
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| 6th |
Jonathan Fildes |
146 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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