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Clucas The Champion, Trimble And Macrow Win At Qr |
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Sunday, 03 September 2006 |
| Attachment 18975 |
| Michael Trimble leads a close pack at Queensland Raceway. (F3 / Kalisz Photo) |
Three different drivers have won following today’s dramatic seventh round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at Queensland Raceway.
Michael Trimble and Tim Macrow scored a win apiece in today’s competition, but the biggest winner of the day was British driver Ben Clucas who has won the 50th Australian Drivers’ Championship after season-long rival Michael Trimble failed to score enough points to take the fight to the final round.
Clucas becomes the first ever British winner in the 50-year-history of the CAMS Gold Star and gives Team BRM their third Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship title in five years.
After qualifying on the second row for both of today’s races, 22-year-old Trimble cantered from third to first in the opening lap of race one, holding off concerted challenges from a four car chasing pack to record his first race win since the second round this year.
The day turned sour for Trimble in the second race, however, the Victorian’s engine failing on the eighth lap as he closed in on second place – the position he needed to score to keep his championship hopes alive.
“The first race was great,” Trimble said.
“I made great starts in both races today and made a pretty aggressive move to get the lead in race one. From there on in it was just a matter of maintaining the lead to grab the win.
“In race two I felt the engine loose power early on, and it went bad just before I decided to come in to stop it from putting a rod through the block. It’s disappointing but it’s the way things go. The field is looking great for Oran Park so we’ll go there looking to secure second in the championship.” He said.
Tim Macrow’s first ever race victory came in today’s second 20-lap race – the Victorian breaking through after previously scoring 10 podiums in the last two years of competition.
Macrow finished second in the first race today, given the short-back-and-sides in the first few laps as his Cooltemp / Scud Racing Dallara was shuffled down to fourth place from pole. He made a concerted effort to make up time and eventually reached second, finishing behind Trimble.
“It’s fantastic to break through,” he enthused.
“We made some changes between the races and the car was brilliant, just great. Once I got in front I controlled the lead and just made sure I brought it home.
“I have to thank Bevan and Garry from Cooltemp Racing and Bill Maddocks from Scud Racing for all their help and support. It’s been awesome.” He said.
Three drivers fought tooth and nail for the remainder of the weekend’s results, starring performances coming at varying stages today from Chris Gilmour, Stuart Kostera and Andy Knight.
Gilmour was in the thick of the action, finishing fifth in the opening race after holding second for 18 of the 20 lap distance. The SnatchIT.com.au driver spun at turn three, however, granting second to Macrow and Third to Knight.
The Queensland driver rebounded to finish the meeting a solid third in the final race.
Kostera had a stunning weekend, Scoring fastest lap in each race and backing up his race one 4th position with a stunning drive to second in the final race, the West Aussie driver passing Gilmour on the final lap to jump onto the second-place position.
Knight was similarly competitive, scoring his first podium in race one and finishing a consistent fourth in race two, whilst the ever-improving Matt Sofi was taken out before the start of race two thanks to a flat battery.
Although he failed to take part in this weekend’s action after loosing an engine on Friday, Ricky Occhipinti was crowned the inaugural National Class champion with a now unassailable 80 point lead with one round remaining.
Ian Haines took out the Trophy Class after both Bill Maddocks and Lauren Gray suffered mechanical failures in race one that ruled them out of contention for race two.
The next – and final - round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star will be held at Oran Park Raceway in late October.
For more information head to www.formula3.com.au
Race Results – Race 1 (20 Laps)
| Pos. |
Driver |
| 1 |
Michael Trimble |
| 2 |
Tim Macrow |
| 3 |
Andy Knight |
| 4 |
Stuart Kostera |
| 5 |
Chris Gilmour |
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Race Results – Race 2 (20 Laps)
| Pos. |
Driver |
| 1 |
Tim Macrow |
| 2 |
Stuart Kostera |
| 3 |
Chris Gilmour |
| 4 |
Andy Knight |
| 5 |
Ian Haines |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 January 2007 )
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