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DecoRug Motorsport pilot, Paul
Stokell has claimed pole position for round two of MINI
CHALLENGE at Wakefield Park Raceway – near Goulburn – today, setting a time of
1:05.6112, with less
than a second separating the top seven competitors.
After
setting the fastest time in practice one, Stokell set his qualifying time in the
first five minutes of the session and it wasn’t bettered, despite the
Brisbane-based driver carrying 15kg of success ballast from round one.
Melbourne’s
Nathan Geier (Split Image Project Management) finished the session second
fastest, 0.1 behind Stokell, the 25-year-old continuing his phenomenal start to
MINI CHALLENGE.
Current
Series leader, Neil McFadyen (Scope Signs & Graphics) and Seven Network
personality, Grant Denyer (DecoRug) traded times throughout the session.
McFadyen grabbed the inside run from row two in the dying moments after having a
less than perfect qualifying run.
The
remainder of the top six was filled with early pace-setter Gary Young (Salta
Constructions) – and Paul Fiore, who, with brother Todd, is debuting a new major
sponsorship from Shell Helix Ultra on the Brisbane MINI Garage cars – the return
of the company to a major sponsorship in Australian motorsport. The younger
Fiore finished the session 12th.
Qualifying seventh was an impressive Iain Sherrin (Sherrin Rentals), whileUBER-STAR CAR driver, MOTOR Magazine
journalist, Shaun Cleary was a sensation of the session. He qualified eighth for his first race
meeting. Michael Stillwell (Bib Stillwell MINI Garage) was ninth, with
Perth-based Glory Team Racing driver, David Turner rounding out the top 10 after
strong performances in practice this morning.
Next
was Ricky Occhipinti (Formula Uno Motors Geelong) – who struggled for clear
track throughout the 20 minute session and Todd Fiore (Shell Helix Ultra).
Damien Flack (Ultimax Chemicals) who is having his first run at Wakefield Park
and in a front-wheel drive car, then
Kevin Miller (Motorline MINI Garage) – having his first MINI CHALLENGE race and
Darren Berry (Clipper Motor Yachts) round out the
field.
Paul
Stokell: “I set the lap early in the session on
green tyres, it was a nice lap. It wasn’t anything special, just nice and the
setup was just right. Like any new tyre, they only really have one lap in them
so I just went for it. When I saw I was P1, I was happy with that, so thought
I’d sit and wait for the rest of the session. It was good enough and I decided
to conserve my second set of tyres for later in the weekend. Overall, we’re very
happy with how the weekend has started.”
Nathan Geier: “The
car was just beautiful to drive. The team worked really hard to get the setup
dialed into it and it was quick straight out the box. I was following Denyer for
a while and then he had a moment, so I went past and was out on my own, that’s
when I set the time. We’re stoked with second and I’m looking forward to
starting on the front row tomorrow.”
Neil McFadyen: “We
just didn’t nail the setup, that’s all there is to it. Qualifying wasn’t good
all round, we didn’t time our runs well. The additional 25kg we are carrying
this weekend has affected us for sure. But no excuses though, we’re starting
race one tomorrow from third, there’s plenty of time left.”
MINI CHALLENGE Round 2 of 8 –
Qualifying Top 5:
- Paul
Stokell 1:05.6112
- Nathan Geier
1:05.7646
- Neil McFadyen
1:05.8316
- Grant Denyer
1:05.9097
- Garry Young
1:06.4112
MINI CHALLENGE WAKEFIELD PARK
SCHEDULE:
Saturday, April 5,
2008
Race
One: 1:15pm
Sunday April 6,
2008
Race
Two (reverse top six finishers from race one):
9:30am
Race
Three: 1:45pm
TV
SCHEDULE:
Round
One Highlights: Saturday, April 5 (tomorrow) at 1:30pm nationally on the Seven
Network
Round Two Highlights: Saturday, April 26 at 2:00pm
nationally on the Seven Network
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