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Nine Out Of Ten For Clucas After Double Eastern Creek Wins |
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Sunday, 09 July 2006 |
Ben Clucas has continued his remarkable run of dominating form in the 2006 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship after winning today’s fifth championship round at Eastern Creek Raceway, Near Sydney.
Clucas won the two races today, lead every lap and set both fastest laps to extend his already massive championship margin to 60 points after five rounds.
The British driver lead from the outset in the first, 14-lap race this morning to win by five seconds, and won the second race by a similar margin again leading the entire duration.
Today’s successes were Clucas’ eighth and ninth of the season, the Team BRM driver already topping 2005 champion Aaron Caratti’s 2005 tally of eight wins in a season.
“The car has been fantastic all weekend and I was able to get two very
good starts, which is where I struggled at Phillip Island and Mallala,”
Clucas said.
“I was a bit cautious in the first couple of laps but then I was able to put my head down and extend the margin.
“I was pushing very hard to get the fastest lap in race two and I was
able to get the extra point on the last lap. It’s still not a perfect
44 points for the weekend, but it’s not bad!” he said.
Tim Macrow and Michael Trimble were once again the Englishman’s two
closest contenders, Trimble (#10 King Springs Astuti Motorsport
Dallara) and Macrow (#25 Scud Racing Dallara F301) both scoring third
and second place results respectively.
The pair had a close battle in race one, Macrow chasing the Astuti
driver hard for a majority of the event only falling short on the final
few laps.
Macrow took the most points out of the weekend by virtue of his pole
position scored yesterday, the first for longtime F3 outfit Scud
Racing. Trimble (146 points) and Macrow (118) sit second and third in
the championship and are split by just 28 points with three rounds to
go.
“The car wasn’t good early in race one, but it was better for the second,” Said Macrow.
“Both of my starts were terrible but I made a couple of passes (in the
second race) and got back into second place. We had a hole in the
radiator at the end of race two so I couldn’t chase down Clucas.“It’s a
good result – we would have loved to have won after the performance
yesterday but we are very consistent and are scoring more points.”
“It’s been a tough one,” Said Trimble.
“The battery went flat at the end of race two so we coasted across the
line. There is no doubt that the car is fast but we haven’t been able
to get the results we’re capable of.”
Behind the regular leading trio it was Chris Alajajian who posted a
pair of fourth-place results, the Sydneysider running on his own for a
majority of the day.
Leanne Tander and Chris Gilmour continued their regular season-long
battles, the pair swapping fifth and sixth placed results in the two
races today.
Tander made a strong recovery in the second race to finish right behind
Gilmour despite stalling at the line, setting third fastest race lap in
the process to continue to improve in her Fleetcare Dallara.
Wagga Wagga resident Tim Berryman had his best result of the season
with a strong National Class victory today, Berryman taking advantage
of a plethora of dramas from points leader Ricky Occhipinti to score
two class wins today.
“It’s the first time that I’ve been able to run with the likes of Gilmour and Alajajian,” he said following the second race.
“The car was really good early on. I got a bit exhausted after the
first couple of laps because I’ve been suffering from the flu but it’s
been a good weekend.”
Occhipinti suffered a broken fuel pump in the first race that saw him
notch a non-finish, whilst he recovered to finish second in class in
the second 14-lap race.
Data #3 supported driver Chris Barry posted a pair of consistent
results to notch a second and a third place results today to move into
third in the National Class standings.
Graeme Holmes scored the outright honors in the Kumho Tyres Trophy
Class – dominating the weekend and edging closer to the inter-class
battle currently lead by Lauren Gray.
Gray posted one of her most impressive performances today to beat Bill Maddocks – her boss and car owner – in the second race.
Clucas now leads the Australian Drivers Championship for the CAMS Gold
Star by a mammoth 60 points after five rounds, the next round to be
held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in late August.
For more information and full results head to www.formula3.com.au
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 January 2007 )
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