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Rob, the 2008 Race Star winner was looking forward to putting in his best drive of the year, and boy did he not dissappoint. Starting the weekend in 12th place in the championship the aim was to get inside the top 10. It was a tall order but things looked better after Gaffney had engine trouble during Friday practice.
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on Saturday in front of the BTCC crowd. Rob put in some impressive times initially and was in 3rd position for most of the first part. Coming in for tyres the lap times started to tumble and when Rob exited the pits he was lying in 14th place. After some hard work and excellent driving Rob moved up the grid ending in 5th position for Race 1. His second best time was good enough for a place on the second row - 4th for Race 2.
Race 1
Starting in 5th place Rob set off with a good start, keeping his position round the first corner. Pyper slid wide at Druids allowing Rob through into 4th. The battle for 3rd place was hot but Rob couldn't find a way past and ended the race in 4th place. This equalled his best finishing position of the season.
Race 2
Just one more chance to grab that podium position in his maiden season of Car racing and the pressure was on.
A great start by Rob took him past Glew into 3rd place before the first corner - if only he could hold on. But Rob wasn't content with 3rd, at Clearways Rob made a superb pass on Lanik to grab 2nd. Just 19 laps to go now to hang on. After a safety car period the pack was bunched up and as Rob defended his 2nd position from Lanik, Rivett was left to run his own race up front stretching out a 4 second gap which never looked like being threatened. As the race progressed Rob was under constant pressure from Lanik as the two of them broke from the pack behind. And that is how it stayed with Rob crossing the line in 2nd place for his best ever result and the best result for DSR as well. Getting out of the car Rob was mobbed by the team it was the best result anyone could hope for. The podium was a superb celebration with champagne sprayed everywhere and a massive grin on Rob and the teams faces.
To cap it off not only did Rob manage to get inside the top 10 for the championship, after racking up a huge amount of points over the Brands Hatch weekend Rob managed to climb to 8th position in the final standings, what a fitting end to a superb season!
In 2009, this could be you, as Race Star are taking entries for the 2009 competition right now. Visit www.RaceStar.tv for more details.
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