David “Sideways” Sieders has had the perfect start to his debut season in the Yokohama V8 Ute Series – Protected by Armor All, taking away maximum points from the Adelaide Parklands Circuit at the Clipsal 500 this weekend.
Sieders, who started from pole, had a cautious start to his first ever V8 Ute race, trailing the 2007 Series Champion, Grant “Grunta” Johnson, for the first three laps, before a no-love-lost pass gave him the lead, and ultimately the race win.
“Being my first Ute race, I thought I would hold back a little for a few laps and get a feel for ute racing conditions, concentrating on keeping it straight and off the walls,” said Sieders.
“Not only was I able to take out the race win on debut, but there‟s barely a scratch; apart from [Grant] Johnson‟s little tap in the rear when I passed him, which almost spun me around, the car is looking good.”
With the Yokohama V8 Ute Series rewarding both qualifying and race results, Sieders‟ pole position and race win has scored the maximum available points for the round (72) to lead the championship ahead of Grant “Grunta” Johnson (66), and 2009 Series Champion Jack “The Hustler” Elsgood (59).
“It‟s the perfect start to the season so far,” said Sieders, “the car is obviously quick, and it‟s great to have the results right from the start of the year”.
Sieders Racing teammates Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher and Ben “Dunny” Dunn also recorded strong results for the round, finishing the Series Drivers‟ component of the weekend in 5th and 9th respectively.
With only the 10th Anniversary „Legends‟ Exhibition co-driver race left for the Clipsal 500 round of the series, Sieders is looking for a tough fight for a clean sweep to start the 2010 season, when he teams up with Ford Performance Vehicles‟ General Manager Rod “Rocket” Barrett.
“We‟ve got all the available points on the board now, but it‟s going to be a little harder to take a 1- 2-3 starting from 7th tomorrow, but I‟ll give it a go and hopefully hand over to Rod in a strong position.”
The third and final race of the Clipsal 500 Round of the Yokohama V8 Ute Series will be telecast live on Network Seven, with the race scheduled to start at 11:35am Central Daylight Savings Time.
