The Australian Manufacturers Championship ended in heartbreak for Lee Castle and the Wilson Brothers Racing team after receiving a pit lane speeding penalty while leading the final race of the season at Sandown Raceway on the weekend.
Ace strategy and a lightning pit stop saw the Subaru WRX Sti vault up the order, however officials adjudged that Castle's pit exit was too swift, bringing the car back for a drive through penalty, which dropped the crew to third on the results sheet at the conclusion of an hour of racing.
Rod Salmon, who was teamed with touring car driver Damien White, took the eventual race win, which gave him enough points to edge out Castle in both the Class A championship and the John Bowe Drivers Award.
Despite the disappointment of being beaten to the crown, positives to be taken from the weekend include lapping under lap record pace, and beating several of the fancied Mitsubishi Evo competition.
"At the end of the day, the car was going much quicker than it ever has, and we gave the title a very serious shake," said Castle.
"To come away from the season with four race wins against such tough competition in an underpowered six year old car is entirely down to the effort Cameron and Benn Wilson have put into the championship.
"Obviously under the rules for the weekend Rod was able to get Damien on board, which really worked in his advantage, and the drive-through penalty was a major disappointment, it's a shame to lose the titles like that." 
Despite the end result, team manager Cameron Wilson was proud of his team.
"To be leading the hour long race at the 45 minute mark was down to the awesome job done in the pits all weekend long, Benn, Will Orders and John Desmond were on fire," said Wilson.
"It's pretty devastating to lose out on the Class A and the John Bowe award, but Lee was absolutely giving it everything he had.
"We're excited now to be heading to Bathurst for the 12 Hour, we really want to make amends for what happened up there this year running three cars, I think we will have the car and the crew to get the job done."
Wilson confirmed that the team will be only running a single Subaru WRX Sti in the once around the clock classic, with Castle the only confirmed starter at this stage.
"I'm not entirely sure of my own racing program past Bathurst next year, but I think we could seriously be a dark horse there with the performance we have managed this weekend," said Castle.
The Wilson Brothers Racing team will hit the track for the final time in 2009 this week on the streets of Homebush, preparing the V8 Ute for Kurt Wimmer, who will be looking to end his season on a high note.
Lee Castle and Wilson Brothers Racing would like to thank Gold Coast Indoor Hire Karts, Castrol, Subaru Parts Australia, Contacting Public Relations, Mercury Motorsport, Ecutek, MRT Performance, Ingear Industries, Racer Industries, Harris Visual 3D and Deluxe Screen Printing for their continued support.
For more information on Lee Castle and Wilson Brothers Racing, visit www.wilsonbrothersracing.com.
Wilson Brothers Racing- Racing for a Cure
Wilson Brothers Racing is proud to support Cure Cancer Australia, an organisation that has been operating in Australia for 44 years to support young researchers at the beginning of their careers across the Cancer spectrum. Wilson Brothers Racing is helping to raise the profile of this fantastic organisation through their various motorsport activities around Australia. For more information, catch up with the team trackside.
