Seton Fanatic
New member
SATURDAY:
My mate and I sat at Suttons Corner. It's quite an underrated viewing spot. The opportunities to see which cars were fast or not through that corner by the naked eye is extremely unusual.
Steven Johnson was extremely fast during practice, and was using all the kerbing at Suttons. He was rarely out of the top 10 during the session and scored a deserved 8th fastest. Glenn was another story. He appeared reluctant to use the kerbing at Suttons, and really paid the penalty. For most of the session, Glenn ranged from between 15-25th, until his very last lap, he hauled the car into 9th, away from the bottom 50%.
Qualifying was interesting. Steve had a top 10 car from the beginning. The car appeared fast and stable. Glenn stuggled during the session for grip, and was reluctant to use the kerbing at Suttons to gain time. At the death of the qualifying session, Glenn ran five consecutive 'green' laps in order to get the best out of qualifying, which has been a weakness this season. Glenn's attempts to duplicate the feel of his practice rubber was unsuccessful. 20th was not a result that was acceptable, considering that Steve was fourth after qualifying. Indeed, had Glenn been in the bottom 50%, he may have qualified even worse.
The shootout was fascinating. Steve simply wasn't fast enough, making small mistakes. Rick Kelly's car looked the best through Suttons and the exit of the corner by far. The car was hooked up and it was a clean, impressive lap. Craig Lowndes lost his chance at pole, after getting taily out of Suttons. Fourth was disappointing, considering that Craig had such a strong car. Marcos' lap was impressive until he came to Suttons, where a small mistake saw him behind at the second sector. Pole was gained through an impressive run through the dogleg and the final corner, where the car was glued.
The support racing was fantastic, offering plenty of entertainment along the way. The Lotus Trophy, from my personal standpoint, was the highlight of the day.
SUNDAY:
An early start saw my mates and I at Oran Park by 7.30 am. Again, the support racing was outstanding, with the dice of the day belonging to Ric Shaw and Peter Floyd who raced each other cleanly and fairly.
I met my first fellow Conrodder in Ozfords after noticing his 'Seto is God' banner at the final turn. There is much to admire about Ozfords. He is every bit as intelligent and lucid as I perceived him to be, and he is a thoroughly good bloke who put me at ease, after some early nerves.
Race 1 saw Glenn's car consistent but not spectacular. The car did not appear to have outright pace, and was just hanging on. Attrition saw a probable 25th place finish turn into 18th place. A solid platform for race 2.
Race 2 was a vast improvement with Glenn's car appearing to have conquered its demons and improved. The car, unlike race 1 was able to stay with Bargwanna and hold off the opposition behind easily. Even though Glenn passed nobody in the two races, it was clear that he had made improvements to the car.
With Glenn 11th in the championship before the enduros, it now becomes critical that he and Dean Canto finish both races in solid positions to solidify the championship position.
Congratulations to Russell Ingall on superb race driving and the round victory, and commiserations to Britek, who had no luck today.
My mate and I sat at Suttons Corner. It's quite an underrated viewing spot. The opportunities to see which cars were fast or not through that corner by the naked eye is extremely unusual.
Steven Johnson was extremely fast during practice, and was using all the kerbing at Suttons. He was rarely out of the top 10 during the session and scored a deserved 8th fastest. Glenn was another story. He appeared reluctant to use the kerbing at Suttons, and really paid the penalty. For most of the session, Glenn ranged from between 15-25th, until his very last lap, he hauled the car into 9th, away from the bottom 50%.
Qualifying was interesting. Steve had a top 10 car from the beginning. The car appeared fast and stable. Glenn stuggled during the session for grip, and was reluctant to use the kerbing at Suttons to gain time. At the death of the qualifying session, Glenn ran five consecutive 'green' laps in order to get the best out of qualifying, which has been a weakness this season. Glenn's attempts to duplicate the feel of his practice rubber was unsuccessful. 20th was not a result that was acceptable, considering that Steve was fourth after qualifying. Indeed, had Glenn been in the bottom 50%, he may have qualified even worse.
The shootout was fascinating. Steve simply wasn't fast enough, making small mistakes. Rick Kelly's car looked the best through Suttons and the exit of the corner by far. The car was hooked up and it was a clean, impressive lap. Craig Lowndes lost his chance at pole, after getting taily out of Suttons. Fourth was disappointing, considering that Craig had such a strong car. Marcos' lap was impressive until he came to Suttons, where a small mistake saw him behind at the second sector. Pole was gained through an impressive run through the dogleg and the final corner, where the car was glued.
The support racing was fantastic, offering plenty of entertainment along the way. The Lotus Trophy, from my personal standpoint, was the highlight of the day.
SUNDAY:
An early start saw my mates and I at Oran Park by 7.30 am. Again, the support racing was outstanding, with the dice of the day belonging to Ric Shaw and Peter Floyd who raced each other cleanly and fairly.
I met my first fellow Conrodder in Ozfords after noticing his 'Seto is God' banner at the final turn. There is much to admire about Ozfords. He is every bit as intelligent and lucid as I perceived him to be, and he is a thoroughly good bloke who put me at ease, after some early nerves.
Race 1 saw Glenn's car consistent but not spectacular. The car did not appear to have outright pace, and was just hanging on. Attrition saw a probable 25th place finish turn into 18th place. A solid platform for race 2.
Race 2 was a vast improvement with Glenn's car appearing to have conquered its demons and improved. The car, unlike race 1 was able to stay with Bargwanna and hold off the opposition behind easily. Even though Glenn passed nobody in the two races, it was clear that he had made improvements to the car.
With Glenn 11th in the championship before the enduros, it now becomes critical that he and Dean Canto finish both races in solid positions to solidify the championship position.
Congratulations to Russell Ingall on superb race driving and the round victory, and commiserations to Britek, who had no luck today.
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