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APR: Clipsal Sunday race summary

Alajajian steers Subaru to Adelaide success Eighteen year old Subaru driver Chris Alajajian has won the opening round of the 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship at the Clipsal 500, Adelaide. Alajajian sealed the weekend win ...

Edited: Mar 22, 2005, 4:08 AM

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Alajajian steers Subaru to Adelaide success

Eighteen year old Subaru driver Chris Alajajian has won the opening round of the 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship at the Clipsal 500, Adelaide. Alajajian sealed the weekend win with victory in the final nine lap race of the round, held earlier this afternoon, to go with a win and a third place finish earlier in the weekend.

The massive Sunday crowd present at the Clipsal 500 once again saw plenty of great racing throughout the field of high performance cars. Alajajian (Jack Hillermans Smash Subaru WRX STi) showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels and went on to take the race win by just over five seconds.

"The plan today was to use the four wheel drive and get a good start," Alajajian explained. "I was able to get a good start, and then I put my head down and drove as quickly as I could and build a lead while they battled behind me."

"I have to thank the team. They worked hard on the car during the weekend and we were able to continually improve the car and win. Now leading two championships [Alajajian also shares the points lead of the Australian Formula 3 Championship] we are in a good position to meet our objectives for the rest of the year."

After a race long battle between the two very different cars, Peter Floyd (BP Ultimate HSV GTS), finished in second place ahead of Garry Holt (Century 21 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII). At the end of the nine lap race, there was under half a second separating the rear wheel drive, Australian V8 and the four cylinder, four wheel drive, Japanese pocket rocket.

"I'm really happy, we had a good weekend," said Floyd, who also finished second for the weekend. "It was a good tussle with Garry Holt but I managed to hold him out and put some god points on the board for the championship. "

"It was a really good clean race and I'm pleased to finish 3rd for the weekend," said Holt. "I knew I needed to get a good start, and I finally got one. Once I was there, I had to defend the line from the HSV's behind me, but I was able to settle into a rhythm and attack Peter. It looks good for the rest of the season."

A fourth place finish in the weekend's final race helped Barry Sternbeck (Wake-Up! HSV GTS) finish his debut Performance round in fourth position for the weekend. Ric Shaw (Sennheiser Mazda RX7) rounded out the top 5, while Gary Young (Readymix Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) was sixth.

Craig Dontas (CSA Wheels HSV GTS) was the best of the South Australian drivers, bouncing back from gearbox troubles on Friday to claim 7th place in the final race.

"It's good to come away from here with a good result," said Dontas. "Without the problems on Friday, who knows where we would have ended up, but we have got to be happy with that result for the weekend."

Of the other South Australian drivers, Steve Cramp (CVW Engineering HSV GTS) was eighth, Andrew Taplin (Taplin Real Estate Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) was fourteenth place while Michael Brock (Coopers Pale Ale Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) finished seventeenth after a race battling gearbox gremlins.

Mark King (Delphi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), the early weekend pace setter, was on a charge early in the race from 12th on the grid. King was challenging for a top four finish before dropping to an eventual 11th with a last lap spin.

Looking for another strong result to match his race two top five was Barrie Nesbitt. It wasn't to be; the Donut King HSV GTS among those to battle engine temperature in the hot conditions. Nesbitt's engine dropped to six cylinders and retired from the race. Also in the wars was Anton Mechtler, whose Mek Tek Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII suffered gearbox failure and failed to get off the line.

At the end of the opening round of 2005, Chris Alajajian leads the standings on 80 points. Peter Floyd sits in second place with 72, followed by Garry Holt 56, Barry Sternbeck on 55 and Mark King on 54.

The next round of the 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship is at Wakefield Park, NSW, on May 13-15.

<pre> 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship standings after round 1 of 7:

 1.  Chris Alajajian    80
 2.  Peter Floyd        72
 3.  Gerry Holt         56
 4.  Barry Sternbeck    55
 5.  Mark King          54
 6.  Ric Shaw           48
 7.  Gary Young         47
 8.  James Phillip      32
 9.  Barrie Nesbitt     30
10.  Craig Dontas       28

-www.performanceracing.net.au

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