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UTE: Team Brute Strength Gold Coast race notes
With a home track advantage, Team Brute Strength improved dramatically at the last round of the V8BRute championship (Lexmark Indy 300) on the Gold Coast. The qualifying session of the V8BRutes had Matt 'Mongrel' O'Grady start in 26th position in ...
Edited: Feb 25, 2005, 7:27 AM
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With a home track advantage, Team Brute Strength improved dramatically at the last round of the V8BRute championship (Lexmark Indy 300) on the Gold Coast.
The qualifying session of the V8BRutes had Matt 'Mongrel' O'Grady start in 26th position in the #18 BRute, whilst Benn 'Waterboy' Wilson started in 28th position in the #25 BRute. The narrow street circuit was a challenge for the V8BRutes, and the race was red flagged when Holden driver Stephen Robinson hit the wall. Warren Luff qualified fastest with a time of 2.18.92. O'Grady qualified in 28th position with a time of 2.26.92, whilst Wilson was excluded from the race for being underweight.
Race One of the V8BRutes had the #18 BRute start in 19th position, and the #25 BRute starting on the grid in the back row due to the underweight problem. O'Grady scraped through the race with no major repairs, whereas the #25 BRute underwent a gearbox change overnight.
Race Two had the V8BRutes racing under the lights on a dark, wet and stormy track. As visibility was poor, due to the lack of lighting on the track, it was only time before the race was yellow flagged. The race was eventually completed under a chequered flag, with Holden driver Gary McDonald taking the honours. The #18 BRute finished in 20th position with the fastest lap being 2.25.58 and the #25 BRute in 25th position with a lap time of 2.25.12.
"That was some scary racing out there. You couldn't see the tyre bundles, and it was hard to know where to break. I was hit a few times out there, but I had no idea who by." Wilson said.
The majority of the V8BRutes limped back to the pits with panel damage, fortunately the damage to the two Team Brute Strength Holden utes were limited with both cars suffering front spoiler damage.
The final race for the 2003 V8BRute Championship was of huge expectation, and it lived up to it's reputation. BRute #18 started in 24th position, with the #25 BRute in 27th position. Intel turn (turn 1) was a high carnage spot for the BRutes, with Paul Murray hitting the wall and Paul Leaver following his lead collecting the Murray ute. The race was red flagged with just over two laps raced due to a bomb scare, and six BRutes had DNF next to their name. O'Grady finished the race in 17th position, and Wilson in 19th.
The first to congratulate both drivers was Team Brute Strength Team Manager Warren O'Grady.
"Team Brute Strength used this round as a testing session for our 2004 assault. Both cars moved forward all weekend, and we are pleased with the result," O'Grady said. "We would also like to thank our sponsors Seovic Crash Barriers, Apex Active Motorsports, Zupp's Holden, Pristine Smash Repairs, Spandex and Wheeldon's Towing for their support this weekend."
In his second round in the #18 BRute, Matt O'Grady was relieved and pleased at the same time.
"The two BRutes will be heading home fairly unscathed, which is a bonus to what other teams have encountered," O' Grady said. "There was a fair bit of controversy in the round, and we were lucky to keep our nose's clean. It will be interesting to see the television footage in a few weeks."
Making his debut with Team Brute Strength, Wilson learnt the high's and low's that come with V8BRute racing.
"Indy was good fun and certainly an experience, but it would of been good to of gotten a better result," Wilson said. "I look forward to the next race at Bathurst, especially with the driver changes."
Team Brute Strength can be seen next at the Great Aussie Ute race (non-championship round) from the 21st November.
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