|
DAMIEN CROSTON aboard his under two-litre Gemini Sports Sedan was the giant killer in the Queensland Sports Sedan championship throughout season 2009, however a final round hiccup provided a bittersweet conclusion to his championship bid.
After punching above his weight all season long, Croston came into the final round of the CAMS State Championship at Morgan Park Raceway an outstanding second outright in the standings.
A mystery electrical glitch however sidelined the DCR Fabrication and Motorsport machine within sight of the chequered flag for the final race of the year, dropping the crew to fourth in the final season point score.
Despite the disappointment at the final round, Croston time and time again proved the outright pace of the DCR Gemini against the vastly more powerful V8, rotary and turbo charged opposition, through the season picking up a string of top outright finishing positions.
Switching to the Powerplus E85+ ethanol fuel blend at the start of the season proved a masterstroke, with an instant increase in performance, leaving the team to fine tune the handling package of the car as racing miles were logged throughout the season.
“I’m really very happy and proud of what we achieved this year with an under two-litre car against such strong competition in the Queensland Sports Sedan Championship,” said Croston.
“To pretty much have second position in the championship in the bag coming into the final round and drop back is heartbreaking, but it doesn’t take away from the effort the team put in throughout the season, and I think it makes us more determined to come back stronger in the future.
“I really have to thank John Stocks, Paul Young, Ian Wright, Colin Carter, my Mum and Dad, as well as all of my supporters and sponsors for making the season possible.”
The future direction for the team is somewhat up in the air, with a decision to be made over the summer break regarding a program for 2010.
“The car is currently on the market while we assess which way we want to go in the future,” said Croston.
“I’m confident it is the quickest under two-litre car in Australia, I think we have the edge over the competition in Queensland and New South Wales, and I would like to take the car to Victoria to prove it.
“If we retain the car we would like to upgrade it to the outright class at some stage with a turbocharger, but at the end of the day it all comes down to budget.”
Damien and the DCR Fabrication and Motorsport crew have also been kept busy after the end of the Sports Sedan season by assisting Justin Keys in his efforts to retain the Improved Production National crown at Phillip Island last weekend.
In changeable weather conditions, Keys started the final from 12th position on the grid in his Mazda RX3 out of 91 entries, and charged through the field to finish third, his third successive Nationals top three.
“There isn’t much adjustment allowable in the Improved Production cars, but Justin drove brilliantly to be setting lap times only three-tenths of a second off the fastest lap of the race,” said Croston.
DCR Fabrications and Motorsport would like to thank the ongoing support of their sponsors, especially PowerPlus Fuels, Pine Rivers Bearings, Leda Suspension, Chip Torque, Damien Emery Engineering, Brisbane Personal Watercraft Centre, Trump Card Race Products, Northside Engine Balancing and HPC Queensland.
Find out more about DCR Fabrications and Motorsports on the net at www.dcr.net.au.
|
