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Wilson Brothers Racing and Lee Castle took another step closer to a pair of titles in the Australian Manufacturers Championship at Sandown today, with a strong podium finish in their Subaru WRX Sti in the one hour enduro.
Despite a pair of set backs with a shambles of a starting procedure, coupled with a tyre problem early in the race, Castle fought back through the pack to finish third outright and second in class behind the David and Des Wall Mitsubishi Evo, and Jake Camilleri’s Mazda 3.
Earlier in the day, Castle qualified in fourth, with a strong car for the race, however a mess up with the starting order and class handicaps made the initial running a matter of catching up to the Class B and C cars.
Just after the Class A compulsory pit window opened, a problem with the right front tyre saw Castle limp the car back into the pits.
Despite losing over half a minute on the way to the pits, a slick stop by the Wilson Brothers Racing crew saw the Subaru soon emerge on the race track, carving back through to third, some 39sec behind Camilleri.
The cracking pace set by Castle saw the Subaru as one of the cars on track to beat the existing lap record.
For Castle, a strong result in the second hour long race tomorrow will ensure the Class A Championship and the John Bower Drivers Award.
“It was a good race, it was a shame about the start and the tyre problem, but we still managed a strong finish,” said Castle.
“We’ve still got the lead in both of the championships, and with a good race tomorrow we will be right on track..”
For team principal Cameron Wilson, tomorrow’s final race will be the culmination of a busy 12 months and seven race meetings for the WBR Subaru squad.
“We were a bit disappointed by the starting order and handicap, as it has made it very challenging to take out the John Bowe award,” said Wilson.
“Lee made a great start and the race was going just to plan until the tyre problem, and we had to pit 15 minutes early.
“Benn (Wilson) and John (Desmond) did a fantastic job in the pit stop, with one of the quickest stops out of all of the crews.
“Lee drove very well to the finish, and hopefully with an improved starting procedure tomorrow, it will be a good day.”
Castle was not the only competitor to suffer tyre issues, with the demanding Sandown layout taking its toll on equipment.
Australian Manufacturers Championship Sandown Program
Sunday
Warm Up- 11:00am (10 minutes)
Race 2- 2:55pm (1 hour)
Wilson Brothers Racing is proudly supported in the Australian Manufactuers Championship by Castrol, Mercury Motorsport, QR Hire Karts, Platinum Auto Care, Racer Industries, Kaos Karting, Antman Helmet Designs, Ingear Industries, SP Tools and Cuisine Kitchens.
For more
information regarding Wilson Brothers
Racers and hi-resolution images, please contact Mark Walker on 0407
138745 or email media@wilsonbrothersracing.com
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