A1 Engines Qld Championships Report
press release
Queensland A1 Engines driver Declan Fraser didn’t get the result he had been working towards, but if it was any concellation he was the first Queenslander across the line and was only beaten by his A1 Engines team mates.
First Qualifying saw Declan P2 from 33 drivers, but during the course of the weekend Declan slid back through the field to start the final from P5. It didn’t take long for Fraser to start his bid to be the Queensland open state champion though, carving his way through the field into second. Fraser was looking strong and catching the leader Jordan Caruso (who had an A1 engine bolted on that he had borrowed from Brock Owen), before pressure from behind caused Fraser to start defending his current position, after a few heavy knocks under braking, Fraser was forced wide losing his second place and eventually meeting the chequered flag in 3rd, behind fellow A1 drivers (from Victoria) Thomas Bennett A1 and Jordan Caruso A1.
The hard luck story in the Midgets class was A1 engines driver Chase Wooley, who had to retire on lap 3 while in third place after Qualifying in P1 and never out of the top three all weekend. A1 Engines were looking like a 1 2 3 4 finish in the field of 33 drivers, but had settle for 1 2 3. Jordan Caruso paid thanks to Brock Owen for the cracking A1 engine.
In Rookies Rhys Wooley starting from P1 in the final, but was shuffled back to fifth missing the start badly. Rhys worked his way back through the tough field and hit the front on lap 9, but the angry pack behind Rhys had a moment in the back section and Rhys was again shuffled back to Fifth and in his bid to recover he ran out of laps to eventually take out third.
QLD Brock Owen struggled with the new 950 chassis, but a few tweaks here and there saw Brock as one of the biggest movers through the weekend improving a massive 16 places. With the right package under him he will be fast.
Junior National light had some big names representing A1 Engines in James Golding and Jake Downs.
Golding was looking to secure another title but while leading in heat 2 a racing incident basically cost Golding the weekend with a DNF. Golding climbed his way back over the weekend to finish a respectable sixth.
Jake Downs’ Title bid was looking on track sitting most of the weekend in the top ten. His blistering pace in a straight line had to be seen to be believed, but straight line wasn’t enough as tricky grip conditions seen the A1 QLD driver finish just outside the top ten. A1 engines newbie Mitchell Quiddington finished a respectable 23 in his first ever state title avoiding the repercharge in the field of 40.
Junior National Heavy driver James Golding had one hand on the trophy, but leaving the grid with an engine that wouldn’t fire saw Golding parked up for the final, the A1 supporters could only look on in dismay, feeling James’ disappointment. Christopher Corbett had a consistent weekend finishing ninth overall.
Moving onto the Seniors of Senior National light and the battle for second and third couldn’t have gotten any closer between A1 Engine drivers Ashley Quiddington and Daniel Valentini both drivers raced hard but at all times gave each other racing room, with Quiddington 2nd crossing the line ahead of Valentini 3rd.
