Dean Fiore Heads Sonic One-two-three At Mount Pamorama

Dean Fiore (Complispace/Advance Energy) has completed his second Carrera Cup career round win after taking victory in Race Three at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama this morning.

Victory today gave the Melbourne based Fiore a hat-trick of race wins this weekend, the first time he has completed a Carrera Cup clean sweep.

James Moffat (Bob Jane T-Marts/Trueline), the son of legendary Australian Touring Car Driver Allan who won at Bathurst four times throughout his exceptional career, finished second overall on his first trip to the mountain after taking second in today’s race.

Adelaide’s Bryce Washington (ADRAD Radiators) finished third for the weekend despite an 11th placed result today.

Washington was handed a drive-through penalty at the beginning of the race after a false start and he also copped a 23 second penalty at the conclusion of the race for passing James Koundouris (Supabarn Supermarkets) under yellow flags on the last lap.

The finishes still handed the Sonic Motor Racing Services team the round one-two-three, the first time the Melbourne based squad has achieved the feat.

Craig Baird (ACER/Leading Solutions), who was crowned 2008 Carrera Cup Champion after his second place finish in Race One on Friday, was fourth for the weekend and third today, while David Russell (Boom Logistics) was fifth overall and fourth this morning.

It was a beautiful drive from Baird, who also drove for the Toll Holden Racing Team with Glenn Seton in the Bathurst 1000 this weekend, after he began the final race in 13th. Marc Cini (Hallmarc) also sliced his way through the field, moving from 16th to 10th by the chequers.

Koundouris took the Pilatus Challenge round win, which is for non-professional drivers over the age of 30, ahead of his brother Theo, with Max Twigg (Trueloc) third.

James’ finishes of 10th, 10th and seventh handed him three Pilatus Challenge victories and he was clearly the fastest Pilatus driver all weekend.

Beginning off pole position today Fiore knew he would be under pressure right from the go, with renowned fast starters Washington, Moffat and Russell close by.

Fiore got his wish with his best start of the weekend and he led the field up the mountain and built his lead from there. After the first lap he had already built a sizeable gap on the field and that only grew after Washington was forced into the pits.

Behind Fiore, Russell and Caratti were dicing all over the track and Baird was quickly moving through the field. While he managed to stay near the front, Caratti was eventually passed by both Russell and Baird, and with three laps left he spun on the final corner and out of the race.

Caratti wasn’t the only driver to come to grief, with a number of drivers forced into the pits throughout the 20 minute race.

Twigg had a tyre deflate while on the start grid and as a result he collected James Koundouris on the first lap. He was forced to change the tyre after the first lap, which put him at the rear of the field.

Darryn Henderson (Greg Murphy Racing), who was competing in his first Carrera Cup round, had a gear linkage issue and was forced out, while David Wall (Shannons Insurance) and Rodney Forbes (Jaimie Vedda Racing) had a coming together early on. Neither car sustained major damage, but they were both forced to pit to change tyres, ruining their chances of a high finish.

But out front it was all Fiore and he was thrilled he could finish the weekend off on a high. "I was really happy after yesterday to have two wins under my belt, but I really wanted to complete the job and make it three," he said. "I knew I had to nail the start because I was pretty confident I had the pace, which meant if I got the start I wanted it would almost be job done because the guys with the quickest cars, Bairdo and Russell, were a bit further back. "Now it’s on to Indy and hopefully more of the same to really finish off the season on a high."

Moffat was also ecstatic with his weekend and was proud to follow in his famous father’s footsteps. "I really don’t know what to say, I can’t believe how well I’ve done on my first trip here," he said. "Thursday we got off to s shaky start with a spin which sapped my confidence a bit, but on Friday I qualified alright and I just chipped away.

"I had reasonable pace all weekend and I managed to capitalise on the mistakes made by the others, but if you told me at the start of the weekend that I would finish second I would have said you were crazy!"

Koundouris said he was overjoyed to finish seventh in the final race, but the car was lucky to cross the line.

"Off the start we copped a hit in the back left which damaged the rim, which meant it was just a matter of survival from then on," he said. "I’m looking forward to Indy now. It’s a track I usually go pretty well at but it’s also one of the places where you need a bit of luck."

The eighth and final round of Carrera Cup Australia’s season will be held at the Nikon Indy 300 on the Gold Coast from October 23-26.

For a full list of Race Three results click here: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?12/10/2008.MOUN.R11

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