R4 LITES QUAL - New kid Besnard shakes the block at Lakeside
5/8/2000 18:04 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Few seemed totally accepting of the Stone Brother’s decision to run young open-wheeler David Besnard in the Lites Championship, and after qualifying for Round 4 of the Konica Series at Brisbane’s Lakeside Raceway today, it is easy to understand why.
Besnard was in command from word ‘go’ at the Northern Brisbane circuit, topping the time sheets in all sessions, including the one that mattered, to claim pole position in his debut Lites drive.
The former Formula Holden champ scorched around Lakeside’s super-quick 2.4km layout in his SBR-prepared Caltex Havoline EL Falcon to stop the clocks at 59.65 seconds.
Local hero Wayne Wakefield was kept at bay throughout the day, and will start his Graphic Skills Commodore alongside Besnard with a qualifying time four tenths slower than the poleman.
Mal Rose, in only his second Lites appearance this year, will start from the second row, alongside championship leader Dean Canto.
"I still haven’t had a lot of miles in these cars…they are very good," Besnard concedes, with limited Lites testing miles under his belt.
Besnard and fellow front row-man Mal Rose could prove the troublemakers at Lakeside tomorrow, with the men behind them desperate to grab as many points as possible in their campaigns for the inaugural title.
With passing at Lakeside difficult to say the least, the championship challengers will need luck on their side.
Title favourite and current leader, Dean Canto, will start his Falcon in fourth position. "We’re just going to try our best and get another blinding start," he said.
Matthew White, too, was down on speed throughout the sessions, and finds himself fifth on the grid. Early championship leader, JFR/K-Mart’s Ryan McLeod, joins White on the third row.
Queenslander Craig Harris has discovered double the entries doesn’t always equate to double the results. With the team making their Lites debut as a two-car outfit, team boss Harris will start in eighth, while his young recruit, Craig Bastian, will start from 16th on the grid.
"It looks a bit bad for us to rock up to our home track with two cars for the first time, and be off the pace. It looks like we can't handle the job. But I think there's more to it than meets the eye," Harris said.
With passing close to impossible, fans and drivers alike will look forward to the second of the three 20 minute sprints, which will see the first six reversed on the grid.
V8 action, making its return to Lakeside Raceway, kicks-off at 11:30am tomorrow morning.
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