R5 LITES QUAL - Besnard upstages title hopefuls at Mallala
26/8/2000 17:46 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Stone Brothers Racing’s David Besnard has again toppled the title heavyweights in qualifying for tomorrow’s Round 5 championship-deciding races at Mallala Raceway.
Besnard upstaged the four title contenders with a 1:08.35 minute flier – a giant 1.1 seconds ahead of Ford’s Dean Canto. It’s Besnard’s second pole position in as many rounds.
Canto took the first step in claiming the inaugural Konica V8 Lites Championship crown after securing a front row spot alongside Besnard.
The all-Ford front row would please Ford fans and administrators no end, on the eve of what many believe will be a Ford championship victory from Canto.
Canto holds a 23-point lead in the championship over Commodore campaigner Matthew White. K-Mart racer Ryan McLeod and Queenslander Wayne Wakefield also remain in contention.
"I'm obviously rapt to be on pole position by over one second, but I still believe race day is going to be tough,” Besnard said.
"I've still only done four standing race starts in a V8, so that pole position time gap doesn't mean much if I can't get away cleanly tomorrow.”
"The car is faster now than it was at Lakeside so I'm feeling quite confident about tomorrow,” he said.
Title favourite Dean Canto won’t be taking a conservative approach this weekend despite his position, meaning the Besnard/Canto/Wakefield duel which thrilled the Lakeside crowd at the last round will continue.
"I just want to finish this weekend, but I’m still going to go for it! You’ve only got to win by one point (to claim the championship)," 19-year-old Canto said.
Canto’s biggest threat is Matthew White, however White could only manage fourth in the 55-minute qualifying session. He will share the second row with fellow title hopeful, Wayne Wakefield.
Wakefield was pleased with his front row position, with passing on the narrow South Australian circuit expected to be difficult.
"Anything can happen in a race," Wakefield said. "You’ve got to have a bit of a scrape to get past (on Mallala’s tight circuit)."
Ryan McLeod must consider his championship hopes all but gone, after he continued a disappointing second half of the Lites season to only qualify in ninth.
The John McLean-led Rod Salmon entry had its best qualifying performance of the season, and will start Race 1 tomorrow in fifth.
Alan Heath made a spectacular debut to the Lites Championship, (he has been running in the Shell Series for most of the year) qualifying in sixth.
Luke Sieders and Craig Harris will share the ninth row, while McLeod and Daniel Miller will line-up on the tenth row of the grid.
The Lites machines will get the green light for Race 1 at 11:30am tomorrow morning, before the critical reverse grid second race at 1:30pm.
**TOP TEN**
1st DAVID BESNARD (Caltex Havoline Racing) - EL Falcon [1:08.3532min]
2nd DEAN CANTO (BMC Software Racing) - EL Falcon [1:09.4727]
3rd WAYNE WAKFIELD (Graphic Skills Racing) - VS Commodore [1:09.7885]
4th MATTHEW WHITE (Terry Wyhoon Racing) - VS Commodore [1:09.8956]
5th ROD SALMON (The Race Centre) - EL Falcon [1:10.0719]
6th ALAN HEATH (Power Racing) - EL Falcon [1:10.5744]
7th LUKE SIEDERS (All-Trans Trucks Racing) - EL Falcon [1:10.6472]
8th CRAIG HARRIS (Carsales.com.au Racing) - EL Falcon [1:10.8707]
9th RYAN McLEOD (JFR K-Mart Racing) - VS Commodore [1:10.8854]
10th DANIEL MILLER (Miller Racing) - VS Commodore [1:10.9328]
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