R5K RACES - Dumbrell tastes title with Lakeside win
8/7/2001 21:15 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Paul Dumbrell tightened his grip on the Konica Series silverware today with victory in the penultimate round at Lakeside Raceway.
Dumbrell recorded his maiden V8 Supercar round victory at the Brisbane circuit with wins in the final two races, recovering from a costly spin while leading in the first.
He won the round by just two points from local ace Wayne Wakefield, who made a triumphant return to V8 Supercar racing at his home track. Team Dynamik’s Simon Wills was third.
The action-packed day set up a tantalising series showdown at South Australia’s Mallala Raceway, where a number of drivers, all within striking distance of Dumbrell, will battle for the Konica crown.
For the 18-year-old rookie, today was the culmination of a season’s work.
"I think over the last three meetings we have shown we have a good car and Gibson are doing a great job preparing it,” Dumbrell said. “I’m feeling more at home in the car now.”
Wakefield’s podium performance delighted the parochial Queensland crowd, as it did the man himself, considering he hadn’t driven a Supercar since Bathurst.
"We really wanted to give Lakeside a really good shake," Wakefield said. "We had a few on-going problems that we couldn’t fix and as a result we didn't have the speed to match the other cars but I said to my crew if we keep our nose clean we could do alright by the end of the day."
Simon Wills won the opening 20-minute sprint, after forcing race-leader Dumbrell into making a mistake. After his relegation to tenth in the reverse grid second race, traffic made life difficult for the Kiwi, especially Castrol racer Craig Harris in the final race.
"Harris was really hard to pass, he had good power so I had to have a really big go under brakes,” Wills explained. “I got through but he tagged the back of my car and I fell back."
The undulating, super-fast 2.4km Lakeside layout claimed its fair share of victims, including Leanne Ferrier, Alan Heath, Aaron McGill and Ric Shaw.
Ferrier began the day impressively with a third in the first heat and a sixth in the second, only to crash out of contention in the final race. Meanwhile, McGill's Falcon is a write-off after a high-speed crash at the Kink.
David Parsons remains in-touch with his high-flying team-mate, despite a forgettable day that saw him relegated to rear of field for the final race after a stewards’ decision.
Dumbrell holds a narrow 18-point championship lead from Simon Wills heading into the final round. David Parsons is now third, 30-points further back.
**RACE ONE - TOP TEN**
1st SIMON WILLS (Team Dynamik) - VT Commodore
2nd WAYNE WAKEFIELD (Graphic Skills Racing) - VS Commodore
3rd LEANNE FERRIER (Garry Rogers Motorsport) - VT Commodore
4th GARRY HOLT (Eastern Creek Kart Racing) - EL Falcon
5th OWEN KELLY (John Faulkner Racing) - VS Commodore
6th CRAIG HARRIS (Castrol Harris Racing) - AU Falcon
7th EDDIE ABELNICA (A & J Racing) - VT Commodore
8th KEVIN MUNDY (Castrol Harris Racing) - AU Falcon
9th PAUL DUMBRELL (Wynn's Racing) - VT Commodore
10th RIC SHAW (Ric Shaw Motorsport) - VS Commodore
**RACE TWO - TOP TEN**
1st PAUL DUMBRELL (Wynn's Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd CRAIG HARRIS (Castrol Harris Racing) - AU Falcon
3rd OWEN KELLY (John Faulkner Racing) - VS Commodore
4th WAYNE WAKEFIELD (Graphic Skills Racing) - VS Commodore
5th SIMON WILLS (Team Dynamik) - VT Commodore
6th LEANNE FERRIER (Garry Rogers Motorsport) - VT Commodore
7th DAVID PARSONS (Gibson Motorsport) - VT Commodore
8th DALE BREDE (NRC Racing) - VT Commodore
9th MICHAEL SIMPSON (Michael Simpson Racing) - EL Falcon
10th TERRY WYHOON (Terry Wyhoon Racing) - VS Commodore
**RACE THREE - TOP TEN**
1st PAUL DUMBRELL (Wynn's Racing) - VT Commodore
2nd WAYNE WAKEFIELD (Graphic Skills Racing) - VS Commodore
3rd OWEN KELLY (John Faulkner Racing) - VS Commodore
4th MICHAEL SIMPSON (Michael Simpson Racing) - EL Falcon
5th SIMON WILLS (Team Dynamik) - VT Commodore
6th TERRY WYHOON (Terry Wyhoon Racing) - VS Commodore
7th CRAIG HARRIS (Castrol Harris Racing) - AU Falcon
8th DALE BREDE (NRC Racing) - VT Commodore
9th EDDIE ABELNICA (A & J Racing) - VT Commodore
10th TIM ROWSE (Rowse Motorsport) - VS Commodore
**CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE**
1st PAUL DUMBRELL (Wynn's Racing) - VT Commodore [1016]
2nd SIMON WILLS (Team Dynamik) - VT Commodore [998]
3rd DAVID PARSONS (Gibson Motorsport) - VT Commodore [986]
4th OWEN KELLY (John Faulkner Racing) - VS Commodore [942]
5th LEANNE FERRIER (Garry Rogers Motorsport) - VT Commodore [864]
6th DALE BREDE (NRC Racing) - VT Commodore [792]
7th TERRY WYHOON (Terry Wyhoon Racing) - VS Commodore [750]
8th MICHAEL SIMPSON (Michael Simpson Racing) - EL Falcon [668]
9th GARRY HOLT (Eastern Creek Kart Racing) - VS Commodore [654]
10th TIM ROWSE (Rowse Motorsport) - VS Commodore [588]
For complete race results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?08/07/2001.LIR
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