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Dream Racing Australia ride out tough weekend at Sandown
Although the weather failed to play havoc like the corresponding event last year, Dream Racing Australia experienced a trying weekend at Sandown for Round 5 of the National Trans Am Series.
Josh Webster continues to sit top five in the series standings and is in reach of the top three after a mixed round, while Craig Scutella didn’t have it his own way in the Masters Cup as he still leads this heading to the final two rounds.
Featuring naming rights support from Moonah Bridgestone Select, it was Webster’s maiden event at Sandown as he used the two 20 minute practice sessions to gain experience leading into qualifying on Friday afternoon.
Webster was 16th in qualifying as he climbed to 14th in the opening race, but a mistake in the second forced him to make a pit stop to rectify a little damage.
Further progress was made in Race 3 as Webster avoided the opening lap chaos to move to 12th as he remains fifth in the standings and just 21 points behind third.
A consistent run of results for Scutella in the Masters Cup led to third in qualifying before taking second in Races 1 and 2, before ending the weekend on the final step of the podium. Sandown’s results further enhance Scutella’s Masters Cup chances heading to the final two rounds of the series.
The concluding rounds of the National Trans Am Series occur on back-to-back weekends with the first at Sydney Motorsport Park on November 3-4 and the second at Mount Panorama as part of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International seven days later.
QUOTES
Josh Webster
“Qualifying started off pretty well and I managed to bank a couple of laps as it’s my first time here, so always learning,” said Webster.
“Race 1 we finished where we started in 15th and in the second event I made a mistake to go a lap down because I needed to pit to clear the grill as the water temperature was getting high.
“In the final race I ended up going from 17th to 12th, so bring on Sydney.”
Craig Scutella
“A very solid weekend of results,” Scutella summarised.
“Josh started the weekend fourth in the series standings and he’s now fifth after this weekend.
“I started first in the Masters Cup and I’ll retain that position after this weekend. It’s been a good round, we’ve kept the cars straight, there’s been some fantastic racing and the guys at the front have set lap records.
“The pace has been great, there’s been some really good clean racing and I hope it comes across really well on Stan.”