APR: Oran Park round five race notes

Alajajian Wins Opening Performance Car Race

Chris Alajajian has taken first honours in round five of the 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship, taking the first of three races in this weekends round at Oran Park Raceway.

On 'International Left Handers Day', the left handed Alajajian (Jack Hillermans Smash Subaru WRX STi) put in a strong start from the front row of the grid to take the lead in the early stages.

The 18 year old held off an early challenge from Garry Holt (Century 21 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), before Holt was deemed to have jumped the start and peeled in to pitlane to serve a drive through penalty. From there, Alajajian was able to cruise to the win with a comfortable margin.

"The car was great, so when we got a good start, I knew that we were in a good position," said Alajajian. "When Garry pitted, I knew I just had to control the pace and finish the race. It is good to be able to get another win for Protecnica Racing and hopefully we can get some more good results tomorrow in the other two races."

Ric Shaw (Sennheiser Audio Mazda RX7) dropped from pole position to fourth place in the early stages. He diced with Peter Floyd (BP Ultimate HSV GTS), before eventually being able to round up the championship leader on lap six.

Shaw put a healthy buffer between himself and Floyd's distinctive lime green GTS and settled for second place, four seconds behind Alajajian.

"Four wheel drive versus two wheel drive off the line, that is what will always happen," said Shaw. "I had a bit of an average start, but the four wheel drives were going to be tough to hold out anyway. It was a good battle with Peter. He is a tough guy to pass, and when you get past him, he can get past back down the straight. By the time I got around, the guys infront had managed to get away."

He had no answer for the pace of Alajajian and Shaw, but Floyd was satisfied with his third place finish. Crucially, on a weekend where he looks to claim a solid haul of points, he was ahead of his championship rivals. Barry Morcom (Rondo Building Services Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) drove a lonely race to fourth place, ahead of Beric Lynton (Donut King BMW M3) and the recovering Holt.

John Falk (Fibreglass International FPV MkII GT) emerged victorious from a tooth and nail battle with Gary Young (Readymix Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) for seventh place. James Philip (First Auto Parts Plus FPV MkII GT) battled on with a flat-spotted tyre to finish ninth, while Steve Cramp (C.V.W. Engineering HSV GTS) rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere in the field, Dean Lillie returned to the championship sporting some new sponsors after missing the Darwin round. Running the weekend on a shoestring budget and some 'pre-loved' tyres, Lillie steered his HSV GTS to a fourteenth place finish.

"The car is running great, we just don't have any grip. Vaporate, A&P Plaster, Somersets and OzBore Drilling have been great to help us just get here this weekend, so we'll make a rear shock adjustment and see how we go for them tomorrow in the races," said Lillie.

Under one second covered Mike Fitzgerald (AussieHire.com.au Nissan 350Z), Lynne Champion (FairwaysGuesthouse.com.au Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), and Geoff Morgan (LinkMe.com.au BMW M3) at the chequered flag, in a fierce battle for eighteenth place. One place in arrears was Rod Dawson (Pot Holt People FPV MkII GT).

Having his second run of the season for Team GT, Dawson has spent the weekend battling the same electrical problem that plagued Trevor Haines in Darwin which caused the car to intermittently cut out.

"We are going forward for 90% of the lap, and nowhere for the other 10%," Dawson quipped.

Of those not to greet the chequered flag, Mark King (Delphi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) had both of the rear axles on his Lancer break, while Barrie Nesbitt (Donut King Holden Monaro) had a wild ride on the opening lap, when he encountered brake problems at the old Suttons corner.

"We are lucky it happened there, and not a couple of corners later," Nesbitt said. "It is very disappointing, we couldn't show it, but the car is a rocket. We made a minor tweak to the rear of the car overnight and we probably would have easily been fourth of fifth without the problem."

Round five of the 2005 Donut King Australian Performance Car Championship continues tomorrow, Sunday, with a pair of fifteen lap races scheduled for 10:00am and 4:55pm.

<pre> Oran Park Race One Results; 1. Chris Alajajian Subaru WRX STi 2. Ric Shaw Mazda RX7 3. Peter Floyd HSV GTS 4. Barry Morcom Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 5. Beric Lynton BMW M3 E46 6. Garry Holt Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII

-www.performanceracing.net.au