Hamilton: Tony D'Alberto weekend summary

D'ALBERTO'S HAMILTON 400 COMES TO A CRUCHING END

Tony D'Alberto ended his Hamilton 400 campaign when he was crashed out on lap 1 of Race 3 after an impressive performance that saw him finish Race 2 in tenth place.

Tony got off the line at the start of Race 3 ahead of Jason Richards, who started 9th, and made it through the first few corners of the opening lap cleanly before Richards made contact with the rear of Tony's Bottle-O Commodore under brakes. This turned Tony head first into the wall and spun the car around severely damaging the rear end, putting him out of the race.

"It is really disappointing to end the meeting this way," Tony said.

"We were doing our best to stay out of trouble and just push on with the race when I just got hit in the back and slammed into the wall."

"I don't think Jason would have done it intentionally, my data showed I braked at my usual spot so I can only guess that he just went too deep before hitting me.

Jason Richards was issued a drive-through penalty for the incident.

Race 2 ended with a great result for Tony as he scored his best result of the series, 10th place, after driving a strong race and, not only holding station but gaining places to finish ahead of some strong opposition.

"After making my way from the back to 13th place in Race 1 I would have been happy with a similar result," Tony said.

"The fact that we were genuinely fast enough to finish tenth was encouraging for me and the team."

The Hamilton 400 turned out to be a real roller coaster ride for the Rod Nash Racing team with much of practice being lost due to engine problems, qualifying 29th before charging through to 13th place in Race 1. A strong Race 2 where Tony had his first top-ten finish for the year, before being crashed out of the final race and ending his weekend with disappointment.

"We certainly had our highs and lows this weekend," Tony said.

"All we can do now is prepare for the next round in Perth and give that our best shot."

Round 4 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series is at Perth's Barbagallo Raceway on 9-11 May.

-credit: tonyd.com.au