Asian Motor Sports

West Australian Aaron Caratti has produced the perfect race weekend on his way to claiming his first ever Carrera Cup Australia round win.

Round Three of Carrera Cup Australia, held at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park this weekend, belonged to the affable Sandgroper, who dominated the round from Friday’s practice session to the final race today.

Caratti was the fastest competitor in Friday’s practice session, set a new qualifying lap record on his way to pole position, won all three races and set a new race lap record as well.

“The car felt fantastic all weekend and I’m just glad I was able to take full advantage of the great race pace we had,” he said. “To come away with such a result is pretty exciting and it gives me a great boost heading into the next round at Barbagallo in Perth.”

Fellow West Australian Dean Fiore (Complispace/Advance Energy) finished the weekend second overall after taking second spot in every race.

Craig Baird (ACER/Leading Solutions) was also super consistent this round and rounded out the weekend podium after he finished third in all three races.

The results mean Baird and Fiore are tied at the top of the Carrera Cup championship ladder on 528 points after three of the nine rounds, with Caratti third on 429.

Fiore was happy with the result, but after finishing second in seven consecutive races is keen to improve on his current run.

“It’s to my advantage that Aaron has done so well here because it keeps me right in the Championship race with Craig so it wasn’t a bad result,” he said. “But it would be good to be on the top step of the podium next round, especially with it being in Perth.”

Baird said he struggled with pace all weekend, which made it difficult to run with the leaders.

“For some reason the driver and car combination didn’t really click here which happens at some circuits but it should be rectified by Perth,” he said.

Canberra’s James Koundouris (Supabarn Supermarkets) took out the Pilatus Challenge (which is for non-professional drivers over the age of 30) for the weekend, with his brother Theo second overall and Shaun Juniper (Juniper Developments) third.

James said being at his home track had obviously helped and he hoped to carry the good form into Round Four.

“It was the best result we could have hoped for being at our home track,” he said. “We had good pace all weekend and set consistently fast times so things are going in the right direction.”

The 20 car field left the best driving of the weekend to the final race, with the 27 lap event a thrilling affair.

While Caratti, Fiore and Baird were thrilling the crowd with their battle out the front it was difficult to know where to look with brilliant racing all through the field.

David Wall (Shannon’s Insurance) was sensational in making up 10 positions on his way to 10th, Grant Sherrin (Sherrin Rentals) made up six positions and Rodney Forbes (Jaimie Vedda Racing), Jono Lester (Blackwoods/JBS Tools) and Andrew Moffat (V8 Super Loans) had their best ever Carrera Cup finishes in fifth, sixth and eighth respectively.

And in his first Carrera Cup Australia round, New Zealand’s Daniel Gaunt (Sherrin Rentals) – who began the day in 20th – piloted his Porsche to as high as sixth before a late spin relegated him to 12th.

Perth is the next city to be visited by Carrera Cup Australia, with Round Four of the championship joining the V8 Supercar Championship Series at the Barbagallo circuit from May 9-11.

Carrera Cup Australia 2008 Championship Points

1 5 Dean Fiore 528 150 216 162 0
2 3 Craig Baird 528 168 216 144 0
3 23 Aaron Caratti 429 93 156 180 0
4 22 David Russell 348 162 159 27 0
5 6 Bryce Washington 333 75 132 126 0
6 7 Rodney Jane 240 66 120 54 0
7 27 Barton Mawer 240 63 108 69 0
8 38 David Wall 228 126 63 39 0
9 8 Rodney Forbes 204 42 75 87 0
10 9 James Moffat 177 93 18 66 0
11 18 Max Twigg 126 33 75 18 0
12 14 James Koundouris 123 30 27 66 0
13 51 Jono Lester 108 21 24 63 0
14 66 Peter Hill 105 33 57 15 0
15 4 Andrew Moffat 81 15 30 36 0
16 11 Shaun Juniper 75 27 33 15 0
17 15 Theo Koundouris 75 9 27 39 0
18 19 Grant Sherrin 48 15 21 12 0
19 12 Marc Cini 42 18 15 9 0
20 72 Iain Sherrin 42 9 9 24 0