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Up And Down Weekend In The West For Rock Mini Team
The ROCK Energy Drinks Bargwanna Motorsport MINI Challenge team have had a wild weekend at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, bringing home some strong results for all three drivers, in particular the team’s rookie driver, Sean Carter.
Carter turned heads right up and down pitlane as he matched times with his vastly more experienced team-mates. After qualifying (where he was fifth), Carter went on to finish the opening two races in seventh and the final race on Sunday in fifth.
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He really showed he has a place in the MINI Challenge Series and goes to Homebush buoyed by his seventh points placing at the completion of the weekend.
The 18-year-old had a strong battle with fellow ROCK Energy Drinks driver, Scott Bargwanna in race three. Bargwanna was struggling with an ABS issue that afflicted his MINI John Cooper Works Challenge racecar and had to ‘hang on’ and score points where possible.
After qualifying fourth, Bargwanna finished the opening race in third. As a result of the reverse grid for race two, he dropped back to sixth. Combined with his race three sixth, he finished the weekend in fifth overall, however dropped a significant number of points to his Championship rivals.
Upon discovering the issue with the ABS system in the early part of race three, the team used the red flag scenario as a result of the Leanne Tander, Aaron Caratti front straightaway crash to work on the car, but unfortunately, it wasn’t able to be fixed in the time available.
BJ Cook – aboard the Red Angus Pilsener supported MINI for the first time – kept his record of finishing every race in 2009 in tact. His finishes were 12th, 11th and seventh in the three races, to finish the weekend ninth overall.
The longer third race, including a 45 second mandatory pitstop, suited BJ and he was able to advance through the field to finish seventh. All in all it was a strong effort heading into his home race at Homebush for the Sydney Telstra 500 in just two weeks time.
In his penultimate race meeting for Sprint Gas Racing, Team Principal Jason Bargwanna recorded two strong finishes. Electing to save his ‘Sprint Tyre’ for Sunday’s proceedings, Bargwanna came home in 18th in Race 23, whilst in Race 24 he brought his car home seventh after running solidly in the top five for much of the race. He was docked 100 points at the conclusion of proceedings for a collision with Todd Kelly.
The final event for both MINI Challenge and the V8 Supercar Championship Series will be conducted in just two weeks time – December 4-6 – at the inaugural Sydney Telstra 500 around the streets of Homebush.
WHAT THE BOYS SAID:
SCOTT BARGWANNA: "It’s been a pretty tough weekend for us out there. We were looking good after the first race and the second was pretty solid as well, but the ABS issue in race three was really difficult.
"As you could see on the coverage, the ROCK Energy Drinks MINI was locking brakes, which shouldn’t happen with ABS! We had a look during the red flag (for the Leanne Tander/Aaron Caratti incident) and tried to do what we could. Basically, I just had to hang on.
"The guys I’m racing in the Championship all had a pretty reasonable weekend, which probably takes us out of contention at this stage. So we go into our home race with no pressure, we just want to enjoy it and put on a show for all our supporters in Sydney."
SEAN CARTER: "What a weekend! I’m absolutely stoked with what we’ve been able to achieve here. To finish where we did in just my second race was very impressive. The ROCK Energy Drinks team did a sensational job all weekend in helping me become comfortable in the car.
"To match Scott’s times in qualifying was fantastic. I had a good battle with him in race three. I know he was struggling and in the end I was able to get past.
"Now we switch our attention back to street racing mode in Sydney. I’m really looking forward to it. It looks like it is going to be a spectacular event and it will be an honour to say that I will have raced at the first event there."
BJ COOK: "Well, that was a full on weekend for us in the Red Angus Pilsener MINI. I’m very happy we escaped the carnage throughout the weekend and could come home in one piece.
"The pitstop race is certainly a different format and we were able to take advantage of some others misfortune to come home in a solid position.
"Finishing the weekend ninth overall was a great start to our relationship with Red Angus Pilsener. We really have our eyes on Sydney though, that will be a huge event for our entire team and for the crew at Red Angus who are coming out to support us.
"It’s my home race, literally. I’ve driven the streets there on countless occasions, given I used to work in the Homebush precinct. I’ve done a few sneaky laps, so know which way the circuit goes. It should be high speed and very exciting. We can’t wait!"
JASON BARGWANNA: "It was a good weekend for the ROCK boys. Scott did well to drive around the ABS issue and Sean was very impressive in his first visit to Barbagallo. BJ did a great job with his new sponsor, Red Angus Pilsener on board and all of them are pretty revved up heading to Homebush.
"From my point of view, we had a pretty decent run all things considered. Sunday was a good result. It’s a shame what happened with Todd. We’re heading to Sydney now for our final event of 2009 and I’m hoping we can put a strong performance in for all our supporters."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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