HEART BREAK FOR CARTER ON SYDNEY’S STREETS
December 5, 2010: Sean Carter’s final weekend of MINI Challenge at the Sydney Telstra 500 turned out to be devastating, being unable to complete the weekend as a result of the Plan4Growth/OnTimeEarth MINI impacting with the turn eight tyre wall during a torrid race one.
Heading into the event with high hopes, a slightly incorrect qualifying setup compromised the protégé of Rock Racing V8 Supercar star, Jason Bargwanna. This was despite showing some good pace in the two practice sessions.
Qualifying sixth placed the 19-year-old mid-pack and on racing terms with his nearest Championship combatant, Peter McNiven and the two Spanish racers – former GP2 star Javier Villa and Jose De Los Milagros – guesting in the Series.
Proving they weren’t here for a holiday, the Spaniards mixed it up with the two young Aussies and Carter was forced to push hard to maintain pace with McNiven. This ultimately proved his undoing – the car drifting into the turn eight tyre wall.
The resultant suspension damage left the black and blue MINI John Cooper Works Challenge racecar decidedly bruised. After some frantic work post race one, the crew decided it was unfixable and that put pay to Carter’s weekend – and his charge towards third in the Championship.
Not scoring a point throughout the weekend dropped Sean to fifth in the overall point standings behind Gavin Yortt.
The Telstra Sydney 500 event was the final race meeting for Hertz MINI Challenge, delivered by Pizza Capers in Australia after its recent cancellation by BMW Group Australia. The Carter team is currently working on plans towards its 2011 campaign – where Sean promises to bounce back and take another step forward – so stay tuned!
CARTER’S CORNER:
“This weekend was all about pushing for race wins and ultimately, that’s what brought us undone. We had some pace in the Plan4Growth/OnTimeEarth MINI during practice, but I went the wrong way with some options for qualifying, which buried us.
“It was tough, hard racing with the Spaniards and Pete and unfortunately at turn eight, the car didn’t respond the way I expected and I ended up in the tyres.
“My mechanics said the car was too severely damaged to continue and to rub salt into the wound, Gavin got us for fourth in the Series, so it was a double whammy. Devastating.
“Looking back on the year as a whole, we had a couple of DNF’s and some bad luck, but we always had excellent pace and brought home solid results, which is not easy against quality competition.
“I have to thank first and foremost the sponsors that have been right behind us every step of the way, including Plan4Growth, OnTimeEarth, Specialised Body Works, Jack in the Box, 3M, PPG, BELL Helmets and Helenic Dairy.
“The guys at Bargwanna Motorsport and Rowse Motors have been looking after the car for us all year and Jason Bargwanna has been an outstanding inspiration to my family and I over the last 18 months since moving up to National competition, it’s been amazing.
“Without the support of my family, I’d be nowhere, particularly, my Dad Les. He puts his heart and soul into my motorsport and he’s the one that makes it all happen.
“Finally, I want to thank the guys that I’ve been racing with on MINI Challenge this year. It’s been fun, challenging, but overall rewarding and I hope we all meet in another category whatever that may be!
“We will be back stronger next year with the knowledge and experience of this year behind us and I’m really looking forward to bigger and better things!”
FINAL STANDINGS – 2010 Hertz MINI Challenge, delivered by Pizza Capers:
| Pos | Sponsor | Driver | Points |
| 1 | JAXQuickfit Tyres | Chris Alajajian | 825 |
| 2 | DecoRug Racing | Paul Stokell | 777.5 |
| 3 | Supercharge Batteries | Peter McNiven | 688 |
| 4 | Squawking Magpie Wines | Gavin Yortt | 604.5 |
| 5 | Plan 4 Growth/ON TIME EARTH | Sean Carter | 584 |
| 6 | Pizza Capers | Glenn Seton | 441 |
More Information:
Matt Payne
Acclaim Media for Plan4Growth Racing
Ph: 0413 082 142
Em: matt@acclaimmedia.com.au
Acclaim Media 