Mixed results at Wakefield..
April 6, 2008
After setting a stunning time in practice, the No Fear supported Action Racing team of Marcus Zukanovic was relatively upbeat heading into Sunday’s three races, the final Fujitsu Series round to be held at the Goulburn Wakefield Park venue, Marcus reiterating post-qualifying that he is a far better racer than qualifier..
“I don’t know what it is, I just try so hard to get myself to the front of the field to make life easier for the races, but it just never seems to come off. We had immense pace in practice, especially on used rubber, but we couldn’t find quite the same speed with ‘green’ tyres, so I’m really looking forward to the three races..”
Off the ninth row of the grid, Marcus made one of his customary lightning starts to be an incredible ninth by the close of lap one, which became eighth two laps later after Grant Denyer retired with mechanical failure.
Lapping consistently in the mid 59s, Marcus was locked onto the tail of eventual round winner Tim Slade, but with comfortably more pace, however unable to get around the Commodore pilot on the tight undulating Wakefield layout.
“I was sitting on Tim’s tail just biding my time till an opportunity presented itself,” Marcus confirmed, “before we came across Tony Bates at the ‘fish-hook’ where the two cars in front of me went through on the outside, and as I followed them through Tony moved across on me and I ran out of road. I guess he was just hanging on as best he could in his first Supercar event, but he didn’t do me any favours.. A spin through the grass dropped me a handful of spots, and then with greasy tyres from all the muck I picked up off track, I came off myself again half a lap later trying hard to get back up to speed. By then it was basically race over and a disappointing 17th…”
Testament to Marcus’ pace was another fastest lap time inside the top ten..
Race two came after a number of fine tuning adjustments to make the car better across the top of the circuit.
The start was typical Wakefield Park with chaos abounding, resulting in dirt all over the circuit on the run to turn one and two.
With the reverse grid (top ten only) format and the slippery opening laps, overtaking opportunities were limited early, Marcus though starting his move forward on lap two, the No Fear Commodore sitting eighth mid race, and seventh by race end, this time the fourth fastest car on the circuit.
“I’m so frustrated by the result of race one. Judging from the position I was in prior to the spin I would have been a comfortable chance for a podium, and every chance of a win in that reverse grid second race.. We had the pace and the car was a jet, I’m looking forward to race three..”
Race three, the final Supercar event for Wakefield Park in the foreseeable future, provided the kind of action the venue has become famous for - by the time the dust from the start had cleared, nine cars had been forced into retirement and the red flag displayed bringing the field to a halt on the front straight.
“It was mayhem. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I believe there was contact at the front of the field. All I know is that as I got to the first kink on the main straight, I was faced with a sideways Mark McNally. I started to go right, but then discovered he was heading that way so came left. Fortunately there was a hole, because I got through it. Behind me though they weren’t so lucky and chaos reigned.. It took 20 minutes or more to clean up the track, it was crazy..”
On the restart Marcus was holding down tenth, which then became ninth behind Sam Walter. “Sam was holding me up a fair bit, and I had some really good pace heading up the hill. On lap seven I had a heap more pace and caught him really quickly.. In the end too quickly because I couldn’t pull it up quick enough in turn three and pushed him wide off the track. That obviously gained me a position, and ultimately the black flag.
“It was a real pain in the arse, because I was comfortably inside the top ten and up for some more good championship points..”
In the end Marcus rejoined 18th in the shortened 20 lapper (originally scheduled for 30 laps), and was classified 17th at race end after a post-race penalty for Clayton Pyne. Again, as had been the case for the bulk of the weekend, his pace was good enough to put him inside the top ten.. Surely it’s just a matter of time..
“All in all it was a frustrating weekend. We showed so much promise and pace in practice, but we just didn’t get the chance to realise that potential in the races. We’ll regroup now and reassess the data and prepare for the Fujitsu Series debut at Sandown. I can’t wait to get back home, and to a track I love… Bring it on..”
Race 1: Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Rnd#2 Wakefield Park (17 laps)
1. Steve Owen - VZ Commodore
2. Dean Canto - BA Falcon
3. Jonathon Webb - BA Falcon
4. Jack Perkins - VZ Commodore
5. David Reynolds - VZ Commodore
6. Mark McNally - VZ Commodore
7. Tim Slade - VZ Commodore
8. Karl Reindler - BA Falcon
9. Jay Verdnik - VZ Commodore
10. Sam Walter - VZ Commodore
17. Marcus Zukanovic - No Fear VZ Commodore
Race 2: Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Rnd#2 Wakefield Park (17 laps)
1. Tim Slade - VZ Commodore
2. Steve Owen - VZ Commodore
3. David Reynolds - VZ Commodore
4. Mark McNally - VZ Commodore
5. Jonathon Webb - BA Falcon
6. Michael Trimble - VZ Commodore
7. Marcus Zukanovic - No Fear VZ Commodore
8. Drew Russell - VZ Commodore
9. Sam Walter - VZ Commodore
10. Dale Wood - VA Commodore
Race 2: Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Rnd#2 Wakefield Park (20 laps)
1. Dean Canto (BA Falcon)
2. Tim Slade - VZ Commodore
3. Michael Trimble - VZ Commodore
4. David Reynolds - VZ Commodore
5. Jack Perkins - VZ Commodore
6. Jay Verdnik - VZ Commodore
7. Jonathon Webb - BA Falcon
8. Drew Russell - VZ Commodore
9. Grant Denyer - BA Falcon
10. David Sieders - BA Falcon
17. Marcus Zukanovic - No Fear VZ Commodore
Fujitsu Series Championship points (after two rounds of seven)
1. Steve Owen (534 points), 2. Jack Perkins (472), 3. Michael Trimble (414), 4. Tim Slade (385), 5. David Reynolds (378), 6. Jonathon Webb (356), 7. Grant Denyer (326), 8. Karl Reindler (326), 9. Dale Wood (301), 10. Jay Verdnik (294), 11. Marcus Zukanovic (292)
The Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series is televised on Channel 7, check local guides for details. Round #3 of the 2008 Fujitsu Series is scheduled for Sandown (Melbourne) on April 4-6.
Action Racing is proudly supported by No Fear, DBA Brakes, Kevin Dennis HSV Centre, Mercedes Benz Trucks, Dandy Pre-Mix and Pirtek Dandenong.