Nathan Geier wins Wakefield Park MINI Challenge

Melbourne’s Nathan Geier has won Round 2 of the 2008 Australian MINI Challenge, held this weekend at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway. Yesterday’s Race 1 winner, Paul Stokell, from the DecoRug team, looked to have Race 3 and the round win in his hands until he mysteriously lost all power in his car and was forced to retire on lap 6. Geier had his Split Image Project Management MINI sitting safely in second place, and was able to fully capitalise on Stokell’s misfortune to inherit a lead he would not surrender, ultimately taking the chequered flag on lap 15.

The 25 year old Geier was full of excitement after his round win, “It’s kind of surreal! I’m still in shock to be honest. Paul (Stokell) was driving real well, it was really unlucky for him. I was following him and heard his car shut down and from then on started worrying about mine! I was trying to concentrate on my lines and not worry about how far Grant was behind me. Next round will be interesting. We’ll have an additional 25kg on board, which means it’s a totally different ballgame. It was a great weekend all round and really sets us up well for the remainder of the season.”

Finishing the round in second place was media personality and versatile multi-category racer Grant Denyer. His second placing earned him enough points to take the series lead from Round 1 winner Neil McFadyen. Denyer, who also raced in the V8 Supercar Development Series today, will be looking forward to a well earned rest, is eagerly awaiting Round 3 at Western Australia’s Barbagallo Raceway, “It’s been busy, to say the least! Driving the two classes really helped me a lot this weekend. The MINI is a lot of fun to drive and to walk away from this weekend with the series lead is a real bonus. The class is a great deal of fun and has some really good people involved, I’m having an absolute ball. Bring on Barbagallo!”

Paul Fiore’s win in this morning’s Race 2 was enough for him to claim the third place overall for the round. There have been six races in two meetings so far in the 2008 Australian MINI Challenge and, highlighting the competitiveness of the category, there have been five different winners. The podium finish was a big boost for Fiore’s team who were debuting new sponsorship from Shell Helix Ultra. The Perth native was on fire in the first race today, his best time of 1:05.9316 was the quickest lap for the meeting, thereby creating a new lap record for the MINI Challenge. Fiore commented, “I’m rapt! It’s a great way to debut a new sponsor in Shell Helix Ultra for the Brisbane MINI Garage team. The car was just fantastic all day and to have a race win and set the lap record into the bargain was awesome. The next round is at my home track at Barbagallo, so this really gives me a lot more confidence heading into that event. I have plenty of laps under my belt around there, it can’t come soon enough!”

Series leader coming into the event, Neil McFadyen had a solid race meet, but hopes to find better pace at the next round. The latter part of Race 2 saw him advance onto Denyer’s tail and he crossed the line fifth. A third in the final race saw him consolidate second position in the series. McFadyen was carrying an extra 25kg ballast courtesy of his round win at Eastern Creek and although he did acknowledge this did affect his car somewhat he was not overly concerned. However, the ballast penalties can accumulate from round to round, up to a maximum of 40kg and more extra weight is sure to have greater effect on the little MINIs.

Denyer leapfrogs McFadyen to lead the series by eight. Geier jumps to third place, meantime the cruel Race 3 DNF cost Stokell significantly, drifting back to fourth. Paul Fiore rounds out the top five.

The next round at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway (9-11 May) will hold plenty of interest right through the field with local hopes, the Fiore brothers and David Turner in the mix, coupled with no less than three drivers sporting success ballast of 25kg as a result of the first two rounds. It’s fair to say MINI Challenge is about to move up a gear!

MINI CHALLENGE TOP 10 (after 2 of 8 rounds)

1. Grant Denyer – 306 points
2. Neil McFadyen – 294
3. Nathan Geier – 282
4. Paul Stokell – 270
5. Paul Fiore – 252
6. Gary Young – 174
7. Dave Turner – 144
8. Iain Sherrin – 117
9. Todd Fiore – 105
10. Michael Stillwell – 81

TV SCHEDULE

Round 2 highlights will be broadcast nationally on Channel 7 and their subsidary Prime Television at 2pm on Saturday 26 April.

NATSOFT OFFICIAL RACE TIMING

Qualifying : Race 1 : Race 2 : Race 3