Welcome to the home of Craig Dontas Racing. Craig races in the Australian V8 Ute series for Thirsty Camel Bottleshops Racing.
 DARWIN June 15 - 17 |
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Following on from a strong result in Tasmania, Team Thirsty Camel lifted even higher in their trip West to Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway at the weekend.
Perth hadn’t been kind to our Camel pilot Craig Dontas in 2011, so it was time for redemption.
The weekend started off wet with two damp practice sessions, the Hump Machine placed highly in both with two strong top ten results.
The sun came out for qualifying , a dry track and a new strategy was just the right recipe with the Camel placing in position 3.
‘I am wrapped with that, qualifying has been my Achilles heel for some time now, to post this result and to do it with ease is a great reward. My crew chief and my team mate Nathan Pretty have really been helping me with this, so a big thanks to them.’ Race 1 saw a pretty uneventful race, fending of challenges from Grant Johnson and Ryal Harris, Craig then pressed away for a solid third place.
Race 2 the reverse grid always throws up a challenge, with the reward for strong result in race 1 being a starting position of grid 18, it was going to be some hard racing to gain the advantage. The Hump Machine was having a stellar race with some fierce battles and entertaining racing with Kim Jane and Cam McConnville. Dontas made it as high as 9th until a last lap incident with a back marker, dropping him five spots.
‘Wow, that was amazing, I had such a ball. It is so rewarding to race that hard, that close with guys who give you room and respect. It’s a pity about that last lap, we were in the box seat for the front row start and podium. Bring on race 3, we will fight hard for it!’
Race 3 was another entertaining battle with the top six so close, Dontas traded places all race eventually finishing a close 6th. Over all for the round The Hump Machine finished 4th for the round, missing the podium by two points.
‘Oh so close, those reverse grid races make or break your weekend. Any which way I am still very pleased, we have now moved to 7th in the championship, our qualifying pace was strong and I feel I am starting to really mature as a driver. If we keep doing things right by qualifying well, racing smart, putting ourselves in the right situations, we are giving ourselves the best chance to win races and fight for podiums. From there we can piece our championship together.’
Team Thirsty Camel now head to the top end in Darwin, a place which everyone loves and a place were the Camel shines.
Be sure to catch all the action from Perth on Channel 7.
Go the Camel!
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The Australian V8 Ute Championship is one of the most popular and exciting forms of motorsport in Australia. So popular, that it has grown to be one of the biggest racing categories in Australia. In a field of 32 identically matched racing Utes, Craig is one of the hard chargers, racing up the front and mixing it with the leaders
The category is now in the forefront of mind with great television, great media and a special place in the hearts of the Australian public.
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