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29-07-2008 Reinhardt Continues Winning Form
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29 July 2008
Following on from where he left off a Calder Park last meeting, Daniel Reinhardt again was the driver to chase at Sandown last weekend. Daniel set the tone for the weekend by taking pole position with a time of 1:28.6612, half a second clear of Keiran Glover.
On a weekend that saw the closest Formula Vee racing of the year thus far in Victoria, race 1 was a real treat for the crowd. Daniel made a good start but so to did his rivals, David Frith, Glover and George Panagiotidis. The lead position changed many times during the race and although he did not cross the line in first place for some time, Daniel drove with his head and was never out of the top three. Everything came down to a last lap shootout and with Frith leading the bunch out on the last lap everyone was jockying for position. Panagiotidis took the lead up the back straight and Daniel followed him through into second. Going into Dandenong Road corner, Panagiotidis was forced into error giving Daniel the gap he was pressing for enabling him to hold on for a tough win over Frith and Glover.
Race 2 was again a close one with the four same protagonists as in race one dicing it out lap after lap. Frith led them round on lap 1 before Panagiotidis took over for the next two. The slip streaming was feirce as the boys diced up the back straight. Daniel took the lead on lap 4 and led until Glover made his move on the last lap. Heading into the last turn Glover slipped wide after Daniel stuck the Florentines Cafe' / Australian VW Performance Sabre up the inside giving him the lead. Frith saw an opportunity to slip past but just failed to make the move stick on the short run to the line with Daniel winning by 5/100's.
The third race of the weekend was on Sunday morning and proved to be the major dissapointment for Daniel this season when on the warm up lap gear shift problems reared up leading to the car being stuck in second gear. Returning to the pits, Daniel had the car fixed and rejoined the race but by this time he was 1 & 3/4 laps down and just racing for finishing points. The race was a very close affair again with Panagiotidis (who stalled off the start) taking his best win for some time from Frith and the ever consistant Glover.
After the racing being put on all weekend, the final was not going to disapoint. Daniel starting in 12th position made a brillant start and by turn 1 was in fourth position. Panagiotidis made a error on lap 2 and dropped back to 5th leaving Frith, Glover and Daniel to fight it out for the next few laps. It was Frith and Daniel swapping the lead consistently up to lap 7 when Panagiotidis re-joined the leading battle but Daniel at this point had put his head down and created a small break and when on the last lap exiting Dandenong Road corner he was able to place a lapped car between himself and Frith he was able to bring the victory home with a 1 second gap.
Daniel commented after the race that he was "bitterly disapopinted" that race three had slipped away without a fight but that he was looking forward to getting to Winton for the next round of the championship and then Oran Park for round two of the Shannons Australian Championship in around a months time.
END.