Hector Endures Wet and Wild Queensland

Gulf Western Oil V8 Supercar driver Michael Hector has endured a rough and tumble fourth round of the 2013 Dunlop Series at Queensland Raceway. Hector headed to the round confident of a good showing but a combination of rain, shortened races and some aggressive driving all thorough the field made it a lottery more than a race meeting.

Qualifying followed twin 40 minute sessions on Friday which saw the Newcastle driver miss his goal of a top 20 start. Getting the best out of new tyres is a must for the qualifying session and although Hector improved by over six-tenths of a second it was not enough with a very strong field at QR. Starting in P27, Hector was on the move in Race One, and clawed his way to a very competitive 18th position at the flag. A nine spot gain would be to his advantage in the Saturday race; however a rain delay at the start and shortened race would not help.

This did not stop Hector charging through and running in 12th place at the end of lap one. A great effort to avoid the mayhem on track and keep the Gulf Western Oil Falcon out of trouble. The rewards were slim however and he was he was shuffled back after being caught out by Sonic’s Gary Jacobson and running into the back of him at turn four. A tough call that resulted in a loss of 15 Dunlop Series points.

The final was another wild affair. Again Hector got a good start and was up a few places however the race was littered with accidents and Safety Cars and again shortened. Running again as high as 16th place by mid-race, Michael got tangled up in a last corner incident undoing all the good work and was relegated to 25th spot. He finished 23rd overall for Round Four.

“It has been a wild weekend," Hector said. 

"I started 18th in the second race, got up to 12th and was right in the action, but got belted around a bit and the next thing you know you are down the back of the pack. So, you have to do it all again and try and move back up. It seems to be the theme of my weekend actually, but it has shown the car has great pace and we just need to put it together in Qualifying and the races.

“Since I have been with MSR the whole approach has changed dramatically. I think we really are a Top 15 contender, but we need a bit of luck to fall our way. I have done three rounds at the next track we go to (Winton Motor Raceway) so it really should help in putting together a more consistent weekend than we had here in Queensland."

The fifth round of the Dunlop Series will be held at Winton in Victoria on August 23-25; tickets are now available. 

Michael Hector sits in 26th position in the 2013 Championship.