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Wheel frustration at Winton

09 Apr 2014
A wheel nut issue dented Aaren Russell's Winton charge.
2 mins by James Pavey
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Novocastrian Motorsport’s Aaren Russell showed plenty of speed fighting back from the rear of the grid, but it was a wheel nut failure that dented hopes of a strong showing at Winton. 

In the second round of the Dunlop Series, Russell qualified in 14th and progressed through the field. 

However, while knocking on the door of the top 10, his right front wheel nut failed, with just seven laps around the 3km circuit remaining. 

“We had good race pace, so it was really frustrating for something so small to have such a big impact on us,” Russell said. 

“We’ve had a look at everything and we think it was an instantaneous failure, almost as though the nut has split in two, which is very unusual. We checked the locks that were holding it in place, and they still work, and there wasn’t any damage to the hub.” 

The 22-year old fought back from the rear of the grid on Sunday, but caught up in incidents, he was left 14th for the race and 20th overall for the round. 

It leaves Russell 13th in the standings, with the Perth 400 in May to next chance to rectify the situation. 

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“Sunday’s race was a good finish to the weekend, but I would’ve liked to have started where we were running on Saturday – just outside the Top 10 – rather than at the back, with the speed we had,” he said. 

“We had a fast car, especially in clean air, and I got up to 11th pretty quickly. But then I copped a couple of hits and lost three places, while something was bent in the car in the process.

“The race pace we had was really positive, though, so we’re already looking forward to Barbagallo and hopefully a more straightforward weekend.”

Paul Dumbrell continues to lead the standings, with a 22 points lead over round winner Ash Walsh. 

Cameron Waters, Andrew Jones and Paul Morris complete the top five in the points. Click here for the Series' standings. 

Tickets are now available for the Perth 400, which runs from May 16-18 at Barbagallo Raceway.

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