Dontas Claims Clipsal 500 Race Win on Super Trucks Debut

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Shannons

By Shannons - 07 March 2017

Craig Dontas has impressed on his rookie debut in the Shannons Stadium SUPER Truck at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, winning the first Race of the Season.

Race 1 - Position 1

Practice & Qualifying didn’t go to plan for Dontas, with the gearbox breaking in practice and the repair lead to a faulty transmission cooling line falling off in Qualifying, making the car incredibly difficult to drive.

Dontas had a great start to the opening reverse grid race, and held a 6 second lead for the majority of the Race.

The Race was shortened slightly due to a red flag, and Dontas battled with renowned drivers Paul Morris and Matthew Brabham for the front position.

Dontas finished 1st in Friday’s first Race with a time of 14:04.7771.

Race 2 - Position 11

Race 2 meant Dontas started from the back of the pack on Saturday, and had to fight his way through the intense field. Dontas had a rough landing following one of the jumps and broke a diff, which saw him lose speed and finish P11.

Race 3 - DNF

The final race of the Clipsal 500 saw Dontas’ achieve a great start, however, his race was cut short following a roll in the truck, after clipping the inside kerb. The Shannons Truck was propped on two wheels before falling over on its side causing a Red Flag and DNF Result for Dontas, who walked away without any serious injuries.

“Practice and Qualifying didn’t really go to plan, we couldn’t keep the thing straight and spun out a few times with oil spilling out on the rear tyres. We went into Racing on Friday with a great start and it was our first win in a Truck which was awesome. Race 2 with the diff breaking meant we just had to putt along for the Race, and crashing in Race 3 wasn’t the best way to end the weekend. It was eventful, but overall we were pretty happy as we were competitive, won a race and had a heap of fun as well.”