Camilleri Man of the Match at Manufacturers Championship Grand Final
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Jake Camilleri not only wrapped up the Class B title aboard the Grand Prix Mazda 3 MPS at Sandown Raceway on the weekend, but was also voted the Best and Fairest Driver in the Australian Manufacturers Championship, capping off another stellar season for the team.
The twin one-hour long races saw outright results of fourth and fifth place, however the winning margins for Class B honours were two and three laps respectively.
Race number one was held in changeable weather conditions, which worked strongly in Camilleri's favour, although he suffered a moment coming over the rise at the end of Sandown's back straight in the wet.
Drawing on his considerable experience, Camilleri managed to keep off the wall and continue his charge.
On the final lap coming out of Dandenong Road Corner, Garry Holt's BMW driven by Ryan McLeod out powered the Mazda 3 MPS on the drag race to the final complex of corners.
Camilleri, never one to give up, set himself up for an inside run to the chequered flag, re-taking fourth position and holding on by only 0.0861sec.
The second race was held under sunnier skies and was a more straightforward affair, with the Grand Prix Mazda crew performing a lightning compulsory pit stop for a tyre change.
Camilleri was pleased with the performance of the car and crew over the course of the weekend.
"The car worked like clockwork again this weekend, it's just a shame that we don't have more horsepower to stick with the 4WDs on the straights," said Camilleri.
"In race one we were the fastest two-wheel drive car in the field, and that is against the BMWs and HSVs, so the pace of the car is very encouraging.
"I really must thank the crew for their efforts this year, they did an awesome job preparing the car, and their pit stops this weekend were right on the money."
For team manager Joseph Camilleri, the season once again showed the strength of the Mazda 3 MPS, as well as Jake's driving talent.
"I'm absolutely wrapped, I'm very happy with the results this year and for the season, Jake did it again," said Joseph.
"The boys put in a fair bit of practice for the pitstops, and they were perfect.
"Consistency is the key, and Jake has been out there driving at ten-tenths all season long, it has been an awesome season despite having a couple of DNFs at the start of the year."
Highlights of the season for the Grand Prix Mazda crew included second overall at Morgan Park Raceway, and third outright at Oran Park.
The team will now start preparations for the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, with the team looking to give 2009 endurance race driver Scott Nicholas a test drive in the near future.
