Rapa Fights Hard for Wakefield Park Results
After taking the winning spoils at the previous round of the Aussie Racing Car Series, Richie Rapa went into the fourth round of the series last weekend at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway loaded with confidence, but it turned out to be a difficult weekend.
From the get go Rapa was on the back foot as he was forced to miss Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions due to study commitments, but the youngster fought back with some credible results by the completion of the weekend.
In the opening race Rapa started from the rear of the grid, due to not posting a qualifying time, and worked his way past 19 cars to finish 13th in what was a hard charging drive to say the least. The second race resulted in Rapa making further progress and finished in 10th place.
The third race saw Rapa worked his way up to sixth spot only to come together with another car whilst battling for the position and it resulted in a DNF for the youngster.
Due to failing to finish the third race Rapa for the fourth and final race started from position 18 on the grid, as the fourth race grid positions are determined from your results in the three previous races, and the 18-year-old yet again charged his way through the field and ended the weekend with an impressive seventh place finish.
“It was a tough weekend, and had we been able to qualify I’m sure things would have been different, but my exams are very important towards my apprenticeship and I couldn’t miss them,” explained the third year apprentice Diesel Mechanic.
“We made some good progress through the field in all four races and it was unfortunate that I was involved in a racing incident during the third race, as that put me back once again, and one thing is for sure I certainly got a lot of passing practice over the weekend.”
The current point standings for the 2008 Aussie Racing Car Series are (after three completed rounds):
1 Paul Kemal 149
2 David Lawrence 141
3 Adam Gowans 138
4 Peter Carr 132
5 Sheridan Phillips 131
*6 Richie Rapa 130
The fourth round of the Aussie Racing Series is to be battled out at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria on the weekend of August 1 -3.
Rapa in 2008 is proudly sponsored by: Wholesale Property Brokers, Fabre Australia, Castrol Oil, and Rapa Transport.
28-10-08 Rapa’s Podium Results on the Gold Coast Moves Him Back into Series Contention
13-8-08 Mechanical Issues Hinder Rapa’s Winton Debut
27-5-08 Rapa Takes Oran Park Raceway Success
9-4-08 Rapa Fights Hard for Wakefield Park Results
18-3-08 Rapa Rockets to Round Victory in Aussie Racing Series
11-3-08 Rapa’s Weekend of Promise and Disappointment
4-3-08 Rapa Sets his Sights on 2008 Aussie Racing Series Title
24-10-07 Strong Gold Coast Fight Back from Rapa
18-9-07 Rapa’s Sandown Weekend Finishes in Strong Fashion
23-8-07 Contrasting Weekend of Results for Rapa
