MEDIA RELEASE- For Immediate Release, September 17

DREW RUSSELL CLAIMS CLASS A TITLE IN PRODUCTION CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

At Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway today, Drew Russell become one of the youngest ever drivers to win a class in an Australian national motorsport championship when he wrapped up Class A in the 2005 Shannons Australian Production Car Championship.

The 17 year old entered the weekend with an almost unassailable lead in the Class A standings and looking to continue a strong run of recent success which has seen him move up to second place in the outright standings.

With the distinctive orange Honda S2000 featuring added support from Best Western Mount Panorama Resort and Ray White Real Estate - the new development being built at The Chase on the world-famous circuit - Russell kicked off the weekend on a strong note. The Newcastle youngster set the second fastest time in both the practice and qualifying sessions, just over a tenth of a second off pole position in the latter.

In the opening seven lap race of the weekend, Russell lost out to the higher horsepower of the Class A Falcon’s off front row of the grid and settled into sixth place for the opening stages. Undeterred and driving with a maturity beyond his years, he picked his way through the order to end the race in third place with a fastest lap time of 1:22.0678.

“The big cars got me off the line,” said Russell. “Then I just settled down and tried to make the places back up. It was definitely interesting, because even though I was quicker through the corners, they could pull away down the straight.”

The result sees Russell wrap up the Class A title in the 2005 Shannons Australian Production Car Championship beyond doubt, with the best part of two rounds remaining. The impressive result far exceeded the team’s expectations at the start of the year, which is just his second in Australian motorsport.

“It’s fantastic to wrap up the title. We have all worked hard this year, and this sort of result is way beyond what we thought we’d achieve, and to wrap it up with a lots of racing left is especially satisfying.”

There is little time for celebration, though. Russell will return to the Sydney track tomorrow for a pair of twelve lap races at 12:40pm and 3:30pm respectively.

In these races and the final round of the year at Eastern Creek in December, the youngster will aim to double his silverware and take the outright championship. He currently sits second, within reach of outright series leader Colin Osborne.

If Russell can do the double and add the outright championship to his trophy cabinet, he will also become the youngest ever driver to win an Australian National Championship.

“There is still a lot to race for,” he said. “With the class championship wrapped up, we can now push that little bit harder in the two races tomorrow and Eastern Creek and see if we can’t close the gap to Colin.

“We’ve had a great year to date; hopefully we can keep the run going.”

Global Racing Industries thanks the support of Go Karts Go, Best Western Mount Panorama Resort, MC Racing Group, Oran Park Raceway, Ray White Real Estate Bathurst, Kloster Honda and Bells Radiators.