It could have quite easily been first victory of the 2009/10 season for Ben Ellement on Saturday night during the third round of the AHG Sprintcar Series at Manjimup Speedway in Western Australia but it wasn’t to be and he ended up finishing in second place.
Ellement, who is currently in his fourth season of Sprintcars, paced the field for the majority of the non-stop feature race and it was only in the latter stages that he was denied the victory by Kerry Madsen.
“There is certainly no shame to running second to a class driver such as Kerry [Madsen] but at the same time it is still disappointing,” Ellement expressed. “I had built up quite a handy lead in the feature race and my downfall was when I got to lapped traffic and in hindsight maybe I was a little too nice.”
During the closing stages, Ellement was caught and passed for the lead by Madsen and despite his best efforts to regain command he fell just short and ended up in second place on the podium.
“I was running the bottom of the track pretty well and Kerry was running the top and when I hesitated too much with lapped traffic and he got me,” commented Ellement. “Having a driver of the calibre of Kerry running over here in Western Australia certainly raises the bar and I feel that it has already helped raise the level of competition over here.”
With a fourth, fifth and a second place in the opening three rounds of the AHG Series, Ellement now currently sits second in the overall point standings and the WA # 44 Stingaz / J&S Drilling sponsored Cool driver admits that it’s been a change of attitude that has helped him make such a pleasing start to the season.
“In my time in Sprintcars I haven’t been so strong so early in the season and I strongly believe that my change in attitude has been the reason behind it all,” said the 2007/08 season AHG Series Champion. “When I won the AHG Series by this time that season I had already tore up a fair bit of gear and this season I am a lot more patient, allow the team to be more experimental with setups, and it’s all starting to pay off.”
Ellement continued on by saying that focusing more on his driving rather than working on the race car is helping too.
“My team has taken more of an ownership towards preparing the car and allowing me to focus on my driving,” explained Ellement. “Also during the week I am not spending as much time in the garage working on the race car as I used to and that is also playing a part in my strong start to the new season.”
Latest AHG Sprintcar Series Point Standings (after three completed rounds):
1 Jamie Maiolo – 464 points
2 Ben Ellement – 460
3 Shaun Bradford – 456
4 David Ellement – 421
5 Kerry Madsen – 421
The Western Australian Title at the Perth Motorplex on Saturday night, November 28 is the next event on the 09/10 season schedule for Ellement.
For the 2009/10 season Ellement is proudly sponsored by: Stingaz, J&S Drilling, Rogers Concrete Pty Ltd, Ellement Produce, Flex Fitness, South West Earthmoving and Cool Chassis.