A tactical call for the final race of the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series has seen Colin Sieders’ Bisley Workwear Falcon finishing the round in 14th position in front of a home crowd on the streets of Homebush this weekend, 2-4th December.

The 29 year-old from Penrith struggled with set-up and speed early in the weekend, but benefitted from the front of the field carnage in Race One and a late run on slicks in Race Two to take his best round finish for his limited season.

“What a sensational event,” said Sieders, “it’s always nice to finish off the year in front of family and friends on your local track, and at least we gave them some results to cheer on”.

“Sydney is a great circuit, and can be really brutal, which played in our favour a little this weekend, but we also made the right call for the final race, and ended the weekend and year on a high.”

In yesterday’s opening race, Sieders found himself starting off position 21 after a poor Qualifying result, and was fortunate to avoid a major incident between Rodney Jane and Marcus Zukanovic after Turn 1 on the opening lap that triggered a safety car.

“I had a good view of what was happening up ahead, so was able to hit the brakes and make my way through pretty easily,” said Sieders, “we lost a few spots off the restart, but with the incidents going on ahead of us, it was good to come home safely and get up to 16th”.

With a wet track, the big decision for the second, and final, race of the weekend was ‘which tyres to put on?’. With the majority of the field on wets, the Sieders Racing Team took a gamble for slicks, starting from 16th with nothing to lose.

Although Sieders lost places at the start, the track began to dry, and with six laps to go he began his charge through the field, making it up to 11th on the final lap before being hit hard by Daniel Jileson whilst making a pass, which allowed Tony Bates through in the last two turns, with Sieders finishing in 12th.

“What a great call by the Team,” said Sieders, “I couldn’t believe it when the guys were telling me that I had the second fastest time for the session [ended fourth fastest], but I was just cutting through the field at the end”.

“It was fun being the quick car for once,” said Sieders, “it’s really spurred me on to want to get a better car for next season to see where we can really get to if we’re on par with the cars at the front”.

Sieders is yet to finalise his plans for 2012, expected to be announced in the New Year, but hasn’t ruled out a return to the Development V8 Supercar Series.

“We’ve had great support from Bisley Workwear this year to put us in to three of the rounds, and the businesses in Townsville saw us contest a fourth, now we just need to lock in a full season.”

Sieders has one more commitment for the year, with a ride day at Eastern Creek on the 21st December.

“The ride day will be a great way to cap off what has been a real rollercoaster of a season,” said Sieders, “it’s a good opportunity to get out on a track and have fun with the crew, our partners and supporters who have backed us all year”.

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