Michael Caruso leaves Darwin having validated the promise displayed in the earlier rounds of this year’s Championship.
Caruso started the 120km race on the front row and made a fantastic start to lead the field into turn 1. Following a safety car restart, Caruso would drop to third, before pitting early and setting the fastest lap of the race to retake the lead midway through the race. With Caruso’s first win coming at this track in 2009, the Hidden Valley layout will no doubt become his new favourite.
Saturday’s victory left him as the only driver in the hunt for the events prized ‘Triple Crown’. Despite missing out on the crown, after qualifying 9th in the Shootout he was able to move up and finish 6th in the 70 lap race.
Caruso leaves the event having won the most points over the weekend for the second time this year, and it is a feat no other driver has matched in this year’s very competitive Championship.
MICHAEL CARUSO – #23 NISSAN NISMO ALTIMA
It was a really great race. To start on the front row is where good results come from in this category, as it puts yourself in a good position to capitalise. We got a fantastic start and I knew instantly that the car was very, very good. As soon as we came out after the pit stop, my engineer said we needed a few good laps, and I gave it everything I had. I knew that would give me a good opportunity to get to the front and control the race. The Altima was faultless and the boys were great in the pits. This is a fantastic day, not just for me personally, but for everybody involved in the team. This is a result for those guys who work on all four cars and the guys back at the factory. I promised the boys that we would win a race. I knew we had a good car and we’ve been consistently fast. To deliver that promise is very fulfilling. I hope the boys can take some of that as well because they should be very proud. Now we focus on tomorrow.
