RACE REPORT – AGI SPORT return to Excel Champioship
AGI Sport entered a three car team for the first round of the 2014 Excel Championship series. With a field of twenty Excels entered, the series has grown into one of the most popular and talked about racing series in the country. AGI Sport Formula 3 lead driver returns to defend his 2013 Championship title, other AGI Sport team members make out the driving contingent.
Practice 1 saw Nathan Gotch continue his strong pace from last season and lead the early Sunday morning practice from a fast-paced Glenn Smith. Team driver Nick Filipetto suffered some handling issues which the team managed to resolve before qualifying.
- Practice results:
o 1st – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch
o 2nd – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith
o 8th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto
Qualifying saw the AGI Sport Team dominate the time sheets with 1-2-3 positions on the grid. It was a session that came to a premature halt after the car of David Bailey rolled at turn three. It was a huge accident with David rolling at least four times. Having notified paramedics that he felt some back pain, they took the safer path and removed the roof of the car for the extraction. David was taken to nearby Goulburn Hospital but was cleared by the afternoon a bit battered and bruised.
- Qualifying results:
o 1st – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch
o 2nd – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith
o 3rd – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto
Race 1 on Sunday morning saw a great battle up front between all three AGI Sport drivers. The lead changed many times between the three with Nathan eventually taking the win.
- Race 1 results:
o 1st – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch
o 2nd – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith
o 4th – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto
Race 2 featured a reverse grid start and the usual overtaking madness ensued! Nick Filipetto took the lead into the final lap to take a deserved victory. Nathan and Glenn crossed the line side by side split by less than three hundredths of a second!
Race 2 results:
o 1st – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto
o 2nd – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch (new lap record – 1.16.15)
o 3rd – AGI Sport – Glenn Smith
Race 3 on Sunday afternoon would prove to be another cracker. All three AGI Sport drivers had a turn of leading the nine lap final race. With 2 laps to go it was Gotch leading until the car ground to a sudden halt. Post-race examination would find a fuse in the ECU had blown! Smith passed Filipetto to record the final race win of the day.
Race 3 results:
o 1st– AGI Sport – Glenn Smith
o 2nd – AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto
o 3rd – Brett McFarland
o DNF – AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch
2013 NSW Excel Racing Championship pointscore after Round One
1) AGI Sport – Nick Filipetto – 58 points
2) AGI Sport – Nathan Gotch – 43 points
3) AGI Sport – Glen Smith – 40 points
All three AGI Sport drivers won a race each with Nick Filipetto leading the series heading into the next round. The highly competitive battle for Excel Championship continues at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park on the 17th & 18th of May.
