The National Sports Sedan Series is reaching the business end of the 2018 season and with two rounds to go, the battle is heating up between Steven Tamasi and Sports Sedans legend Tony Ricciardello.
With three rounds already completed, Tamasi holds a seven-point lead over Ricciardello, knowing a victory at the Shannons Nationals later this month could go a long way in securing the title.
Despite being solid all season, with second place finishes in every round so far, Tamasi is keeping a lid on his current lead due his awareness of Ricciardello’s ability behind the wheel.
“It feels good to compete with someone like Tony Ricciardello but we don’t want get too ahead of ourselves,” Tamasi said.
“We’re trying to stay quite modest as there is a long way until the end of the championship.
“Knowing sports sedans and nature of them, it’s consistency and reliability that is the key.
“I am not trying to get too excited but Tony has an extremely reliable car and we are just taking it as it is.
It’s not the first time that Tamasi finds himself in this situation with the Victorian having led the series at different stages in previous years, only to fall short towards the end of the season.
Last year, Tamasi finished a disappointing eighth after placing third in 2016 and second outright in his debut season in 2015, so to win the championship this year would mean a lot to the 25-year-old.
“Last year we had to try and forfeit a few rounds which was disappointing but this year we have been pretty consistent,” Tamasi explained
“So far, we are pretty happy how everything is going but now we just definitely need to find some pace to stay a little bit more competitive but consistency and reliability is key in Sports Sedans.
“I think to win the series this year would be well deserved if this does happen to be our year, but it’s a long way and we aren’t trying to get too excited.”
While Tamasi is relishing the pressure that comes with being on the top of the standings, the fourth-year driver remains nervous about this National round in Queensland as it one that has caused havoc in previous years.
“In the past we have had reliability issues at Queensland Raceway,” Tamasi added.
“Despite this, I have generally been pretty fast there. It’s a very engine demanding track so we need to make sure are on top of all that, we are going to keep plotting away.”
Tamasi will begin his chance to extend his series lead when the National Sports Sedan Series open up the Shannons Nationals weekend with qualifying on day one to set up the three races across the weekend.
The Shannons Nationals takes places at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich on 27-29 July, with live coverage of Sunday’s session once again to be available for viewing via speedseries.com.au.
Tickets are available at the gate.
