Max Vidau has taken a second round podium in his rookie Dunlop Super2 Series campaign, closing the gap to the series lead with just one round remaining in the season.
It was a case of Friday heroics for Vidau, capitalising on what was a bruising encounter for the top three in the points standings. The South Australian entered the weekend fourth in points and delivered a promising Friday performance with the third fastest time in practice.
A case of food poisoning put a damper on Vidau’s weekend, with the effect so severe that participation in Friday’s race seemed unlikely at one point. After qualifying sixth and spending time with the Medical Team, Vidau suited up for a brutal 40-minute affair in which the Anderson Motorsport driver stormed to a second-place finish.
The effects of illness continued to take their toll on Vidau overnight, who battled fatigue on Saturday to qualify eighth and race his way up to a sixth-place finish.
Vidau finished third for the round, following up his Townsville round podium and adding to his growing collection of silver from his maiden season of Super2 racing. The series-leading rookie outscored the top three drivers in the Championship, moving to within 150 points of the series lead.
With one round remaining, and 300 points on offer, Vidau is an outside chance at the title should trouble befall the top three in Vidau’s home circuit at the VAILO Adelaide 500. 150 points are on offer for a race win, while a DNF results in 0 points awarded.
In more realistic terms Vidau will look to close out the Rookie of the Year honours, a points race in which Vidau has been the leader since the second round in Perth.
The final round of the 2024 Dunlop Super2 Series takes place on the streets of Adelaide from November 14-17.
Quotes:
“Hard fought weekend on and off the track, very happy to have come away with some more silverware,” said Vidau.
“Physically it was a bit of a task on Saturday. I think I could run my body on adrenaline alone on Friday, but I just became more burnt out as the weekend went on. I haven’t really eaten a whole lot since Thursday, I tried to steal some sleep where I could between sessions but just looking forward to some well-earned recovery time now.
“On the track the boys are always racing super hard in Super2 so there was no reprieve there. Just tried to play it smart and continue earning those good results on our off days, which is keeping us in good stead points wise.
“We’ll be in front of the home crowd in Adelaide, I’ll be giving it everything to put on a show for the boys. If we can get up front and there’s a bit of chaos behind us, who knows what could happen,” concluded Vidau.