HE may not have claimed a chequered flag at Mount Panorama or made it back-to-back round wins at the track, but Ryal Harris still got something valuable at Bathurst.
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The Ford Falcon FG driver took the lead in the battle for the outright championship.
Harris arrived at Bathurst sitting six points behind series veteran Kim Jane, but did enough to to turn that deficit into a three-point lead.
That helped ease the disappointment of seeing Nathan Pretty take the round win by 10 points in what was a one-off appearance for the Holden driver.
“If he [Pretty] was racing in the championship I’d be worried about it, but he’s not,” Harris said.
Harris placed second in the opening race of the Bathurst round on Friday afternoon, crossing the line 0.33 seconds behind Pretty.
In Saturday’s top 10 reverse grid race, even though he was carrying the weight handicap which comes with leading the championship, Harris again produced a good drive.
He came from ninth to place third, pole sitter Matthew Spratt taking the honours.
Jane crossed the line in fifth to help Harris’ championship bid, but the RGC Racing driver still felt frustration.
“The weight of the car is just killing me, I’m almost 100 kilos heavier than the Holden with the success ballast,” he said.
“I don’t have the pace … as soon as we get to a straight they just pull away because all of the weight.
“It was a good result for the championship though.”
Race three saw Pretty beat Harris again by 0.33 seconds.
