Emily Duggan has enjoyed the most successful race meeting of her career, qualifying on pole position and winning Round 3 of Series X3 NSW at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend to cement her reputation as Australia’s most talented women racer.
Duggan took pole position ahead of Matt Stockwell, and comprehensively outperformed Stockwell in Races 1 and 2. A second-place finish in Race 3 was enough for Duggan to win the round overall, and move to second in the series standings.
“Qualifying was something I really wanted to focus on for this weekend, being a tight track starting position was critical for this round. I was able to nail the perfect lap and it felt great to secure pole position,” Duggan said.
“In Race 1, Stockwell and I had a great battle and he threw everything at me. We swapped positions in a few corners but I was always able to retain the lead, and I really enjoyed the close racing.
“Race 2 was less eventful; Stockwell was following closely behind, so I had to keep my head down and ensure I didn’t make any mistakes.
“Stockwell beat me off the line in the last race and I tried hard to overtake him – I was able to draw alongside him a couple of times but he defended the lead really well and we crossed the line just 0.3s apart.
“It was hard but fair racing between the all weekend and we both definitely had a lot of fun on the track.”
Duggan said the handling balance of her Excel made it a pleasure to drive.
“We worked hard on the car during the week and we arrived at the track with a setup that was spot-on, it was the nicest it has ever been,” Duggan said.
“The Supashock Suspension worked a treat; I was able to carry so much mid-corner speed and it just felt like it was on rails.
“The braking performance with the Winmax brake package gave me a lot of confidence as well, and I was able to brake hard and deep into all the corners.
“It’s nice to keep women racers on the top step of the podium in Australian motorsport – I look forward to more of the same during the rest of the season,” Duggan concluded.
The next round of Series X3 NSW is at Sydney Motorsport Park on 29-30 April.
Round 3 Results Summary
Qualifying: 1st
Race 1: 1st
Race 2: 1st
Race 3: 2nd
Overall: 1st
Series X3 NSW Top 10 Pointscore
1. Matt Stockwell – 446
2. Emily Duggan – 410
3. Adam Bryant – 378
4. Ryan Mee – 352
5. Dean O’Neill – 320
6. David Lo-Iacono – 304
7. Nik Hough – 276
8. Mark Nottage – 240
9. Matt Price – 232
10. Andrew Clarke – 230
