QUEENSLAND formula 500 driver Dale Shilleto still can’t believe he clinched his maiden Speedweek title.
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Shilleto rose from third to first on the standings after the series finale at Laang Speedway on Sunday, a result he was struggling to comprehend yesterday.
He trailed Victorian James Aranyosi by 31 points entering the night but overtook him and West Australian Andrew Priolo with a third-place finish in the A main.
Aranyosi, who was chasing his first Speedweek title after two runner-up finishes, and Priolo endured frustrating nights — stewards sent both to the rear in the final.
Aranyosi recovered to finish 15th, while Priolo grabbed 18th. Warrnambool’s Tyler Owen took the win, from Angelo Karoussis and Shilleto.
“I still don’t even believe we’ve won at the moment. It’s still not sinking in just yet,” Shilleto said yesterday morning.
“We’ve got back to Queensland. I haven’t had time to have a drink or party. We went straight to Melbourne last night and jumped on a plane this morning.”
The Speedweek title was the latest addition to a growing list of accolades for Shilleto, a 27-year-old diesel mechanic from Maryborough, near Hervey Bay.
He has won two Queensland titles (2010, 2014), a Victorian title (2010) and has two Australian title podium finishes to his name.
The first was in 2010 when he ran second. He backed up by finishing third 12 months later but hasn’t cracked the top spot yet.
Even so, Shilleto was unsure whether an Australian crown would top a Speedweek title, such are the demands of racing six times in nine nights.
“It is hard to be good for one night but to be good for six or seven nights in a row, that’s something pretty special too,” he said.
“I honestly don’t know how we won. We had that many nights where stuff went wrong. To still come out in front is just crazy.”
But for all that went wrong, much also went right. Shilleto finished 13th in round two at Darlington but was no lower than sixth in the other rounds.
He was involved in multiple crashes — including one at Portland when he was on the front row and lucky not to get penalised — but didn’t suffer any major damage.
“We had four years where we didn’t win anything, we couldn’t win a feature,” he said.
“We changed chassis to an Edge (midway through last season) and we’ve been winning almost everything we’ve turned up to this year.”
Shilleto had the “for sale” sign on his car before Speedweek but has changed his plans and will contest the Australian title at Rockhampton from April 3 to 5.
He is also contemplating a return to Victoria for Speedweek. Queenslanders have won the past two titles, with Charlie Brown triumphing last season.
“Even racing in Victoria for one race you know you’ve got the best guys in the country. To come away with the series is just incredible,” Shilleto said.