ADELAIDE: It's been an outstanding start to 2010 for Chris Alajajian, with a dominating performance in the first round of the MINI Challenge for his Jack Hillermans racing team.

Finishing a close second in 2009 behind Paul Stokell, Alajajian set a clear target for this year, to charge to first spot and take out the MINI Challenge championship. If the first round of the championship is anything to go by, fans and racers alike better fasten their seat belts and sit tight, because this looks like it could be the year of The Chris.

Failing to run his first practice lap due to mechanical difficulty, Alajajian went into the qualifying race with vivid memories of last year's horrific accident on turn one at the Adelaide street circuit. But ever the professional, he was able to conquer the memories to qualify fastest, breaking a lap record at Adelaide, and with defending champion Paul Stokell a very close second.

Alajajian took out the weekend honours finishing Race 1 in 1st place whilst carrying 50kg extra in his John Works MINI Cooper. The 50kg ballast is a part of the new rules in 2010 promoting competitive balance within the MINI Challenge series. Race 2 saw a reversed top 10 grid, where Chris started in 10th spot, and ended the race in 4th. Then concluding the weekend finishing 1st again in the third and final race of the weekend, and breaking the Adelaide lap record yet again, by a quarter of a second in Race 3.

Extremely pleased with his performance, finishing 3 out of the 4 races in 1st place, Chris stated: "It's good to be back on the circuit, and this is the best I've ever felt with my racing. I'm looking forward to a big year in 2010 and im excited to be a part of such a competitive category."