SURF’S UP FOR SBR

Topics:  Armor All Gold Coast 600

Stone Brothers Racing
October 23, 2010

SBR’s kiwis Shane van Gisbergen and John McIntyre turned a starting position of 13th into a podium finish on the opening race of the Armor All Gold Coast 600 today [Saturday]. The SP Tools Racing pair crossed the finish line in 3rd place after 102 gruelling laps on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit. IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison and David Brabham also came away with an impressive result finishing 5th after starting from 21st on the grid.

As predicted there was plenty of biff and barge in the race with 18 international drivers thrown into the mix. The Safety Car was deployed three times during the 300km contest with the first caution period occurring on the opening lap. Mayhem broke out on Lap 1 when at Turn 4 several cars were caught up in a premature stoush for a front running position.

Wilson Security Racing’s Helio Castroneves managed to avoid the incident but was left trying to find reverse when he had to stop and wait for clear space. The car #47 crew were left chasing their tales for most part of the race after the setback, going a lap down. But by the end of the race Slade had climbed his way back onto the lead lap and kept out of trouble to finish 18th.

Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9

“That was easily the toughest race of my life! The cool suit failed on my first lap in the car so I was really struggling towards the end there, my mind was wandering, it was seriously hot out there.

“I pushed as hard as I could, we didn’t quite have the car speed as the front two but we kept our heads down all day and to turn a starting position of 13th into a podium is an amazing effort by the team.

“The first lap was hard to watch, seeing everything go on but Johnny did such a good job and I’m just so happy to be able to share this result with him after a hard time at the enduros. He put in such a great drive, you just have to stay out of trouble around here and that’s what he did and now we both have surfboards so we will be at the beach on Monday! “

John McIntyre – Co-driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9

“I feel like I can finally put a good result next to my name, I have been trying since 2002 and it’s taken me a while to get in with a good team like Stone Brothers Racing, they have given me a lot of mileage in the car this year and it’s definitely helped.

“Shane did such a great job in the end there, we had no idea his cool suit wasn’t working so for him to press on like he did is an amazing effort and such a good start to the weekend for us and the team.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“It’s the first time I think I have ever been this happy about finishing 5th, we have had such a tough year so it feels good. We had such good pace in the race and David managed to get into a rhythm and when everyone else’s times starting dropping off he was just getting quicker and quicker, he gave the car to me and the same, once I got a feel for it we had good pace.

“We picked off a few guys on the track, so I wasn’t just a fluke, we had good speed and pit stops and ended up in the top five.”

David Brabham – Co-driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“Great day for the team, I am delighted for everyone at Stone Brothers Racing for doing a cracking job and it certainly makes up for a couple of tough weekends we have had recently.

“In the race I got a bad start, which is probably a blessing in disguise as I avoided all the mess on the opening lap, I then had a good solid run in my stint before handing over to Alex who did a great job all the way to the end and we have come away with a good result.

“Obviously with car #9 finishing on the podium and our top five just gives everyone in the team a big boost so I am really looking forward to tomorrow.”

Tim Slade – Driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“Helio did a good job in his first stint, he got a really good start and missed all the carnage, he went wide at Turn 4 and struggled to find reverse which is hard in these cars. We ended up dropping back as a result to the last car so we stopped for fuel under the first Safety Car a couple of times just to top up.

“We also lost about 24 seconds when we had to fix a front bar and around a track this short its hurts, that cost us dearly and then I got stuck behind the Safety Car. I was the second car in the train and Coulthard was in front on the lead lap and he didn’t pit so we went a lap down.

“It was disappointing because the car was really good and I had to get out of the way of everyone coming from behind as you don’t want to interfere with their race. Then you would get some more momentum and I’d have to let someone else go and move off line.

“We were as quick as any of the guys up there at the end so it’s just unfortunate we couldn’t do anything with it.”

Helio Castroneves – Co-driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“Today was a good learning curve, I certainly didn’t expect to be using reverse in the race so that was a bit of a rookie mistake but overall the team did such a good job finishing 3rd and 5th which is great so we can pick up more information and data from them for tomorrow.

“I felt much more comfortable in the race, I just needed those laps to really learn and once I was settled in the car was so much smoother, it was nice to have this type of experience. Tomorrow whether it’s dry or wet we feel much more comfortable in the car and we will just go for it!”

The V8 Supercars are back on track tomorrow for the second 300km race at 1:35pm after qualifying at 11:00am.

Armor All Gold Coast 600 – Race 1 (300kms) RESULTS

1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team Cameron McConville/Garth Tander
2 888 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes/Andy Priaulx
3 9 SP Tools Racing Shane van Gisbergen/John McIntyre
4 34 Fujitsu Racing Michael Caruso/Patrick Long
5 4 IRWIN Racing Alex Davison/David Brabham
6 1 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen
7 14 Trading Post Racing Jason Bright/Alain Menu
8 19 Dick Johnson Racing Jonathon Webb/Sebastian Bourdais
9 21 Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Karl Reindler/Fabrizio Giovanardi
10 18 Jim Beam Racing James Courtney/Warren Luff
18 47 Wilson Security Racing Tim Slade/Helio Castroneves

Armor All Gold Coast 600 – Qualifying (combined with Top Ten Shootout) RESULTS

1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 1:12.6841
2 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:12.7886
3 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell 1:12.8301
4 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:12.9361
5 33 Fujitsu Racing/Lee Holdsworth 1:13.0330
6 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 1:13.2678
7 6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon/Steven Richards 1:13.3678
8 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:13.4799
9 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso 1:13.6265
10 22 Toll Holden Racing Team/Will Davison 1:13.6466
13 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen 1:12.6020
18 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 1:12.9625
21 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:13.0167