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RAIN DOESN'T SPOIL SBR'S PARADE

Topics: Bathurst 1000

RAIN DOESN'T SPOIL SBR'S PARADE

Stone Brothers Racing
October 6, 2011

Greeted by ordinary weather, Stone Brother’s Racing (SBR) made a strong start to their 2011 Bathurst 1000 campaign, with all three SBR Falcons featuring in the top three during the opening practice sessions at Mount Panorama in Bathurst today. Such were the adverse conditions that the third and final session for the day was cancelled due to poor visibility (fog) on the top of the mountain.

Tim Slade and Dan Gaunt in #47 Lucky 7 Racing Falcon topped today’s two sessions, hotly followed by their SBR teammates Shane van Gisbergen and John McIntyre in the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon. The #4 IRWIN Racing Falcon of Alex Davison and David Brabham also enjoyed a great start to the weekend, regularly holding a top three position in today’s sessions.

The SBR Falcons will return to Mount Panorama tomorrow for two more practice sessions in the morning, followed by qualifying at 2.45pm.

Tim Slade – Driver, Lucky 7 Racing Car #47 “Obviously it’s good to finish the day in first place but it’s only practice and there are so many variables to contend with in these conditions – but it’s a great start and all three cars are looking good in the damp conditions and definitely the right way to kick-off a weekend. The shortened day with the dropping of the third session does put a bit of a dent in your preparations but it’s the same for everyone so we’ll just keep pushing on tomorrow.”

Dan Gaunt – Co-Driver, Lucky 7 Racing Car #47
“Overall a good result for the Team today and I’m reasonably happy with where we’re at - but as Tim said it’s only Thursday, so to be honest I was erring on the side of caution out there today. During my stint the track conditions progressively got worse as I became more comfortable so my times are probably not a true indication of the car’s pace.”

Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“I missed the first part of today’s opening session and with the circuit being like it was, I just eased myself into it. Eventually I was feeling quite comfortable and managed some decent times – I got held up on my last flying lap so there’s probably a bit more in me and the car before the weekend.”

John McIntyre – Co-Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“I started on the tyres Shane finished on so I wasn’t overly confident to begin with. We made some set up changes and then eventually put some fresh tyres on but by then the optimum track conditions had gone. Today was just getting the confidence in order – it’s Thursday – so I wasn’t going to go out there and try and put the car on top of the timesheets.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4
“The car was strong straight out of the truck today which is always a nice way start – especially here. For most of my session I was hovering around the top three and was P1 when I handed the car over to David for some laps so he could get a feel of the car in the wet in case the rain hangs around this weekend.”

David Brabham – Co-Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4
“The car felt really good in the wet and Alex did a great job in his session. I kept it in the top ten for my stint and hopefully we’ll get some better weather tomorrow and be able to replicate today’s performance in the dry.”