The Crittenden Automotive Library

VAN GISBERGEN ‘HOT’ IN DARWIN

Topics: SkyCity Triple Crown

VAN GISBERGEN ‘HOT’ IN DARWIN

Stone Brothers Racing
June 19, 2009

SBR’s strong track record at the Hidden Valley circuit was alive again today when both SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen and IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison finished in the top ten for Practice.

The Darwin heat proved to be no issue for New Zealand born van Gisbergen as he remained at the top of the times, when with less than two minutes to go Will Davison set the fastest lap of the day pushing Shane back to second.

Alex Davison struggled for balance in his IRWIN Ford but recovered well when the team changed to a better set of tyres. Finishing the session 10th overall was a rewarding result after having problems with grip and understeer earlier in the day.

Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“We struggled for balance for a while there, the first half of practice was a long fifty minutes. We made quite a few changes during the break and as soon as we moved to better tyres it was bang and we were up there.

“It’s great to be here, in the top three. After we set our quickset time we still had some really strong laps that followed which proved we have things right with the car. It’s always good for the team to have both drivers up there, Alex finishing in the ten is a great result for SBR.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4
“I was starting to get a bit worried for a while there when nothing we were doing to the car was making any difference, we were falling back and slowly disappearing. As soon as we put the newer tyres on it all started to make sense and luckily we hadn’t gone too far off in the wrong direction and were able to recover easily. When we put the newer tyres on we only had three because I flat spotted one earlier on.

“We are really happy with where we finished up today considering how the day started for us. Our goal is for me to qualify in the top ten for the first time.

“It’s our goal every weekend but based on today’s performance I think we are looking pretty competitive. If we get it right in qualifying tomorrow we are definitely a good chance to finish strong in the race.”