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VAN GISBERGEN SCORES FIRST CAREER PODIUM IN ABU DHABI

Topics: Yas V8 400, Shane van Gisbergen

VAN GISBERGEN SCORES FIRST CAREER PODIUM IN ABU DHABI

Stone Brothers Racing
February 21, 2010

SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen will leave Abu Dhabi with his first career podium after finishing tonight’s [Saturday] 200km race in third place at the Yas Marina Circuit. Van Gisbergen, the youngest fulltime driver in the series was thrilled with his podium result that was capped off with taking out the new lap record.

Wilson Security Racing’s Tim Slade also had a good day on track moving forward in the 43 lap race to finish 13th, five places up from his starting position.

IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison once again qualified in the top ten but had a nightmare race after contact on the first lap with Lowndes forced him to make an early pit stop.

After the SBR Crew made repairs to the #4 FG Falcon Davison was a lap down and remained at the back of the field for the rest of the race finishing in 27th place.

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

“I’m so excited to have finally got on the podium, this result has been a long time coming for me!

“I want to thank Ross and Jimmy for giving me this opportunity, it’s been three years with SBR and I feel like I have finally rewarded the guys for all their hard work. I would have loved my dad and Kev and Tommy from SP Tools to have been here but I guess we will wait to celebrate when I get back to QLD!

“The car felt strong all day, I feel like we were better in qualifying and managed to stay out of trouble in the race which was the plan. I was telling myself to keep it together on the last few laps but when I crossed the line it just felt great to have finally finished on the podium. “

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“It’s hard to feel too positive about anything at the moment but looking at the bigger picture it was a really solid start to the season for the team. I had two top ten qualifying results which I have never done before so that was great, it was just a shame we weren’t able to put the car to good use in the race because I feel like we made some good improvements to it.

“On the first lap I was on the outside of Caruso and he ran up and tried to drive me off the road once at turn 4 and then again going down the hill in the corkscrew I was alongside him and he turned into me like I wasn’t there. We hit and the car suffered damage and I got a puncture, I tried to come into the pits on that lap but was hit from behind so I missed the pit entry. We lost a lot of time and from that point on we were out of the race.

“It’s great to see SVG on the podium, the team morale is great, the guys have worked hard for that result.”

Tim Slade – Driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“I qualified 18th which was better than yesterday so again we were moving forwards, I was a bit disappointed and would have like to be a few spots further up because I feel better in the car after yesterday.

“ In the race I got a good start and made up some positions and from that point we were strong the whole race. The car felt good, we ran a strategy that made the first and middle stints longer and the last was just a fill after our second stop. We managed to pick up places in pit lane at the end there to finish in 13th.

“It’s always encouraging to have your teammate on the podium, this was my first race meeting with the team and I couldn’t be happier with how things are progressing.”

The Stone Brothers Racing Team will now head to Bahrain for the Desert 400 with qualifying set for Thursday 25th Feb.

YAS V8 400, Race 2 (43 Laps) – RESULTS

1 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup
2 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom
3 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane Van Gisbergen
4 15 Jack Daniels Racing/Rick Kelly
5 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes
6 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney
7 33 Fujitsu Racing / GRM/Lee Holdsworth
8 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson
9 39 Supercheap Auto Racing/Russell Ingall
10 14 Trading Post Racing/Jason Bright
13 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade
27 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison

YAS V8 400, Qualifying – RESULTS

1 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:58.1140R
2 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:58.6620
3 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:58.6790
4 22 Toll Holden Racing Team/Will Davison 1:58.8540
5 14 Trading Post Racing/Jason Bright 1:58.9000
6 33 Fujitsu Racing / GRM/Lee Holdsworth 1:59.3560
7 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:59.4180
8 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane Van Gisbergen 1:59.5250
9 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 2:09.2870
10 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell 1:59.1360
18 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 1:59.9030