The Crittenden Automotive Library

SBR RUNNING TO PLAN IN BAHRAIN

Topics: Desert 400 Bahrain

SBR RUNNING TO PLAN IN BAHRAIN

Stone Brothers Racing
February 25, 2010

Alex Davison and Tim Slade got their first taste of the Bahrain International Circuit today [Thursday] when the V8 Supercars took to the track for practice on the new 5.41km layout. Davison posted an impressive lap time on his BIC debut ending the day 8th fastest while Slade was 13th. SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen was quickest of the SBR cars finishing 4th fastest for the day in the combined lap times after a one year hiatus from the world class circuit.

Van Gisbergen visited the track in 2008 when racing for Team Kiwi in a Stone Brothers Racing prepared Ford Falcon. The Bahrain race scheduled to take place last season was postponed in order to become the second event of the Middle East double feature in 2010.

IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison took part in two extra 40 minute practice sessions today after finishing outside the top 50% in the Championship standings at the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi event.

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“The day wasn’t too bad, we didn’t run green tyres at the end like some of the others so it’s hard to know exactly where we stand in the times.

“For the first part of the day we were really competitive but the tyres wear out so quickly here it’s very difficult to set the car up because every lap they just drop off more and more. When its like that it’s very easy to get confused and can be difficult to know exactly what you’re chasing but I don’t think we are too far away.

“Tomorrow will be all about looking after your tyres, its crazy how quickly the rear tyres go off. No matter what the car is doing balance wise you are going to have oversteer as well, so in the race it’s a matter of looking after the tyres as best as possible.”

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

“The new bit of road we are racing on is pretty cool. To start with today we just ran through the motions and did some longer runs. The surface of the track is really abrasive so the tyres didn’t last that long and our times dropped away a far bit. That’s why we ran a new set at the end just so we know what we have tomorrow in qualifying. A lot of guys didn’t do that so they might find themselves out of balance when they put on a new set.

“The car is setup is good for qualifying but I think we need work on a bit more traction for the race. And just make sure it looks after the tyres over the 200kms tomorrow.

“The pace was still there today which is pretty encouraging. “

Tim Slade – Driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“The track condition is very low grip but I was happy with the day, I have never been here before and I didn’t get to run in those first two sessions so in the first session I was out there I was reasonably happy to be in 18th.

“Alex, Shane and I had basically all done the same time before we put new tyres on at the end of the last session and again I was reasonably happy with how the car felt. I stuffed up one corner during my flying lap and it cost me half a second so there is easy tome to be made up and that’s something that I wouldn’t have learnt if we didn’t put new tyres on.

“We didn’t really touch the car much as it was good straight out of the box. It helped a lot having Alex take part in those two earlier sessions because we were able to make changes to the setup before we even got out there based on his feedback.

“It feels like home to be racing with SBR, Wes and I understand each other really well just after the one race meeting so I am looking forward to the race tomorrow. “

The V8 Supercars will take to the track tomorrow for Qualifying at 11:10am before the 37 lap Race at 3:35pm.

BIC DESERT 400, Practice Sessions (combined) – RESULTS

1 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 2:05.3174R
2 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 2:05.6104
3 7 Jack Daniel's Racing/Todd Kelly 2:05.7015
4 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen 2:05.7233
5 6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon Steven Richards 2:06.1176
6 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 2:06.3512
7 14 Trading Post Racing/Jason Bright 2:06.4957
8 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 2:06.5810
9 39 Supercheap Auto Racing/Russell Ingall 2:06.6384
10 51 Castrol Edge Racing/Greg Murphy 2:06.6954
13 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 2:06.8033