The Crittenden Automotive Library

SBR GO WELL AT WINTON

Topics: Winton Motor Raceway

SBR GO WELL AT WINTON

Stone Brothers Racing
May 15, 2010

SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen has never considered the Winton circuit very kind to him but he may be having a change of heart after cutting through the field from 15th to finish 5th in today’s 40 lap soft tyre race. In a race that saw plenty of passing on the Dunlop ‘Sprint’ tyre Tim Slade also made ground crossing the line 12th while his team-mate Alex Davison finished 16th.

Slade was not only pleased with his top 15 result but also finished with the fastest lap of the race posting a time of 1:23.1445 on Lap 20.

This morning’s 30 minute qualifying session ended in frustration for Shane van Gisbergen and Alex Davison, while Tim Slade led the way for the SBR cars and started 14th on the grid.

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

“Our qualifying was not very good so we weren’t able to run the same strategy as what we did at Queensland Raceway but we did try to save the tyres a bit and stopped a lot later. We were a long way back in about 16th but our tyre quality was just so much better than everyone else’s.

“Our downfall was we just didn’t have the track position but we know we have a good car for the race tomorrow, obviously we will need to qualify better and hopefully we can get on the podium tomorrow.

“I am changing my mind about this place, it’s definitely got my confidence up and has enabled us to keep adding to our points total.”

Tim Slade – Driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“Shane and I were rubbing doors in the race for the first few corners. In the end Shane had better pace and he was on my tail for half a lap or so and then he gave me a bit if a touch at Turn 10 and then again at Turn 11, he passed me and a few other cars were able to take advantage .

“I maybe went a bit too hard on the tyres early on that left us suffering a bit at the end there in the first stint. After the pit stop I came back out and the car was really fast, Wes [McDougall] came over the radio and said to push hard for a few laps and we got the fastest lap of the race.

“The lap felt good, the car was working great and it’s a good feeling to finish a race with the quickest lap time.”

“Towards the end there I could see a bit of a mess going on with the cars ahead so I wasn’t surprised that a few of them took each other out. Obviously that helped our result and we are really happy with where we ended up.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“The car was quite a bit better in qualifying, we had good pace but this track can be difficult to pass and for a while there we got stuck behind Greg Murphy in the first stint and that cost us a fair bit of time.

“Then after the first stop we were going along okay and making gains on the group in front of us but unfortunately I made a mistake and ran off at the sweeper and that cost us a fair few spots and a lot of time.

“The car felt good, we set the third fastest lap of the race so today was definitely a step forward.”

Winton Motor Raceway, Race 11 (40 laps) – RESULTS

1 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney
2 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes
3 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup
4 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson
5 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen
6 7 Jack Daniel's Racing/Todd Kelly
7 14 Trading Post Racing/Jason Bright
8 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso
9 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto
10 33 Fujitsu Racing/Lee Holdsworth
12 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade
16 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison

Winton Motor Raceway, Qualifying – RESULTS

1 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:22.2388
2 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:22.2503
3 6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon/Steven Richards 1:22.3058
4 7 Jack Daniel's Racing/Todd Kelly 1:22.3139
5 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso 1:22.3296
6 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 1:22.3491
7 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson 1:22.3733
8 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:22.3755
9 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 1:22.4173
10 22 Toll Holden Racing Team/Will Davison 1:22.4217
14 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 1:22.5006
15 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen 1:22.5584
23 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:22.7870