The Crittenden Automotive Library

SLADE SCORES TOP TEN FINISH AT WINTON

Topics: Winton Motor Raceway, Tim Slade

SLADE SCORES TOP TEN FINISH AT WINTON

Stone Brothers Racing
May 16, 2010

Wilson Security Racing’s Tim Slade scored his best ever finishing result in a sprint race today crossing the finish line in 7th after 64 gruelling laps on the Winton Motor Raceway Circuit. The race that was originally due to run 68 laps long was cut short due to telecast time restrictions. After starting from 24th on the grid Slade passed 17 cars to score what he describes as his most satisfying result in his short V8 Supercar career.

Shane van Gisbergen’s day started off in frustration after qualifying 19th for the soft tyre race. After making up ten positions in yesterdays 40 lap feature van Gisbergen was confident that a good strategy could keep him in the mix when it came to the final stages of the race.

Once again van Gisbergen managed to make the best out a bad situation after making his final stop for tyres and fuel under the second Safety Car period. At the restart the SP Tools Racing Falcon was left to dual it in the mid-field for the remanning laps of the race, van Gisbergen recovering well to finish 12th.

Van Gisbergen’s Driver Championship took a slight hit this weekend dropping down the points ladder from 3rd to 4th.

IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison also had his work cut out for him in the race starting from 21st on the grid. Davison who ran the same strategy as van Gisbergen also stopped for tyres under the second Safety Car but was forced to wait while the SP Tools Racing Falcon was in the SBR pit box.

For the remaining laps Davison struggled with rear grip but held on to cross the line 17th.

Tim Slade – Driver, Wilson Security Racing Car #47

“Yesterday we had a pretty fats car, we qualified 14th which we were happy with and we raced onto 12th so I knew the car would be good in today’s race.

“We definitely didn’t do ourselves any favours by qualifying where we did but in the race today I guess I took a leaf out of Shane’s book and just bided my time to make sure the tyres hung in there.

“At the end I was on Tander and I wasn’t sure if I would get passed him, but lap after lap his car just dropped off massively so got through with one lap to go.

“The Wilson Security Racing team are thrilled to finish in the top ten, it’s been a learning curve for me this year so far but it certainly feels like we have turned a corner this weekend. I’m really happy for Wes and the boys and of course James Rosenberg as well.”

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

“It was frustrating today, in the race we made up a few spots at the end the first stint. After I had stopped for tyres and started my second stint there was a Safety Car and it was a bit out for us tyre wise so none of us took it.

“At the restart we had all the cars with fresh tyres behind us and I just got pushed around and beat up by the cars coming through, when we pitted for tyres at the end under the second safety car I made good ground but really we didn’t have the ultimate pace.

“It all started in qualifying we seem to struggle at the colder tracks, like here and Hamilton so that is something we need to work on at our test day coming up. “

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“Our main problem was the rear tyres fading, the car was burning them up pretty quickly.

“When you can’t look after the tyres well enough its never going to be easy, I think over the weekend we improved the car a bit but we still have some work to do with it.

“I’m looking forward to the test day later in the month, we have a program to work through so hopefully some good comes out of it.”

Winton Motor Raceway, Race 11 (64 laps) – RESULTS

1 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney
2 888 TeamVodafone /Craig Lowndes
3 33 Fujitsu Racing/ Lee Holdsworth
4 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly
5 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso
6 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon /Mark Winterbottom
7 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade
8 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander
9 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto
10 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell
12 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen
17 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison Falcon

Winton Motor Raceway, Qualifying – RESULTS

1 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly 1:21.8487
2 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:21.8906
3 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell 1:22.0181
4 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 1:22.0900
5 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:22.1160
6 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:22.1224
7 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 1:22.1296
8 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso 1:22.1834
9 33 Fujitsu Racing/Lee Holdsworth 1:22.1989
10 6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon/Steven Richards 1:22.2176
19 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen 1:22.4541
21 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:22.4683
24 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 1:22.6716