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ALL SBR FALCONS FLY IN TOP TEN AT ABU DHABI

Topics: Yas V8 400

ALL SBR FALCONS FLY IN TOP TEN AT ABU DHABI

Stone Brothers Racing
February 11, 2011

Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) has made a great start to its 2011 V8 Supercar Championship campaign with all three Falcons finishing in the top ten after today’s opening practice sessions at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi this evening. #47 Lucky 7 Racing’s Tim Slade was the fastest of the three, finishing the final session in second place behind Triple 8’s Jamie Whincup.

Hot on his heels – and only split by Craig Lowndes - was the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon of Shane van Gisbergen, who impressed considering his limited track time due to a faulty power steering line early in his first session.

And Alex Davison in the #4 IRWIN Tools Racing Falcon topped off a great day for the team, rounding out the top ten after today’s four practice sessions.

Tim Slade – Driver, Lucky 7 Racing Car #47

“We had an advantage today being able to run in the two extra practice sessions (for the lower 50% of drivers based on the 2010 results) and start on the harder tyre first we then switched to the softer compound at the end of session two, and then did a practice race run at the end of session three, so we had a great opportunity to try a few different things out and work through a complete program.

We didn’t spend too much time on the hard tyre today because this weekend’s all really about the soft tyre obviously the car is very good and I think I can still find a bit more time. Now that the track is under lights there is more grip down, as expected, but the tyres seem to hang in there a little bit longer now that the temperature has dropped.”

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

“It’s always hard when you don’t get to drive in the first two sessions it’s not really a rule I agree with because it’s the start of a new season and I think everyone should get an even shot at it. That said, we got on with it after a bit of a hiccup in our first session when we had a problem with the power steering and I had to sit out half the session but I got out towards the end and had a crack at it and we were quite quick which was promising going into the last session.

Our race runs were also very positive so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow because our times were up there with the leaders which is always a good sign.

We’ll make a few changes overnight because our qualifying runs tomorrow are going to be completely different to the ones we ran today due to the ambient and track temperatures being much hotter tomorrow.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“Today was a pretty solid day with regards to our progress – not spectacular but some good progress was made. We were nearly lead up the garden path by a rogue (defective) set of tyres at the start of the day but we recognised that pretty early on and were able to get back on track without getting too lost.

Our first set of softs saw us pretty competitive which was good, and from that point we just worked on improving the car balance but by the end we weren’t actually where we wanted to be but we did establish what we needed to do for a better showing tomorrow.”

Yas V8 400, Abu Dhabi – Practice (combined) RESULTS

1 88 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:57.0160R
2 47 Lucky 7 Racing/Tim Slade 1:57.0390
3 888 TeamVodafone/Craig Lowndes 1:57.0480
4 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen 1:57.0630
5 34 Fujitsu Racing/Michael Caruso 1:57.2240
6 17 Dick Johnson Racing/Steven Johnson 1:57.3140
7 33 Fujitsu Racing/Lee Holdsworth 1:57.3410
8 1 Toll Holden Racing Team/James Courtney 1:57.3470
9 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell 1:57.3550
10 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:57.3900

The SBR Falcons return to the Yas Marin Circuit tomorrow for qualifying at 3.15pm local time, and you can catch this weekend’s action on the Seven Network at the following times:

Sat Feb 12th
Qualifying 12.30am - 1.30am ADST on 7 Mate
Race 1 1.30am - 3.30am ADST on 7 Primary
Replay Qual & Race 1 1.30pm - 4.30pm

Sun Feb 13th
Qualifying 12.30am - 1.30am ADST on 7 Mate
Race 2 1.30am - 3.30am ADST on 7 Primary
Replay Qual & Race 2 1.30pm - 4.30pm