The Crittenden Automotive Library

SBR SEARCH FOR MORE SPEED AT TOWNSVILLE

Topics: Sucrogen Townsville 400

SBR SEARCH FOR MORE SPEED AT TOWNSVILLE

Stone Brothers Racing
July 8, 2011

Tim Slade’s #47 Lucky 7 Racing Falcon is sporting some new livery this weekend, with the announcement that Lucky 7 Convenience stores will be trialing two new concepts with the help of the Stone Brothers Racing entry.

After the opening practice sessions at the Townsville street circuit today, Stone Brothers Racing’s (SBR) drivers are confident of fine tuning their set-ups for a stronger showing in tomorrow’s first qualifying session.

Shane van Gisbergen in the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon was the quickest of the three SBR pilots, posting the day’s ninth fastest time. Tim Slade in the new-look #47 Lucky 7 Racing Falcon followed in 17th place and Alex Davison in the #4 IRWIN Racing machine finished the day in 22nd place.

SBR’s speed ‘out of the box’ was down on expectations earlier in the day, but a series of changes across all three Falcons saw steady improvement throughout the day, and after a comprehensive debrief meeting this afternoon, the trio believe they have found some answers to finding more speed for the all-important qualifying.

Now sitting in the top 50% of the field, today’s practice was the first time this year that Tim Slade only had two practice sessions at his disposal, but the seat time he normally enjoys was put to good use with his endurance race partner Dan Gaunt getting some valuable time behind the wheel of the #47 Falcon. Van Gisbergen’s enduro co-driver John McIntyre was also present today, and filled the driver’s seat of the #9 SP Tools Falcon for the day’s first two sessions.

The SBR Falcons will return to the Townsville street circuit tomorrow morning at 11.05am for the 20-minute qualifying session which will be followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 12.15pm.

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

“The signs weren’t promising early on today and John (McIntyre) found the going tough – the car was a bit of a handful out of the truck but we tried a few things we normally wouldn’t which seemed to get us pointing back in the right direction. Hopefully the track will come up to us tomorrow with our development as it did today and we can improve the car further.”

Tim Slade – Driver, Lucky 7 Racing Car #47

“The car today wasn’t as lively as it was when we kicked off in Darwin. Based on what we’ve learnt so far this year it was a bit of a surprise that we weren’t quicker out of the box but we steadily made improvements to the car throughout the day. Having the two earlier sessions is definitely an advantage and Dan (Gaunt) was able to give us a good heads-up for the third and final sessions. We’ll make the necessary changes tonight and will be back with a strong showing tomorrow.”

Alex Davison – Driver, IRWIN Racing Car #4

“All three cars struggled with balance this morning but we’ve improved across the board as the day went on. After our debrief this afternoon we have a better understanding about what was working where and when, and through the benefit of having three different cars being able to take different paths with regards to set-up changes, we have a much better direction for tomorrow’s qualifying.”