VAN GISBERGEN THIRD QUICKEST ON FRIDAY
Shane van Gisbergen got the final round of this year's V8 Supercar championship series off to a great start at the new Homebush street circuit in Sydney on Friday, his aggressive and brave driving style on the narrow track producing the third fasted time of the day.
After a below par weekend for the SBR team in Perth the SP Tools Racing FG Falcon was hot on the pace early and remained consistently inside the top ten across both 50 minute practice sessions.
Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
“At first we just built up into the circuit and ran through the programs, I had a really long first run and we didn’t change much on the car because it felt great straight away. Towards the end of the session we just made little tweaks and the car responded the way we wanted every time.
“The track is so bumpy, there are some corners where you have to be precise and others where you just have to go for it so there is a bit of a balance there. It’s a track that suits me and my driving style so hopefully we are still up here at the end of tomorrow.
“A podium would be awesome tomorrow, that’s been our goal all year and I would love to achieve it, I am not far behind Russel [Ingall] in the Championship points so we have the chance to move up inside the top ten. We will just keep doing what we are doing and see what happens.”
Paul Forgie – Engineer Car #9
“It was awesome really, after Perth it’s just nice to be back where we belong. It’s a new track which evens things out for everyone, Shane seems to adapt really well to these sorts of circuits which helps a lot. Our car is obviously pretty good as well, we need to qualify well in the morning to give us a real shot at a podium, this weekend is our last chance to do it and we are ready for one!”
Saturday's 250km race is sure to be an action packed and gruelling event for the 28 car field as the V8 Supercars run 74 laps around Sydney Olympic Park when the light goes green at 2:35pm.
Sydney Telstra 500, Practice Part C – RESULTS
1. #2 Garth Tander 1:30.1032
2. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:30.1993
3. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen 1:30.2327
4. #22 Will Davison 1:30.3944
5. #24 David Reynolds 1:30.4106
6. #51 Greg Murphy 1:30.4202
7. #18 James Courtney 1:30.4392
8. #14 Cameron McConville 1:30.4776
9. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:30.6125
10. #10 Paul Dumbrell 1:30.7448
19. #4 Alex Davison 1:31.0784
Sydney Telstra 500, Practice Part B – RESULTS
1. #24 David Reynolds 1:31.3766
2. #14 Cameron McConville 1:31.5228
3. #9 Shane van Gisbergen 1:31.5418
4. #18 James Courtney 1:31.6179
5. #111 Fabian Coulthard 1:31.7175
6. #22 Will Davison 1:31.8182
7. #25 Jason Bright 1:31.8267
8. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:31.8281
9. #333 Michael Patrizi 1:31.9274
10. #34 Michael Caruso 1:31.9686
22. #4 Alex Davison 1:32.7466
|
