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Drivers' Quoteboard: Race 28

25 Aug 2014
What the drivers had to say after 200kms around Sydney Motorsport Park
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Scott McLaughlin, Valvoline Racing GRM, p1:

"The car was awesome and I can't thank the team enough. I am a bit overwhelmed that we got this victory, it has been bloody tough in the last few races.

"We went a different way with the setup for the race and the test day has obviously worked. I started to loose my front tyres towards the end, I was so relieved when I crossed the line. I am proud of my self and the team, this result is what we have been waiting for and made up for the tough previous results."

Nick Percat, HHA Racing, p2:

"I felt the first stint in the car was quite speedy and everything felt really under control and I thought this is a little good to be true.

"At the end when I knew Scotty (McLaughlin) was in tyre drama, I just drove the car as hard as I could and it didn't hurt the tyres and wished there was another lap or two.

"Qualifying has been a strong point and now translating that into a good race result is very pleasing.

"We have bounced back since Townsville and been really competitive and I can't thank Alex (Car Manager) and Ty (Performance Manager) and all my boys enough".

Fabian Coulthard, Lockwood Racing, p3:

"We had to work for it. We lost a lot of time when James dropped all that oil over the track. The car was awesome though, I said to the boys I was pretty impressed with the car we had. Ours suffered a little bit with the front tyres toward the end, which didn't allow me to quite get to Nick (Percat). I'm pretty happy. We had a bit of a shocker race one yesterday so it feels pretty good bouncing back here. Sunday's haven't been a strength of ours. To get a good haul of points while others had a not so good day is great for us."

James Moffat, Norton Hornets, p4:

"It wasn't too bad day overall, considering a couple of issues, but I'm pretty pleased.

"I lost the clutch off the line at the start, which made it a tardy one. With the guys around me on soft tyres, I was pretty lucky to only lose a couple of spots.

"The early Safety Car set the tone for the race, and we decided to pit, but we had to spend a bit of time getting past Whincup and van Gisbergen in that stint with Courtney dropping oil all over the race line.

"Unfortunately, after our last stop off the soft tyre, I came out of pits in a bit of traffic and that was a little frustrating.

"Fourth is still a very positive day - just missed the podium - and we bag a big punch of points."

Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Racing Australia, p5:

"It was a really tough day and at the end of it all we weren't quick enough to challenge for the win. We made quite a few errors which put us back but on the flip-side we did a good job to score as many points as we did. It's a little bit disappointing because we need to work on the soft tyres, we can't afford to be running fifth or sixth on that tyre in these big 200km races with big points up for grabs. I feel like we did the best we could today but we've still got some work to do before we head in to the endurance season."

Jason Bright, Team BOC, p6:

"It didn't work that well for us with the safety car on lap one. We lost something like six spots with that which was never going to make it an easy day but the car had pretty good pace and I worked my way forward on the hard tyres. We came in as early as we could for the second stop but that meant we had two laps older tyres than everyone else for the rest of the race. I made a small mistake and Moff and Fabian got me but they were always going to get me so that wasn't really a drama. I was able to look after the tyres enough that I could get right back at Moff but I couldn't get around him. Then trying to get him destroyed the right front. I was really weak in the last couple of laps and Whincup got us. Other than that it was a good weekend. We had two good races yesterday and a good race today so I can't complain."

Michael Caruso, Norton Hornets, p8:

"I got a ripper start, but the Safety Car came out straight away, which was the worst case scenario for us because it meant I had to double stack behind Moff.

"We dropped a few spots with that, but I had very good car speed. I was impressed, but being stuck in the mid-pack made it difficult to weave through.

"It was good that we were able to finish in eighth, keep banking up the points and head to the endurance races in pretty good shape."

Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing Australia, p9:

"I made a mistake coming through the last corner in qualifying today and after all the rain yesterday the grass was quite slippery which put me in the tyre bundle and damaged the car a little. This put us out for the remainder of the qualifying session so we started right from the back of the grid. During the race we got caught up in a bit of traffic but the car was great, I was able to push when I needed to and look after it when I had to so we finished strong in ninth. The team did a great job bouncing back so now I'll clean up my mistakes and we'll head in strong to the first endurance race of the season at the Sandown 500."

Chaz Mostert, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p10:

"It was a really hard day. I had a pretty good qualifying session but I made a mistake at Turn 2 on the first lap and that cost me a few spots. Everyone is so aggressive on the first lap and I can't get over that in a 200km race people are in the back of you off the start. It's a bit ridiculous. I survived the first lap and then made an extra stop to top up my fuel and shorten my last stop. I ran long on the hard tyres and then on the softs and to get back to 10th wasn't a bad recovery. To come all the way from 23rd is a good achievement. Our car pace was strong and I am really looking forward to getting to Sandown. Hopefully Paul (Morris) and I will be a strong combo and a dark horse."

Will Davison, Erebus Motorsport V8, p11:

"Certainly as a team I think it was a positive weekend, digging deep in circumstances that weren't ideal.

"We weren't quite there with the car but we dug deep and salvaged a seventh, fifth and 11th and moved forward massively every race.

"All things considered it was a very positive weekend. I think we've come a long way to understanding the car this weekend.

"We certainly learnt a lot, dug deep as a team over the weekend and still achieved some really good things.

"In the last race I thought the first half of the race on hard tyres was relatively encouraging. I was relatively comfortable with where I was running but with the soft tyre stint at the end we're not quite there.

"We've got points, we've got straight cars and we've got a whole heap of things to talk about and make sure we improve on tracks like this going forward. Certainly going to tracks like Sandown, I'm extremely confident that the cars are going to be strong.

"It was crucial that we got through the weekend trying lots of things and that's what we've done. No doubt we've learnt a lot out of the weekend to make sure that the next time we come here or a circuit like this, we're much better off.

"The only way to improve is to get mileage and data and we're still so knew as a team, myself and the whole team, so no doubt we've gone a long way to finding some answers this weekend.''

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David Wall, Wilson Security Racing, p12:

"Once again, a bit dirty on myself in Qualifying after making a small mistake in Turn 1. It probably put us back a few spots but the car did feel a lot better than Saturday.

"I had a good start and made up some places in the run down to Turn 2. I avoided the melee that took out Scott and was pretty lucky to see the gap on the inside and drive away. Like everyone else we dived into the pits that lap, and after that it was a pretty straight-forward race. The Dunlop 'softs' were great on the car. The tyre life was good and I focused on trying to make them last till the end of the race. I was pretty happy to finish in P12.

"I am now really looking forward to teaming up with Stevie J in the enduros."

Lee Holdsworth, Erebus Motorsport V8, p13:

"We came into the weekend with a plan and wanted to show some consistency.

"I was happy that we were able to do that with some improved qualifying results, particularly yesterday.

"I was really happy to get two top 10 qualifying results and also a top-10 finish on Saturday.

"Obviously we still have a few things to work on but it gives us a good platform to build on heading into the enduros in three weeks time.''

Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p14:

"Again we are showing a lot of potential, with one of the Nissans in each session and every race, it's just up to us now that we've found some gains, and have the pace just to be more consistent and get all four cars up there.

"Today was obviously long and pretty tough.

"Strategy was a big part of it, and I don't think our strategy was too bad, it just took us a little time to get the car settled on the soft tyres and we lost a couple of spots, which is a bit of a bummer.

"We also lacked a bit of pace in the middle of the race on the hard tyres as well.

"There's still a bit of tuning to do there, and certainly (James) Moffat's car was pretty strong, and we can learn from that one.

"It's not ideal to finish the race on a last corner incident, like that with Garth (Tander).

"He was a little wide, and I got my nose underneath him, he turned in and there was contact."

Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel's Raicng, p15:

"I was really looking forward to this weekend to get a good result, but it wasn't to be.

"The race yesterday in the wet was shaping up to be pretty good, but unfortunately I had some drama at the end with Garth (Tander), which cost us that one.

"Today was a fresh day, so I was looking forward to it.

"I had a good car in qualifying, and just before I put the softs on I had a big brake problem just sitting in pit lane, so I didn't really get a lap on the softs.

"After that I was really praying for it to rain again, starting back where I was, in the dry there's not a hell of a lot you can do.

"Unfortunately, we didn't make the most of the weekend."

Dale Wood, Team ADVAM/GB, p16:

"I wasn't rapped with where we qualified, I got a good start though and made up a few spots initially. I got caught up with Todd and ended up bumping Lowndes, which I didn't want to do. That put us back and bent the steering and hurt that first run on the hard tyres. I felt like we were really strong on the softs but it was a bit too little too late."

Jack Perkins, Team JELD-WEN, p19:

"Another tough day, we got ourselves into top-15 contention and then the pace disappeared on the hard tyres and we lost a lot of ground. The soft tyre pace was OK, but it was another disappointing Sunday when the double points are on offer. Now I'm looking forward to sharing the car with Cam (Waters) at the enduros, looking for some good results through the Endurance Cup."

Mark Winterbottom, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p20:

"Overall our pace was actually quite good so I am pleased about that. But when you have contact you have to take whatever penalty you are given. That said I have never seen a start penalty where there are multiple cars involved not reviewed post-race. Dave had half a moment and someone was in the side of him and in the back of me and the whole thing was a big concertina. There were moments yesterday that were the same thing and they reviewed them post-race. The stewards were just reacting to an incident that had a dramatic consequence. You never want to hit another team car. Darwin last year I take full responsibility for but today was just one of those things. I used Chaz's set-up and that gave us some positive direction though finishing 20th is a big negative. Our race pace is reasonable but qualifying is our Achilles Heel. We just have to be quicker. We'll have a big regroup now and go again at the enduros. If we have the car pace we had today we can win I have no doubt about that."

David Reynolds, The Bottle-O Racing, DNF:

"It was a very unfortunate incident. I hit the fence pretty hard and there is a lot of damage so we will need to do a lot of work to fix it. The enormity of the accident only occurred because there is no tyre barrier and I hit the wall straight on. Having no barrier is inexcusable. There shouldn't be a concrete wall in a position like that exposed. There should be some sort of safety barrier or sand trap ahead of it. I got bashed from pillar to post for the first three corners. A nudge sent me into the next car and then we tangled and we went off so I don't see much in it actually. It just looked pretty spectacular."

Scott Pye, Wilson Security Racing, DNF:

"It was pretty obvious what happened on Lap 1. I was on the outside of Dave Reynolds when Frosty just banged into him. Reynolds hit my right front wheel and sent me straight off on the wet grass and hard into the wall.

"It is a shunt that the DJR boys really did not need. They have another big job now to rebuild the Wilson Security Falcon. I am pretty sore and guess I will be for a few days. The belts really dug in and have taken a fair bit of skin off, but I am OK.

"We have to now just focus on getting everything set for Sandown."

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