More of the Same for Douglas in Ipswich

After a promising start to their Ipswich campaign, the Image Racing/ARVO team were left pondering ‘what if’ by the close of the three Dunlop V8 Supercar Series sprint races after another tough Queensland weekend.

“It didn’t end as well as we’d have liked,” Taz Douglas lamented. “Although we have unlocked some speed in the car and I don’t think I’ve ever been more comfortable behind the wheel of a race car, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season. I think we’ve now found the key to unlocking the speed in the car."

Image Racing team boss Terry Wyhoon agreed despite the weekend not being perfect, the team was heading in the right direction. 

“During practice the car was fast, and we were only using old rubber, so by qualifying we were expecting a big step forward.”

Douglas admitted qualifying could have been better than where he ended up. 

“On the way out of pit lane the gear position sensor failed which impacts the ECU and the performance of the car, so I had to over-ride the system, but it wasn’t perfect and you need all the stars to align to get the best out of the car in qualifying. Despite all that we were fifth, and just three tenths off pole. We probably dodged a bit of a bullet on that one, but it was also testament to the speed we’ve found in the car.”

Race One was the only race for the weekend to contest the full quota of laps, after successive Safety Car periods in races two and three, although for much of the opening race it was processional. “There wasn’t much overtaking at all, and we were all pretty evenly matched at the front, and despite dropping back to sixth off the start, we actually moved to fifth in the points..

“We changed only left side tyres for race two and got a great start from fifth in the reverse grid race and I was going for third up at turn four after Andrew Jones left the door open a bit, but locked a wheel very slightly and ran a little off-line and into the side of him. It wasn’t a big hit, but it bent a steering arm, and that was that, game over."

However, Wyhoon said he was proud of Douglas for making the move. 

“We spoke before the race about being more assertive, and sometimes when you do that, contact happens," the team boss said. "Had he managed to pull it up, and that was only a matter of inches, he would have been a hero, but unfortunately it ended the race and stuffed Andy’s day up as well.”

Douglas confirmed there was both a dry and wet line, given the heavy rain prior to gridding up. 

“The last race was a real wet/dry affair," he said. "I got a good start and was following Andy Jones through the opening laps, but got caught up with Ashley Walsh on the run through turn two mid race.

“He was a little loose mid-corner and I was really keen to get through. We touched on the run into the corner, and he went wide, which let me through, but as I came back across to take the racing line, we hit and both spun off the circuit. I went across the sandtrap backwards and into the wall pretty hard. Damage isn’t light, but it’s not going to be a huge fix, but it certainly summed up the weekend.”

Wyhoon said there didn't appear to be any structural damage to the car. 

“The damage was bad enough to warrant it going onto the jig at Stone Brothers to make sure it’s straight before we take it home, but there doesn’t appear to be any real structural damage,” Wyhoon confirmed. “They’ll have it straight pretty quickly and we’ll get it home to prep it ahead of a test at Winton, which is where the next round will be.

“All up it was a weekend of positives, wrapped around a couple of minor setbacks. We’ve found some good pace in the car, Taz has found a good level of comfort behind the wheel, and we've unleashed some of the animal that Taz was keeping bottled up, so we’re pretty positive heading into what is effectively our ‘home’ round.”

The Image Racing/ARVO team will now prepare for the Winton 360 round of the Dunlop V8 Supercar Series scheduled for August 23-25.