Co-Drivers' Quoteboard: Wilson Security Sandown 500

Paul Dumbrell, Red Bull Racing Australia #1, p1: 

“It’s been a great weekend rally I think … the test day a couple of weeks ago was certainly a tough day and even on Friday when we rolled out of the truck we said we had a bit of work to do. But the car was great and epitomised what the team is all about – for Luffy and I, we come in for a couple of races a year and they give us confidence to be able to go and push quite hard with the car and it showed today that we certainly had a great car.

"We had an issue following a couple of the cars, all of our shift lights failed and all our lock up lights failed, so I was sort of, just a ittle bit taken amiss for a couple of laps there. A few people got out of my way, so thanks – Luffy, I think you got out of my way, so thanks and I'll have to repay you over the next races!" 

Warren Luff, Red Bull Racing Australia #888, p2:

"Unfortunately it's just the way that it goes (with the double stacking). We knew that obviously with the four stops and any safety cars early on it was gonig to be a necessity to come in and double stack. So you've got to take your poison and hope that it washes out later in the race. Obviously Craig (Lowndes) did a sensational job in that latter two-thirds of the race and was able to get us back up there in contention, but it's never nice to doulbe stack, so hopefully we can avoid that at Bathurst in a few weeks."

Steve Owen, Pepsi Max Crew FPR #6, p3:

“I saw the data on the transaxle with 40 laps to go and I honestly thought we weren’t going to make the end of the race so it is a minor miracle we salvaged the result we did. What we learnt today will be a big help heading to Bathurst, the team have been very welcoming and things have largely gone pretty well so fingers crossed, we should be in with a big shout there as well.”

Craig Baird, IRWIN Racing #4, p4:

"It has been a solid effort from the whole team this weekend. Lee's run was just outstanding, he is completely physically drained – especially for a super fit bloke.

"Yesterday was a tough day for us after I was turned around – I really felt like I had let everyone down.

"From a strategy point, the boys did everything they had to do, they ticked the boxes, stuck to the strategy and didn't get ahead of themselves, I couldn't ask for anything more as a co-driver to come into a team such as this."

Steve Richards, Pepsi Max Crew FPR #5, p6:

“We had ups and downs today and I made a meal of the start where I stalled. We recovered well and the car had reasonable pace, which allowed us to charge on. We got back into the race through strategy and then the sticky wheel nut ruined our chance which is frustrating. We close the door on today but we still finished sixth and that is better than a DNF or a massive repair job. The stall was my only blot but the rest of the weekend was great for me and I am really pumped for Bathurst.”

Luke Youlden, Lockwood Racing #14, p7:

"I'm happier with the car but probably couldn't exploit the full potential because I was getting held up a lot in my stint. We spoke about that before the race. We didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. The difference in the cars isn't that great and I wasn't prepared to risk a desperate move so I held station and waited for a mistake.

"Then the safety car came out, which wasn't great for us because we had to double stack behind our teammate, and then we were stuck in the train again."

Ryan Briscoe, Supercheap Auto Racing #66, p9:

“I was everywhere today; I raced at the back, in the middle and up the front.

“Battling with Steve Owen for the lead was a great confidence boost for me, and the best thing was spending some valuable time in the car. It gives us both a lot of confidence in the lead-up to Bathurst.”

David Russell, Jack Daniel’s Racing, p11:

"I was starting in the car, so I had to get odd the line well, I managed to get a good start, so the priority from there was just to shake the cars behind out of the draft because I knew when we got on the back straight that we'd be vulnerable.

"I just had to press on and manage those gaps, we had a few safety cars early and the main thing I had to consider was minimising the risk of losing too much time if someone did get a run on me down the straight.

"I was happy with the stint and to give the car back to Todd in good condition, which set him up to finish the race, so very happy, it was a great day."

Dale Wood, Wilson Security DJR, p14:

“My stint went to plan and it’s really nice up the front. You’re not dealing with all the stuff going on down the back of the pack. I think my pace got better as the race went on and our stops worked out really well. At one point we were second on the road. The car was really good but unfortunately a couple of things happened throughout the race and it just wasn’t our day – but those things happen. I’m really happy, personally, being able to walk away knowing I did my part. We need to aim for top five, because I think that is where we can be. You have to do the best job you can and keep your nose clean. I love working in this environment and I love working with Chaz (Mostert). The ingredients are there for a good weekend at Bathurst.”

Dean Canto, The Bottle-O Racing, p15:

“The start was okay and I managed to make a few spots up and the car was quite pacey and I could easily stay with the front three. The safety car came out and we jumped one car and we were quick for the first few stints. Unfortunately near the end of my last stint I locked the right-front wheel. We were struggling a bit with some in that area of the car obviously as the same thing happened to Dave. The pace was there but things just didn’t go our way.”

Karl Reindler, Jack Daniel’s Racing, p16: 

“I'm incredibly happy, given we're on the back foot with the straight line speed, which made it really tough to race. I had so much pace on a lot of the guys in front, but it was incredibly difficult to race and pass.

“To finish P16, Rick did an amazing job, as always there are issues along the way, but we're here at the end, reliability was great in the car, so bring on Bathurst.”

John McIntyre, Team JELD-WEN, p17:

“We have to be relatively happy with starting on the back row and finishing 15th. We played as many strategy cards as we could to try and get into the race and give ourselves a chance. It was a solid hit out but we will be aiming for much more at Bathurst. Anytime you start at the back in this series and get halfway through the field is a pretty good day.”

Matt Halliday, Dodo Insurance Racing #88, p18:

“We started last, but I got off the line properly this time, I could see the lights, and we settled into the race. We stopped under the first two safety cars, I think it was the second one we put a better a better set of tyres on the car and we made some really good progress. We made track position and we managed to jump a few people. We were running around behind a queue, there was a bunch of people fighting and we couldn’t pass anyone. I got into a rhythm in the middle of the field and managed to start making my way forward, I wouldn’t say it was easy though. I passed two Nissan cars and a HRT car into Dandenong, which is not always easy to do.

“The car felt good but I was definitely struggling a little bit at the end of the stint and we started the day with a completely different set up yesterday and a completely different set up that we had in warm up as well. We definitely did a little big of fine tuning but considering we started last we came home with some good progress and probably not a straight panel on it." 

Daniel Gaunt, Norton Hornets, p20:

“We finished, and that’s about as much we can take out of it.

“In my stint, I made one mistake early and went off the track. It actually helped us in the long run as we managed to time our pit stop under Safety Car nicely.

“We need to find a bit more pace for Bathurst, and it’s never going to be easy with the horsepower and fuel burn, but we’ll keep chipping away at it.” 

Andrew Thompson, Heavy Haulage Racing Australia, p21:

"I managed to get through everything pretty cleanly through my stint, I used the tyres well and got to the window we were looking for.

"I think we were probably the best of the co-driver cars at points of the stint, but unfortunately our overall result was let down by an error during Tim's last pitstop.

"I haven't raced full time in two years and have done little track time this year, so I'm happy to be at that speed. The Heavy Haulage Australia Racing team gave me a good car and I managed to make the most of it."

Andrew Jones, Team BOC #8, p24:

"The car was much better than yesterday. We've got rotation and can do the things we could do on Friday. The biggest problem I had was when I was behind people our car-flow was different to theirs. It most obvious mid-corner, which makes it hard to pass, but when I'm on my own I can use the flow of the car really well.

"I had a bit of a run-in when I passed Warren Luff early on. I felt I was far enough in and it was going to be a clean move. At some point both cars have to come to the party. When you put yourself in a vulnerable position you've got to take some responsibility for it. I was pretty happy with what I did."

Steve Johnson, SP Tools Racing #9, p25:

"I think it was shaping up to be good at the end of the day, we made the right call to get out of sync with everyone to clear the traffic. Once we did that, we were able to put down some good lap times that were over a second quicker than where we were in traffic and I was gaining some good track position.

"Under one of the Safety Cars, we were up towards the top five, but had to remain on track to finish the full stint. At that point, we had done about 12 laps on our tyres when the guys behind had just stopped. I let the other Erebus Motorsport cars past and was happy with that.

"It was really unfortunate that Maro (Engel) had the brake problem, but I walk away extremely happy with the performance I put in on a personal level and feel as though I did a good job for the team overall."

Taz Douglas, Norton Hornets, p26:

“It is a disappointing result. You come into the events, and you know you can’t win the championship, but it can certainly put a dint in it, and unfortunately, that’s what’s happened to James today. 

“There’s not much we can do at the moment, without the horsepower.

“That stint I did was one of the hardest I’ve ever done. It’s like you’re qualifying every lap through the corners and as soon as people check up on you, you become vulnerable.

“I felt like I was a hazard out there because when people are behind you, they are too eager to pass you.”

Paul Morris, ekol Racing, DNF:

“I got a good start and made up a few positions and then under the first safety car I got a pit lane speeding penalty so that put us behind. During the second safety car we pitted a few times and then got caught in pit lane probably too long and was behind the train when it went green. Fortunately caught back up to the pack and I got out of the car and handed it over to Scott (Pye) and we were chucking along alright, it looked like we were going to be a top ten and had a power steering failure.”

Ash Walsh, Wilson Security DJR, DNF:

“I was following the Erebus car past one of the Nissans... It broke earlier than expected and that caught me out. I locked my front over the bumps there and it went in. The car was reasonable and I was picking off cars as I could. I wasn’t trying to do anything stupid and I wasn’t trying to make any big moves or anything, but it caught me out. It happens. I’m fine, just really disappointed for Tim (Blanchard) and for the DJR team who have worked really hard this weekend.”