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Drivers' Quoteboard; Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400

13 Nov 2014
Some of the drivers' thoughts ahead of the final SuperSprint event of the year.
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Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Racing Australia, p1 (Championship):"Phillip Island is one of the best tracks we go to - it's unbelievably picturesque and a world class circuit.

"We had an up and down run there in 2013. Hopefully we learnt a bit there last year to put us in good shape for this time around.

"It's all systems go for me. I'm not conserving, I'm not really looking for points or anything. I'll just be going out there, going hard and preparing, doing exactly what I've been doing for the last six months and see how far up we can get Car #1."

Mark Winterbottom, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p2:"We've almost finished the season so it's all coming to an end. Phillip Island is a place that should be good to us as it's very similar to Bathurst. We had good car speed at Bathurst so I think Phillip Island will suit the cars that we've got. We need a good couple of results just to finish the year off and get our confidence back for next year. It's an important round even though the championship is looking a bit out of reach so we need to regroup and finish on a high. Hopefully we can get some momentum back and get up on the podium and get some race wins because it's been a while."

Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing Australia, p4:"Phillip Island is a beautiful track. It's fast, flowing and it's a good driver's track. We were very strong there last year and hopefully will be again this year."It's a very important weekend for me and obviously for the team. It's twofold for Jamie who could obviously clinch the championship, but for me the focus has shifted to getting back to second in the championship, which is really what we aim for. Phillip Island, being a good track for us in the past, presents a good opportunity to do this. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."It's the last SuperSprint race of the year and I think it's worked well, but I prefer the longer races, so I'm looking forward to closing out the sprint races and getting into Sunday's race, which is more my style. If we can finish Phillip Island off on a positive it gives us good confidence going into the last round of the year."

Chaz Mostert, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p6:"I'm pretty pumped about Phillip Island. It's an awesome track; you can see the ocean as you come over the straight. It's a good place to go. It's kind of the home round for us, we don't get to test there through the year but it's a high speed and exciting track. The racing there is always good, a high drafting track behind other cars and qualifying is one of they key parts there. If you can get into the top five or six you're probably in with a shot for the win, if you're a little bit further back it's a bit of a long day. There are a lot of passing opportunities. It's a world-class circuit, a Grand Prix circuit, but it's very exciting every time we go there and I can't wait to try and chase down the top five of the championship if we can."

James Courtney, Holden Racing Team, p7:Click here for Courtney's preview.

Scott McLaughlin, Valvoline Racing GRM, p8:"This weekend is all about getting wins to be in the top five of the championship."We are not aiming to beat certain people, we are going to try and win as many races as possible and get as many points as we can. Everything is looking pretty good, I am pretty happy how the car is feeling and we had a good race at Gold Coast three weeks ago."

Michael Caruso, Norton Hornets, p10:"We just need to keep the flow going. The speed of the car has been really good, so the biggest thing for us is to keep that going consistently inside the top 10."We are consistently progressing and moving up the field, but now is the time to cash in. It's vital for us to come away with a big bag of points this weekend."It has been a nice solid year to date, but if I'm to stay inside the top 10 in the championship, Phillip Island is really important. The last round in Sydney always produces such a lottery bag, so we need to have a good foothold before we get up there."

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Jason Bright, Team BOC, p14:"Going back to Phillip Island will be good."We had a really good run there last year and had very good pace all weekend. We didn't get the results we should have but we certainly had a quick car."It's just a great circuit - high speed, fast, flowing corners. It's one of the best tracks. It was really challenging last year with the car of the future and with the track being completely resurfaced. I hope we have a really good run. Bathurst shows that it's the kind of track that our car does have some pretty good strengths..."[At the Gold Coast] we really didn't get it right till the Sunday, but by then it was too late."

James Moffat, Norton Hornets, p15:"We've had a pretty mixed run at Surfers Paradise with not great car speed, so we'll have to see what our car is like on Friday at Phillip Island before we think about how we might go."I do love the Phillip Island circuit - It's always good to get down there. It's easily one the better tracks that we have in the country."The track was resurfaced last year, so grip-wise, I would anticipate that it should still be in good condition."Hopefully we have some nice weather, but more importantly, I hope we can have a good run and get back to some of that form we were showing before the Gold Coast."

David Reynolds, The Bottle-O Racing Team, p16:"I really like Phillip Island, it's one of my favourite tracks. It's one we always look forward to because it's fast, the car's average speed is up around 170kmh so the average speed is really, really high and everyone enjoys high speed tracks. I've had pretty good success there in the past, last year we had a fast car but we just had a few mechanical issues that we have hopefully rectified for this year so that it won't happen again. I love that track. It's really fun and close to Melbourne. The championship isn't something I'm really focusing on anymore but I will hopefully finish in the top three in each race."

Russell Ingall, Repair Management Racing Aus, p18:"I always look forward to going back to Phillip Island, it's a track I enjoy and there are a lot of fond memories here."The (ex-GRM) car was a complete unknown for us going into the Gold Coast round but now we have a few laps under our belt we have a better understanding of it and will be able to use what we learnt this weekend."The team have also made some front-end changes that we would run in our regular car so that will make it better again - I'm confident we can get another top ten."

Tim Slade, Supercheap Auto Racing, p19:"It [Gold Coast podium] was satisfying, not just for me, but everyone within the team."I don't think that we've had a complete weekend all season, where we've been competitive in every session."So it's exactly what we needed. And hopefully we can carry those results into the next couple of races and finish the year off on a high..."The track [Phillip Island] was resurfaced last year - there's more grip and the degradation is not quite as high as what it was so that's always nice."I think with the changes to the Supercheap Auto Commodore, we can roll up near the mark and be somewhere near the front again."

Jack Perkins, Team JELD-WEN, p22:"I can't believe the enduros have been and gone and there are only two events left on the 2014 calendar. Phillip Island is a cool track, one of the world's best and it's where I've had my best results in the V8 Supercars Championship, finishing fifth there in 2010 with Tim Slade when it was the 500km race. I'm looking forward to getting back down there on what was a new surface last year and hopefully its kind to Team JELD-WEN like the new surface at Bathurst was. It's important to finish the year off as strong as possible and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it on the Friday."

Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p23:Click here for Kelly's preview as he approaches 200 V8 Supercars round starts.

Robert Dahlgren, Valvoline Racing GRM, p26:"Phillip Island looks like a fast and flowing track with long corners, very European like and I take that as a positive. It is something that ought to suit the car as well with our strong engine, aero package and setup of the car. I am really looking forward to this weekend."

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