Drivers' Quoteboard: Race 17

On in the incident after the restart 

Will Davison, Pepsi Max FPR, DNF:

“The incident on the restart did a lot of damage to the bodywork and the engine which dumped all its water after the big hit I took. What can I say? You expect those incidents mid-pack but not from the likes of Craig Lowndes when you are running at the front of the field, so I hope the Stewards look at it.

"I was being really conservative and there was a big gap behind me, but the next thing I knew I was turned around and getting battered. It was unfortunate as we’d changed the car from the first leg and had great tyres but the upside is that we saved a set of tyres which should help us tomorrow.”

Garth Tander, Holden Racing Team, p13:

"I got hit, massively! I think the guy that hit me is disputing that he didn't hit me.

"I need to see the vision and get a good look at it, but I got hit massively from behind which pushed me into Will and ruined Will's and my race obviously. 

"But we need to go through the vision, see who caused it and make sure they get the appropriate penalty."

James Courtney, Holden Racing Team, p3: 

"All hell broke loose, I was hit in the rear and there were cars spinning in front of me. 

"I got hit and fired to the inside, so whoever did that I'm thankful because otherwise I think I would have been in the parking lot. I managed to get through.

"We had a heap of damage to the car, so the steering was massively out – we were pretty wounded – so just kept cruising around, kept it on didn't fire it off, so it was good." 

Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing Australia, p26:

“The car was great – I just buggered up the shootout so I had try and make amends.

“I did that. And then there was carnage everywhere in the second half. Up into the hairpin it was a concertina effect. I got hit up the back and of course then I was straight into the back of Garth (Tander). There wasn’t much I could do about it, it’s rearranged the steering angle and all kinds of things. The rear of the car is severely damaged. 

"I’m disappointed. The car was good enough to be on the podium. The format was always going to be entertaining and I guess we proved that. Unfortunately it was more exciting for the fans than us. Luckily we’ve got two races tomorrow still.”

Roland Dane, Red Bull Racing Australia team owner:

“I’m not certain what happened to Craig but he says he was hit from the back and there is clear evidence he was. The rear end is severely damaged.

“Accidents are prone to happen with the double file restart, that’s why we limited them this year. They’re destructive. It’s one of those things that happens sometimes and we’re going to have to try and do it better. We’ve done it well so many times and here it was a bit of an issue.”

On their results

Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Racing Australia, p1: 

“It was the first time I’ve been able to crack one of these 60/60s.

“I’ve won the first half a few times but never the second or the race so we’re very, very happy. Because of the limited tyre allocation, we didn’t know what strategy everyone else was on – whether they were using greens and how many, so it made the restart a little hairy. But we made a good pass and it’s a great result. We showed some really good pace.”

Shane van Gisbergen, Team TEKNO VIP Petfoods, p2: 

"We're tyre limited and after Winterbottom had his issues, and Reynolds, there was quite a gap behind me to James (Courtney) and we were a similar speed so I backed right off and I think Jamie responded. So we need these tyres – the best of them – tomorrow, so I think we were a second, maybe two seconds off where we could be. So I thought I'd be a bit cheeky and had a go and got right to him at the end. I was never going to pass him but I thought I'd have a go anyway."

Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p5:

"It was a very eventful race for everyone today, we had a little bit of an oil temperature problem in the first half of the race and it hindered us a little bit.

"We let four or five cars go and it was probably for the better when you look at the restart for the second half of the race, because that's exactly where I would have been where the accident was.

"We made up from other people's unfortunate circumstances and got to fifth, so the car is quite good and we can definitely build on that for tomorrow.

"I'm very happy to finish fifth because there are probably a few cars out there that are a bit quicker than us, so we can make a few changes overnight to get it even better, but it's definitely in the window."

Tim Slade, Heavy Haulage Australia Racing, p6:

“I think we could have quite easily been in the top 10 in qualifying today, it was super close but we probably didn’t have quite the car we did yesterday.

“I got off to a reasonable start in the first half of the race, but then someone turned me around into turn five. That was obviously very disappointing because I dropped to the back of the field.

“We got a good start in the second half of the race, we managed to miss all the carnage and popped out there in 10th, which I think was my best ‘first lap positions gain’. 

“I’m looking forward to getting on the soft tyre tomorrow because our soft tyre pace was pretty good yesterday.  I’m happy with today’s result but I’m even happier for everyone in the team who has put in the hard work to get us to this point.”

Chaz Mostert, Wilson Security Racing, p7: 

“In the first leg, everyone was pretty sensible and we did make some ground. Our tyre pressures ended up a bit high so the last five laps were sort of in survival mode. In the second leg I had a good double file restart and made up a bit down into turn one. 

"I think the drivers themselves made the carnage at Turn Six, not the double file restart. There were just too many guys trying to make up spots on the first lap. It starts at the front and obviously comes right back down the field. 

"After that I did a bit of a ‘Bradbury’ and jumped up a heap of spots. We made up a few more with some drivers being a bit feisty and brought the Wilson Security Falcon home in seventh. I was happy for all the DJR guys to give them a solid top 10.”

Jason Bright, Team BOC, p8:

"We probably didn't qualify as well as we should have and made an absolutely woeful start so we had a fair bit of work to do. The car had really good speed for half the race but probably wasn't looking after its tyres quite as well as we're used to.

"I started ninth in the second half and got tangled up in all the melee at the hairpin and somehow, even though I copped hits from every direction, we drove through and the steering was still straight. Unfortunately it damaged the splitter and that was rubbing on the tyre from then on. It probably hurt our race a little bit but we were sitting in fourth place and really didn't expect to be there after the start we'd had.

"Then the splitter broke with two laps to go at the end of the straight, which meant I couldn't pull the car up. The last couple of laps we were just hanging on. It's a shame because, up until five laps from the end, we had really good pace and then it looks like the right front tyre started to delaminate from all the cutting on the splitter and we lost pace. Up until that point I don't think Webby (Jonathon Webb, who finished fourth) would have been able to put any pressure on."

Michael Caruso, Norton 360 Racing, p10:

“It’s fantastic to get my first top 10 result for Nissan Motorsport. Personally, I’m always striving for better, but it’s good to see the improvements in the Nissan Altima.

“Unfortunately, I got caught up in the incident at the start of the race and lost a few spots, and had that not been, we would have been looking really good. “The Altima has some great speed at the moment and we can go away tonight, analysis where we’re strong and where we’re weak and try and improve on it for tomorrow.

“Ultimately, I think we had a better car on soft tyres which is what we used in practice yesterday, so hopefully we can get inside the top 15 in qualifying. If we can start near the front, we have the potential to race at the front too.”

Scott McLaughlin, Fujitsu Racing GRM, p11 (via Twitter):

"Got caught up again in another accident! Went back to 20th and came back to 11th, good points just annoying to be hit again!" 

David Reynolds, The Bottle-O FPR, p14:

“I had a great race today and qualifying was obviously a real highlight and a big reward for the team. Mark (Winterbottom) and I raced each other hard but he just didn’t have enough to get by me and we had given each other a lot of room and respect but unfortunately he locked his rear tyres and crashed into the side of me. We have discussed it together and it is a new day tomorrow and I am encouraged by the package we had today.”

James Moffat, Norton 360 Racing, p15:

“We scored a few spots in the carnage on the first lap, and there were some penalties which helped us out. So the positives are that we were able to drag some solid points out of the race. “Fundamentally, though, it was an ordinary day. We qualified very poorly. We made a slight adjustment for the start of the second half of the race which made the car a little better. Ultimately, it was frustrating and we have to sit down and try and come up with a solution for the car.”

 Maro Engel, SP Tools Racing, p16:

“First of all a huge congratulations to the team, it is great to have Tim finish in sixth place.  I got my best race result in 16th although I’m a bit disappointed because I locked up going into turn one and lost about four or five positions.

“It was definitely our most competitive race and that is a great achievement. I was lucky in the second half of the race to avoid all the carnage in front of me and come home with a relatively straight car for tomorrow.”

 Jack Daniel's Racing, p17: 

"We had a tough run in qualifying; the worst run we've had all weekend. The car was really good on softs, but when we put the hards on we were just outside the window a little bit.

"Unfortunately a bit of very average driving out there ran us off the track and we lost the right front tyre, which put me last, but once we sorted that, the pace was on par with what the leaders were doing.

"I tried to move up a little bit I the second part of the race and we got everything dialled in a lot better after qualifying, so hopefully we can have a nicer run tomorrow."

Lee Holdsworth, IRWIN Racing, p18: 

“The main thing was we came home with a pretty straight car but I would have liked to have finished a lot further up.  I actually got Sladey off the restart so we could have finished in a better position, but wrong place at the wrong time and I got caught up in other people’s accidents.

“Where ever I placed the car today there was another car spun in front of me and I had to slow down to avoid it and I lost positions.

“Everyone knows you have to make the passes on the first couple of laps when your tyres are half decent, there’s not much passing towards the end of the race because everyone is on degraded tyres so you have to make it stick where it counts.”

Alex Davison, JELD-WEN FPR Ford, p20:

“We started the day by qualifying really poorly but we raced really well in the first leg and gained a heap of ground which gave us a great springboard for the points component of the race. On the restart I got hit from every angle possible and while I saw the incident at the hairpin happening I stayed wide but then had someone fly into the side of the car and before I knew what was happening I was off the road and the car was severely battered. After the safety car I passed a few cars but then Todd Kelly was driving pretty crazily and tried to drive me off the road twice. By the end of that the car was pretty smashed up and wasn’t in good shape.”

Mark Winterbottom, Pepsi Max Crew FPR, p22:

“It wasn’t quite the end to the day we had planned. The car was quick and we were on for a good result but obviously the contact with Dave and the penalty meant we missed out on the podium. Contact is never what you want in motorsport, especially not with your team-mate. We’ve had a chat and cleared the air and I am just sorry for the team as they work hard to get the big results. Tomorrow is a fresh start and we all want to achieve the best results possible for FPR.”

Dean Fiore, Dodo Insurance Racing, p24 (via Twitter):

"Took a hit today, so we have more in the bank tomorrow. We'll see if it pays off!"

Scott Pye, ekol Racing, p25 (via Twitter):

"Finished 25. Stuck to plan though and saved tyres for tomorrow so looking alright."

"Tough 60/60 race today. Got unlucky with the carnage on restart. Dropped to last with lots of damage."

Tim Blanchard, Wilson Security Racing, DNF:

“Well, a tough day ending up with a DNF. In the second leg, I thought the restart was OK, and I actually made some spots by running down wider into turn one. Everyone went wild at the hairpin and I was stuck in the middle of a three or four car sandwich. The banging from both sides broke the steering so it was game over on the spot. In the first leg the car had a front end problem so it was frustrating to give back the spots we had made up. For Sunday we will have to make some big decisions on set up as we really have not done enough race miles. Hopefully we can get back in the mix.”

Team comments 

Tim Edwards, FPR team principal (on the team's tough day): 

“It was certainly a challenging day and the results were far from what we deem acceptable but the pace of all four cars was encouraging. Dave must be congratulated on a brilliant qualifying lap and his race pace was easily the best we’ve seen from him this year so I think he will be a threat tomorrow. Incidents cost us dearly today and we’ve addressed what was needed internally. We start with a clean slate tomorrow and the whole team knows what we need to achieve.”

Adrian Burgess, Red Bull Racing Australia team principal (on refilling Whincup's cool suit box on the grid):

“We asked the CTM (Category Technical Manager, Frank Adamson) for the permission to go and fill the dry ice and he gave us permission to do so. It’s the hottest race of the year and it’s a safety issue. The CTM thought it wise to allow us to fill it without penalty. I asked him clearly when the cars were on the grid if we could fill it without a penalty or not. Then the team would have to make a decision on whether to risk the penalty to fill it or not.

“In the interest of safety they allowed us to do it without incurring a penalty. The reason the ice was taken out was to stop it from freezing up once the car is stopped and the cool suit is turned off. Normally the dry ice goes in once the car’s on the grid and it looks like the guys have forgotten that they weren’t going back on the grid. We realised as soon as he left pit lane.

“Everyone can blow up about it but we went through the due process and we were given permission from the CTM without penalty.”

Ryan Maddison, Erebus Motorsport V8 CEO (on the team's great results):

“We said from the beginning we needed to get the cars through to this point with no major damage to be able to develop our race pace.

“I’m ecstatic with the team’s performance yesterday and today – it’s demonstrated that our cars do have good race pace and that can be converted to great race results.

“All the drivers did incredibly well given the amount of contact out there today.  Tim did an outstanding job to take advantage of every opportunity during the race.”