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Drivers' Quoteboard: Races 26 and 27

23 Aug 2014
Chaos unfolded in difficult conditions at Sydney Motorsport Park today. Here's what your favourites thought.
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Shane van Gisbergen, Team TEKNO VIP Petfoods, p1:

"Awesome. I had to fight for it in the last one. After the safety car my tyres were gone and I could see Chaz doing some good lines in the mirror. I copied him a bit and just held him out."

Chaz Mostert, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p2:

"I was quite surprised to be up that far after qualifying so bad. In the first race we had no real pace at all but it was a big turnaround for the Ford Pepsi Max Crew. I am a bit over 12 months into the category now and it is awesome to follow these guys [Van Gisbergen and Whincup] around and try and pick up what they do so I can improve. I knew Jamie might've been thinking about the championship and I just had a really good restart after the final safety car. I stuck on the back of Shane but I couldn't quite get him in the end. It was just fantastic to give him a nice hot run and hopefully it made good TV. I now have my first second place so I've completed the box set of podium places which is nice too."

Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Racing Australia, p3:

"I'm certainly proud that today was a record breaker with the most pole positions for the category. There's no greater feelings for a driver to have new tyres, new brakes on a well-balanced car and be able to milk the thing for all its worth. I really enjoy that side of the sport and I'm happy to have racked up the milestone. On the flip side you can't compare the past to the present because it's different eras and ball games but I'm proud of what I've been able to achieve.

"I didn't have the pace I was after in Race One but we still managed to hold our own with a fourth place finish and I slid around a bit in Race Two but we were happy with the pace to end up on the podium. We're all not sure what the weather will throw up tomorrow but we'll tune the car up and see if we can move further up the grid tomorrow."

Jason Bright, Team BOC, p4:

"We had good pace all race one. We couldn't get by Moffat for half of it, he was doing a good job. Once we did though we picked off quite a few guys there as the track was drying out. We just ran out of laps there really. There would have been a couple there that probably would have been easy pickings.

"I was trying to drive off and cut it a bit fine and stalled at the start of the second. Thankfully nobody hit me and then we had a great race. The car was really good. I probably had a bit of a bee in my own bonnet after what happened at the start so I had a really good crack and it all paid off. It was tough at the end, I couldn't see! I had no windscreen wiper and on the first lap someone dropped a wheel off and splashed mud up. There were parts of the track where you're braking and you can't judge how far you are from the corner. It made a big difference so getting past the guys in front would have been difficult.

"Tomorrow - We've got good pace either way I think."

Will Davison, Erebus Motorsport V8, p5:

"They were two really great races today.

"After two disappointing qualifyings, they were two great races. I had a lot of fun, had a really good car in the wet conditions and we were able to utilise it with a seventh and a fifth.

"From where we started in both races, we kept our nose clean and had two cracking races. It's great to get a result for the team.

"There's always big opportunity in the wet, particularly if you've haven't qualified up the front. It opens up opportunity for everyone because the car set-ups are completely different in the wet. It's a totally new game.

"I certainly knew how good the car was in the first race that we had a real opportunity in the second race if I kept my nose clean.

"It was good fun. The spray was terrible and I had a fogged up windscreen during the safety car and restart but all-in-all, it was a fantastic result today."

James Moffat, Norton Hornets, p6:

"Qualifying 11th and 12th was OK for us. It could have been worse, but we just missed it compared to Caruso and Rick (Kelly).

"In the first race, our pace wasn't great. I had a big issue with the screen fogging up. That wasn't pleasant, but once it cleared up it was OK.

"We made some tweaks for the second race, and it was a jet. I'm disappointed in myself for throwing it off the road by myself. I think it cost us a podium, if not a race win, but definitely a podium considering the speed we had.

"I'm disappointed for all the guys in the team, because they work just as hard as us drivers to try and get the best results.

Fabian Coulthard, Lockwood Racing, p7:

"I was going up the inside of Brighty (Jason Bright) at turn three in the first race and the car oversteered and the Nissan hit me up the rear. It was a really disappointing way to finish the race

"In the second, the car didn't feel great, which could have been a result of the accident with Kelly. It was a really difficult race out there with the car and I just concentrated on bringing it home safely."

Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p9:

"They were a couple of greatly improved results for us.

"The car was massively improved in the dry, and we just missed it with the setup in the second qualifying session.

"The track gripped up and the balance went away a little bit, and we started further back.

"Like any race car driver, you always want to do better, and we had a couple of missed opportunities.

"In both races we had wiper failure, in the second race the car was much better than the first one, and unfortunately I couldn't see a damned thing.

"I ran through the sand trap on the corner apex a number of times, and I could not see a thing.

"It's unfortunate, because the car was good, it was very good for us to get ninth in those circumstances.

"Now we can look forward to tomorrow."

Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing Australia, p11:

"It was a varied day with some disappointments in qualifying but we still had a top three finish in Race One. It was great to be on the podium at this track and be getting those crucial points. The qualifying for Race Two was driver error when I came off the track and we just didn't have enough time to go back out and have another crack at it. All in all we were really happy and we had a good strong race gaining ten positions in Race Two. Our car handled well in the wet conditions but we'll still be looking for a little bit of improvement. Tomorrow we'll be looking to the weather as the biggest factor and we'll be looking for all the grip we can get."

Mark Winterbottom, Ford Pepsi Max Crew, p12:

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"Pretty disappointing day really, the car just isn't there, we're just not quick enough. We tried to salvage something, Chaz looked like he did a good job, so it was nice to see him quick, but my car is just nowhere near it at the moment, so we need to tune it up and come again tomorrow and keep trying. It's really frustrating when you're in the pack, and it was pretty scary out there."

David Reynolds, The Bottle-O Racing, p13:

"I am pretty disappointed with everything today. I out-qualified my teammates for once, probably the first time all year, which is great. We went back to our older set-up style, and it seemed to be working, in the dry at least. Unfortunately it wasn't dry in the race. I haven't driven one of these in the wet for a while, and I don't think I'm that slow! I just had no grip, I was scared to turn the wheel, and scared to touch the brakes, and I was glad to see the end of it, to be honest. If it's dry tomorrow, I think we'll have a good car and a good race."

David Wall, Wilson Security Racing, p14:

"A hard slog for sure today. In the first race I thought the car was OK when the track was wet, but it faded a bit when it started to dry out.

"In the start of the second race I had really bad fogging on the windscreen which did not clear. I think we picked up some oil and it then slicked right up with the wiper. You then are driving to the white line and looking for the lights on the car in front of you. It was tough but we made some ground and kept out of trouble.

"We will look at the car balance tonight and see if we can attack that qualifying again tomorrow."

Lee Holdsworth, Erebus Motorsport V8, p15:

"I was really happy with qualifying. We were taking a new approach and it was good to find some qualifying speed.

"We were looking for consistency with qualifying and our races, so to get two top 10s in qualifying was a great start to the weekend. It was good to continue our consistency with a 10th in Race 1 but Race 2 was disappointing due to my set of tyres.

"We know we're on the right track and have confidence in what we're doing at the moment so there's plenty to work with for tomorrow."

Jack Perkins, Team JELD-WEN, p16:

"It was a bit of a mixture out there. We finished 15th in the first race and 16th in the second, and in the first race we came home strong with the fifth-fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately in the second the windscreen fogged up. It was pretty tough to see where we were going, which isn't ideal! Two decent results, so we'll press on and try again tomorrow."

Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p17:

"It's incredibly frustrating to come away from today with very little to show for it.

"In that second race we were able to come from 22nd through to eighth, and I feel there were more positions to be gained out there in the last few laps.

"The positive out of the day is that the form the Nissans had at Queensland Raceway has been carried over to here.

"The guys will clean it up, and we'll look forward to a better day tomorrow."

Dale Wood, Team ADVAM/GB, p18:

"We were fairly competitive in the first race. I think we may have started our tyre pressures a little bit high because as the track dried I had to start getting defensive, whereas early in the race I could attack quite well. We made up some spots but lost a couple at the end.

"We qualified in the same spot for the second, and while it's always nice to finish higher than you qualify, I felt like we were more competitive in the first race. We got a good start though and made up a few spots. I had a spin just on my own that hurt us but it wasn't too bad. We've got to continue to work on qualifying to give us more of a chance in the races."

Nick Percat, Walkinshaw Racing, p19:

"Today was very frustrating. We battled with poor visibility and I was doing my best to stay out of trouble. We were looking at finishing on the edge of the top ten, but got hit and spun close to the end in both races, spoiling two good results."

Michael Caruso, Norton Hornets, p20:

"Qualifying fifth for both races was excellent. It's nice to be up the front.

"We did the job in the first race. Running fifth was a pretty good result.

"In the second race, I got absolutely clobbered at Turn 3. I don't know how I kept it out of the fence and I lost about 10 spots out of that.

"Then, battling late in the race, I was well and truly up the inside but unfortunately, the people who make the calls didn't think it was a fair pass. It's disappointing because when you look at the vision, and according to everyone I've spoken to, it looked like a genuine pass.

"If that's the way it's going to carry on, it's disappointing for the category."

Scott Pye, Wilson Security Racing, p21:

"We got one Top 10 today which was a good result [prior to a stewards penalty that push Pye down the order]. It was a really fun race as well with plenty of overtaking. It was good for my own confidence being able to pass so many cars in these conditions.

"Luck today was not on our side. We didn't have great speed in the full wet conditions, as the car was a bit stiff. If the conditions are going to be the same tomorrow we will need to soften it up a bit more. The car was really set up better for the first race and it showed in our race pace towards the end.

"I don't really know what happened when Caruso turned us around. It was so hard to see out of any of the windows, it was that bad! Bad luck for the boys too as they worked so hard with back to back sessions and races."

Scott McLaughlin, Valvoline Racing GRM, DNF:

"Everything went right in the morning but then everything went wrong in the afternoon.

"The boys did a fantastic job to change the engine in that short time and to get me out to start from pole position. Then my wheel fell off in the first lap, it was just unfortunate and the day was done. Two DNFs never helps you and I am down in ninth in the championship. But bring on tomorrow, I'm going to go as hard as possible and I am aiming for victory."

Robert Dahlgren, Valvoline Racing GRM, DNF:

"A tough day for the whole team. The day started well and I was in the top ten in the practice sessions. But I couldn't convert the practice speed to qualifying. Then it started to rain in the first race and I picked up more and more pace. I came about three laps in race two, pushed for an overtake and ran a bit wide which spun the car into the wall, giving the boys in the team a bit of extra work unfortunately. But I am looking forward to climb back up tomorrow."

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