Drivers' Quoteboard: Race Nine

Jason Bright, Team BOC, p1:

"I left last week saying this is the one I really want to win. I put a lot of thought into it. The whole team wanted to take that trophy back to Albury. I was awake all last night thinking about it and I was gutted when I qualified 12th this morning.

"Sitting on pole I had tears in my eyes watching Charlotte and the kids in front of the car. We thought about nothing but that trophy all weekend and it's a very special thing to take it home; one of the most memorable moments of my career."

Garth Tander, Holden Racing Team, p2:

"Looking forward to Perth, going home to race… Boys already said what a special result today, things work out that the number eight car, BOC, Brighty – at (Richards') home in New Zealand – wins and it's the Jason Richards Trophy. You couldn't have scripted that one better. Obviously it's a very special day and great to see Charlotte and the kids up on the podium. Somehow JR is still winning races."

Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Racing Australia, p3:

"I'm absolutely rapt for Brighty to win on a weekend that we remember his team-mate Jason Richards.

"We had some great pace this weekend but we just couldn't maintain it. I know I keep saying it but we're still learning, we're still striving for that balance and it's a good result to get two podiums – one a win."

Will Davison, Pepsi Max FPR, p5:

"We have taken good inroads with the car which is the main thing at this early point in the year. We are racing hard and smart and that is proving to be the right thing but the main focus remains improving the car in all areas. It was great to record the first win for the year for the team and Pepsi Max's first ever win and the fastest car all weekend was that of my teammate, so that is encouraging for everyone. I had four very clean races, a race win and the championship lead and while it was relatively straight forward for me, I think the battle is already heating up."

Alex Davison, JELD-WEN FPR, p7:

"Today was substantially better than yesterday. We had great direction with the set-up and improved all areas of the car. It didn't take a lot to get it right but I drove much better as well which helped. To have two top 10 qualifying runs, backed by two top 10 race finishes was great and the second race was by far my best of the year. We pretty much had Will (Davison's) pace and we were catching (James) Courtney at the end so it was very encouraging and gives us confidence."

David Reynolds, The Bottle-O FPR, p8:

"I am really happy with our pace and by the end of the weekend we were really quick, in fact I had the fastest final sector in the final race and that is important for us as we had been really slow through there all weekend. That shows the changes we made were the right ones and by the last race we were happy with all aspects of the car. Tyre life was great, the car was seriously quick and I could pass people easily."

Craig Lowndes, Red Bull Racing Australia, p9:

"I need to obviously clean up my qualifying results.

"Unfortunately, I got caught in traffic today, but as a race car I think we've definitely come a step forward over the course of the weekend. Like Jamie (Whincup) said, it's a balance issue and getting the right mix for grip. The car was a lot nicer to drive. We're still needing something but in the end the performance of the car is definitely a lot more confidence-inspiring. We've got three weeks now to get back to the workshop and make some improvements."

Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p10:

"It's a really strong improvement from the last round, I think we finished 10th overall for the weekend on points and that for us is fantastic.

"I didn't maximise the car in qualifying and unfortunately we paid for it in that last race. We ran 10th in the first one and capitalised on others' mistakes. We moved from 20th to 15th, which was really good, but I think if I could have got the car up into around 10th in qualifying, I'm pretty sure we could have stayed around that.

"I'm disappointed in myself for that, but it's something really good for us to work on going forward. I need to get the most out of the car in qualifying and maximise it in the race.

"All in all we've got to be really happy with the weekend, it's a strong improvement from last time, we're running with cars we couldn't at the last round, and we've just to keep chipping away as we've been doing."

Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel's Racing, p14:

"Starting back around 20th is tough around here, it's a hard place to pass, but we actually got the car half reasonable then in that last race.

"It wasn't too bad to drive, very hard to pass again, really in all the passing areas we're trying to make up the ground that we lose in other places, but I made a change to the bars inside the car with 10 laps to go and the car really came on and was quite good.

"I just couldn't quite get close enough to have a dive at Russell (Ingall), but overall where we ended up for the weekend with the car is quite promising, it's just a shame we didn't get on to that set up a little bit earlier."

James Moffat, Norton 360 Racing, p15:

"It was pretty solid weekend, apart from the silly mistake I made yesterday (Race 6) which cost us a few positions.

"I'm happy enough with today. Obviously, we always want more, but to salvage a top 10 in the last race was a decent result.

"We know we still have a bit of work to do, but I'm very proud of all the guys. There was a transmission change between races for Michael's car, and it was all hands on deck.

"We made some changes to our #360 Altima, and it sharpened it up, but it wasn't enough to go with the lead bunch. We stayed out of trouble, bagged a solid bunch of points and now we move onto Barbagallo."

Michael Caruso, Norton 360 Racing, p16:

"We were lucky to be out in that last race – it's a total credit to the Nissan Motorsport crew for getting me out there.

"We only just made it out. They were seconds away from shutting down pit lane. It's a credit to them.

"We tried a lot of things this weekend, and we're learning. We're building our database, so when we're in a position to challenge for race wins, we'll be very competitive."

Tim Blanchard, Wilson Security Racing, p20:

"Qualifying did not really deliver as I made a few little errors costing me time. You can't afford that here. Then I was crunched by Tony (D'Alberto), which played havoc with the steering. To cap it off we lost an engine so my Kiwi luck was not holding! The guys did an absolutely awesome job changing the engine in a very short time and we rolled out for the final race. I had a good dice with the Mercs, but could not get by Wall. We had a few power steering issues, so I settled for a result and some points."

Mark Winterbottom, Pepsi Max FPR, p24:

"I have never had a weekend like this ever in my career. I don't know how to view it as it is so hard to accept given the car was just so quick. It would be different if we had been slow or there were genuine issues but we had the quickest car out there. The only encouraging part is the speed as without that we would've had much to show for the weekend. It is great for the team we got a win and that Will is leading but I need to go away and have a break and ensure that we can use our speed next time out in Perth."

Jonny Reid, Wilson Security Racing, p25

"Qualifying was difficult and I managed to out brake myself costing a bit too much time. I was confident after yesterday of a good race car however and in the first race had a good battle with two of the Mercedes guys and with all the fun and games at the front got into P18. The second race however was wrecked when I had a tyre issue and had to pit. We had some brake issues again and this was tough at a place like this. I must say however that the team jumped in 110 per cent to fix the engine issues on Tim's car and it is a credit to how hard these DJR guys work."

Erebus Motorsport CEO, Ryan Maddison:

"Today's races were probably the most fiercely fought V8 races I have ever seen and I thought there was going to be lot more safety cars. It's literally a contact sport out there.

"Like we said in Tasmania we have a robust package and that was shown off again today with all our cars finishing the two races. We are at the end of our 12 day tour and it is nice to be going home with all three cars having all four wheels on the ground and physically straight. We aren't in damage control and we know we have a few things coming in terms of upgrades for the next race.

"Today all three drivers came over the radios and said well done to the team, and we are all really happy we are going home with points from hard fought races. It's pretty obvious that our cars are very consistent with them all being grouped together for the race.

"I think if they had a free run they would have put in some faster lap times, but with the current package we have it was very difficult for them to pass. I think it was fantastic to see in that last race, three manufacturers literally drag racing down the back straight then heading into some of the corners three wide. I think it is great for the sport."