Last Chance to See Casey Stoner
For Casey Stoner fans, this is the final weekend you will get to see him in a V8 Supercar.
The MotoGP superstar, who stepped into the Dunlop Series this season, will contest his final races with the category across the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500.
Stoner has decided to have a break from motorsport next year to spend more time with his family. So take the opportunity to see him on-track today and tomorrow, and find out whether he can achieve his season best result at the Sydney street circuit.
Despite understanding it would be a tough learning curve getting behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar, Stoner has been frustrated running in the mid-pack and has taken some time on race weekends to learn the various circuits.
His best race result was fifth at Queensland Raceway earlier in the season, though he counts racing at Bathurst as a major highlight.
“Honestly we weren’t going for massive results this year,” he said when looking back at his year of racing. “We were going to enjoy ourselves. This year we’re having a year of racing, seriously, and just wanted to enjoy the series.”
Given Stoner’s enthusiasm for street circuits, this weekend is the perfect time to come to the track to see him and his Red Bull Racing Australia Commodore in action.
“You can drive these things on a street circuit, and it’s been classic. I’ve had a ball this year doing that,” he told v8supercars.com.au.
“You can’t do that on a bike. There’s stupid amounts of risk, so some opportunities we get to drive with cars, some of the tracks you can no longer ride on bikes, I get to have a lot of fun in the cars.
“For me, I really enjoy my cars … they’re a lot easier to deal with, a lot easier to race and drive than a bike.”
The Dunlop Series had two practice sessions yesterday, with Jack Perkins topping both, his best time a 1min29.0013 in the final run. Championship leader Dale Wood was down in seventh, with his rival Ash Walsh in second place.
Stoner came home 13th in his Red Bull Racing Australia Commodore.
“The track isn’t what I expected,” Stoner said.
“The biggest thing for me is just getting to know the track better. It’s not the kind of place you can push limits and make mistakes, it’s going to hurt you if you do anything wrong. We’ve just been trying to pick up the pace slowly without damaging ourselves so hopefully we’ll be there (for qualifying).”
Stoner has found qualifying a challenge in the series – and once buried back in the mid-pack, with short races it’s difficult to find passing opportunities.
“Some of the things haven’t gone quite as we’ve wanted them too – mainly qualifying,” Stoner explained.
“We haven’t qualified really where our pace should be and then for the race we’ve tried to move ourselves forward and have had a little bit of bad luck, made a couple of mistakes.
“We’ve just never had enough luck really to pull a whole weekend together. Honestly we’ve felt like we’ve had the pace to be top five consistently but just haven’t had qualifying pace.
“I think the tracks are a little bit new for me. Each weekend we get in the car, we have to get used to the car, then get used to the track and we’re never quite there in qualifying. I think I’ve got to just start pushing a little bit more, further up the grid and then we should be a little bit more competitive.”
The Dunlop Series qualify today at 11.10am AEDT, with Race One at 2.50pm, straight after the V8 Supercars ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout.
And while all the emphasis is on the tight battle in the main series, with Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes so close on points, and Mark Winterbottom lurking in the background, there’s still a battle in the Dunlop Series and a trophy to be won.
Wood leads Walsh by 228 points, so while it is mathematically possible for Walsh to take the win with 300 on offer, it would take disaster for the current leader to fall over.
Who does Stoner think will win the title?
“In all honesty it’s quite hard at the moment. Wood’s done a good job all year. He’s had a pretty solid lead. Jack’s come on hard but ... it will be interesting to see.”
Stay tuned for the Dunlop Series qualifying and racing sessions today at the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500. For ways to follow click here, or here for transport options into the circuit.
