What They Had To Say: Clipsal 500 Adelaide
HERE is what the drivers and key team members hadto say following today’s second leg of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide..
RyanMaddison – Erebus Motorsport CEO
“I’m really proud of the team, they have handledthemselves exceptionally professionally over a tough development weekend. There is no doubt their expectations rose the moment we saw our times come upon the monitor, the competitive side in everyone kicked in, we wanted to behigher on the sector times, so we are now managing expectations.”
“Some of our race pace definitely gives us positives totake away from the weekend, but today we didn’t want to compromise the safetyof our drivers nor the technical ability to get to the next event by riskingfurther damage to the vehicles.”
“I’m happy that we made a smart judgment on behalf of theteam, our brand and the brands involved, we elected to park the vehicles whenwe knew we couldn’t return them to the track in a raceable condition.”
“Lee again soldiered on and gave us a good result and toat least have one car finish in this event, which is rated as one of thetoughest on the calendar, I think we have had a good result as a new manufacturer.”
“The public and category response to our cars and teamhas been a surprise and we are pleased with the support for our first event.”
“We have already started working on what the developmentis both short term and long term, so now we have a big pack up to complete hereand keep our motivation going.”
RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel'sNissan Altima:
"It was a really good race, obviously we were a little bit slow around thepits today, but we trucked away and were 11th at the safety car," RickKelly said.
"I was really happy about the race at that point. I put a good pass on(Scott) Pye who had more straight line speed than us, which was quite obvious.For us that was really, really good and a top 10 was well without our sights atthe restart.
"I got spun round, it was all a bit hectic out there, and unfortunately Iwas the bloke who ended up at the back. We are very lucky to finish 14th with aspin like that and to get away without a DNF.
"We'll take that, see what happens from the incident, and go on to theGrand Prix and try and learn some more."
TODD KELLY - #7 JackDaniel's Nissan Altima:
"I was really happy with the car, it was the first time I've got to settledown and actually race people," Todd Kelly said.
"Even though we struggled off the corners, I'd lose two or three carlengths out of the corner, it was unbelievable some of those guys in themid-field we could get it all back under brakes and in the middle of thecorners.
"Even after they pulled away down the straight we could get around themone way or another and pass them. When we get on top of our straight line speedthese cars are going to be unreal.
"They are really enjoyable to drive and even though the race ended early Ifelt really good in the car at that point and wanted to press on and pick up afew spots at the end. Unfortunately it didn't happen, but certainly verypromising the way the car feels."
Shane van Gisbergen - #97VIP Petfoods Holden Commodore
"I have to apologise toeveryone for the other day and I'm happy to talk about the racing againtoday," Van Gisbergen said when asked by the media about his situationwith his former team.
"It's been prettyoverwhelming but I'm stoked to put a good race together today. It was a toughrace, I had good speed first and second stint but when I got behind Jamie thepace stopped."
"I can't pass Hamilton,that was fantastic to win there at home," he said. "This is a veryclose second with everything that has gone on. It was great to just get outthere in a good car and go racing."
TimBlanchard - #17 Advam Ford Falcon
“It was a toughrace today. We knew from the beginning that with a brand new car we probablywould not have the outright pace. We had to make sure we finished both raceswith a straight car so we could back to DJR to develop the car – not repair it!It turned out to be a good point’s haul by circulating and finishing in 15thposition. We did not have the quickest car out there but I reckon we havereally got something to work with now. We made a good call to put some freshtyres on the Advam Falcon under the Safety Car to give us some pace on the runto the flag” JonnyReid - #12 Wilson Security Racing Ford Falcon
“We had a lotmore pace today and the car was a lot more consistent through the run which wasa promising sign, but believe me there is still a lot to work on. Now we haverun the car for the first time we can take a lot out of the weekend and reallytackle the engineering side before the next round. It is great for the team tosee Tim inside the Top 15 as all the DJR boys have worked so hard and it’s atestament to them for all the effort they have put in. For me, I am reallylooking forward to the next round and digesting everything we have learnt herein Adelaide” JamieWhincup - #1 Red Bull Racing Australia Holden Commodore
“It was a great drive from Gis and his team and you can’ttake anything away from that.
"The car was much better today. It was a handful yesterday and I was very,very slow.”
"The pace out there was pretty hot. We were going flat-out from wo-to-go.We came in early so had a little less fuel and didn't quite get that fivesecond gap we needed. But we had the second quickest car out there and bring onthe next race. “We had a few issues over the weekend which we dealt with as best we could butwe came pretty good today and that battle with Craig, well, it was exciting. Itdefinitely made the end of the race interesting. But we showed good pace andfor Red Bull Racing Australia to be one-two after the first weekend, the wholeteam couldn’t ask for much more.
“What an awesome start.”
CraigLowndes - #888 Red Bull Racing Australia Holden
“I had to have a crack,”
“Jamie got a little wheel spin off turn six, got a little wide and opened the door.I was on the dirty stuff and went wide, and then Russell came up and I thoughtwell, let's have another crack at him. You don't want a boring race.”
Alex Davison - #18 Jeld-Wen Racing FPRFord Falcon
"I'mokay after the impact and I wasn't trying to be a hero but Scott (Pye) liftedand I passed him early enough to make the corner, I just didn't expect it to bethat slippery. It wasn't a crazy move but it was just too slippery off line. Iam disappointed given our strong start yesterday and the crew have some work toget the car fixed but the Grand Prix is a good chance to learn more about it."
**CharlieSchwerkolt – Team Owner, Jeld-Wen Racing
**"Obviouslytoday didn't end as we planned but fortunately Alex is okay. We've seen somebig crashes at Turn 8 and today it bit us. The car will be repaired and we willuse the Grand Prix to further develop our understanding of the new car but upuntil the crash I have been happy with our debut."
Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford
"Thecar had good speed today but a few issues in the pit stop cost us a lot of timeand it was just too much to get back. I then had three kerb strikes trying topass (Russell) Ingall for fourth so I couldn't be too aggressive in the closinglaps. We fought back well which is encouraging but we need to fix a few littlethings to ensure we are really good everywhere we go. I know where the carneeds to improve so we just have to get the work done. Our one lap pace isreally good and it is a nice car to drive and if we get on top of those fewlittle new car gremlins we will be in good shape."
Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford
"Wemanaged to get some points and that is the main positive from a very tough dayfrom the first corner to the last. I had quite a few issues bent steering atturn one, the pit stop issue with the wheel nut and then a slight gearbox glitchbut we pulled through and had a fair bit of pace still at the end of the race.Nothing really worked out but we got the car home which earlier in the race Iwasn't certain was going to happen."
Tim Edwards – Pepsi Max Crew FPR team manager
"Todaywon't go down as our best ever result but the main thing is we still salvageddecent points. Our pit stop issues were unfortunate and we will certainly beconducting a thorough review as the issue hasn't occurred before on the controlrear end. This weekend is really one to see exactly how these cars perform inrace conditions and we have learnt a lot. This season will be challenging atdifferent points for all teams but it is how we respond that matters."
