Podium for Frosty and Luke at Philip Island

Orrcon Steel pair finish 2nd at the l&H 500

Mark Winterbottom and Luke Youlden have secured a podium result in the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in Victoria today.

The Orrcon Steel-backed duo crossed the line second behind the pairing of Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife. Third place went to Jason Richards and Andrew Jones.

Youlden started the 113-lap race aboard the #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon from seventh position and ran inside the top five for the duration of his 48-lap stint, which included a refuelling stop on lap 23.

After taking to the wheel of the #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon Winterbottom charged towards the front of the field, late in the race he was aided by some superb pit strategy from the Ford Performance Racing crew to climb into contention for a podium result.

Such was the speed shown by Winterbottom over the closing stages he closed in on Richards before passing him with four laps remaining to claim the runner-up finish.

James Moffat endured a challenging day stalling the Orrcon Steel-backed #6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon off the start line. He then endured an altercation with Alex Davison in the early laps forcing him off the track and further down the order.

When Moffat pitted on lap 53 from 23rd position, and one lap down on the leaders, Steve Richards took over the driving duties and proved to have as much pace as the front-runners across the remainder of the event.

Such was the pace shown by Richards, should a safety car period have come at an opportune moment he may well have found himself with a result well inside the top half of the field. However, he was left to settle on being the first driver to finish one lap down on the race winner in 21st position.

Today’s result saw Winterbottom gain ground on both James Courtney (who finished 12th with Warren Luff) and Jamie Whincup (paired with Steve Owen), who finished 29th, in the chase for the championship.

QUOTES FROM THE DRIVERS

Mark Winterbottom – #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
“It is my fifth race podium in a row, which is a really good result for not only myself but everyone in the team,” said Winterbottom.

“Sitting in the garage and watching Luke start the race I knew the car would come back in one piece and he done a great job during his stint.

“I’ve never had a car that would be fast over the distance before, last year the Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon was strong over one or two laps but not for the longer runs, this year it was very much the opposite.

“The pace over the longer stints has got me really excited as we head to Bathurst and look to chase down the championship over the remaining events.”

Luke Youlden – #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
“It's feels bloody awesome, Mark did a great job and it was fantastic to be a part of the FPR team and have the opportunity to team up with Frosty,” said Youlden.

“All weekend I’ve only been a tenth or two off Mark, the biggest thing for me was to be close to his pace and I was able to achieve this which personally is very pleasing.

“I've been pretty lucky over the years to have some good team-mates, with Frosty we've got a realistic chance at winning theses races, to finish second here is awesome.

“The last time I finished second at 500 I went on to finish on the podium again at Bathurst – hopefully this trend continues.”

Steve Richards – Orrcon Steel-backed #6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon
"We just had a bit of a drama early on but that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” said Richards.

“We've all been there in Moff's situation when you're racing for the first time, it's easy in the heat of battle to make a blue.

“The good thing was that the car was quite strong and had some good speed all throughout the race. I was able to press on and match some times with the front runners.

“It was a little bit of a shame that we didn't get a safety car in the end there when we needed it otherwise we could have got back on the lead lap and actually got a result.”

James Moffat – Orrcon Steel-backed #6 Dunlop Super Dealer FPR Falcon
“Stalling off the start line put me behind the eight ball and then I got hit off by Alex Davison which meant that we were further behind the eight ball,” said Moffat.

“We probably weren't tracking along too bad but then I made a mistake and went up the road at Honda corner and that sort of finished us.

“I think the car was reasonable, I was struggling a bit towards the end of my stint but Richo seemed to have some pretty good pace for the remainder of the race. Unfortunately it doesn't count for much but we’ll now have to put it us and head towards Bathurst.”

V8 Supercar Championship Series Points Standings
After Race 17 of 26
1. James Courtney 2101
2. Jamie Whincup 1922
3. Mark Winterbottom 1862
4. Craig Lowndes 1739
5. Shane van Gisbergen 1689
6. Garth Tander 1680
7. Rick Kelly 1574
8. Lee Holdsworth 1439
9. Michael Caruso 1358
10. Paul Dumbrell 1314
19. Steve Richards 907

Event 9 of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series
L&H 500
Phillip Island, Vic

RESULTS: L&H 500
1. #888 C.Lowndes/M.Skaife
2. #5 M.Winterbottom/L.Youlden
3. #8 J.Richards/A.Jones
4. #15 R.Kelly/O.Kelly
5. #47 T.Slade/J.Perkins
6. #19 J.Webb/David Russell
7. #55 P.Dumbrell/D.Canto
8. #39 R.Ingall/P.Morris
9. #2 G.Tander/C.McConville
10. #4 A.Davison/D.Brabham
21. #6 S.Richards/J.Moffat

L&H 500 GRID – Top Ten
1. #1 Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen
2. #15 Rick Kelly/Owen Kelly
3. #18 James Courtney/Warren Luff
4. #888 Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife
5. #2 Garth Tander/Cameron McConville
6. #9 Shane van Gisbergen/John McIntyre
7. #5 Mark Winterbottom/Luke Youlden
8. #55 Paul Dumbrell/Dean Canto
9. #11 Jason Bargwanna/Glenn Seton
10. #6 Steve Richards/James Moffat