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Devilsh time with double podium

Devilsh time with double podium

13 November 2011

Frosty finishes 3rd and Will 2nd

Ford Performance Racing (FPR) has claimed a double podium finish and a pole position to end the Tasmania Challenge on a high with Will Davison leading home Mark Winterbottom and Paul Dumbrell in the team’s best overall performance of the season.

FPR made up for its missed opportunity yesterday by locking out the front row of the grid when Paul Dumbrell claimed his second career pole ahead of Winterbottom.

Dumbrell’s late flying lap was a mere 0.02s faster than his team-mate while Davison ensured FPR was well-represented and claimed fifth.

Dumbrell and Winterbottom lead away from the line and filtered into the first turns in first and second with Davison holding fifth just 0.05s back.

The order remained unchanged for the opening quarter of the race until Davison pitted on lap 20 for fuel and four tyres while Dumbrell and Winterbottom pitted from first and second one lap later for the same service.

Despite slick stops they exited behind new leader Jamie Whincup with Dumbrell running wide on exit, allowing Winterbottom and Davison past.

Davison was close to Winterbottom and passed him at the end of the back straight to claim what would become second once the remainder of the field stopped.

Winterbottom was then briefly repassed by Dumbrell at the hairpin before repassing his team-mate on the same lap.

FPR’s trio ran second, third and fourth until the next round of stops where Davison was again first in at the end of lap 49 for fuel and tyres, while Dumbrell stopped one lap later and Winterbottom one lap after him.

Davison rejoined right behind Whincup and Winterbottom was now similarly close to his team-mate and went on to set the fastest lap of the race on lap 55 with a 51.99s lap.

The order remained unchanged in the latter part of the race despite Davison staying within one second of Whincup for much of the last 30 laps.

Dumbrell closed on Winterbottom quickly and was the fastest driver on track for much of the second half of the race and eventually finished fourth to claim his best result of the season.

Winterbottom cruised home third to claim his third podium in as many races and the result lifted him to third in the championship.

Davison equalled his best result for the team with second place and he and Winterbottom gave the team its second double-podium in as many events.

The team now has a very quick turnaround to prepare its factory Falcons for practice in just five days at Sandown for the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 2^nd – 51.32s

Race 24: 3^rd– Fastest Lap: 51.99s (Race Fastest)

Winterbottom championship position: 3^rd – 2215 points

Winterbottom:

“It was a great effort today by the team and to get two cars on the podium goes some way to making up for yesterday. The start was a close battle with Paul ahead of our first stop though when he ran wide on pit exit I snuck past. Despite getting past me briefly I then pulled away though lost a little time to the leaders. The brakes had got hot by then and they faded a little but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. We’ve had great results two races in a row now and answered some more of our soft tyre questions so we are looking forward to Sandown.”

Will Davison – #6 Tradingpost FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 5^th – 51.35s
Race 24: 2^nd– Fastest lap: 52.17s

Davison championship position: 6^th – 2096 points

Davison:

“Today was a good race to be part of. I had a very similar race here with Jamie in 2009 and also finished second there. It was an intense race with 84 laps of running under green as this track is always so busy. There was a lot of grip, the race was hot and there were no mistakes from anyone in the top group so it was hard to get any real advantage. I had great pit entries and super stops which allowed me to jump up the order so it was a great job from the team to have three quick cars. I think we are coming on strong and I like Sandown so this form should continue.”

Paul Dumbrell – #55 The Bottle-O FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 1^st – 51.30s

Race 24: 4^th– Fastest lap: 52.08s

Dumbrell championship position: 24^th – 1198 points

Dumbrell:

“I’ve had a fun day. It was brilliant to be on pole for just the second time in my long career but it shows our speed from practice could be carried over. I made a clean start and it was nice to lead for quite a while. We carried the pace throughout the race and while we didn’t quite get onto the podium we had our best result of the year so far. Sandown is calling in just a few days so after today’s efforts there is no reason we can’t win again.”

Tim Edwards – FPR Team Principal
“Today was a great all round effort for the team. To lock out the front row and have two cars finish on the podium and the other in fourth shows how much we have improved in the last few months. Qualifying was an enthralling battle and Paul did very well to claim only his second ever pole. The start of the race was a great battle and then our crew again put in brilliant pit stops. Will was determined today and second place from fifth around this track is a tremendous effort. Frosty battled hard for third and Paul’s fourth was his best of the year so while it wasn’t a win, we had a good team performance. Sandown is just days away so we plan to keep the momentum going.”

2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

TASMANIA CHALLENGE

RACE 24 – RESULTS:

1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight

2) Will Davison – Ford Performance Racing

3) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing

4) Paul Dumbrell – Ford Performance Racing

5) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight

2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

DRIVER POINTS AFTER RACE 24

1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2817 points

2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2623