Frosty does the double at Albert Park

16 March 2012

Frosty wins the qualifying race and race 1

Ford Performance Racing has continued its winning start to 2012 with Mark Winterbottom winning both races on Friday at Albert Park.
 
Winterbottom scored a crucial win in the morning’s qualifying race before using smart strategy and a bold last-lap passing move to earn FPR’s second ever race win at the Grand Prix circuit.
 
Will Davison ensured he was also in the mix with third in the second race after running a tyre strategy which saw him pit at the end of the penultimate lap.
 
The second race was almost a different tale when an opening lap tussle between a number of cars saw Winterbottom and Davison touch at turn three when Davison locked his brakes. The pair recovered from the light bump ensuring the team scored its third win from the first four races of the year.
 
David Reynolds made a lightning start in race two after qualifying fifth. He was dicing for first at turn one only to be shuffled down the order. He pitted at the end of the first lap and was held up leaving his bay. Reynolds used his pace to recover to eighth by race end.
 
DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Ford
Race 1: 1st – Best lap: 1m57.23s
Race 2: 1st – Best lap: 1m56.63s
“It is great for Ford to get a 1-2-3 today. It was nice to race clean with Shane (van Gisbergen) at the end for the win and we were both right on the edge out of turn six. Will was the dark horse due to his strategy and overall it was just a great race and I am pleased that we’ve fixed so many of the issues we had here last year. Racing here is physically quite easy but when the first lap is as exciting as it was today it raises the temperature quickly. I drove well and used the strategy I had, though this weekend’s format throws so many different options up so it gets interesting seeing how everyone interprets it.”
 
Will Davison – #6 Tradingpost FPR Ford
Race 1: 4th – Best lap: 1m57.87s
Race 2: 3rd – Best lap: 1m57.41s
“We maximised the strategy we had today but we just weren’t really fast enough even though we were faster than a lot. I base my pace on Frosty and those around me and they were obviously a bit quicker than me. The start was interesting as I got boxed in and then I locked a wheel trying to pass Frosty which got interesting for a moment and that was a shame and we’ve had a chat about it. Tyre life was strong but I needed a bit more rear grip. We are trying a lot of stuff but with a few tweaks hopefully we can be right up there tomorrow.”
 
David Reynolds – #55 The Bottle-O FPR Ford
Race 1: 5th – Best lap: 1m57.87s
Race 2: 8th – Best lap: 1m57.89s
“I got a mega start and tried to go for gold, though didn’t even get a medal which was disappointing. The first lap was pretty horrible for me and there was so much going on and I was fighting people all around me. I lost a fair bit of time in my pit stop and came out behind guys I was originally ahead of. Then I just tried to do the best I could with what I had. It was still good to again be in the top 10 and obviously a good day for the team.”
Tim Edwards – FPR Team Principal
“It was nice to finally break our race win duck at Albert Park especially now both Mark and Will have wins on the board this season so everyone in the team is happy. We ran two very different strategies today and it was interesting to see that they came out so close in the wash. Lap one was probably too close for comfort, though at least it was a battle for the lead. Dave again proved he is not too far off with another top 10. Another good day for the team.”
 
EVENT NAME: MSS Security V8 Supercar Challenge
DATE: 15-18 March, 2012
LOCATION: Melbourne, Victoria
EVENT NUMBER: Non-championship
FORMAT: Thursday – 2 x 30-minute practice sessions, 1 x 30-min qualifying; Friday – 1 x 13-lap qualifying race, 1 x 12-lap race; Saturday – 1 x 20-lap race; Sunday – 1 x 15-lap race
FORMAT EXPLAINED: The cars will take part in a Qualifying Race (effectively Race 1) on Friday, lined up in the order that they qualified on Thursday. This race won’t count for points for the overall weekend result, but will feature a ‘drop zone’, whereby the last three cars on the track at the end of each lap from Lap 3 to 8 will be dropped out of the race, leaving the top 10 to race for victory. The finishing order of this Qualifying Race determines the grid for Race 2 on Friday afternoon and the finishing order of that race sorts the grid for Race 3 on Saturday. The grid for the final race – Race 4 – on Sunday will be determined by the combined points scored by each driver in Races 2 and 3.

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