Feisty Frosty on form.

6 April 2014

Hard charge to 7th and 2nd

Ford Pepsi Max Crew and Mark Winterbottom have enjoyed a strong day at Winton Motor Raceway with a second place in the final race capping a much-improved overall performance.

Frosty was rewarded for a patient and measured drive which was not without incident. After qualifying dramas he started 23rd and passed a handful of cars but after the first restart the action began. 

Chaz was caught up in a multi-car incident at Turn 1 which forced Frosty off track in the ensuing melee. 

Despite being forced to replace his left-front tyre, he began a fresh charge from 20th. 

Superior tyre life and avoiding action saw him rapidly climb into the top 10 before eventually claiming seventh. 

Chaz recovered from his spin to finish but a performance improvement for the whole team brought better results in the second race.

Frosty and Chaz both qualified in the top 10 and a strong start for Frosty saw made him a podium contender from the outset. 

In the latter half of the race Frosty closed a near 10-second gap to catch and pass David Reynolds for third and then title rival Fabian Coulthard for second just before race end. 

Chaz ran in the top 10 all race and climbed as high as seventh before suffering tyre wear issues and slipping to 10th which he held until the chequered flag.  

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 7: 23rd 
Result Race 7: 7th  
Qualifying Race 8: 6th 
Result Race 8: 2nd 
It is really good to fight back from where we were. Qualifying 24th is not acceptable and I am relieved we dug ourselves out. In the final race I got stuck behind (Shane) van Gisbergen but once we were clear we were really quick which was encouraging. Our tyre life and overall speed is a great recovery by the team. We scored vital points and turned a potential very bad day into a very good one.

Chaz Mostert - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 7: 9th  
Result Race 7: 12th  
Qualifying Race 8: 9th 
Result Race 8: 10th 
Not a bad day, two ninth positions in qualifying, so hopefully getting that average up a bit higher now. The first race, we didnt have a great race, ending up 12th, got some good points. We changed the set-up in the car a bit for the second race and the car didnt feel too bad out the front, but the car hurt its tyres again. Well go over some data, see if we can make it better on its tyres and we should be up where Frosty and Dave were today. Full credit to them, and to the team, they deserve that result. Theyve been working hard, and Im looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully we can get all four cars up there.

Tim Edwards Team Principal: 
I am really impressed with how the team has worked last night and today to provide four cars with very strong, consistent race pace. The upturn in results is encouraging but we know there is still plenty of work to be done, especially on our qualifying pace. Tomorrows long race will be a test for the whole field based on what we saw today so we need to qualify well and take it from there.

DUNLOP SERIES
Cameron Waters claimed his maiden V8 Supercars win with a dominant drive in the opening Dunlop Series race at Winton. Starting from the front row he led into turn one and cleared out to a 10-second lead which he maintained until race end. 

Cameron Waters - #56 ENZED FPR Ford 
The race was really good. I have a great start and that was crucial. Once I got away I gapped the field and kept hitting my marks and it pushed out to 10-seconds. The ENZED Ford was awesome and I couldnt fault it. I am relieved to get the first win in V8 Supercars and to do it in style was pretty cool so hopefully we can back it up tomorrow.

WINTON 400 RESULTS
RACE 7
1) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing
2) Shane van Gisbergen Tekno 
3) Dale Wood Brad Jones Racing
7) Mark Winterbottom Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
12) Chaz Mostert Ford Pepsi Max Crew

RACE 8
1) Lee Holdsworth Erebus
2) Mark Winterbottom Ford Pepsi Max Crew
3) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing 
10) Chaz Mostert Ford Pepsi Max Crew

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight: 605 points
2) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing: 586
3) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight: 528
4) Mark Winterbottom Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 523
5) Shane van Gisbergen - Tekno: 480 
22) Chaz Mostert Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 220

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Triple Eight: 1158 points
2) Brad Jones Racing: 871
3) HRT: 829
4) Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 768
- See more at: http://fpr.com.au/news/2014/04/05/feisty-frosty-on-form#sthash.MtdFhdcP.dpuf