Mostert my best V8 drive yet

Frosty salvages average qualifying with 11th and 8th

Ford Pepsi Max Crew’s Chaz Mostert has claimed his performance in Saturday’s second and final race in Townsville to be his best yet in a V8 Supercar after holding off Craig Lowndes for 30 laps to claim fifth. 
Chaz resisted immense pressure and made the most of a very quick pit stop to head home a four-car battle consisting of Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and team-mate and series leader, Frosty. 
Chaz’s mature and measured drive only slightly overshadowed Frosty’s rise from 19th on the grid to eighth by race end. 
The gain and his position relative to the other title challengers meant his overall gap was only trimmed by 17 to 144 points. 
Frosty also gained ground in the carnage-filled opening race to finish 11th from 17th, while Chaz somehow finished 13th after being spun to the back of the field on the opening lap. 
With strong race pace FPR is firmly focussed on Sunday’s double-distance 250km feature race.
  
Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 20: 17th   
Result Race 20: 11th 
Qualifying Race 21: 19th 
Result Race 21: 8th 
“The second race was much better and we found a good direction with set-up. It was good to salvage a top 10 from 19th especially given all the mayhem that was going on around us today. It was good to watch Chaz fight – I had the best seat in the house. He held on and didn’t make a mistake. Even though we had a rough day he was having a good one and a top-five was well-deserved. It is a longer race tomorrow so hopefully that will suit us even better.”
Chaz Mostert - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 20: 12th   
Result Race 20: 13th 
Qualifying Race 21: 12th 
Result Race 21: 5th 
“I am mentally wrecked after that drive. That was a hard drive as that long on hard tyres isn’t easy, but to have someone breathing down your neck for that long, and none other than Craig Lowndes, a guy I watched growing up and is a great driver made it so much harder. To go toe-to-toe with him for 30 laps was amazing and I can’t remember being that focussed for that long in a race car. It was definitely my best drive – my best in V8 Supercars. I unfortunately didn’t get a win but the result feels a lot like it. The pit crew were so fast. We jumped (Jamie) Whincup and another car in pit lane and that made a huge gain. If we can qualify well and get the most out of the car there is no reason why we can’t go better than today.”
Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
“After qualifying we weren’t quite sure what to expect and the opening lap of the first race didn’t ease our concerns. We largely escaped all the major incidents in the first part and salvaged some decent points, but our second race was a perfect execution of our race strategy. Chaz proved today that he has what it takes to match it with the best and he didn’t put a foot wrong. His recent detractors are once again shown to be well wide of the mark.” 

CASTROL TOWNSVILLE 500 RESULTS
RACE 20
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight
2) Garth Tander – HRT  
3) Will Davison – Erebus 
4) Nick Percat – Walkinshaw 
5) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno 
11) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
13) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
RACE 21
1) Garth Tander – HRT  
2) James Courtney – HRT  
3) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing
4) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno
5) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew
8) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 1532 points
2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 1388
3) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 1341
4) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 1298 
5) James Courtney – HRT: 1234
9) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 1002
- See more at: http://www.fpr.com.au/news/2014/07/05/mostert-my-best-v8-drive-yet#sthash.gok6CpJR.dpuf