Recovery becomes mission impossible

Frosty finishes 6th

Ford Pepsi Max Crew duo Frosty and Chaz banked significant points on a challenging day in Townsville to finish sixth and seventh after 88 laps of the Reid Park street circuit. 
Mostert looked set to challenge for the podium after pitting on the opening lap under a safety car which was unfortunately deployed to recover Jack Perkins’ stricken car. 
He then went into fuel-saving mode until a puncture forced him onto a three-stop strategy. 
Despite being dropped to the rear of the pack he began a push which saw him scythe through the field, at times at a rate more-than one-second per lap faster than the cars ahead. 
He eventually finished right behind Frosty who also stopped under the safety car behind his team-mate. 
A slight delay for Chaz lengthened his stationary time but superior tyre life and fuel consumption saw the championship leader minimise the points contraction with a measured drive. 
He leaves Townsville with a 96-point lead. 
  
Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying: 12th   
Race: 6th 
“We salvaged a result today and sixth is a lot better than where we started and it was a good team effort to get me there. Chaz was better than me in qualifying so he was able to pit first and we used our tyre conservation and superior fuel strategy to our advantage. Stacking is one of those things that happens and will always happen. It’s just part of racing and If I’d qualified better positions would’ve been reversed. We need to improve our pace though and we won’t be worrying about points until we get quicker. Ipswich should be okay but there is no doubt there is work to be done on the hard tyre, especially in qualifying. Our speed needs to be better without doubt.”
Chaz Mostert - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying: 10th   
Shootout: 9th 
Race: 7th 
“It was a really tough day. I was happy to get into the shootout which was my first ever and any time you are in the top 10 you are a chance as we’ve seen recently. At the start the early safety car threw strategies up in the air and I thought we might be able to only stop twice but when the puncture happened we had to change. The upside was I could just get on with it and push. We got seventh in the end and to get both cars well into the 10 was important. We banked a decent amount of points which I am happy about after a tough weekend pace-wise. I am looking forward to Queensland Raceway as I won there last year.”
Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
“That was a tough race for many reasons but we recovered well from a number of setbacks to record a decent haul of points and show some improved race pace. Mark and Chaz managed two very different strategies but uniquely ended up finishing together on track. If it had not been for the extra pit stop for Chaz and Dave due to their punctures it would’ve been a different story. Overall we underperformed. We recovered well but we put ourselves into positions we should never have been in. Qualifying needs work, as does our hard tyre pace so we’ll be focussing hard to improve these deficiencies.”  

DUNLOP SERIES RESULTS – TOWNSVILLE 
Cameron Waters finished the weekend on a high in Townsville with second place on Sunday following a tough Saturday race where he was penalised for contact on the final lap. His second place elevated him to sixth for the round after a time penalty dented his chances of an overall podium. The rising star, which will drive with Jack Perkins in the Enduro Cup, was pleased with his qualifying pace after two pole positions. His race pace was not as strong but his measured Sunday drive was enough to elevate him to fifth in the standings.
Cameron Waters - #56 ENZED FPR Ford:
 “Unfortunately our return of points didn’t match our pace this weekend. The car was excellent in qualifying but I got dragged at the start by Walsh in both races which meant we had to chase. It was a good battle in Race 1 but I made the wrong move into the final corner. I thought I would take my opportunity if it presented itself but looking back it was just never on, it was a costly error for both of us and definitely not the way I wanted to finish that race. We took a different direction with set-up to try and win Race 2, while it didn’t pay off we at least took some much-needed points. I’m looking forward to getting our championship back on track again at Queensland Raceway in four weeks’ time.”

CASTROL TOWNWSVILLE 500 RESULTS
RACE 22
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight
2) Garth Tander – HRT  
3) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno
4) James Courtney – HRT  
5) Nick Percat – Walkinshaw 
6) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
7) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 1634 points
2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 1538
3) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 1361 
4) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno: 1355
5) James Courtney – HRT: 1354
10) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 1098
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Triple Eight: 2940 points
2) Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2757