Frustration after fighting drivers

Ford Pepsi Max Crew’s Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen looked to finish well inside the top 10 after the podium controversy that marred Saturday only for Frosty to be spun on the final corner of the final lap. 

Contact from Russell Ingall dropped him from eighth to 14th at the flag and the frustrating end to the race was compounded by his car stopping after the chequered flag. 
Team-mate Chaz pushed him back to the pits but only after enduring a similarly tough day as he finished 18th despite again coming from a lap down to be a contender. 
Braking issues hampered both he and co-driver Paul Morris all day and the late safety car he required to make his strategy work never came. 

Mark Winterbottom & Steve Owen - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford: 14th   
Winterbottom: “We just didn’t have the speed this weekend. There is no hiding behind it. It was hard to drive and we had to hustle to finish eighth. The race went as it did. I had an engine issue near the end but that’s not what caused me to drop back. I was spun when Russell Ingall turned me around at the last corner. We raced fairly for 40 laps so I don’t know if it was intentional but it just finished me off. We should’ve been eighth with a car that was probably mid-grid at best. We have to dig deep and regain our speed as we were too far off this weekend.”
Chaz Mostert & Paul Morris - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford: 18th  
Mostert: “We had a really average day today. We went a lap down early due to something being wrong with the balance of the car. Our brake bias was a long way from where it usually is so we will look into that. In my stint we started from the back and took a gamble to save a set of tyres for the end. I lost data, locked a tyre and had to pit as there was no way it was doing another 10 laps. We put the good set on with 28 to go and that put us back and we didn’t get the safety car we needed. 18th is the last place I thought we’d finish. We finished on the lead lap with a straight car, we were second in the Enduro Cup and won at Bathurst so hopefully next year we can improve again. I just want to head home now, have some time off, relive all the big moments of the last few weeks which have been a blur. I’ll freshen up before Phillip Island and I want that fifth in the points.”

Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
“It was a frustrating day again today but largely because we just didn’t perform at the level we needed to. We were chasing the ideal set-up all day and while we qualified stronger, had strong strategies and pit stops – we just didn’t have enough in our on track package to make things easy for the drivers. Sixth today for the #55 crew was a credit to them after their big night fixing the chassis but we’ll be glad to see the back of a tough weekend at a track where we’ve had a lot of success.”
 
GOLD COAST 600 RESULTS – SUNDAY  
RACE 32
1) Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell – Triple Eight  
2) Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat – Garry Rogers Motorsport 
3) Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore – Kelly Racing  
4) Tim Slade/Tony D’Alberto – Walkinshaw Racing 
5) Shane van Gisbergen/Jono Webb – Tekno Autosports
14) Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
18) Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2835 points
2) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2433  
3) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno: 2357
4) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2331
5) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 2192
6) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2147
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Triple Eight: 5216 points
2) Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 4605
3) HRT: 3991