Winterbottom extends as mostert wins amongst chaos

20 June 2015

Chaz and frosty 1-2

The Pepsi Max Crew claimed another 1-2 victory with Chaz and Mark avoiding carnage and by the end of the day ‘Frosty’ extended his series lead and the team took over top spot of the team points. 

In a chaotic opening race Chaz moved into the lead by turn one and was never headed despite multiple safety car restarts. 

Chaos ensued behind from the first corner with contact between a number of cars all around the Hidden Valley layout causing positions to change rapidly. Luckily Mark was a beneficiary and moved from fifth to second with relative ease to claim another 1-2 finish for the team.

The second race saw a similarly incident-filled opening but Chaz and Mark all escaped without drama. 

On the restart Chaz hounded Tim Slade for second but was unable to make the pass and settled for his second podium. 

Frosty rose from 10th to seventh and Reynolds from 13th to 10th in a solid but slightly disappointing final Saturday race.

Earlier in qualifying Chaz might have ended his record-breaking pole streak but he was the most consistent performer with second and third.


Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford: 
Race 13 Quali:
 6th 
Race 13 Result: 2nd 
Race 14 Quali: 10th  
Race 14 Result: 7th 
"In the right sessions we didn’t get it right today. Qualifying sixth and 10th and to finish second was awesome and an excellent recovery. Our hard tyre pace is reasonable but the soft tyre set-up isn’t where I need it to be. Qualifying better tomorrow is the key. We had a good salvage today and we’ll work on it overnight and it is a good result for the team with another 1-2.”

Chaz Mostert - #6 Pepsi Max PRA Ford:  
Race 13 Quali:
 2nd  
Race 13 Result: 1st 
Race 14 Quali: 3rd  
Race 14 Result: 3rd   
"It has been an awesome week so far. We didn’t qualify as well as we’d like but I’d rather a quick race car than a quick qualifying car. The opening race was chaotic but the seas parted and I went through to the lead and controlled it from there. It’s pretty special to be leading the teams points too, though without my Winton DNF we would be further ahead. The team is doing an awesome job and if we can keep doing what we are doing we’ll be up there come the end of the year.” 

Tim Edwards – Team Principal 
"After qualifying I didn’t think we would end the day with a 1-2, another podium and leading both tables. While it doesn’t mean much in the scheme of things we have rebounded well and used our strong race pace to score valuable points on a day where others struggled. Chaz was consistent and fully deserved another win, and for that to be another 1-2 was a great effort by the team. Tomorrow is the day that really counts so hopefully we can qualify stronger and take it from there.”


DARWIN RESULTS – SATURDAY 
RACE 13
1) Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew  
2) Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew 

3) Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing 
4) James Moffat – Kelly Racing
5) Michael Caruso – Kelly Racing

RACE 14
1) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight 
2) Tim Slade – Walkinshaw Racing 
3) Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew
4) Scott Pye – Dick Johnson Racing
5) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno 
7) Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew 


DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 
1) Mark Winterbottom – Pepsi Max Crew: 1054 points 

2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 1025
3) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 881
4) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 865
5) James Courtney – HRT: 864
6) Chaz Mostert – Pepsi Max Crew: 853

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Pepsi Max Crew: 1907 points

2) Triple Eight: 1890
3) HRT: 1680

- See more at: http://www.prodriveracing.com.au/news/2015/06/20/winterbottom-extends-as-chaz-wins-amidst-chaos-#sthash.XcFwJYhO.dpuf

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