Car 5 consistent in Gold Coast practice

24 October 2015

The Pepsi Max Crew has remained consistent throughout the first day of practice at the Castrol Gold Coast 600 with Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen the fastest of the Fords. 

The duo was able to finish within the top ten in each session in changing conditions. 

Cameron Waters and Russell Ingall eased into their first day at the Gold Coast as Ingall acclimatised to a new car setup. 

While the pair is confident on the soft tyre, both believe there is work to be done on the hard compound ahead of tomorrow's race.

Saturday's schedule will consist of qualifying, the top-ten shootout and a 102 lap race in the afternoon.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
#5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford – Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen: 9th – 1m11.19s
Mark Winterbottom
"It was okay. The track changed throughout the day quite a lot and so does your tyre quality and stuff so you're just trying to stay on top of that. We made progress in spots and lost ground in others. It was a pretty good day. We actually had good reads on things so you come away in not to bad shape. The car is straight, we haven't hit anything yet so we'll tune her up for tomorrow. It's good to see that Steve (Owen)'s pretty comfortable as well. He is doing what he does, running solid. He goes out, sets the car up and the way these sessions are it really relies on the other guys so he's doing a good job and we'll try and tune her up."

#6 Pepsi Max PRA Ford – Cameron Waters/Russell Ingall: 22nd - 1m11.87s
Cameron Waters
"I was happy on the soft tyre. On the hard tyre I was just trying to work out what I had under me. I brought the car home in one piece after the day which was the main thing and we'll just build on it over the weekend. Working with Russell today was pretty good. He kind of just did the same thing as me, just eased into it and progressed throughout the day. Today was all about learning. Tomorrow we'll come out a little bit stronger and see how we go."

Russell Ingall 
"It's always difficult when you have two half hour sessions to have a hit out in a car that you've never driven before. It's always a bit of a challenge but even though the cars chassis are the same throughout every single team, how those cars are setup and engineered are quite different which gives a different feel to the car. These cars are actually quite a bit different to the last car that I drove. It always takes a little bit to get your eye in. I purposely came here with the attitude that I just want to sneak up to it because there's nothing worse if you throw the thing into the wall and give the guys a heap of repair work. You just can't lose out on any sessions around here. By the last session we put some decent tyres on it and I sort of got my eye on it a bit better and I definitely feel more comfortable in it than I did at the start of the day."

Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
"Today was really just about getting used to the track again and trying to put some good times down. Steve and Frosty did a fantastic job, they were consistent all day which was good to see. Cam and Russell are still getting used to the car and the track so they've got a big task ahead of them but they're already doing a great job. Cam especially, we can already see that he's competitive. We still have some work to do tonight to get them ready for qualifying tomorrow but we're looking okay."

- See more at: http://www.prodriveracing.com.au/news/2015/10/23/car-five-consistent-in-gold-coast-practice#sthash.DH5FQ4WK.dpuf