Frosty Keeps Head Amid Chaos

Stop-start V8 Supercar action left the pits in chaos this afternoon as teams raced to calculate their standings after numerous safety cars at the Dunlop Townsville 400.

Mark Winterbottom kept his head and recovered from a disappointing 16th place in qualifying to finish eighth in this afternoon's race.

"I didn't realise what was going on around me," said the Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon driver. "Cars were diving into the pits every time the safety car came out and I had to be constantly updated on who I was racing against!"

The eighth-place finish was especially rewarding after one of the yellow-flag periods cost Frosty several places when the safety car mistakenly picked up him instead of the leader, costing him half a quick lap.

"In that situation you just keep pushing so I didn't really care who was in front. You're not really worrying about it, just hoping to gain a few positions," said Frosty. "It looked like we were going to, because we'd already made up a lot of spots but then lost them with the safety car on lap 30."

Ford Performance Racing's troubled qualifying also saw Steve Richards start way back from 21st. After a secure start the Castrol FPR Falcon was rammed going into Turn One, with the concertina effect damaging his front bumper. The resultant repairs put him three laps down but he finished just one behind the leaders in 21st place.

"I just got crashed into the back of and pushed all the way through Turn One and that smashed up the splitter," said Richo. "I'm just disappointed but I think we've learnt a lot. We'll be better off tomorrow after that race. The car has reasonable pace at the end there, but my rear tyres were a fair bit better than anybody else's out there."

FPR will be back on track tomorrow for the first qualifying session at 11am.

Dunlop Townsville 400 - V8 Supercars
TOWNSVILLE STREET CIRCUIT
RACE 11 QUALIFYING
1. Lee Holdsworth, GRM, 1:12.7327*
2. James Courtney, DJR, +0.0755
3. Garth Tander, HRT, +0.0936
4. Michael Caruso, GRM, +0.1650
5. Will Davison, HRT, +0.2080
6. Jason Richards, BJR, +0.3409

16. Mark Winterbottom, Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon, +0.4675
21. Steve Richards, Castrol FPR Falcon, +0.7761

Dunlop Townsville 400 - V8 Supercars
TOWNSVILLE STREET CIRCUIT
RACE 11
1. Jamie Whincup, 888
2. Will Davison, HRT
3. Garth Tander, HRT
4. Craig Lowndes, 888
5. Michael Caruso, GRM
6. Russell Ingall, PMM

8. Mark Winterbottom, Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
21. Steve Richards, Castrol FPR Falcon