Frosty grabs pole, Will on the podium

20 July 2011

4 Pole positions in a row for Frosty

Ford Performance Racing (FPR) has shared the success in North Queensland where Will Davison finished third and Mark Winterbottom claimed his fourth-successive pole position for Race 14 of the V8 Supercar Championship at the Sucrogen Townsville 400.

Winterbottom started the day in the same way he has the last four races by setting the fastest time in the pole position session.

Davison nearly snatched top spot in a tightly-contested top 10 shootout before settling for third on the grid while team-mate Paul Dumbrell could only manage 15^th despite being just 0.4s off pole.

Winterbottom made another clean getaway and led into the first turn and Davison followed him through to make an FPR 1-2 as the duo began to gap the chasing pack.

Dumbrell was one of only two drivers to start on Dunlop’s soft compound tyre and he was quickly into the top 10 and then the top three by lap 10.

He was the first FPR driver to pit on lap 21, switching to the hard tyre and taking on a tank of fuel.

Winterbottom pitted three laps later and Davison the following lap, though both emerged behind key rivals that pitted a few laps earlier.

Davison, now ahead of Winterbottom held station in the top five for the middle stint and after his final stop, where he fitted soft tyres, he emerged directly behind championship leader Jamie Whincup.

Dumbrell led prior to his second and final stop though tyre wear started to get the better of him late in the race.

He looked set for a top 10 finish until he lost ground in the closing laps and had to be satisfied with 12^th by race end.

Pole-sitter Winterbottom endured a tough end to his day after he started to lock his rear tyres in the back half of the race. The higher wear rate meant he was unable to hang on to the lead pack and he eventually finished fifth.

Davison was challenging Whincup for second before his soft tyres went off in the closing laps which led to a dramatic finish with pursuer Craig Lowndes.
The duo was side-by-side a number of times on the final lap as Lowndes looked to claim the final place on the dais.

Davison held station and claimed his second podium for FPR since he rejoined the Ford fold.

The team will make adjustments to improve their tyre wear on long runs before tomorrow’s qualifying session and 72-lap race.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #95 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 1^st – 1m13.08s

Race 14: 3^rd – Fastest lap: 1m13.86s

Championship position: 8^th – 1072 points

“Today the car wasn’t the best over a stint, though it was great to lead and we were 1-2 there a few times so that is great for the team. After I initially pulled away I then started to lock my rear tyres a bit and that is what really hurt me today. I tried to conserve the tyres to hope they stayed on at the end, though I probably could have pushed harder as they were actually quite good at the end of the race. If we tidy up the set-up a little we will be much better in the race tomorrow. We learnt what doesn’t work here so that is a positive, as is Will’s podium, and although I only finished fifth it was still an improvement to have two cars in the top five.”
Will Davison – #6 Trading Post FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 3^rd – 1m13.19s
Race 14: 7^th – Fastest lap: 1m14.12s

Championship position: 6^th – 1149 points

“A full race without a safety car was just intense. The car was good and performance today is a real credit to the guys as although we were great in qualifying we knew we had to make improvements to be competitive in the race. There was a little element of guess work to see if what we’d done was going to preserve the tyres in the race, but we were competitive on the hard tyre and the soft tyre was a real improvement. They did drop off a lot in the last five laps and Lowndes closed right up though I wasn’t going to give up that podium without a fight. It is a great result for the whole team and they deserve what we achieved today.”

Paul Dumbrell – #55 The Bottle-O FPR Falcon
Qualifying: 15^th – 1m13.48s

Race 14: 12^th – Fastest lap: 1m13.60s

Championship position: 16^th – 685 points
“We qualified 15^th and didn’t have great hard tyre pace so we thought we’d try starting on the soft tyre. It was similar to what we did in Darwin, though thankfully here we didn’t have a safety car ruin our strategy so it worked for us relatively well. We had good pace on the softs and good tyre life, but the longevity wasn’t as good, especially at the end of the race. We finished higher than where we qualified so it was not a total disaster. From 12^th to 20^th in the points is quite close so it is good to gain some ground in the standings today. Last year we finished in a similar position on Saturday and then finished fourth on Sunday so let’s hope we can do that again.”
Tim Edwards – FPR Team Principal:
“Today was a great day for the team with another pole position for Mark and Will’s second podium since joining FPR. They both qualified well and it was great to see our two cars leading the pack. Once all the various strategies played out Will emerged in third and although he was challenging for second, the battle he had to hold onto third in the closing laps showed real tenacity. He fully deserves his result. Mark’s qualifying form speaks for itself but there is obviously work to do to convert that to race wins. Fifth was a good points haul even if we all had hoped for more. Paul made the most of his strategy and although he finished 12^th he gained good ground in the championship. We are clearly not far off so making the right changes overnight should deliver the results we want.”

2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

TOWNSVILLE

RACE 14 – RESULTS:

1) Garth Tander – HRT

2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight

3) Will Davison – Ford Performance Racing

4) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight

5) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing

12) Paul Dumbrell – Ford Performance Racing

 

 

2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

DRIVER POINTS AFTER RACE 14

1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight:  1533 points

2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 1359

3) Shane van Gisbergen – Stone Brothers Racing: 1206

4) Rick Kelly – Kelly Racing: 1178

5) Garth Tander – HRT: 1163

6) Will Davison – Ford Performance Racing: 1149

8 Mark Winterbottom – Ford Performance Racing: 1072

16) Paul Dumbrell – Ford Performance Racing: 685

 

2011 V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP

TEAM POINTS AFTER RACE 14

1) Triple Eight – 2917 points

2) Ford Performance Racing: 2246

3) Stone Brothers Racing: 2221