Lyons & Winterbottom Win on the Gold Coast

24 October 2011

Frosty passes Whincup for the win

Mark Winterbottom continued his 'love affair' with the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit when he and Richard Lyons were victorious in the Armor All Gold Coast 600 aboard the Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon today. 

For Winterbottom, today's victory was his first race win of 2011 but his second on the Gold Coast in three years, it was also a great reward for all of the hard work by the team at Ford Performance Racing over the past few months. 

After starting the race, Lyons - who was a late replacement for Will Power - handed the driving duties over to Winterbottom in third place at the completion of his 34-lap stint. Winterbottom then showed some good speed across the remainder of the journey to chase down and pass championship leader Jamie Whincup in the closing stages. 

The victory, accompanied by yesterday’s podium finish in the opening 102-lap race, has given Winterbottom confidence to finish the year on a high. He’s also got his sights set on snaring third place in the championship after moving up to fourth in the standings. 

For Will Davison and Mika Salo in the Orrcon Steel-backed Trading Post FPR Falcon, today’s race was ’the one that got away’. After finishing a superb second place in yesterday's race, the pair were on track for a repeat performance this afternoon. 

Unfortunately, a punctured front-right tyre forced Salo into an unscheduled pit stop which dropped them down the order. 

Showing good speed and true grit, Davison clawed his way back to lead much of the second half of the race before he was forced to pit to refuel late in the race. He crossed the line 14th. 

The format of the Gold Coast 600 had the international drivers paired with the 28 V8 Supercar Series regulars for a pair 102-lap races. 

Winterbottom and Lyons were joined on the podium by Saturday race winners Jamie Whincup and Sebastien Bourdais along with Lee Holdsworth and Simon Pagenaud. 

QUOTES FROM THE DRIVERS 

Mark Winterbottom - Driver #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon 
"Winning is fantastic, but doing it on soft tyres is that little bit sweeter. We haven't had the best run on that tyre compound and the guys have worked incredibly hard to improve the speed of the Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon," said Winterbottom. 

"To see the guys in the team from the podium and the smiles on their faces, that's a lot of hours in the workshop and they really deserved this win today. 

"Richard did a great job, I just had to sit in the garage and he did what he does best. I was never in doubt, he was clean and the car came back straight and all I had to do was hop in the car. 

"I had to be patient when I closed in on Jamie. I knew it would be hard to get past him but I've got nothing to loose so I was going to go in regardless. That's sort of how I have to race the rest of the year. I just have to win races. 

"Jamie may be at the front of the championship but he always races hard. It was always going to be a hard battle but we worked hard on improving the set-up of our car over the weekend and that win is important. 

"Our main focus now is to win as many races as possible, the overall championship is out of reach but third isn't far away. There’s six races still to go and we’ll be out to win all six of them – we’ve got nothing to lose." 

Richard Lyons - International Driver #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon 
"I just can't believe how my week has turned around. It's all happened so fast," said Lyons. 

"It's been a great opportunity with FPR, it's a team that I've always wanted to work with for so long. 

"I’ve been a spectator at this event a few times, so it was a bit surreal being in the drivers parade and then to stand on top of the podium is amazing. This win is a real credit to everyone at FPR as I know they’ve has a hard time finding pace on the soft tyres this year." 

Will Davison – Driver #6 Trading Post FPR Falcon 
"It’s been a great result for the whole team this weekend," said Davison. 

"With both cars on the podium yesterday, it showed that we may have got over our ‘hoodoo’ of the soft tyres and I’m very proud of everyone in the team for turning it all around. 

"It looks like we’ve made some good steps forward, I don’t think we're completely there yet but we've certainly made some huge steps forward. 

"I'm pretty shattered about my day today, we got a punctured tyre when Mika was in the car early and really needed a late race safety car to put us back in contention. 

"Overall though we've made some huge steps forward and I’m looking forward to continue this run for the remaining events of the year." 

Mika Salo – International Driver #6 Trading Post FPR Falcon 
"It was great fun, the team had a good weekend, getting two podiums yesterday and the win today," said Salo. 

"It's great racing around here, coming here I knew it was a tough series with a lot of great drivers and it was going to be tough, so finishing second yesterday was excellent for us. 

"Today we were in with a shot at the win but we had a puncture which ended our chances at victory. All in all thought it's been a fantastic weekend." 

ARMOR ALL GOLD COAST 600 
Surfers Paradise, Queensland
 

RESULTS: Sunday Race 
1. #5 M.Winterbottom/R.Lyons – 102 laps 
2. #88 J.Whincup/S.Bourdais 
3. #33 L.Holdsworth/S.Pagenaud 
4. #11 G.Murphy/O.Gavin 
5. #15 R.Kelly/J.Bergmeister 
6. #1 J.Courtney/D.Turner 
7. #49 S.Owen/B.Said 
8. #39 R.Ingall/J.Magnussen 
9. #7 T.Kelly/R.Westbrook 
10. #47 T.Slade/H.Castroneves 
14. #6 W.Davison/M.Salo 

RESULTS: Sunday Qualifying 
1. #88 Jamie Whincup 1:10.9615 
2. #2 Garth Tander 1:11.0039 
3. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:11.1308 
4. #6 Will Davison 1:11.2799
 
5. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:11.2923 
6. #49 Steve Owen 1:11.3174 
7. #11 Greg Murphy 1:11.3727 
8. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:11.3868 
9. #18 James Moffat 1:11.4355 
10. #16 David Reynolds 1:11.4640 

RESULTS: Saturday Race 
1. #88 J.Whincup/S.Bourdais – 102 laps 
2. #6 W.Davison/M.Salo 
3. #5 M.Winterbottom/R.Lyons
 
4. #18 J.Moffat/J.Hand 
5. #61 F.Coulthard/P.Long 
6. #11 G.Murphy/O.Gavin 
7. #15 R.Kelly/J.Bergmeister 
8. #34 M.Caruso/A.Farfus Jr 
9. #19 J.Webb/G.de Ferran 
10. #33 L.Holdsworth/S.Pagenaud 

RESULTS: Top Ten Shootout 
1. #88 Jamie Whincup 1:11.7184 
2. #2 Garth Tander 1:11.7199 
3. #6 Will Davison 1:12.0516 
4. #49 Steve Owen 1:12.0756 
5. #4 Alex Davison 1:12.2168 
6. #18 James Moffat 1:12.2169 
7. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:12.2625 
8. #15 Rick Kelly 1:12.4015 
9. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen 1:12.4293 
10. #1 James Courtney 1:12.5161 

RESULTS: Saturday Qualifying 
1. #2 Garth Tander 1:11.7238 
2. #49 Steve Owen 1:11.7909 
3. #88 Jamie Whincup 1:11.8651 
4. #4 Alex Davison 1:11.9228 
5. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:11.9527 
6. #1 James Courtney 1:12.0940 
7. #6 Will Davison 1:12.1187 
8. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen 1:12.2082 
9. #15 Rick Kelly 1:12.2888 
10. #18 James Moffat 1:12.4146 
17. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:12.8154 

2011 V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 
Championship points after race 22 of 28
 
1. Jamie Whincup - 2517 
2. Craig Lowndes - 2374 
3. Shane Van Gisbergen - 2009 
4. Mark Winterbottom – 1966 
5. Garth Tander - 1956 
6. Will Davison – 1847 
7. Rick Kelly - 1845 
8. Lee Holdsworth - 1590 
9. Alex Davison - 1535 
10. Jason Bright - 1519 

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