Heat Heads Hard Day

19 May 2013

Frosty finishes 6th

Fords Pepsi Max Crew endured a tough race debut in Austin with heat and car pace preventing the team from capitalising on its practice form.

Will was in contention for much of the opening 27-lap race of the event and after an early safety car he quickly set about moving up to fourth which he did just before his one and only stop for tyres.

The slick stop kept him in contention, though his ability to even finish the race was severely tested when cooling issues, including a faulty cool suit meant his body temperature soared.

He battled on and narrowly missed the podium with fourth.

Mark started seventh and was attempting a pass late in the race at Turn 1, only to overshoot and drop back to 11th where he finished the race.

In the second race he made arguably the start of the day as he vaulted from 12th to eighth on the opening lap.

Eighth became seventh on lap three as he passed Will when he followed Shane van Gisbergen past the #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford.

Mark then enjoyed an issue-free race to finish sixth while Will on the other hand was still feeling the effects of the heat from the earlier race and would bravely hold position from much of the race before finishing ninth.

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Race 13
Qualifying: 7th 
Race: 8th 
Race 14
Qualifying: 12th 
Race: 6th 
Today was one of the hottest days Ive ever felt in a race car but to the teams credit they did a lot of things between the races to ensure we were much cooler in the second race. It was a tough day and by the end we probably were sixth-fastest and we finished sixth so we just need to work on the car for tomorrow. It is one of those tracks that exaggerates slight handling imbalances so we are probably not far off where we need to be but it looks like we are so thats something well work on overnight.

Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Race 13
Qualifying: 5th 
Race: 4th 
Race 14
Qualifying: 7th 
Race: 9th  
It is a bit disappointing today as I really thought we would be strong than qualifying in the race given how well things went yesterday in practice. The balance in the heat was poor and it was physically a very tough day with a cool suit and drink bottle failure so I cooked myself pretty badly in the first race and I am feeling pretty ordinary right now. The team did a great job to fix all those issues in the really short break which enabled me to finish the second race but we have work to do tonight.

Tim Edwards FPR Team Principal: 
Today was clearly a disappointing day as we underperformed relative to where we thought wed be after the form we had in practice. The heat was a challenge for everyone but a couple of issues caused Will and Alex a few dramas in the first one which didnt help things. All the drivers have a similar view on the things we need to improve on so that should help us work through the required changes and come out much stronger tomorrow.

AUSTIN 400
RACE 13 RESULTS:
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight 
2) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight  Jason Bright Brad Jones Racing
3) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing 
4) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR
5) Garth Tander Brad Jones Racing
8) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR

RACE 14 RESULTS:
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight 
2) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight
3) Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Racing
4) Jonathan Webb Tekno
5) Shane van Gisbergen - Tekno
6) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR
9) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 14
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight: 1108 points
2) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 995
3) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight: 981
8) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 762

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 14
1) Triple Eight: 2029 points
2) Fords Pepsi Max Crew: 1757
3) Brad Jones Racing: 1707