Tough day at Hidden Valley

16 June 2013

Frosty quick but no trophy!

Ford Pepsi Max Crew has endured a tough end to a promising day of racing with Will Davison having his race ruined on a chaotic restart in the new 60/60 Super Sprint race format.

Mark and Will came home a close third and fourth in the first 60 segment ahead of the halftime break though soon after the second segments double-file restart an incident between a number of cars caused significant damage to innocent victim Will.

He received a heavy frontal impact which damaged his radiator and forced him out of the race when running a comfortable fourth.

Mark was lucky to narrowly avoid the chaos and remained in the top three for the next part of the race.

He raced closely with stable mate and pole-sitter David Reynolds until a small error from Mark caused contact at the hairpin.

While no substantial damage occurred to either car, Mark received a drive-through penalty for the incident and could only recover to 22nd.

Despite a dramatic day the team has genuine race and qualifying pace and promising tyre life bodes well ahead of Sundays two qualifying sessions and races.

Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying: 3rd  
Top 10 Shootout: 5th 
Race 17: 22nd 
It wasnt quite the end to the day we had planned. The car was quick and we were on for a good result but obviously the contact with Dave and the penalty meant we missed out on the podium. Contact is never what you want in motorsport, especially not with your team-mate. Weve had a chat and cleared the air and I am just sorry for the team as they work hard to get the big results. Tomorrow is a fresh start and we all want to achieve the best results possible for FPR.

Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying: 6th 
Top 10 Shootout: 3rd 
Race 17: DNF
The incident on the restart did a lot of damage to the bodywork and the engine which dumped all its water after the big hit I took. What can I say? You expect those incidents mid-pack but not from the likes of Craig Lowndes when you are running at the front of the field so I hope the stewards look at it. I was being really conservative and there was a big gap behind me, but the next thing I knew I was turned around and getting battered. It was unfortunate as wed changed the car from the first leg and had great tyres but the upside is that we saved a set of tyres which should help us tomorrow.

Tim Edwards FPR Team Principal: 
It was certainly a challenging day and the results were far from what we deem acceptable but the pace of all four cars was encouraging. Incidents cost us dearly today and weve addressed what was needed internally. We start with a clean slate tomorrow and the whole team knows what we need to achieve.

SKYCITY TRIPLE CROWN DARWIN
RACE 17 RESULTS:
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight 
2) Shane van Gisbergen Tekno 
3) James Courtney HRT 
4) Jonathon Webb Tekno 
5) Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport
22) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR 
DNF) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 17
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight: 1317 points
2) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight: 1093
3) Jason Bright Brad Jones Racing: 1005
4) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 1004
9) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 887

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 17
1) Triple Eight: 2410 points
2) Brad Jones Racing: 2050
3) Fords Pepsi Max Crew: 1916