Frosty fires back

16 June 2013

Frosty win for the first time in 12 months

Ford Pepsi Max Crews Mark Winterbottom has claimed his first win of the year and finished metres short of a clean-sweep of wins on the final day of action in Darwin.

Mark was dominant in the first race, moving into the lead on lap seven and was never headed to break a 13-month drought and claim his first win in Pepsi Max colours.

Will was second for much of the race until he lost grip in the closing laps and had to settle for fourth.

A multi-car crash on the opening lap caused the final race of the day and after a lengthy delay Mark pitted immediately after the restart to switch to Dunlops soft compound tyres.

He re-joined third and remained there until lap 19 when the early race winner moved into second by passing pole-sitter and FPR stable mate David Reynolds who would go on to finish third.

Mark then set about catching leader Craig Lowndes.

He closed the gap and on the last lap attempted a number of passes only to fall a mere 0.1 seconds short at the line.

Will could not match the tyre life of his team-mates and came home a solid seventh to retain third in the points.

DRIVERS VIEW
Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 18: 2nd 
Race 18: 1st 
Qualifying Race 19: 5th 
Race 19: 2nd 
It is great to finish the weekend with a win and a second place and I am very happy with the day we had. In the second race I tried to conserve my tyres early and then when we passed Dave I was surprised I closed down Craig so quickly. That was really encouraging but it wouldve been nice to have an extra lap as we just fell short. We had good single lap and race pace this weekend and we hope to keep our good tyre life next time out in Townsville.

Will Davison - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 18: 3rd  
Race 18: 4th 
Qualifying Race 19: 7th 
Race 19: 7th 
We scored a few points today and while the car felt good in qualifying trim we didnt quite have the pace, particularly in the second race. We made some changes that didnt quite work but I took a few whacks which hurt the car and we just did what we could from there. The team is showing strength overall but I just need to make sure I am the one standing on the top step next time.

Tim Edwards FPR Team Principal: 
What a difference a day makes. Today we showed just how strong we are as a group and a pole, win, second and third place is very rewarding for the whole team. We executed our strategy well and our pit stops were clean and quick so I am very proud of everyone. Mark obviously got the win monkey off his back while Will claimed valuable points when he just didnt quite have the ultimate pace which is what he needed to do. We set aim now at Townsville where we are focussed on delivering another strong team performance.

SKYCITY TRIPLE CROWN DARWIN
RACE 18 RESULTS:
1) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR  
2) James Courtney HRT 
3) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight
4) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR
5) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight

SKYCITY TRIPLE CROWN DARWIN
RACE 19 RESULTS:
1) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight
2) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR
3) David Reynolds The Bottle-O Racing Team
4) Jonathon Webb Tekno 
5) Garth Tander HRT 
7) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 19
1) Jamie Whincup Triple Eight: 1423 points
2) Craig Lowndes Triple Eight: 1264
3) Will Davison Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 1148
4) Jason Bright Brad Jones Racing: 1127
7) Mark Winterbottom Pepsi Max Crew FPR: 1079

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 19
1) Triple Eight: 2702 points
2) Brad Jones Racing: 2254
3) Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2252