Two and three the place to be

12 September 2015

Frosty qualifies 2nd

The Pepsi Max Crew will start the Sandown 500 with three cars in the top five following the unique qualifying race format where Frosty and Chaz avoided multiple incidents to qualify second and third respectively. 

Co-drivers Cam Waters and Steve Owen started from the front row after Chaz and Frosty locked out row one in qualifying. 

The pair started well and Cam led the majority of the first lap before running wide at Dandenong Road corner. He slipped to fourth which moved Steve into the lead. He dropped to second on the following lap and remained there for the course of the race. 

Cam battled hard and moved back to third by race end.

Frosty and Chaz then took over and both started well and maintained position on the opening lap. 

The top two in the points quickly closed on race leader Jamie Whincup and the trio lapped within half-a-second for much of the race. 

A late safety car caused by stable-mate Andre Heimgartner’s stricken car bunched the field but with two top-three grid spots on offer the duo avoid any risky moves. 

#5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford 
Steve Owen – Quali Race 1 Result: 2nd 
Mark Winterbottom – Quali Race 2 result: 2nd 
Starts Sandown 500: 2nd 

Winterbottom
“Car was quick and I was trying to make sure we start the race in a good spot – I didn’t want to risk a drive-thru for the sake of only making up one spot. We were competitive and seemed pretty quick. Chaz and I had the pace of the field which is a good sign. The co-drivers are going well so we’ll do some work tonight and give it a big go tomorrow.”

Owen 
"The car wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be so I basically just brought it home to let Frosty press on in the next race. We’ve got a long day tomorrow and there was no point taking any risks given where we were. We fixed the problem for the second race so I’m happy with where we qualified.”

#6 Pepsi Max PRA Ford 
Cameron Waters – Quali Race 1 result: 3rd 
Chaz Mostert – Quali Race 2 result: 3rd 
Starts Sandown 500: 3rd 

Mostert
“People were racing really hard for position out there so I am glad we came out without issue. On the restart I had van Gisbergen breathing down my neck and with the sun where it was Frosty didn’t see me and I had a little trip across the grass. We brought it home okay and the car was quick so I think we’ll be in with a chance tomorrow.”

Waters 
"I got a good start but made a little mistake and locked a brake heading into Dandenong Road. I recovered and got back to third but I wasn’t happy with the car. I caused a flat spot on the tyre when I locked the brakes and that made it a little tough to drive from lap one. We kept our position in Chaz’s race so I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
“A relatively routine day but the main thing is we escaped all the major dramas. The co-drivers performed at a very high level, did all we required and showed they have front-running pace. The trick today was to stay out of trouble as we only get points for the actual race tomorrow. A lot can happen over 500km but we’ve started as we intended.”

- See more at: http://www.prodriveracing.com.au/news/2015/09/12/two-and-three-the-place-to-be#sthash.Ik7WW7rc.dpuf