Frosty salvages second and extends championship lead

11 October 2015

The Pepsi Max Crew's Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen have finished second at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, claiming the team's fourth Bathurst podium in a row. After starting 14th on the grid and receiving a 15-second penalty for an electrical problem that resulted in car #5's brake lights failing in what was a less than desirable first half, the pair was able to capitalise on their speed to compete with the front-runners in the dying stages after making the decision to go from wets to slicks early after a mid-race downpour. The second place finish has allowed the pair to extend their Pirtek Enduro Cup lead as well as Winterbottom's championship lead.

The Pepsi Max Crew has also maintained its team points lead despite Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters not competing in the race. Injured star Mostert has begun his rehabilitation and watched on from his hospital bed, video calling the team for updates throughout. He will remain in hospital at Orange for the coming days. The team is already working on his replacement for the Gold Coast, and will look to make an announcement in the coming days.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
#5 Pepsi Max PRA Ford – Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen: 
2nd 
Mark Winterbottom
"There were plenty of eventful things going on but by running slicks in the wet we popped out of nowhere and ended up at the front. The car was alright, I really had to hammer it though. I don’t think I’ve ever driven that hard here. We salvaged something out of a situation that looked quite bad. I must thank Steve and the team for turning it around and also the car #6 guys for helping me out – all of Chaz’s crew assisted and were invaluable to our recovery. We tried to do it for Chaz today and all that effort has left me pretty sore all over. It was a big couple of stints at the end but Craig was just too quick. To finish second is awesome; this is only the second time I’ve finished on the podium here in 12 years, so to be second is really good. Especially with the day we had. We almost started our race from lap 100 and had 61 laps to turn it into something. It was a good result for the championship which was important.”

Steve Owen
“Starting 14th, with a penalty, losing the electrics for a while and fighting back in the rain – it was quite an eventful day. To not be too far behind at the end and to finish second is not too bad a day at all. Mark and I have extended our Enduro Cup points lead which is basically the co-driver championship so that was nice but more importantly his overall lead has been extended. The team will bounce back after Chaz’s mishap so it was good to bounce back and finish on the podium after such a tough weekend.”

Tim Edwards – Team Principal 
“Another Bathurst, another epic race battle that featured all the usual highs and lows. Obviously we were without Chaz today which was tough but the crew has pulled together over the last few days and even though we didn’t win I am very proud of our team and how they’ve conducted themselves. For the fourth year in a row we found ourselves battling Triple Eight for the win and we’re now two and two so congratulations to them. Frosty and Steve did very well to drive from the back to the podium and Dave and Dean were in the hunt all day as they usually are here. It was a harder day for our Super Black and wildcard crews but full credit to the whole team for its efforts to get here and perform the way we did after a rather challenging week.”

RACE 25
1) Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards – Triple Eight
2) Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen – Prodrive Racing
3) Garth Tander/Warren Luff – HRT
4) Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden – Brad Jones Racing
5) Scott McLauglin/Alex Premat – Garry Rogers Motorsport

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 
1) Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing: 2491

2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2092
3) David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 2059
4) Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing: 2017
5) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 1694

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Pepsi Max Crew: 
4508
2) Triple Eight: 3790
3) HRT: 3737

- See more at: http://www.prodriveracing.com.au/news/2015/10/11/frosty-salvages-second-extends-points

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