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Glenfords Racing Ready For First Trip To 'the Mountain' |
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Thursday, 28 September 2006 |
| Attachment 17233 |
| The Ford Glenfords-AEG V8 Supercar will be aiming for a top ten on debut at Bathurst |
Added excitement and anticipation in a V8 Supercar workshop can only mean one thing in Australia - Bathurst.
As Glenfords Racing head to 'the mountain' for the first time with their Ford Glenfords-AEG V8 Supercar in the truck, the feeling among the team is one mixed with expectancy and nerves.
Bathurst, more than any race, is the race all teams set out to perform at their best and for the Paul Cruickshank Racing run Glenfords team the excitement of their debut in the great race is only matched by the desire for a strong first up result.
After testing on Tuesday, the team head into round 9 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series knowing they have done all they can to have the bright blue Supercar ready for one of the toughest motor races in the world.
| Attachment 17234 |
| The pit crew and strategy has been a highlight for the team all year |
Completing 100 laps at Willowbank, equally shared by regular driver Marcus Marshall and co-driver Jonathon Webb, the team signed off on the whole list of things to accomplish on the day.
A new brake set-up was also trialled and came through with flying colours and will be used for the race, while the car itself has become a much more rounded package making it faster and at the same time easier to drive for both drivers.
While a race win on debut in such a competitive field is not on the team's radar, their sights are firmly set on a top 15 finish, particularly after ironing out the brake problems that plagued them at Sandown.
Co-driver Webb again felt more comfortable in his new environment and completed 50 laps during testing and heads to Bathurst in a positive frame of mind having had numerous podiums at the circuit in Carrera Cup.
For Marshall, the race will be the first time he has raced the circuit as a full-time V8 Supercar driver and the extra miles he has covered has also given him added confidence.
Marshall will start and qualify the car, both firsts for the ex-Champ Car driver, having co-driven or started from the pits in all three previous trips to the mountain.
MARCUS MARSHALL "This is the first time I will have the chance to qualify the car so I will have more time in the car, which will give me more confidence."
"Also it is the first time I have done a lot of miles in a V8 Supercar before the race so I can push a bit harder around the mountain and know what the car will do.
"We had a great test on Tuesday (26 September) and got through everything we set out to do for the day and have what we think is a pretty good setup for the car on our Bathurst debut.
"Obviously the team has never run at this track which makes things more difficult but Leigh (Leigh Geyer - Marcus' Engineer) and the guys have worked extremely hard on the setup which I think will be very good.
"The car is feeling really good and I think we are really starting to understand it, every car is slightly different and as a team we're really beginning to find more speed and making it easier to drive at the same time so things are moving along well.
"We aren't going there to try and win it, that's a bit unrealistic at the moment but we really want to go there and put the car in a position and produce a top fifteen finish, that's certainly mine and the team's goal."
"Some of the boys at PCR have had some good success here in the past, particularly Paul (Cruickshank) who won there with DJR in '89 so we have people who know what it takes to produce results on the mountain."
JONATHON WEBB "There's often very little between the times at many of the tracks but at Bathurst there's about four seconds between a V8 Supercar and Carrera Cup and the cars have a lot of significant differences."
"The V8 Supercar is more of a 'point and squirt' race car, it is important to get the power down as early as possible as the car is much bigger and heavier than a Cup Car so its mid corner speed is slower.
"The V8 also has the H-pattern gearbox as opposed to the Cup Car's sequential one but the other major difference is the weight of the V8 Supercar which at 1355kg is about 200kg heavier than the Cup Car so they have quite different characteristics.
"Driving two different cars at Bathurst means the main thing for me is to get myself familiar within each environment as quickly as possible.
"Time management will be very important as I'll have to juggle going through the data for both cars as well as keep my focus on how I need to drive each car over the weekend.
"I still am out to win races in Carrera Cup and have had a few podiums here in the past while driving for Glenfords Racing in the V8 Supercar, I'll be focussing on keeping my pace solid and keeping the car straight and in good condition for Marcus to finish the race."
PAUL CRUICKSHANK "There's a great feeling in the workshop, the boys are eager and you can sense a fair bit of nerves among them which I think is great because it shows this race means a lot to them."
"Bathurst is a special place to race any time you go there but to go there with our own team is something very special.there was a lot of pride in taking the team to New Zealand and that feeling is back for this race. This is one we have really been looking forward to.
"Our test was one of our most productive for the year and we sorted out our brakes which we needed to do and also got through a list of things that we wanted to do as well so I'm very happy with the test.
"Both our drivers got some good miles in the car and their speed was very good so we head to Bathurst with a fair bit of confidence within the team.
"In the past you would have a lot of cars retiring and you could jump up a lot of places but I think this is the most competitive field ever to go to the mountain, team's just don't make mistakes like before, but I think a top 15 would be a good result for us and certainly not an unrealistic goal.
"We've spoken a lot about minimising the mistakes and putting a bit more expectation on each member of the team, from the drivers to the mechanics to the pitstops and our strategy, the key to these big races is minimising the mistakes and getting all the parts of your team working together.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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