The new faces that joined Hi-Tech Motorsport for the season start were not only drivers but backers as well. The high profile car preparer, based in the western suburbs of Sydney, was trackside on the streets of Adelaide last weekend, orchestrating the prospects of six vehicles in round one of the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series at the Clipsal 500.
It was a rewarding expedition too, finishing the weekend with three cars in the top ten and one just outside. The veteran of the team had his best result since starting in Ute Racing while only one car came back with some work (other than the usual pre-race preparation) to do before the Melbourne Australian Grand Prix extravaganza.
Holden Commodore SS driver Grant Johnson headed the troupe. The Grove
Juices driver finished second overall while Chris Pither, the young New
Zealander star who had a few of starts a couple of years ago, returned
fulltime this year in the Kanga Loaders Ford and finished fourth
overall.
Andrew Fisher in the Jesus.All About Life Racing Ford not only
impressed his new team but seasoned observers as well, finishing sixth
in the final outcome while Matt Moorhead, who came onboard last year,
was 11th overall in the Romanzo Properties and DEL Lawyers Falcon.
Grove Juices’s Greg Willis had his best weekend result (19th) and his
Ford Falcon came back after each race with barely a scratch. Meanwhile
Scott Jennings in the Fuchs/Byron Bay Brewery Ford had a mixed bag –
starting with limited qualifying after slipping off on someone else’s
fluid and necessitating repairs in the pits, and finishing with a high
speed cruncher at the notoriously fast turn eight.
“I thought with six cars we would have a huge workload given the nature
of V8 Ute Racing,” reflected team principle John ‘Barrel’ Pachos. “But
apart from Scotty’s car and a couple of the usual bumps and bruises, it
was pretty clean going.”
“Our supporters are very happy. Grove Fruit Juices, Fuchs and Wynns
have been joined by Byron Bay Brewery, 3 Bond Sealant and Five Star for
what I reckon will be a rewarding year,” he said.
Driver quote: Grant Johnson (WA) - 2nd, 5th, 2nd – “The third
race was shortened after a safety car but nobody told us. I wish I knew
becauser I would have tried for the lead. Our Grove Juices Commodore
was faster than race leader Jack Elsegood. We were all over him.”
Driver quote: Chris Pither (NZ) – 5th, 6th, 4th – “It’s great to be
back in utes and with the best in the business Hi-Tech Motorsports. I
am still getting use to the switch to the Kanga Loaders Ford from the
Commodore I drove before. The Ford seems to be the car to get the one
fast lap out of while the Holden appears better over a race distance.”
Driver quote: Andrew Fisher (NSW) – 9th, 7th, 6th – “Hi-Tech
Motorsports looked after my car in the Lotus series and there is nobody
else I would have preparing my race car. I had a couple of moments but
managed to get out of the way of the anything serious. There was one
guy who was coming through at the final hairpin no matter what.
Fortunately I spotted him and didn’t turn in. He just slid through and
off the track, taking another car with him.”
Driver quote: Matt Moorhead (Qld) – 11th, 17th, 12th – “We managed
to get as high as ninth in the second race, but one of the Holdens was
too ambitious. It hit our Ford and something came off, so I had to
check up. In the last race, the very same car smashed into me, and
triggered the turn one accident that put three cars out of the race.”
Driver quote: Greg Willis (Qld) – 22nd, 22nd, 20th – “I've had a
ball this weekend, and to finish inside the top twenty is a great
bonus. The fact that both mine and Grant’s cars came through virtually
unscathed means less panel work for the Hi-Tech team and more
development.”
Driver quote: Scott Fleming (NSW) – DNF, 16th, DNF – “The
lack of track time in qualifying really set the tone. Then the car
simply cut out in the second race after we worked our way up six
places. Race two was good as we worked our way past many cars to finish
around halfway down the order. Unfortunately I came to grief at turn
eight in the last, just after Ryal (Harris) had his brush with the
concrete.”
Sessions’ Details
First Practice: 5th-Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:41.8067,
7th-Johnson (Holden Commodore SS) 1:42.2968, 10th-Moorhead (Ford Falcon
XR8) 1:42.8915, 17th-Fisher (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:45.3890, 18th-Flemming
(Ford Falcon XR8) 1:45.5427, 26th-Willis (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:48.4978
Second Practice: 4th-Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:40.7436,
7th-Johnson (Holden Commodore SS) 1:41.3637, 13th-Flemming (Ford Falcon
XR8) 1:41.6227, 15th-Moorhead (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:42.6992, 16th-Fisher
(Ford Falcon XR8) 1:42.7415, 29th-Willis (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:45.4698
Qualifying: 2nd-Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:40.1665, 4th-Johnson
(Holden Commodore SS) 1:40.1781, 12th-Moorhead (Ford Falcon XR8)
1:41.2473, 14th-Fisher (Ford Falcon XR8) 1:41.5000, 25th-Willis (Ford
Falcon XR8) 1:45.7955, 28th-Flemming (Ford Falcon XR8) - 2:02.4602
Race One (8 laps): 2nd-Johnson (Holden Commodore SS) 13:39.5647,
5th-Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 13:48.5962, 9th-Fisher (Ford Falcon XR8)
14:01.8349, 11th-Moorhead (Ford Falcon XR8) 14:12.2414, 22nd-Willis
(Ford Falcon XR8 15:30.4669, DNF-Flemming (Ford Falcon XR8 4 laps
Race Two (8 laps): 5th-Johnson (Holden Commodore SS) 13:41.7181,
6th-Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 13:45.9513, 7th-Fisher (Ford Falcon XR8)
13:50.9525, 16th-Flemming (Ford Falcon XR8) 14:01.0407, 17th-Moorhead
(Ford Falcon XR8) 14:03.9179, 22nd-Willis (Ford Falcon XR8) 14:21.1415
Race Three (6 laps): 2nd-Grant Johnson (Holden Commodore SS)
13:38.0763, 4th-Chris Pither (Ford Falcon XR8) 13:39.5207, 6th-Andrew
Fisher (Ford Falcon XR8) 13:44.2906, 12th-Matt Moorhead (Ford Falcon
XR8) 13:51.6040, 20th-Greg Willis (Ford Falcon XR8) 14:24.6871,
DNF-Scott Flemming (Ford Falcon XR8) 4 laps
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