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Solid Team Effort For WPS/WOW Racing At Winton |
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 |
A solid team effort from WPS/WOW Racing has been rewarded with further championship points in Round 4 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria today.
Jason Bargwanna collected his second points scoring result of the round by finishing 15th in Race 3 today to take 20th overall for the round in the #10 WPS Racing Falcon.
Max Wilson may have had a day to forget in the #8 WOW Racing Falcon, but his ninth place finish in yesterday’s opening race was enough to give the Brazilian 18th overall for the round.
Wilson now sits 19th in the overall championship standings, with
Bargwanna equal 23rd in the series points. WPS/WOW Racing also
maintains 11th in the V8 Supercar Teams Championship.
Wilson made a terrific start to the second race this morning, leaping
to seventh before the first corner from ninth on the grid. Both Wilson
and Bargwanna were in a position to capitalise on the success of Race
One and score further points mid-race, with both cars having pitted for
slicks in the first half of the race.
A strategy to switch to wet tyres when rain hit the circuit with 18
laps remaining dropped both cars down the order and when rain was
lighter than expected the cars were unable to gain the ground first
expected. Bargwanna, who was delayed in his pit stop when forced to
wait for team-mate Wilson’s stop, finished in 25th position.
Wilson missed a down-change entering the sweeper and went off the
circuit, filling the front of the car with mud and blocking the
radiator and air ducting. The resulting blockage overheated the engine,
making an engine change necessary between races.
With only a little over an hour between the end of Race 2 and the start
of Race 3, it was a monumental effort from the WPS/WOW Racing crew to
have Wilson’s car ready to start from pit lane just minutes before the
start of the final race.
The final event, however, was not a successful one for Wilson, who was
forced to retire with a brake problem on lap 28 of the 40-lap event.
Bargwanna meanwhile drove an outstanding race to climb to 17th position
from 25th on the grid on the first lap of the race. Bargwanna waited
until lap lap 23 to make his pit stop, the WPS/WOW Racing crew holding
off until the halfway point of the race to see if looming rain clouds
would affect the race.
The rain held off and some slick pit work by the WPS/WOW Racing team
put Bargwanna in 15th position after pitting for rear slick tyres. The
former Bathurst champion then succeeded in holding that position for
the remaining laps to score two more vital championship points.
Jamie Whincup won this weekend’s round ahead of team-mates Garth Tander
and championship leader and defending series winner Rick Kelly.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY …
Max Wilson – #8 WOW Racing Falcon “My highlight of today was
definitely the great effort by the boys to complete an engine change
and get the WOW car back out on the track for the start of Race 3,”
said Wilson.
“When you start from the back it is very hard to make up ground and
with all of the team’s efforts going into changing the engine we really
didn’t have time to change the car set-up and get the car going quicker
for Race 3.
“I was just driving as smooth as possible and keeping consistent to see
what we could get out of the last race when we had a brake problem and
had to retire.
“I missed a down-shift in Race 2 as I was heading into the sweeper and
it sent me off. The car picked up a lot of mud and by the time I made
it back to the pits the engine was overheated and we had to make a
change.
“It was a pity that we couldn’t repeat our form from Saturday but we
have definitely showed that we are capable of great things. We will
work hard at getting back on track and scoring more points at Eastern
Creek.”
Jason Bargwanna – #10 WPS Racing Falcon “We had a good final race today,” said Bargwanna.
“I had a great start, good pit stop, a clean race and a consistent and competitive car.
“It was a pity we didn’t get the most out of it in Race 2 but we scored
points in two out of three races this round and I think we have showed
that we are capable of being in that top 15 in each and every race.
“This sort of pace and result is what we want from every race and with
the hard work everyone is putting in things will only get better.”
Craig Gore – Team Owner “Another great effort by the boys today,” said Gore.
“We have scored more points this weekend and showed some pace. The boys
never gave up today and it was an outstanding effort to get Max’s WOW
car back on the track for Race 3 with a fresh engine.
“Bargs drove very well all weekend and did well to score points in two
out of three races. It could have been even better for him, but it’s
good that he now has a solid haul of points on the board.
“The team continues to make strides and move up the order. The guys
have done well this weekend and I’m sure we can continue to improve at
the next round at Eastern Creek.”
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