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Glenfords Racing Show Strong Form In Enduro Debut |
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In their first ever endurance event, Glenfords Racing finished 25th after the 500 kilometres at Sandown Raceway today.
After running as high as 18th after the first driver change the Glenfords team dropped down the order when co-driver Webb came off the track and was trapped in the sand.
Despite the setback, the team took a lot of positives from the weekend and head to Mt Panorama with added confidence.
As is becoming the norm for Marshall, the Glenfords-AEG driver made an excellent start, climbing to 26th from his grid position of 28th.
After pressuring Mark Noske for a number of laps Marshall made his move at the end of the long pit straight to climb to 25th and proceeded to pressure youngster Shane Price.
Paul Morris caught up on Marshall and found a way past the Glenfords-AEG Falcon, dropping Marshall a position briefly before he again made his move into turn one on Price to claim back 25th.
A retirement from Paul Dumbrell took Glenfords Racing to 24th where they ran for an extended period.
By lap 30 Marshall had closed on Morris, the gap just 0.3 seconds before Marshall ran deep into turn one on lap 37 and ran off the track briefly but held his position.
Additional car troubles in the field saw the Glenfords-AEG Ford continue to climb up the ranks, sitting in 23rd after the 40th lap
Price and Mark Porter found their way past Marshall but the number 20 car was in a strong position heading into the first driver change.
The Glenfords crew brought Marshall in for their scheduled driver change, where they also changed tyres and refuelled, on lap 52 with the team running in 26th.
Webb rejoined the race in 18th, after the team made a great strategic move to pit at the perfect time with a safety car brought out onto the track and a made strong progress, with championship leader Craig Lowndes right behind him.
While Webb was unable to hold Lowndes, he maintained his 19th position and despite a slight run off the track at turn one was able to stay in his position on the track.
Settling into a strong race pace, Webb set times faster than his earlier practice times, indicating his fast development in the Ford V8 Supercar.
However, just when all things running smoothly and to plan, disaster struck when Webb locked a brake and ended up in the sand trap on lap 89, bringing out the safety car and dropping the Glenfords-AEG Falcon down to 26th position.
On the restart, Webb focussed on keeping the car straight and gained valuable experience among a field of seasoned drivers before bringing it in to pit lane for Marshall to step into.
Marshall took to the driver's seat and a quick change was slowed by a problem with the front wheel, caused when Webb went off the track.
A safety car early in Marshall's final stint was brought out and on the restart, race leader Mark Skaife had steering troubles and was forced to pit after running off the track, rising Marshall up to 25th position.
Still pushing hard, Marshall set his fastest lap of the race with a 1:13.0374 on lap 119 but after falling off the lead lap during the middle of the race, Marshall settled into a fast race pace and got the car through to the chequered flag for a strong finish in 25th.
MARCUS MARSHALL
"We where going really well and had a strong car early on and the team made a great strategic over to get us into the pits during the safety car which moved us well up the field."
"Unfortunately Jonathon had a lock up which resulted in us losing a few laps but he has learnt a lot this weekend and continually improved his pace so he did a good job for the team, particularly given he drove Carrera Cup too.
"But in the end we had a good weekend despite the setback and for the team's first ever endurance event we had a strong car and it ran strong through to the end of the race."
JONATHON WEBB
"I'm really happy with the whole weekend, everything went well except for the lock up I had mid race which obviously cost us a fair bit. But overall I learnt so much and to race against some of these guys is a great experience and will only make me a better, faster driver."
"It is a big learning curve, but I can't wait for Bathurst and try to make even more improvements."
PAUL CRUICKSHANK
"Our position early in the race was very good and after the first stop I think we were 18th so everything was going to plan."
"We lost time mid race when we went off the track but our race pace was good and we again went forward as a team which is what we have set out to do all year, make every step a forward one and improve each round; which we have been doing."
"The learning continues and this was the teams' first endurance event so we'll take the learning from this weekend to Mt Panorama and look for a strong result."
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 January 2007 )
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