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Contrasting Fortunes For Dare Shots Drivers At Phillip Island |
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Friday, 25 August 2006 |
| Attachment 16920 |
| James Koundouris : #69 Dare Coffee Shots Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car (Richard Craill / Race Torque Photo) |
AS Brothers, Canberra’s James and Theo Koundouris will often share plenty of things, but as race car drivers, things are often vastly different.
Which is quite possibly why the two Porsche GT3 drivers had vastly contrasting fortunes in last weekend’s sixth round of the Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship; a one hour mini endurance event held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in Victoria.
To strengthen the potential for strong results, Danish Sportscar sensation – and former Australian GT Championship round winner – Allan Simonsen
was drafted to drive the #69 Dare Coffee Shots Porsche with James
Koundouris, with Theo driving his #19 as usual.
With Theo’s title chances potentially reduced thanks to a missed round
earlier in the season, Simonsen was brought into the team to add
further strength to James’ title chances driving the #69 car.
The two team cars filled the third row of the grid in qualifying, Theo
(#19 Dare Shots / Supabarn Supermarkets Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) setting a
strong 1m36.1637 for fifth place with James just a few tenths back in
6th place.
Those positions were maintained with the start of the one hour event
held in clear conditions Sunday afternoon, the #69 car (With James
starting) running fifth and the #19 entry sixth in the early stages.
The first of the leading cars pitted on lap 13, heavy tyre wear amongst
the Porsche contingent slowing things dramatically for a number of
competitors. Still, James brought the #69 car into third place on Lap
13 as the team prepared for the stops.
However, that’s where the good run ended – Forced to pit a lap later
than scheduled the #69 car suffered a Tyre failure en route to the
pits. Although only suffering minor damage, the car lost two laps in
the process with Simonsen taking over for the run to the flag to an
eventual 16th place finish.
Theo had a run with a bit more luck on its side, taking his stop on lap
19 and running uninterrupted to a strong fourth place finish just
behind the #1 Porsche of Bryce Washington.
The washout from the weekend has seen James consolidate his third place
in the points, with Theo closing down his brother in fourth place, now
just 35 points behind with two rounds remaining - the next in just a
week’s time at Queensland Raceway.
“It wasn’t an easy weekend,” Theo said.
“We just didn’t have quite enough pace and the Tyre problems were
frustrating. But we were able to keep it on track and get home for a
good finish.
“I really enjoyed the longer format though. The short, sprint races
don’t give you long enough to get into a rhythm when you can in the
long race. Our crew did a great job all weekend and gave me a good car
during the race.”
James was philosophical following the event, ruing a potential podium finish.
“It happened on the lap we were coming in, it’s really a case of ‘what if’ for us,” he said.
“I’m pretty certain that we were on for a top three, top two result so
it was frustrating to have that happen. But that’s racing. We had a
good car all weekend and I was happy with my speed compared to Allan.
We probably could have been in the 1m35s in qualifying if we had
changed the setup a bit, but even on my fastest lap I passed two cars.
“I’m sure that the Dare Coffee Shots car will bounce back at Queensland next weekend.” He said.
The one hour format contested successfully at Phillip Island will
continue at Queensland Raceway, both drivers ‘going solo’ thanks to
Simonsen’s prior V8 Supercar commitments at Sandown.
James and Theo Koundouris and Supabarn Racing thank the ongoing support
of their sponsors: Dare Coffee Shots with Guarana, Michael Newton
Automotive, and Supabarn Supermarkets.
2006 Speed Energy Drink Australian GT Championship Points standing (After 6 of 8 rounds)
| Pos. |
Driver |
Car |
Points |
| 1 |
Greg Crick |
Dodge Viper GTS ACR |
528 |
| 2 |
Bryce Washington |
Porsche GT3 Cup Car |
470 |
| 3 |
James Koundouris |
Porsche GT3 Cup Car |
356 |
| 4 |
Theo Koundouris |
Porsche GT3 Cup Car |
321 |
| 5 |
John Teulan |
Ferrari F430 Challenge |
265 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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