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Glenfords Racing Climb The Ladder In Eventful Day For The Team |
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Race wins, impressive gains and bizarre events summed up the day for Glenfords Racing in their 50th race meeting as a team.
Having never raced at the 2.2km Oran Park circuit in the Ford Falcon V8 Supercar, Glenfords Racing, run by Paul Cruickshank Racing, faced a tough challenge to produce the right setup on a track well known for its technically challenging layout.
A disappointing qualifying session saw the Glenfords-AEG V8 Supercar qualify in 30th position with the team struggling to find the best combination for the Oran Park circuit.
Between qualifying and race one the V8 pit crew utilised their time to the minute and made some significant improvements on the car, giving Marshall a much improved setup for the race.
A strong start by Marshall saw him net multiple positions and held 27th after the first few hectic laps.
Pitting on lap 5, the first lap in the compulsory pitstop window, the Glenfords crew made a quick stop for rear tyres but had to remove some debris caught in the font radiator.
Amazingly, and disappointingly, the debris ultimately turned out to be a marshal's yellow flag and cost the team valuable track position while it was removed.
When teams had made their stops Marshal was in 26th position when a safety car was brought out for Mark Skaife's stricken car.
On restart, Marshall in the Glenfords-AEG Ford Falcon capitalised, again showing his ability when the racing is at its tightest, gaining an impressive five spots through the first three corners to climb to 21st.
Chasing Paul Morris, Marshall found it difficult to find a way around and succumbed to Greg Murphy and Cameron McConville in the process.
With no side mirrors on his V8 Supercar left, Marshall's vision was limited, but looked forward and continued to hunt down Morris.
Car retirements saw Marshall again into 21st position and challenging strongly for 20th and above in the final laps, while pressure from behind came from Luff, who Marshall comfortably held off.
On the tail of Morris to the flag, Marshall made the most of every opportunity after a disappointing starting position and made up nine spots in race one to finish a well deserved 21st.
In the Carrera Cup, Glenfords Racing had their first ever one-two in qualifying, courtesy of Alex Davison (pole position) and Jonathon Webb (second), but during a safety car in the race, Jonathon Webb's Glenfords-Makita Porsche caught fire in dramatic fashion and although Webb managed to escape unscathed, but the car suffered serious damage.
However all was not lost as Davison again showed his class to take a commanding victory in the race, while rookie driver David Wall also showed strong form with an eighth place.
Both the V8 Supercar and Carrera Cup teams will complete the round tomorrow with their final two races.
MARCUS MARSHALL "I think we have turned our weekend around as we weren't quick enough in practice or qualifying."
"The changes took some time to do but the guys did really well and gave the car a noticeable improvement in the race."
"We lost a significant amount of time when we had to remove the marshal's yellow flag during our stop but we made some great positions on the track today and that's really encouraging."
PAUL CRUICKSHANK "The round wasn't looking too good for us earlier today but the day has turned out pretty well."
"After qualifying the guys worked extremely hard to improve the car and they put a much improved ca on the grid for Marcus.he responded with a great start and also a great restart which gave us a great result in the end."
"Our race pace was again strong and Marcus drove the car well today."
"We also had our first one-two in qualifying in the Carrera Cup today, which was a great effort. Alex (Davison) went on to take a great victory, but it was dampened by the fire damage to Jonathon's car, but it was a great drive by Alex nonetheless."
"So in our team's 50th race meeting, the day has really had a bit of everything for us but on the whole it has been a very good day."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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