|
Mark
Winterbottom dominated proceedings at Queensland Raceway today, giving Ford
Performance Racing a comfortable lead in the V8 Supercar Championship
Series.
The
27-year-old scored two wins, and his third round victory this year, with a
power-house performance that started as the flag dropped for the day’s
opening battle.
Frosty
beat fellow Ford driver James Courtney off the line in this morning’s
race and effectively led every lap after that. He withstood a determined
attack from Russell Ingall in the day’s final race but the Orrcon
Steel Ford Credit Falcon powered away in the second half as Ingall’s
tyres faded.
Team-mate
Steve Richards’ weekend was over-shadowed by an incident with Mark
Skaife in this morning’s opener. The Holden driver out-braked himself
into the back of the Castrol FPR Falcon, spinning Richo down to 12th.
He recovered to finish seventh and looked good for a podium as he sought to
take advantage of the lap one haggling in the second race of the day.
As
the pack bunched, Richards went wide at turn three but was again tagged and
fell down the order to 18th, eventually finishing 11th.
Mark
Winterbottom
#5
Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon
“We’ve
got the points ticking away but we’ll still be going for race wins!
I’ve got a bit of confidence now. In 2006 (Jason) Bright had the pace
on me and in 2007 I had the raw pace but I made a few stupid mistakes. Now
I’ve got the perfect combination and we’re leading the
championship! We’ve got a strong car, a strong team; it’s all
gelling and I feel like this is my time.
“I
don’t feel the pressure too bad because I’ve been doing
competitive sport since I was five years old. Everything I do is
competitive; I thrive it and the pressure. It's great to be leading; it’s
a privilege and I’m enjoying it.”
Steve
Richards
#6
Castrol FPR Falcon
“Frosty
is the man to beat at the moment. He’s got pace and he’s
consistent; it’s going to be very hard for anyone to catch him.
“My
race weekend has been a bit disappointing. The car clearly had good pace
and as the fuel was going off it was just getting better and better. It
seems that every time we make progress we end up having to recover from one
situation or another.
“With
the Skaife incident, I couldn’t see what was going on behind me. All
I know is I was on the inside of him and then got a shove from behind.
You’re already on the edge through that corner so any contact will
turn you around.”
Tim
Edwards
Team
Principal
“Nothing
surprises me anymore! The team seems to be able to produce a fantastic car
for every circuit we go to. Other than a couple of incidents for Steve, he
would have been on the podium too.
“A
one-hundred point lead means absolutely nothing at this stage though. It
has no impact on our approach; we’ve got to push as hard for the next
half of the season as we have for the first.”
V8
Supercar Championship Series Round 7
Queensland
Raceway
RACE
2
|
1
|
Mark
Winterbottom
|
#5
Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon
|
|
2
|
Russell
Ingall
|
PMM
|
|
3
|
Jamie
Whincup
|
888
|
|
4
|
Garth
Tander
|
HRT
|
|
5
|
Will
Davison
|
DJR
|
|
6
|
James
Courtney
|
SBR
|
|
7
|
Steve
Richards
|
#6
Castrol FPR Falcon
|
V8
Supercar Championship Series Round 7
Queensland
Raceway
RACE
THREE
|
1
|
Mark
Winterbottom
|
#5
Orrcon Steel Ford Credit FPR Falcon
|
|
2
|
James
Courtney
|
SBR
|
|
3
|
Russell
Ingall
|
PMM
|
|
4
|
Garth
Tander
|
HRT
|
|
5
|
Will
Davison
|
DJR
|
|
6
|
Jamie
Whincup
|
888
|
|
11
|
Steve
Richards
|
#6
Castrol FPR Falcon
|
V8
Supercar Championship Series
CHAMPIONSHIP
POINTS
|
1
|
Mark
Winterbottom
|
1694
|
|
2
|
Garth Tander
|
1572
|
|
3
|
Jamie
Whincup
|
1486
|
|
4
|
Rick
Kelly
|
1312
|
|
5
|
Steve
Richards
|
1299
|
V8
Supercar Championship Series
TEAM
POINTS
|
1
|
FPR
|
2993
|
|
2
|
888
|
2661
|
|
3
|
HRT
|
2510
|
|
