Courtney fifth in
race one at the Creek
Round 2, Eastern Creek International Raceway, NSW, 7-9 March 2008
JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney claimed fifth in today’s opening race at
round two of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Eastern Creek International
Raceway.
Courtney rated himself lucky to have held on for the top five finish after
battling with a broken front roll bar for the final 20 laps of the race.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver started from seventh on the grid and made a
cracking start to pick up fifth position on the opening lap, leap-frogging Mark
Skaife and Cameron McConville.
He pitted on lap six for two rear tyres and reclaimed fifth place after a clean
stop. Five laps later the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver reported problems with the
front roll bar and was unable to adjust the number four BF Ford Falcon for the
remainder of the race.
SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen was on target for a top 15 finish in race
one until a tag in the rear from Paul Morris on the final lap turned him around,
dropping him four places to 18th position.
Van Gisbergen started today’s 31-lap race from tenth on the grid, but dropped
three positions in the opening laps.
The SP Tools Racing driver found himself in 17th place following his pit stop on
lap eight, losing position due to a trip into the grass on his in-lap.
The 18-year-old Kiwi driver put his head down in the closing laps of the race to
make his way back to 14th position before being taken off by Morris. V8
Supercars Investigating and Prosecuting Officer is investigating the incident.
Van Gisbergen caught the attention of many in the V8 Supercar paddock this
morning with his 10th place qualifying effort. The SP Tools Racing driver put
himself in front of many more established V8 Supercar drivers in his first ever
event at the Eastern Creek circuit.
JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney ensured that SBR had two cars inside the
top ten, qualifying in seventh place.
Courtney and van Gisbergen will be back on track tomorrow for the final day of
racing at Eastern Creek. Race two commences at 11:40am followed by race three at
4:00pm.
James Courtney, car #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport
“We had a completely different car today from yesterday’s practice.
“The changes the JELD-WEN guys made overnight changed the car drastically so it
was great to get back up in the top ten today.
“We had a great start to the race, picking up a couple of positions, and a very
clean stop.
“Not long after the stop we broke a front roll bar so I wasn’t able to adjust
the car for tyre wear throughout the rest of the race.
“The JELD-WEN Falcon was pretty tricky to drive for 20 laps but we bagged some
good points today and it will be good as new tomorrow.”
Shane van Gisbergen, car #9, SP Tools Racing
“The characteristics of the SP Tools Falcon were similar today but any problems
we had yesterday were minimized.
“It was great to be in the top ten in qualifying today. It’s the first time I
have been up that far.
“We had a reasonable race. We lost a few spots at the start but we had pretty
good speed and we were able to keep with the group.
“I had an off on our in lap for the pit stop. We lost some time and I exited the
pits into a group of cars that we had speed on so we didn’t get the best out of
our tyres.
“We got the SP Tools Falcon back into 14th position but I was served up by
(Paul) Morris on the last lap at turn nine. He tried to make a gap that wasn’t
there and spun me off the track.
“We will work hard again tomorrow and try to break back into the top ten.”
Ross Stone, Team Principal, Stone Brothers Racing
“SBR made an excellent recovery today in qualifying following practice
yesterday.
“For Shane to have his first top ten was superb. I was hoping he would be in the
mix for a top ten towards the end of the season so to do it on a circuit that is
new to him was great.
“The SP Tools and JELD-WEN guys were able to improve the cars slightly between
qualifying and the race.
“Shane had a solid race and should probably have been 14th if he had not been
turned around by (Paul) Morris. The incident is being investigated so we will
wait to hear on that.
He’s clocking up points and learning to race with some very good drivers, both
in front and behind him.
“James did a great job as always, hanging in for fifth in the JELD-WEN car which
was pretty tough to drive late in the race.
“He’s grabbed some good points and provided some great feedback to make
improvements to the cars tomorrow.”
V8 Supercars – Race 1
1. Garth Tander
2. Will Davison
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Rick Kelly
5. James Courtney
6. Mark Skaife
7. Craig Lowndes
8. Lee Holdsworth
9. Greg Murphy
10. Mark Winterbottom
18. Shane Van Gisbergen
V8 Supercars – Qualifying
1. Garth Tander 1:32.1080
2. Mark Skaife 1:32.2926
3. Rick Kelly 1:32.4431
4. Jamie Whincup 1:32.5097
5. Cameron McConville 1:32.7130
6. Will Davison 1:32.7527
7. James Courtney 1:32.7706
8. Lee Holdsworth 1:32.8409
9. Paul Dumbrell 1:33.4414
10. Shane Van Gisbergen 1:33.5298