PRESS ROOM

SBR Keen to Finish Season on a High at Phillip Island

Round 13, Caterpillar Grand Finale, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

8-10 December 2006

Stone Brothers Racing will be looking to end the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series on a high note at this weekend’s Caterpillar Grand Finale, to be held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria.

The three-time V8 Supercar Championship team has had a tough year by its high standards, with no race or round wins so far. However, two podiums through JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney and nine top ten finishes for the SBR duo of Courtney and Russell Ingall in the second half of the season indicate a return to form.

A strong finish in the final round will provide the Caltex Racing and JELD-WEN Motorsport crews with valuable momentum to carry into the 2007 season. Team Manager and co-owner Ross Stone believes that strong cars at the end of Friday’s two-and-a-half hour practice session will be the key to a successful weekend at the seaside circuit.

The SBR team return to Phillip Island with fond memories of the double celebrations a year ago; the title win for Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall and SBR’s first round win at the Victorian circuit through Marcos Ambrose.

Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall finds himself in a completely different situation 12 months on. Currently fifth in the 2006 standings, Ingall is out to improve his championship position and come away with a good result to end a tough year.

While Ingall will be making his tenth start at the circuit, JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney will race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the first time. Despite this, he will be feeling completely at home this weekend, having tested at the circuit with the Holden Racing Team in 2005. Courtney has been looking forward to the challenge of the fast, sweeping circuit for months and is confident of continuing his good form.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver will be looking to cement his tenth position in the Championship, with hopes to gain enough points to move to ninth.

Points of interest…

Stone Brothers Racing had its first round win at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit last year (Marcos Ambrose).
JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney will race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the first time this weekend.
Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall had a round win at Phillip Island in 1997.
Round 13 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series will see James Courtney complete his first V8 Supercar season, in which he has achieved two podium finishes (Oran Park and Bathurst) and six top ten finishes so far.

Russell Ingall, Caltex Racing

“Obviously I’ve got some great memories of Phillip Island, winning the Championship there last year, and SBR was really strong there 12 months ago.

“But we are in a completely different situation this year. We are going to have to work just as hard, even harder, this weekend to make sure we can take something away from this round and work on it for next year.”

James Courtney, JELD-WEN Motorsport

“I’ve been looking forward to getting to Phillip Island all year. I tested there with HRT so it’s a track I know well and I really enjoy it. It’s a bit like the circuits that I’m used to racing on overseas.

“The Championship is so close now so I’m sure there will be plenty of games going on out there. Without that to worry about hopefully we can get out there and drive off with it and give SBR a great finish to the year.”

Ross Stone, Team Manager, Stone Brothers Racing

“Both Jimmy (Stone) and myself are keen to win at Phillip Island this weekend. It has been a long time, six years I think, that SBR hasn’t won a race or Championship round in a season and that’s not a statistic we want to our name.

“The first practice session is going to be important and we really need the JELD-WEN and Caltex cars to be strong going into qualifying to get into a good position early.”

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