PRESS ROOM

SBR Duo in Top Seven at Queensland Raceway

Round 7, Queensland Raceway, Race 2 / Race 3 Report

Sunday 22 July 2007

Stone Brothers Racing produced a strong team performance at round seven of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Queensland today with both SBR Falcons finishing inside the top seven.

JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney claimed sixth position for the round at the 3.12km Willowbank circuit. The result was bittersweet however; a post-race penalty of 27-seconds added to his race three time cost Courtney fourth for the round.

Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall was only two points behind his team-mate, taking seventh place after strong performances in race two and three.

Courtney started this afternoon’s final race at Queensland Raceway from fourth on the grid and was again in the mix at the start, dicing with Craig Lowndes for third position.

Unable to hold his early advantage, Courtney slipped into fourth position until his compulsory pit stop on lap six.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver battled with oversteer throughout the race, dropping three positions on lap 23 at a safety car restart.

Courtney raced with Mark Skaife in the closing stages of the race, the pair making contact on the final lap causing Skaife to spin. The result was a 27-second time penalty for Courtney for careless driving, sending him from seventh to 18th position in the final race.

Ingall was in the action throughout race three, starting from sixth on the grid. Dropping to 10th early, the Caltex Racing driver had some entertaining battles with Paul Morris and Jason Richards.

Ingall crossed the line in tenth, but was ultimately awarded ninth place as a result of Courtney’s penalty.

Earlier in the day, SBR showed its best form of the weekend in race two, Courtney crossing the line in fourth and Ingall claiming sixth.

Starting from third on the grid, Courtney had a slick start but was unable to hold off Jamie Whincup on the opening lap, conceding third position.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon pitted on lap seven and rejoined the race behind Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Garth Tander, the order of the top four unchanged by the compulsory stops.

Courtney continued in fourth for the remainder of the 38-lap race.

Ingall started from ninth and slipped to tenth by lap two. A slick pit stop on lap six saw Ingall jump up four spots to sixth position, which he held until the chequered flag.

In the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, Jonathon Webb continued to claw his way back up the order after his exclusion from qualifying on Saturday.

Webb started race two from 14th position, quickly making his way into the top ten. In a hard-fought race, he claimed another two positions to finish eighth, placing him in grid position nine for the final race of the day.

From ninth, Webb was able to peg back a further five places after a great start and a clean race, finishing race three in fourth position and claiming seventh for the round.

Russell Ingall, car #9, Caltex Racing

“I think the message is out that we can have a go. It was a bit of fun out there today.

“I have to applaud the officials for letting us what we do best – and that’s race.

“All you could see was dust out there – it was fantastic. And it was all pretty fair; you race hard, get the elbows out and get fixed up a couple of times yourself.

“That’s the most I have enjoyed a day of racing for a long, long time. I am sure there will be the odd whinger, but they have to understand the big picture and that’s the entertainment we have to provide the fans.

“There is no doubt that the fans got their monies worth today.

“Overall we had a reasonable day and it could have been better if not for a wheel nut problem during my stop in the final race.

“The pleasing thing for us is that we seem to be getting our car speed back at the right end of the season. That can only be a good thing with the big events coming up; we’ve got some speed, we’ve got some fight, game on!”

James Courtney, car #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport

“Getting a drive-through penalty after the final race is pretty crushing for me and for the JELD-WEN crew; we all worked really hard to turn things around this weekend.

“It was a pretty full on race and there was quite a bit of action. I was having a bit of a battle with Mark (Skaife).

“On the final lap, Rick ran down the side of Mark and I was a bit wider on the racing line.

“As we went through the corner they both propped and stood on the brakes quite hard. I locked up as a tried to avoid it and tapped Mark on the side. I got off it and gave him room to roll back onto the track in front of me but he didn’t so I kept going.

“We didn’t really have the car to run at the front in the first part of the final race; we were really struggling on that first set of tyres.

“The JELD-WEN Falcon came back a bit from halfway in the race; it certainly didn’t deteriorate as much as a lot of the others did but it was a bit late to make an impression at that stage.

“We just have to take the points that we did get and get back on it at Oran Park.”

Jonathon Webb, car #94, Stone Brothers Racing (Fujitsu V8 Supercars)

“The SBR Falcon was much better in race three after a few changes; really nice to drive.

“I got a really good start, probably the best one of the year. It looks like I’ve finally worked out how to get it off the line!

“After that I just kept out of trouble. I would have like to get D’Alberto at the end but it was a pretty good result after the bad start to the weekend.

“It’s pretty satisfying to race your way up to fourth from the rear of a 39-car grid.

“We pulled in some points and are looking forward to the next round to see if we can gain some ground in the championship.”

Ross Stone, Team Manager, Stone Brothers Racing

“Today’s result wasn’t quite what we wanted but it was a result of sorts with both cars inside the top seven for the round.

“It also puts both Russell and James back inside the top ten in the Championship so that’s something to build on.

“It was an opportunity missed today with James contacting Skaife. The JELD-WEN Falcon proved to be very good on the longer runs as the race went on. And it was good to see Russell out there racing hard; we look forward to more of that.”

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SBR Duo in Top Seven at Queensland Raceway

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