PRESS ROOM

Torrid Finish for SBR at Eastern Creek

Round 2, Eastern Creek International Raceway, NSW

9 March 2008

Stone Brothers Racing has had a torrid final day at round two of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Eastern Creek International Raceway, with mechanical issues, race incidents and penalties putting paid to a good round finish for the JELD-WEN Motorsport and SP Tools Racing teams.

JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney looked good for a possible podium finish after yesterday’s fifth in race one.

A great start from the Gold Coast-based driver in race two saw him move from fifth to third. However Courtney was quickly passed by Mark Winterbottom and Russell Ingall in the early laps as he struggled with lack of turn in the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon.

A problematic wheel nut extended the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver’s pit stop on lap six, dropping him to 17th position.

Things went from bad to worse after the compulsory pit stop as Courtney struggled to find the speed he had the previous day, unable to improve on 15th position.

Courtney’s day didn’t improve in race three, the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver taken out in a mid-pack incident on the first lap. Courtney took evasive action to avoid a spinning Morris, only to find Tony D’Alberto on the other side, the contact resulting in extensive damage and retirement from the race.

Van Gisbergen’s day was no better, the SP Tools Racing Falcon suffering brake problems from the start of race two causing the Kiwi rookie to run off the circuit on the opening lap.

After an extended stay in the pits Van Gisbergen rejoined the race five laps down, but knuckled down to reach 75 per cent race distance and be classified as a finisher.

The SP Tools Racing Falcon started race three from the rear of the grid, moving through the field to 17th position as the compulsory pit stop window opened.

Van Gisbergen pitted on lap 16 for two rear tyres and rejoined the race in 18th place only to receive a drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane.

The young SBR driver served the penalty, then dug deep to make several passes in the closing laps, crossing the line in 17th place.

Courtney finished the round in 16th place, with Van Gisbergen in 19th.

James Courtney, car #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport

“Coming into turn two at the start of the third race there was a real bottleneck.

“Fabian (Coultard) hit me in the rear and pushed me into Paul (Morris) and it all unfolded from there.

“Paul went into a slow spin and I had to go around the outside of him. Then (Tony) D’Alberto came across from I don’t know where and hit me side on damaging the steering.

“This has all happened because we had a bad second race. Once you get down into that pack in the middle, these things happen.

“We had a good car yesterday, maybe good enough for a podium, but race two this morning put us out of that.”

Shane van Gisbergen, car #9, SP Tools Racing

“It went backward pretty quickly today.

“In race two the pedal in the SP Tools Racing Falcon went long and I didn’t have any brakes.

“We put new rotors on it which helped for a few laps but I ended up pumping the pedal for the whole race.

“It became a bit more predictable at the end so we were able to give it a got and put in a few good lap times.

“In race three I picked up about 10 positions in the opening laps but during my pit stop I ran in the wrong gear down pit lane and overran the limiter.

“We served our penalty then managed to sneak in a few passes after the last safety car restart to get back up to 17th.

“The results didn’t show it this weekend but we have definitely made some progress and learned a lot.”

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Torrid Finish for SBR at Eastern Creek

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