PRESS ROOM

Penalty Puts Paid to Strong Result for Courtney

10 May 2008

JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney looked set for a strong top ten result in race one at Barbagallo Raceway today until a drive-through penalty sent him back to finish in 20th position.

Courtney qualified fifth in this morning’s three-leg elimination session and made a good start to race one, holding fifth early in the race.

Following his compulsory pit stop on lap 14, the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver had his hands full as the SBR Falcon went off the boil.

Steady in sixth position, Courtney raced with Rick Kelly until he received a warning for blocking on lap 36. Kelly passed the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon before Courtney received a drive-through penalty for blocking one lap later.

The penalty sent the Gold Coast-based driver back to 21st position, the JELD-WEN Falcon eventually taking the chequered flag in 20th place.

SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen didn’t fare any better than his team-mate, taken out on the first lap by a spinning Michael Caruso.

Van Gisbergen put in a fantastic qualifying effort in his first Barbagallo appearance, claiming 10th on the grid.

The SP Tools Racing driver made a steady start only to be the innocent party in an incident involving Jason Bright, Michael Caruso and Greg Murphy at the last corner on lap one.

Van Gisbergen came straight into the pits for repairs but was unable to rejoin the race. The SBR crew will repair the SP Too ls Racing Falcon overnight in time for race two tomorrow.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport and SP Tools Racing Falcons will be back on track at 10:15am for race two before the third and final race at 2:00pm.

James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport

“I guess I was surprised how quickly the black flag was called after I got the warning for blocking; Rick (Kelly) had got past me already.

“I’m pretty frustrated to be at the back of the field again after a good qualifying session.

“The JELD-WEN Falcon was good early but it started to go off very quickly after our pit stop. I was struggling just about everywhere on the track and just trying to hang on to position.

“It’s possible that something may have broken during the race; the guys are having a look at it now to get back on track tomorrow.”

Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon

“The hit from Caruso took me by surprise.

“I was coming out of th e corner and had the power down and all of a sudden I got drilled.

“I spun around a few times and went straight into the pits but we couldn’t get the SP Tools Falcon back out on the track.

“It was a shame that we couldn’t carry on after a really good qualifying session. It was great to be in the top ten again.

“I guess I will have plenty of passing practice tomorrow.”

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Penalty Puts Paid to Strong Result for Courtney

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