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FROSTY BACK ON THE PODIUM AT PI

16/11/2014
 

FROSTY BACK ON THE PODIUM AT PI
PHILLIP ISLAND 400 SATURDAY WRAP
 
Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom has made a welcome return to the podium at Phillip Island, finishing third in the second race where team-mate Chaz Mostert closed to just four points off his much-prized fifth place in the standings.

Winterbottom surged to the lead in the second race but did not quite have the pace to hold top spot, eventually settling for third.

The opening race was a tougher affair with an off-track excursion and resultant pit stop consigning him to 24th.

Mostert endured a similarly hard first race after being punted off track by Garth Tander, though his fight back and a strong top 10 run in the day’s final outing sees him close the points gap.

David Reynolds enjoyed his most consistent outing for quite a few events though he believes he can further improve for Sunday’s feature race.

Jack Perkins felt his improved qualifying effort marked progress but was incensed with a number of overly-audacious moves in the final race which saw drop to the back of the pack. 
 
 
 
 
DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom - #5 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 33: 4th    
Result Race 33: 24th 
Qualifying Race 34: 2nd
Result Race 34: 3rd 
“It has been a tough year and our team deserves credit for how well we started the year. We were going well there for most of the year but we dug ourselves a bit of a hole mid-year which cost us. We are on the up though and are getting there but we weren’t good enough for the whole year so full credit to Jamie (Whincup) and his team. In the first race I was just trying to have a crack and I just didn’t have as much grip as the people I was racing. I took all the grass from turn one to two when I went off which forced me to stop as the engine was about to go kaput. The podium was nice but winning is what we are here to do so we’ll keep pushing to improve.”
 
Chaz Mostert - #6 Pepsi Max FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 33: 6th    
Result Race 33: 16th
Qualifying Race 34: 11th  
Result Race 34: 9th
“I didn’t qualify too poorly, though I did make a mistake in the second session. The two 10-minute sessions limit what you can change if you need to make changes and we did so that cost us a little. I was holding fourth until (Garth) Tander went up the inside of me and he didn’t give me a lot of room. The contact reefed the steering wheel out of my hands and that dropped me down the field. We didn’t have many opportunities to pass in the second race and that was it. We did make some gains today and I think we can improve out pace for tomorrow.”
 
David Reynolds - #55 The Bottle-O FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 33: 11th    
Result Race 33: 7th
Qualifying Race 34: 10th  
Result Race 34: 12th 
“Today we’ve gone for a bit of a different set-up today, which is something we wouldn’t really do except here at Phillip Island. It’s been good to tick the box, and see how it goes, but it’s also been frustrating because we haven’t had as much pace as we’ve been used to. It’s a bit of a one-step back, two-steps forward situation, I think. Qualifying was consistent, and had a good first race. I don’t have massive pace, but I’m able to battle and hold position. I got pushed off in the last race, and then had to hold position from there to finish 12th.”
 
Jack Perkins - #18 JELD-WEN FPR Ford:
Qualifying Race 33: 17th    
Result Race 33: 17th
Qualifying Race 34: 17th  
Result Race 34: 24th  
“We were consistent in qualifying, with 17th in both races. It’s not where we want to be, but it’s better than being in the 20s. That shows a sign of improvement, which is good. We’ll look to improve that tomorrow to have a good run in the longer race. The first race was lacklustre, starting and finishing 17th. We made some great changes for the second race, and I got a great start making up a few spots, and had a bit of pace. Then I got used up by someone I respect, in car #8, and dropped right back to last. I had a lot of pace on the guys around me, but got pushed off again by someone who got over ambitious so it was just a case of hanging on after that. We’ll turn it around and have another crack tomorrow.”
 
 
Tim Edwards – Team Principal: 
“Obviously it was a disappointing day with the championship now out of our grasp but our improved qualifying pace and a return to the podium for Frosty was a positive. The longer race tomorrow will suit us better so we all expect to have a stronger day. Congratulations to Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight on their title success.”
 
 
PHILLIP ISLAND 400 RESULTS – SATURDAY 
RACE 33
1) Scott McLaughlin – Garry Rogers Motorsport
2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight
3) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight 
4) Garth Tander – HRT 
5) Michael Caruso – Kelly Racing   
7) David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team 
15) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
17) Jack Perkins – Team JELD-WEN
24) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew 
 
RACE 34
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight
2) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight
3) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew
4) Garth Tander – HRT
5) Todd Kelly – Kelly Racing
9) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 
12) David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 
24) Jack Perkins – Team JELD-WEN
 

DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2974 points
2) Mark Winterbottom – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2513 
3) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2469
4) Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno: 2397
5) Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing: 2223
6) Chaz Mostert – Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 2219
16) David Reynolds – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 1586
23) Jack Perkins – Team JELD-WEN: 1146
 
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Triple Eight: 5493 points
2) Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 4757
3) HRT: 4175
 
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