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Teams vie for prestigious Bathurst win
Wednesday 07/10/2009 08:00
Author: Briar Gunther | Source: BigPond Sport - copyright
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2008 Bathurst action
More pitstops and more driver combos who are more than capable of winning the race compared to recent years will throw plenty of variables into the mix at this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The event starts tomorrow (Thursday) but excitement and hype surrounding what is V8 Supercars’ version of a footy grand final has appropriately been building for months.
TeamVodafone will be out to win its groundbreaking fourth consecutive win, which has never been done before and the team will be more eager to win it after narrowly missing victory at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island when it was beaten by Toll Holden Racing Team (HRT).
This year’s Bathurst race is the first time in 20 years that there has not been a #1 car in the field because TeamVodafone have chosen not to run it.
2009 marks the first time since 1989 that #2 is the first number on the entry list and that of course is the HRT Commodore of Garth Tander and Will Davison who won the L&H 500.
HRT has not won Bathurst since 2005 but the Tander/Davison duo say they are simply focused on their jobs and ending the drought.
“I guess it (the hype about TeamVodafone) is justified; they’ve won three in a row and no one has ever won four in a row, but we’re not overly concerned,” Tander said.
“The Toll Holden Racing Team is going to Bathurst to beat everyone, not just one car, so while the media is focused on Whincup and Lowndes, and a lot of other people are focused on beating just that one car, we’re focused on what we need to do.
“If we do our job well, it will be good enough to win the race.”
Davison said he was pumped to tackle Bathurst for the first time as a HRT driver.
“History shows that Holden and HRT are synonymous with Bathurst,” he said.
“Triple Eight are tough to beat on any day, and they’ve had a great run at Bathurst over the last few years, but they’re well and truly beatable – we’ve proven that by winning four out of the last five races this year.”
But there is more competition for HRT to finish the job this year, with a greater number of strong driver combinations that could end up on the top step of the podium.
These include five-time winner Mark Skaife, who teams up for the first time at the big one with Sprint Gas Racing’s Greg Murphy after they finished 11tth at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island.
“I had a great time at the Island and it proved there’s no reason why we can’t do the job at Bathurst,” Skaife said.
“Last year the Murphmobile demonstrated impressive car speed around the mountain and no one warms to the place the way he does.”
Murphy, who last year finished second at Bathurst with then-teammate Jason Richards, hopes the car will be as good at Bathurst this year as it was in 2008.
“We’ll know how well we can go after the first practice session,” Murph said.
“Everything fell into place at Bathurst last year – the car felt good and it was fast.
“We’re certainly hoping it will be the same again next weekend.”
Jack Daniel’s Racing drivers and brothers Todd and Rick Kelly are another combo that could pull off the win.
Todd celebrates his 30th birthday on Friday and like many of the Melbourne teams, they have road-tripped it to Bathurst.
This year they have done it in style, arriving yesterday in a 1953 V8 Chevrolet that they applied the finishing touches to only recently.
On the blue side, Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom said he would push hard to beat Murphy’s 2:6.8594 qualifying lap record around the Mount.
“We should have a pretty good crack at that I reckon,” he said.
“People keep telling me the pressure’s on, but I don’t feel it; no more than you can put on yourself anyway.”
Frosty, who finished the L&H 500 in third with teammate Steve Richards, noted they have started from the front row for the last four years but never stood on the podium.
“This year we’re not protecting a championship so we’re going up there purely to win,” he said.
“It’s such a big race and I want to win it pretty badly.”
The change to CSR E85 ethanol fuel means there will be anything from six to eight pitstops per car during the Great Race which could make or break a team’s chance of winning.
The Fujitsu Series is one of the support categories over the weekend and after a two-year hiatus, the Biante Touring Car Masters Series returns to Mount Panorama for the category’s penultimate round.
Touring Car Masters’ naming-rights sponsor, Biante, has become a secondary sponsor of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Skyline will now be known as Biante Skyline.
Wednesday 07/10/2009 08:00
Author: Briar Gunther | Source: BigPond Sport - copyright
More pitstops and more driver combos who are more than capable of winning the race compared to recent years will throw plenty of variables into the mix at this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The event starts tomorrow (Thursday) but excitement and hype surrounding what is V8 Supercars’ version of a footy grand final has appropriately been building for months.
TeamVodafone will be out to win its groundbreaking fourth consecutive win, which has never been done before and the team will be more eager to win it after narrowly missing victory at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island when it was beaten by Toll Holden Racing Team (HRT).
This year’s Bathurst race is the first time in 20 years that there has not been a #1 car in the field because TeamVodafone have chosen not to run it.
2009 marks the first time since 1989 that #2 is the first number on the entry list and that of course is the HRT Commodore of Garth Tander and Will Davison who won the L&H 500.
HRT has not won Bathurst since 2005 but the Tander/Davison duo say they are simply focused on their jobs and ending the drought.
“I guess it (the hype about TeamVodafone) is justified; they’ve won three in a row and no one has ever won four in a row, but we’re not overly concerned,” Tander said.
“The Toll Holden Racing Team is going to Bathurst to beat everyone, not just one car, so while the media is focused on Whincup and Lowndes, and a lot of other people are focused on beating just that one car, we’re focused on what we need to do.
“If we do our job well, it will be good enough to win the race.”
Davison said he was pumped to tackle Bathurst for the first time as a HRT driver.
“History shows that Holden and HRT are synonymous with Bathurst,” he said.
“Triple Eight are tough to beat on any day, and they’ve had a great run at Bathurst over the last few years, but they’re well and truly beatable – we’ve proven that by winning four out of the last five races this year.”
But there is more competition for HRT to finish the job this year, with a greater number of strong driver combinations that could end up on the top step of the podium.
These include five-time winner Mark Skaife, who teams up for the first time at the big one with Sprint Gas Racing’s Greg Murphy after they finished 11tth at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island.
“I had a great time at the Island and it proved there’s no reason why we can’t do the job at Bathurst,” Skaife said.
“Last year the Murphmobile demonstrated impressive car speed around the mountain and no one warms to the place the way he does.”
Murphy, who last year finished second at Bathurst with then-teammate Jason Richards, hopes the car will be as good at Bathurst this year as it was in 2008.
“We’ll know how well we can go after the first practice session,” Murph said.
“Everything fell into place at Bathurst last year – the car felt good and it was fast.
“We’re certainly hoping it will be the same again next weekend.”
Jack Daniel’s Racing drivers and brothers Todd and Rick Kelly are another combo that could pull off the win.
Todd celebrates his 30th birthday on Friday and like many of the Melbourne teams, they have road-tripped it to Bathurst.
This year they have done it in style, arriving yesterday in a 1953 V8 Chevrolet that they applied the finishing touches to only recently.
On the blue side, Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom said he would push hard to beat Murphy’s 2:6.8594 qualifying lap record around the Mount.
“We should have a pretty good crack at that I reckon,” he said.
“People keep telling me the pressure’s on, but I don’t feel it; no more than you can put on yourself anyway.”
Frosty, who finished the L&H 500 in third with teammate Steve Richards, noted they have started from the front row for the last four years but never stood on the podium.
“This year we’re not protecting a championship so we’re going up there purely to win,” he said.
“It’s such a big race and I want to win it pretty badly.”
The change to CSR E85 ethanol fuel means there will be anything from six to eight pitstops per car during the Great Race which could make or break a team’s chance of winning.
The Fujitsu Series is one of the support categories over the weekend and after a two-year hiatus, the Biante Touring Car Masters Series returns to Mount Panorama for the category’s penultimate round.
Touring Car Masters’ naming-rights sponsor, Biante, has become a secondary sponsor of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Skyline will now be known as Biante Skyline.
