FRIDAY IN THE SUN BUT WORK TO BE DONE
• Gold Coast Friday wrap text
• Downloadable images
• Driver & Tim Edwards quotes
• Championship points
PRODRIVE RACING AUSTRALIA – CASTROL GOLD COAST 600 FRIDAY
Prodrive Racing (Australia) has enjoyed a trouble-free opening day of action at the Castrol Gold Coast 600 though for most of the team there is work to be done on car set-up and the track’s kerb sensors ahead of qualifying and the opening 300-kilometre race. Chaz Mostert was the best of the team’s runners, finishing the day fourth after he and co-driver Steve Owen improved across the day’s three sessions. Mostert believes he can qualify well up the field and gain key track position at the notoriously tough track. Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto were unsatisfied with 14th for the day after a set-up misdirection cost them lap time. The reigning series champion believes his crew will overcome the issues with overnight changes allowing the duo to be more comfortable with The Bottle-O Ford. Chris Pither and Cameron Waters were content with their pace despite finishing in 16th and 22nd though Waters’ final position did not represent their true pace. Consistent efforts in the opening two sessions provided a solid platform and had over-sensitive kerb sensors not deleted his best time, the Monster Energy machine would have finished well inside the top 10. Super Black’s duo chipped away at their set-up with co-driver Richie Stanaway lapping the Surfers Paradise layout for the first time in a Supercar.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #1 The Bottle-O PRA Ford:
“We weren’t quick enough. We will keep trying but we made it slower across the day, not quicker. Our base set-up wasn’t right so we are still experimenting. Unfortunately there are no more sessions before qualifying which will make it a challenge. It was a frustrating day we’ll tune it up, reverse some of the losses and have another crack tomorrow.”
Cameron Waters – #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford:
“We rolled out fairly good and made the car better across the day. Practice one was really good and Jack did a really good job in his session and made the car a little better for me. In the last session I didn’t really get my lap together on green tyres. We were quick enough for the back end of the top 10. A good sleep and a few changes overnight will hopefully put us in the right place by morning to attack qualifying.”
Chaz Mostert – #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford:
“It was a pretty hard day here – it is one of the hardest practice days we do. There isn’t a lot of time to dial the car in. First up we needed to do a little bit of work and we made good gains in the second session with Steve in the top-five. From there we went a little better again with fourth in the final session so I am pretty happy with the day. We need to improve things further for qualifying as I didn’t put a whole lap together today. We have plenty of green tyres for tomorrow so I am looking forward to qualifying.”
Chris Pither – #111 Super Black PRA Ford:
“I am pretty happy with our progress today. I enjoyed driving the car but I think we’ll find some gains overnight. We are targeting a top 10 result in qualifying so we’ll tune a few things up overnight, I’ll review my driving a little and that will put us in the hunt tomorrow.”
Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
“A solid opening day but we need to extract more speed out of the car as while we were thereabouts in all three sessions we were further off the ultimate pace than we wanted. Chaz and Steve seem quite happy so that will give us a direction to work off and give us something to work towards for qualifying which is critical to get right here. That being said, the kerb sensors were overly sensitive today. We have the same issues every year here and it is frustrating for everyone so we need to make sure we work on a solution before qualifying tomorrow.”
DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight: 2524
2) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2385
3) Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight: 2205
4) Will Davison – Tekno: 2112
5) Scott McLaughlin – Garry Rogers Motorsport: 2109
6) Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing: 1908
7) Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing: 1853
17) Cameron Waters – Prodrive Racing: 1233
19) Chris Pither– Super Black Racing: 1171
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Triple Eight: 4919
2) HRT: 3348
3) Prodrive Racing: 3166
