PRODRIVE RACING – TASMANIA SUPERSPRINT PREVIEW
Prodrive Racing (Australia) will focus on the positives heading into the next Supercars Championship event at Symmons Plains, pleased with the ground made since the Clipsal 500. Following his race-winning performance at the Australian Grand Prix, Chaz Mostert has set his sights on further success with strong results key to improving his fourth place standing in the championship. Citing Symmons Plains as one of his favourites, Mark Winterbottom is confident of turning his season around in Tasmania where he took home both pole position cheques last year. With braking trouble encountered at Albert Park curbed, Winterbottom is prepared to give his all at the Tasmanian circuit. Cameron Waters will look to mount a serious challenge at this year’s event, aiming for consistency after an-up-and-down outing in 2016. Pleased with the car’s direction, Waters believes qualifying position will be key to achieving a good race result. Jason Bright will build on momentum gained so far this season in Tasmania as he continues to learn the FG X setup. Having won at the circuit in the past, Bright believes that the top 10 is realistic in the right circumstances.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #5 The Bottle-O PRA Ford:
“Tassie is one of my favourites. It’s always been kind result wise but I just want to get back on track. When you’re had a bad couple of runs, the only way to fix it is to get back on track so I can’t wait. This is our chance to turn it around and compete where I know we can. We know how to race at this track and we know how to set the car up there too so I don’t have any concerns.”
Cameron Waters – #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford:
“To come out of Adelaide fifth is a really good result so we just have to keep building that momentum now to try and stay there. Symmons Plains is a tight track and pretty much only has three corners. Qualifying there is always super-tight, if you qualify well you can generally race there so one of the big things for us this weekend is getting our qualifying setup right. Building on what we’ve learnt already this year is another focus of ours so we’ll see how we roll out.”
Chaz Mostert – #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford:
“Each weekend that we roll out we’re learning something new. The direction that we’re going is quite different to what we’re normally used to here at PRA so we’re having a real crack at it but in saying that, the more runs you have under the belt the more you learn about it. There’ll be plenty more for us to learn in Tasmania. It’s not all about learning the positives, you have to learn the negatives with it as well to try and tune the negatives out. All of our focus is on us and our own performance and getting better so we’ll keep our focus there. If we can continue our good run I’ll be happy.”
Jason Bright – #56 MEGA Bulk Fuels PRA Ford:
“Tasmania has always been a good little track for me. I debuted there back in 1997 and I’ve had a few podiums there in the past. I like going down there, it’s a pretty short track and the field is very compressed but looking at Frosty’s performance last year I think that the cars are pretty strong so hopefully we can have a good weekend.”
Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
“Going into Symmons Plains we certainly know a lot more about the tyre and the car than we did a couple of weeks ago. We’re made some good progress, ironing out those few issues that we saw at the Grand Prix and looking at what we can do to go better again. Tasmania is a good event, it’s a short but challenging track and I’m sure there’ll be no shortage of excitement.”
DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES
Prodrive Racing (Australia)’s Garry Jacobson will aim to climb further up the championship ladder in Tasmania as the Dunlop Super2 Series makes its debut at Symmons Plains. A new addition to the calendar, both Garry and Josh Kean will look to their main-series teammates for advice when approaching the new four-race format. Kean, who endured a less than desirable outing at the Clipsal 500, hopes for a trouble-free run in Tasmania with aims to further improve his skills in the FG X package.
Garry Jacobson – #1 McQuinn Electrical PRA Ford:
“It’s great to be going to Tassie and to be the first Dunlop Super2 Series group to go there. We’ve been working on a few components that we were struggling with after Clipsal and I’ve been working on preparing myself for the race so I’m confident we’re in a good position for this round. The competition has stepped up another level this year so we just have to make sure we’re up there mixing it with those guys.”
Josh Kean – #5 Wynns Racing PRA Ford:
“The guys at the workshop have done a mega job to get the car back together for Tassie. I’m pumped to get there and get racing again. Thankfully we haven’t had a huge gap between events so everything we learnt at Clipsal is still pretty fresh. I’m just keen to get back in the car and have a good crack at it again and build some momentum for Phillip Island as well.”
EVENT NAME: Tasmania SuperSprint
DATE: 7 – 9 April
LOCATION: Launceston, Tasmania
EVENT NUMBER: 2 of 14
FORMAT: Friday – 2 x 45-minute practice; Saturday – 1 x 45min practice, 1 x 15min qualifying, 1 x 50 lap race; Sunday – 1 x 20min qualifying, 1 x 84-lap race
CIRCUIT: Symmons Plains
LENGTH: 2.41-kilometres
DESCRIPTION: The circuit’s main features include a banked hairpin corner and a long back straight that should see the Prodrive Racing Fords reach near their maximum speed. The turn four hairpin and left hander at the end of the back straight are the two best passing opportunities. Brakes are worked very hard with two large stops within half a minute of one another. The banking at the hairpin makes for a unique opportunity to line up a good run out of one of the slowest corners on the Supercars calendar.
TRACK RECORD: 51.47s – Rick Kelly, 2009
PRA BEST RESULT: 1st – Mark Winterbottom (2010)
