PERTH SUPERSPRINT FRIDAY WRAP

Prodrive Racing (Australia) has completed the two opening practice sessions at the Perth SuperSprint with all cars in the top 11 in what has been a promising day for the team. Focussing on race simulations in the opening session, each car opted for a more aggressive approach in session two, bolting on green tyres in the dying stages of practice. Mark Winterbottom was the fastest PRA car of the day in both outings, pleased with their direction with more still to come from the car. Despite finishing with the fifth fastest time of the day, Chaz Mostert says there is work to be done overnight to match the frontrunners after a tough on-track practice programme. Cameron Waters was pleased with changes made to his car setup between sessions with the Monster Energy Ford recording stronger times in the day’s final session. Jason Bright believes he has one of the strongest cars he’s had all year after rolling out at Barbagallo Raceway, confident the MEGA Racing FG X can be competitive this weekend. One final 45 minute practice session remains tomorrow, allowing the team to hone in their setups ahead of qualifying.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
Mark Winterbottom – #5 The Bottle-O PRA Ford:
Practice 1: 15th – 56.57s
Practice 2: 4th – 55.09s
“I’m pretty happy with fourth. The car is pretty much there but tomorrow’s practice session will be important. There are a few little things that we need to look at to make the tyre last a little bit longer compared to the other guys in the team but we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do. The car is competitive so if we can make it that little bit better again it’ll be good.”

Cameron Waters – #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford:
Practice 1: 19th – 56.79s
Practice 2: 7th – 55.29s
“It wasn’t a bad day for car six. We struggled with pace in practice one but between sessions we made the car a lot better. We ended up seventh in practice two. I got held up a bit on my last run which probably cost me two or three tenths but overall I’m pretty happy. We’re headed in the right direction so bring on tomorrow.”

Chaz Mostert – #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford:
Practice 1: 16th – 56.62s
Practice 2: 5th – 55.13s
“It was a pretty tough day for us. We didn’t really have a lot of smooth running through the practice sessions so it’s good to have another practice tomorrow. We’ll go through the data tonight, come up with something and decide how we’ll attack tomorrow. Fifth isn’t too bad but it’s not quite where we want to be.”

Jason Bright – #56 MEGA Bulk Fuels PRA Ford:
Practice 1: 21st – 56.88s
Practice 2: 11th – 55.45s
“I’m really happy with the car. I think that’s probably the happiest I’ve been with the car for a while. I felt like there was a lot more in it. I didn’t nail the lap, I ran wide at turn six so I dumped a lot of time there but other than that I think we could have been much higher up. I’m very happy with the car. Today was probably the most improvements we’ve made with the car all year so it’s good.”

Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
“There’s still one practice session to go however it’s good to see all four cars at the pointy end of the field. We still have plenty to look at to get closer to that benchmark but we’ve got our base now. The race runs we did in the first session were important to see where we’re at with tyre degradation too. We’ll tune the cars up, make a few little changes here and there and roll out for practice three tomorrow.”

 

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1) Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske: 568
2) Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight: 561
3) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing: 531
7) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing: 427
8) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 417
20) Jason Bright – MEGA Racing: 228

 

TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Triple Eight: 1083
2) DJR Team Penske: 1074
3) Prodrive Racing Australia: 879