Round 9 sees us head out into our own background or home-grown territory as some may call it.
Despite Ipswich being the closest track to Triple Eight HQ and the place where most of the planning and strategy takes shapes, the so-called home track advantage doesn’t guarantee anything come race day.
“Race weekends are always different even if we are familiar with the test track,” said Shane ‘SVG’ van Gisbergen.
“Obviously it’s different having all the cars out there, each with their own strategy and then us focusing on our own strategy and setup specific to each session.
“We learnt a lot on both cars through a range of different things on test day out, but it’s going to be hard condensing it all and putting it into use on race day,” he said.
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With all the various set-ups over the past six months, Jamie ‘J-Dub’ Whincup believes that the team are etching away and finding the silver lining needed to continue podium finishes.
“We are happier with not only the pace from Townsville but also how we were representing ourselves before the incident happened.”
“We are definitely hoping to improve and hopefully the weather is a bit better,” he said.
It is predicted to be partly cloudy over the weekend, but nothing can dampen J-Dub’s spirit for racing.
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“When you’re pushing hard in variable conditions in a car that was somewhat allergic to the ripple stripes, incidents and mistakes happen,” he said.
“It doesn’t happen to me very often which I am grateful for that, but unfortunately it did, and we need to move on.”
Moving right along then…
This season the goal for the Red Bull Holden Racing team has been to consistently finish on the podium, and as we head into this weekend, we take special note that SVG currently has 99 podiums to his name.
With the possibility of hitting the 100-podium mark on Saturday (or Sunday) it seems like everyone else but SVG are keeping track.
“Oh no not really,” he laughed.
“It’s just a number and I feel I have a lot of time left to be out there on the track racing.
“At the end of the day, I don’t really think about that sort of stuff,” SVG said.
We know but we do, and your fans do too. 😊
Whatever you want to call it; Ipswich, Queensland Raceway, Willowbank or the Paper Clip, we hit the track in our own backyard from Friday July 26th with live updates throughout the weekend on our Twitter page.
Jamie’s Predictions for Ipswich
Fastest lap time on the track – 01:08.5
Who’s the one to watch in Ipswich – Jack Le Brocq
Biggest Challenge in Ipswich – Keeping the rims round.
Three words to describe Ipswich – Pauline Hanson territory.
Favourite moment in Ipswich – Paul Radisich hugging a fan in the gravel trap on the exit at T2.
Shane’s Predictions for Townsville:
Fastest lap time on the track – 01:07.90
Who’s the one to watch in Ipswich – The weather.
Biggest Challenge in Ipswich – Six turns.
Three words to describe Ipswich – Middle of nowhere.
Favourite moment in Ipswich – 1-2-3 podium finish in 2016.
