Until tomorrow…
1910 That was quick. And intense. After a touch and go start, Car #1 and #97 were in amongst the DJRTP cars. JDub made an undercut to take P1 before McLaughlin came back again and took it out with under 10 laps to go. Here’s how they felt post-race:
Jamie Whincup – Car #1
Qualifying Race 3 – Fourth (Fastest Lap: 1:55.5744)
Qualifying Race 4 – First (Fastest Lap: 1:55.4777)
Race 1 – Second
“The car was good today, I just made a mistake in the first qualifying run and dropped back to fourth which was unfortunate. From there, I had a clean run in the second qualifying session and luckily enough Car #17 had an issue and they dropped back also. I’m happy and with all places combined, I have sort of won the qualifying battle so to speak. In the race today, we gave ourselves every opportunity, we pushed hard, we were aggressive on strategy and we did everything to win the race but like always, and we want it to, it came down to the quickest car today. We weren’t the quickest car, we were second quickest and we’ll work on trying to be faster for tomorrow.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
Qualifying Race 3 – 17th (Fastest Lap: 1:56.3884)
Qualifying Race 4 – 26th (N/A – No flying lap completed)
Race 1 – Fourth
“The qualifying sessions were a bit rubbish today; we worked really hard overnight and made some changes to rectify our problems but it was just junk, the car was rubbish. We really struggled, we came out with 17th and last position so that was a shame. The result of the first qualifying was because of car balance and the second one, I stuffed up just trying to get the most out of it. We had a three-hour break before the race and we made huge changes; changed a few parts and the car was much better in the race but, unfortunately in doing that, we’ve started again with setup. The balance was still a little off in the race but the pace was good, the tyre life was good and we were really catching up at the end. I’m stoked that we made some progress and, in the race with the most points, we got a good result. From now on, it just gets harder and harder with our grids so we’re going to have to push pretty hard.”
1800 Right, the race was supposed to start 10 minutes ago however apparently there were some F1 cars whizzing around the track and one of them has had an issue. Now if they wouldn’t mind getting their skates on, that would be great 😉
1645 On another note, as well as JDub making his 200th round start… Team mate SVG is making his 150th start. Impressive stats below.
1630 There guys are busy people! A quick signing session before JDub catches up with Queensland Maroons player Billy Slater. Billy’s down in the garage to give JDub some quick tips ahead of the main race in just over an hour.
1430 Well… That didn’t go to plan… Well, it did for JDub with P4 and P1 – his second pole this weekend. SVG had a nightmare of a run and came through P17 and P26. SVG says he can’t put his finger on it, the car is just
1300 We have about one hour until our second bout of qualifying, these will be for the second race tomorrow and the race on Sunday.
1100 Fun fact… JDub is making his 200th round start at the AGP this year.
1030 The blood is pumping… Pit stop practice is complete and we’re ready to go. I think we have a 32 degree day on our hands (although it is Melbourne after all…)
0900 Rise and shine, we hope you’ve all had your Weetbix because we’re in for a BIG day – two Qualifying Sessions and Race 3 (our first race at AGP).
