5:35pm We caught up with the drivers following the race to see how their day went:
Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“It was a tough day in the office, it’s the story of our day. We just didn’t have enough pace because we started from second and just dropped back from there. We had a clean run and I tried to keep it on the black stuff however, I think (David) Cauchi (Race Engineer) predicted the weather to be much wetter than it was and the track ended up drying which just didn’t suit our car. Thankfully we finished somewhere there, or thereabouts, and we’ve got a straight car. We’re just going to give it another crack again tomorrow. We don’t know what the weather will be like, we could have intermittent showers in the morning. We will just focus on qualifying well again, that’s the key, and then hopefully we’ll have a bit more pace in the car.”
Paul Dumbrell – Car #88 Co-Driver
“Today we consolidated for what we had with the car and unfortunately we just didn’t have a race-winning car. It was disappointing to make a mistake there, hitting car #55 with Chaz (Mostert) and Steve Owen, but thankfully we got a penalty that didn’t cost us too much and they went on to win the race, so it didn’t throw their day out. We just need to bounce back tomorrow. Friday was good and so was this morning, we just missed the mark this afternoon. We need to go back to the setup we had in the dry because the car was really good. If it’s dry, the biggest thing is to play it smart and qualify well – hopefully that will consolidate for what’s been an okay weekend so far.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“Today Matty (Campbell) was struggling for overall grip and we dropped back a little bit which was a shame. We came out again and made up some pretty good time. The safety car helped us as we managed to gain some spots from there. In the end I think we just ran out of tyre, and we came in fourth. It’s alright, it was a crazy day but we have a straight car, we just need to clean it up and hopefully have a good dry setup tomorrow.”
Matty Campbell – Car #97 Co-Driver
“We didn’t have a bad start as we really didn’t lose any positions there however, I lost a couple of positions on the next few laps. The car balance was really good and I’m happy about my stint but obviously Shane did a fantastic job. Our feedback was very similar as we both struggled for a little bit of drive. Hopefully we can get that better and fixed up for tomorrow. It was my first time around this track in the rain and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be with the painted lines, much better than I was expecting so that’s a positive. It’d be nice to have a dry race for once, the forecast is looking a lot better so hopefully we can qualify well and assess from there.”
5:15pm Time for a rest fellas…
Two wet but straight bulls. Bring on tomorrow 👊 #RedBullHolden #VASC pic.twitter.com/1KzZrbT40y
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
4:51pm Well that’s it… Not the carnage we were expecting but we have two straight cars nonetheless… SVG comes in at P4 (1:21.4224) and J-Dub P6 (1:22.0663).
4:36pm J-Dub is lacking pace as Lowndesy passes him, hang in there Jamie.
4:22pm SVG has now passed both Lowndesy and J-Dub!
4:13pm Well SVG’s got the all clear from Shippy…
Shippy to SVG: “All good, just make it safe.” #T8fam #RedBullHolden #TeamVortex
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
4:12pm A Triple Eight sandwich is a real thing… SVG closing in on Lowndesy… Will he make a pass?
3:54pm Smart time to make a pit stop!
Pit stops complete, let’s see how this plays out… #RedBullHolden #VASC pic.twitter.com/MHqbNrhb8k
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
3:52pm Yup!
Well… those tyres are not supposed to be there. And we have our first safety car! #RedBullHolden #VASC
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
3:47pm We’re halfway an still no safety car… Have we just jinxed it?!
3:35pm And the wet weather guru jumps in car #97. Matty’s out, well done.
3:23pm PD out. J-Dub in. Get those flippers on and let’s see what you can do.
3:13pm PD gets a 15 second penalty… Whoops!
2:28pm We’re underway, pretty much all co-drivers are starting and a couple of formation laps under our belt
2:24pm Ready, set…
We’re on the grid and ready to go! 👊 #VASC #RedBullHolden pic.twitter.com/rEFYP0nGoQ
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
1:15pm The rain has held of, let’s hope it can stay that way for a few more hours…
11:48am We’re finished qualifying in tricky conditons. J-Dub finishes P2 (1:21.8209) and Shane comes through P7 (1:22.1417).
11:45am The rain is sticking around…
🎙 Cauchi to J-Dub: “The rain is much heavier. No risk please.” #VASC #RedBullHolden
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
11:38am Our first red flag of the session and we will restart the remaining 2:30mins.
11:20am And we’re off! Let’s get some fast laps in here…
10:39am Co-driver duties for PD
Umbrellas up for PD & J-Dub☝️☔️ #VASC #RedBullHolden #thisisqueensland pic.twitter.com/I9pI0rFhpw
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 21, 2017
9:25am It was a wet one but it was great to see so many people out at our autograph session.
8:45am Autograph session will kick off in 15mins, hope to see you there!
8:40am It’s a wet one today! Not much we can do about it, just head down and get the job done.
Damp ☔️🙈😕 #VASC #RedBullHolden pic.twitter.com/FVxoXj4vII
— Red Bull Holden (@redbullholden) October 20, 2017
7:56am Pit stop practice complete!
7:00am We’re ready for a big day on the track today!
