5:15pm – Oh how motorsport can be so cruel! JW/PD finsihed the 500 or lets call it the 390km race in 6th and SVG/MC finished further down in 16th after a late tyre blow out.
Fantastic drive by all RBHRT drivers (even if we say so ourselves!) but today just wan’t meant to be our day. Hear from all 4 guys on how their day went:
Jamie Whincup:
“Overall it was a disappointing result but I’m pretty proud of everyone. We tried, we pushed through hard, we had our challenges all week. We had a quick car again and led the race ’til the tyre blew out, I’m not sure why but we will investigate on what happened there. We put on a good show up until the midway point but unfortunately not our day. We made our way up and scored some solid points. PD (Paul Dumbrell) had a great drive, he led by four and a half seconds and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. We’ll find out the reasons for why the tyres are blowing out and make sure we don’t do it at Bathurst. ”
Paul Dumbrell:
“The car is really strong, we were pushing out there really hard. The red flag changed it up to a bit of a shorter race distance. The car felt secure and quick, maybe a bit too quick as we chewed through a few tyres. It was a disappointing way to end the weekend but sixth place was probably better than what we were looking at the beginning of the race.”
Shane van Gisbergen:
“Today started really well, we had a good first lap and first stint. Matty got in a did a great job, he didn’t lose too much time when the main guys got in and we were about eight seconds off the lead. I got in and couldn’t catch the leaders so I was conserving tyres and then it just popped. It’s a shame. Going into Bathurst we’ve got some confidence as we are using the old tyres, we were always okay on them and they’re safe.”
Matt Campbell:
“We could have finished a little bit better with our tyre failure with 15 minutes to go but before that Shane did a fantastic job at the start and coming through the pack. He handed the car over in a really competitive position for me and I was able to maintain and be consistent in my run so I couldn’t be happier. I’m looking forward to Bathurst. With this weekend, it could have been a really good result but unfortunately wasn’t meant to be so I’m now looking forward to it and I feel really comfortable in the car, we just need some luck going into Bathurst.”
12:55pm – Squad! On the grid waiting for the anthem.
12:00pm – It’s now time to get down to business! The drivers are getting prepared, having a bite to eat and a can of Red Bull.
11:30am – Great to see some many of you at our last autograph session here.
10:15am – UPDATE – Shane has been given a 2 place grid spot penalty for the incident in practice 4 yesterday. This means car 97 will be starting from 21st for the Sandown 500. We’ve got some passes to make later this afternoon!
10:05am – Warm is complete. Car 97 finished 2nd and car 88 just behind in 3rd. Our warm up session is used for pit stop and driver change practice, but it’s good to finish at the pointy end too 😉
9:00am – In just 40mins we’ll be out for warm up, get that blood pumping!
7:30am – It’s a beautiful morning here at Sandown!
6:45am – It’s race day! After a challenging day yesterday we are ready for the lights to go out!
