LIVE DIARY: WINTON

Sunday 22nd May

RACE WRAP –

Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
Qualifying Race 2 – 12th (Fastest Lap: 1:19.1586)
Race 2 Fourth
Championship –  Fifth (1007 points)

Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Qualifying Race 2 – Eighth (Fastest Lap: 1:19.0386)
Race 2 Ninth
ChampionshipThird (1047 points)

 

Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“Qualifying was quite tough, we were struggling with braking, I just couldn’t get a lap out of the car. Starting in P12 didn’t feel great at all, it wasn’t good enough. In the race we had really good speed, we pitted on lap one and we were struggling out of the pits. I stalled nearly every time, well I stalled the first time, then every other time the motor was stopping for some reason. The pace on track was really good, the car on track was great as I was able to make some good passes. Strategy worked out in the end, to have that confidence in the car was good, I just need to start up the front to make it easier on myself and the team.”

Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“Same old story, you can’t do good things if you don’t have pace. We just weren’t fast enough in both qualifying and the race, so it really delivered disappointing results. The car was handling well, but again, on a track like this you get stuck in a rhythm and it makes it impossible to pass. It was good to see Shane (van Gisbergen) push through from 12th in qualifying to fourth, there is clearly great pace in his car. We have some time before Darwin, so we need to go back to the workshop and figure out what went wrong and how we can get some of that speed back.”

12:02pm – Final qualy run see’s JW in P8 and SVG in P12 ahead of this afternoon’s 200km stretch.

10:20am- Countdown is on for qualy. Winton has put on another cracking day, so let’s get racing!

8:33am – It’s True Colour Track Walk time. Get down to the grid to see the drivers for the last time this weekend.

7:20am – Nothing like the deafening sound of rattle guns to wake you up in the morning. We love it though!

pitstoppractice

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Saturday 21st May

Race Wrap –

Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Practice 3 – Eighth (Fastest Lap: 1:19.5190)
Qualifying Race 1Ninth (Fastest Lap: 1:19.3632)
Race 1  FifthShane van Gisbergen – Car #97
Practice 3 – 12th (Fastest Lap: 1:19.7108)
Qualifying Race 111th (Fastest Lap: 1:19.4051)
Race 1 Ninth
 

Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“We just missed the mark in qualifying, which put us back completely. On a track that is really hard to pass on, if you don’t qualify well then your day is done from there. It really felt like we did a good job in the race, we had a good start and a good strategy. The car was quick, we can’t complain about tyre life, but we just need to go better for tomorrow. A bit of homework tonight is needed, but it is so close out there, we just need to refine it ahead of tomorrow and get back out there.”

Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“Qualifying wasn’t the best, it was fairly average as we struggled with brakes which put us in 11th. The race kicked off, we pitted early to get clear air, came out and pretty much followed everyone around and around, it was pretty boring actually. There wasn’t much happening, we felt like we were reasonable, but it’s hard to pass on this track and we are all at the same speed. Hopefully, tomorrow will see a variety of strategies from everyone so we can do some racing. The car felt good, even on the oldest tyres, so we are going well.”

1:50pm – Not our strongest practice session to date, but we have come back from worse. JW will start P9 on the grid with SVG in P11 ahead of this afternoon’s race.

12:10pm – That’s the last practice session of the weekend down,  JW in P8 and SVG in P12. Qualy up next!

11:10am – Transporter Chat – We tend to go off on tangents when we find ourselves with just a tiny window of free time. SVG and JW have taken it upon themselves to remind all the crew of phone safety, whilst trying to hack into team member’s locked phones. A success rate of about 50/50 at the moment.

9:11am – We are off to see the best fans in the sport (you guys), so make sure you bring some Red Bull Racing Australia goodies to be signed!

8:27am – Best news of this morning so far is that it’s looking like another beautiful day and we’re doing pit stop practice in bright sunshine. Win! Now, if only we could get our hands to thaw out…

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Friday 20th May

RACE WRAP –

Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
Co-Driver Practice – N/A – Alex Premat Overseas
Practice 1Fifth (Fastest Lap: 1:19.4654)
Practice 2FIRST (Fastest Lap: 1:19.3311)Jamie Whincup / Paul Dumbrell – Car #88
Co-Driver PracticeNinth (Fastest Lap: 1:21.0465)  – Paul Dumbrell
Practice 1Ninth (Fastest Lap: 1:19.8831)
Practice 2Third (Fastest Lap: 1:19.4882)
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“It was our first time running on this newly resurfaced circuit and I feel we went pretty good. The track is so different from last year, I wasn’t initially happy with the car to start with, so it has been keeping the guys busy all day. We made heaps of changes and in the end, the car really improved. I think we have made huge headway from the start of the day, but the car is still not quite there. We are super close, but we will do our homework tonight and hopefully have it perfect for tomorrow and Sunday.”Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“It was a reasonably difficult day, we didn’t start that well, the car was a little out of balance. We fought really hard to get it there, or thereabouts, and we worked well as a group to improve the car. That being said, we had an issue with the rear wishbone, but the crew did an awesome job and we only lost 15 to 20 minutes. I would have loved that time up my sleeve, but it didn’t hurt us, I was just rapt to get back out. We finished in P3, that’s a good day, we will take that.”

3:41pm – SVG clocking P5 and JW in P9 after practice one. Great to get out there and feel the new surface. Practice 2 two is up next, we are expecting the temp to start dropping shortly.

2:43pm – PD came home with a P9 in practice. Great to be sitting in the top 10 for his first session in the car since Gold Coast last year!

1:30pm – Soon the co-drivers will be making their way into the cars for the first time this year. Paul Dumbrell will take the wheel of #88, however, SVG’s partner Alex Premat is OS so will not be practicing.

10:02am – RBRA OVERHEARD – PD about getting behind the wheel of a bull again “It’s an awesome time of year getting to be with the team again, and hopping into #88 is always exhilarating.”

8:22am – See, told you. Putting on a show!

Winton

7:14am – We are up bright and early on what appears to be a sunny Winton day. We don’t want to jinx it, but fingers crossed for a weather event free weekend (we had enough in Clipsal AND Perth).

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Thursday 19th May

5:20pm – Don’t forget to come and meet the drivers’ in Benella, right now! This will be the only off track opportunity to see them.

10:11am – We are off traveling to Winton today, so please excuse if we are a little MIA!

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Wednesday 18th May

3:42pm – JDub gives us the low down on Winton Motor Raceway –

11:52am – FUN FACT – DJR Team Penske and Triple Eight have both won eight races at Winton. No other team has won more than them, ironic given the venue is not their test track!

8:41am – RBRA OVERHEARD – SVG on Winton – “It’s a twisty track, it’ll be cool to have a feel of it resurfaced. Winton is one of those tracks, where unlike most of the other tracks, you actually want to stay in the car it’s so cold outside.”

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Tuesday 17th May

3:12pm – RUMOUR HAS IT – JDub was cutting some laps around the local go-kart track this morning ahead of the weekend. Fortunately, JDub has also had a chance to test the newly resurfaced Winton track, so hopefully with all this practice combined we can bring home some silverware.

2:32pm – Check it out. Get your RBRA driver meet and greet fix over Winton.

fOR diary

12:30pm – Mario cooked a dinosaur for lunch. Well, beef ribs, but they were the size of Cauchi’s head!

9:30am – Cya Wazza! Off on the 17-hour journey down to Winton. Numerous stops to be made along the way for rest and refueling, then pulling into Albury to give the trucks a wash before heading to the track.

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Winton SuperSprint – Winton Motor Raceway

Circuit length: 3km

Circuit direction: Clockwise

Average speed: 131km/h

Maximum speed: 225km/h

 

2015

JW SVG
Qualifying 1 8th  9th
Qualifying 2 6th  7th
Qualifying 3 22nd  10th
Race 1 9th  8th
Race 2 6th  5th
Race 3 10th  23rd

 

CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS  –

 

1st –  Craig Lowndes, 894 points

2nd –  Jamie Whincup, 852 points

3rd – Scott McLaughlin, 846 points

4th – Mark Winterbottom, 816 points

5th – Shane van Gisbergen, 803 points

 

1st – RBRA, 1655 points

2nd –HRT, 1402 points

3rd – GRM,  1317 points

4th –  PRA, 1276 points

5th – Nismo, 1192 points

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