Preview: Sydney 500

Sydney 500 Fast Facts

  • Red Bull Racing Australia’s number one aim at the Sydney 500 is to get our old friend Lowndesy into second in the championship. Currently 98 points off Frosty, the No.888 Holden crew have a bull fight on their hands. Find out what the game plan is here.
  • Fortunately, it just so happens that Craig is the only repeat winner at the Homebush street circuit, having claimed two wins from the event’s 10 races.
  • On the other side of the garage, Jamie is locked in a fight of his own for the Pole Position Award with Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin. With the score currently 10-9 to us, it’s all to drive for with three poles on the line this weekend.
  • The Sydney Olympic Park circuit throws up some of the most unpredictable and carnage-packed racing, with no race yet to be run without the appearance of the Safety Car at least twice.
  • Though RBRA have provisionally wrapped up the Drivers and Teams Championships, there’s no way we’re resting on our laurels. Anything can happen in this concrete canyon and, you know what, we’re expecting it to.

 

 

RBRA at the Sydney 500

CRAIG JAMIE
Qualifying R1 5th 1st
Race 1 15th 1st
Qualifying R2 9th 3rd
Race 2 5th 3rd

 

 

 

What the Drivers Say

Lowndesy: “Sydney is always a tough weekend and Homebush is a tough track. We’ll be trying to fight to get back up to second in the championship and there are 300 points up for grabs, but we need to find 98 points, which is the gap at the moment. There’s no doubt Frosty will be in for a fight to retain second and it will definitely be a great battle.

It’s a typical street circuit with lots of kerbs, undulations and surface changes so it’s a real battle to get the car to work 100 per cent around there and of course the weather will play a major part, as it always does.

I think there’s no doubt that I enjoy the track and I have some great memories there, so hopefully that’s going to work well for me this weekend.”

J-Dub: “In some ways having the championship provisionally secured this weekend takes the pressure off but in a lot of ways pride is worth more than championship points. I want to represent the team and our fans and partners in the best way they deserve by preparing well and doing the best job we can at the last round.

In saying that though, I will take the opportunity to lap up the event and the atmosphere. Generally, as drivers, we see the truck, the track and the inside of the car and don’t get to enjoy the whole event, but hopefully I can do that this weekend.

I’m not sure if we’ll have the same good results as last year. We had a quick car, but we’ve also had some good form over the last few rounds. It’s such a gruelling circuit though that you can’t take anything for granted.”

 

Drivers Championship Standings

Jamie Whincup – 3,094

Mark Winterbottom – 2,642

Craig Lowndes – 2,547

Shane Van Gisbergen – 2,508

Fabian Coulthard – 2,280

Teams Championship Standings

RBRA – 5,691

FPR – 4,940

HRT – 4,379

BJR – 4,039

Norton Hornets – 3,569

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