Jamie Whincup – Car #1
“We always look forward to going to Townsville, it’s one of the highlights of the year as far as the event goes, every year it seems to get bigger and stronger. We’ve had some great results in the past but unfortunately that doesn’t guarantee us anything this weekend. It’s no secret, we’re in one of the biggest slumps we’ve been in for a long time so we’d certainly like to turn things around in Townsville and get our championship back on track. I really enjoy driving around the track, it’s one of the most physically demanding circuits we go to. Around the back of the circuit, there are five right hand corners in a row which are really hard on the neck so with 200km on Saturday and again on Sunday it’s a long way and always a battle of nutrition. Fingers crossed we can turn our championship around this weekend.”
Craig Lowndes – Car #888
“I’m looking forward to Townsville, it’s a circuit where we’ve had some mixed results in the past but knowing the style of the track, half street track – half permanent track – it’s always a challenging circuit for the drivers. I’m looking forward to getting up there to have the combination of the soft and hard tyres, it’s something we’ve been working on all year to get the speed out of both of them. It’s generally proven to be a tough weekend, we need a car that rides the kerbs well, flows well and stops well, so that’s something that’s going to be a challenge for all of us but I’m looking forward to it, especially after winning my 100th, it’s nice to get back to business.”
Lowndesy, aka The Centurion, heads to Townsville focused on closing the points gap to championship leader Frosty. With a difference of 95 points between them and two 200km races over Saturday and Sunday, it means there’s 300 points up for grabs for the weekend – the championship is still wide open!
Meanwhile, Jamie, who holds the record for the most race wins at Townsville with seven and leaving behind second best, (GT with three,) is hoping a visit to North Queensland will be a turning point to his championship.
The last SuperSprint race format was at the championship opener in Adelaide. There have been six different drivers who have taken the last six pole positions at the street circuit so you don’t want to miss the return of the top ten shoot out on Sunday.
Townsville 400 – Reid Park
Circuit length: 2.86km
Circuit direction: Clockwise
Average speed: 144km/h
Maximum speed: 260km/h
2014
JW | CL | |
Qualifying Race 1 | 10th | 5th |
Race 1 | 1st | DNF |
Qualifying Race 2 | 10th | 6th |
Race 2 | 7th | 6th |
Qualifying Race 3 | 3rd | 1st |
Race 3 | 1st | 23rd |
Championship standings
1st – Mark Winterbottom, 1165 points
2nd – Craig Lowndes, 1070 points
3rd – Fabian Coulthard, 1010 points
4th – Chaz Mostert, 991 points
5th – Shane van Gisbergen, 940 points
8th – Jamie Whincup, 879 points
1st – Pepsi Max Crew, 2156 points
2nd – RBRA, 1989 points
3rd – HRT, 1845 points
4th – BJR, 1719 points
5th – Jack Daniel’s Racing, 1449 points