Bright under dark skies – Frosty’s pole the highlight for Castrol runners
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Mark Winterbottom's pole position was a highlight for the Castrol-backed teams today at Winton
Jason Bright has proven that his win in Perth just three weeks ago was no fluke as he put forward a stirring drive to pass runaway Championship leader, Jamie Whincup to win today’s 11th race of the V8 Supercar Championship at Winton Motor Raceway.
Bright’s strategy was to stay out longer than the opposition on the second stop and with rain approaching, he was able to use the fresher rubber to his advantage as he chased down firstly Garth Tander and then Whincup.
Tander was able to cross the line third ahead of a charging Shane Van Gisbergen.
It was a dismal day for the Castrol runners in the field. The best placed driver was Steve Owen in the VIP Petfoods machine in 10th.
Greg Murphy put in an outstanding drive to take the Pepsi Max Crew racer to 11th after being forced to start from rear of grid after a technical infringement in qualifying.
Rick Kelly’s good run of form didn’t continue today, finishing down in 17th position with Paul Dumbrell behind in 18th.
Mark Winterbottom on board the #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon had an outstanding morning – but an afternoon to forget. Frosty got the most of his car in the changeable qualifying conditions to set the pole time – however that was the highlight for the newly turned 30-year-old.
After getting an exceptional start, he drifted back through the pack – the understeer issue that has plagued the FPR team on the soft tyre once again reared its head.
Dave Reynolds was once again in the thick of the action – but finished 20th in the tightly contested 67 lap affair with Tony d’Alberto right behind him.
Will Davison was hoping to capitalise on some wet weather and others’ misfortunes after being involved in a multi-car pileup on lap three, which claimed Todd Kelly and Russell Ingall – but the Trading Post racer had to settle for 24th in the end. Surprisingly there was little carnage in today’s longer race.
The Series now packs up and heads to Darwin for the action at Hidden Valley across the weekend of June 17-19.
Race 11 Results:
1 Jason Bright
2 Jamie Whincup
3 Garth Tander
4 Shane Van Gisbergen
5 Fabian Coulthard
10 Steve Owen
11 Greg Murphy
17 Rick Kelly
18 Paul Dumbrell
19 Mark Winterbottom
20 David Reynolds
21 Tony D’Alberto
24 Will Davison
DNF Todd Kelly
DNF Russell Ingall
V8 Supercars Championship (after 11 Races)
1 Jamie Whincup 1234
2 Craig Lowndes 972
3 Garth Tander 935
4 Jason Bright 920
5 Shane Van Gisbergen 913
6 Rick Kelly 887
8 Will Davison 813
10 Mark Winterbottom 797
16 Greg Murphy 527
17 Paul Dumbrell 524
18 David Reynolds 522
21 Todd Kelly 460
23 Steve Owen 435
26 Russell Ingall 392
27 Tony D’Alberto 337
