Gurr Wins Rain-Marred Konica Minolta Round
23/2/2004 1:04 (Press Release) -
Smiths Trucks Alan Gurr has taken out the first round of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series at Wakefield Park, Goulburn today despite rain interrupting the third and final race of the day.
Gurr took the round ahead of Super Cheap Auto Racing's Luke Youlden and Gulf Western Oil/Jayco and 2003 championship runner-up Matthew White, despite having limited experience driving a V8 Supercar in wet conditions.
"I was a bit worried when it started to rain," Gurr confessed. "I haven't really driven in those sorts of conditions before, so it was great to end up on top for the day in my first full season of V8 Supercar racing."
Youlden's consistent day saw him finish in second position and puts him amongst the more experienced drivers favourite to take out the 2004 title.
"It's safe to say we had a shocker yesterday, but the team made some changes to the car overnight and the car performed really well in the races today," Youlden said.
"The third race really came down to how everyone performed on slicks and scrambled through. We had a few hiccups in that last race but overall I'm happy with how the weekend panned out."
Youlden and Hydraulink Racing's Mark Porter started the third race from the front of the grid and exchanged the top three positions with Rupprecht Motorsport's Cameron McLean until Youlden broke away.
Youlden looked to extend a healthy lead until the Safety Car was deployed due to an accident at turn two involving Holden Young Lions driver Kurt Wimmer. Soon after the race was re-started, an altercation with BOC Gases' Andrew Jones relocated Youlden back to 13th position.
The heavens opened half way through the session and stewards' red flagged the race to allow teams to pit and change to wet tyres if they preferred. The race was re-started and limited to a 14-lap race with Jones and Porter starting from the front of the grid followed by White and McLean on the second row.
Despite putting pressure on the top four drivers in the third race, Team Fujitsu's Owen Kelly continued the bad luck that he had encountered earlier in the day with a DNF in the first race due to technical problems and finishing the third race in eventual 23rd position. The second Team Fujitsu driver Jose Fernandez had a more successful weekend, finishing the round in fourth position.
With the rain easing towards the end of the 14-lap race, Jones went on to win the race convincingly ahead of White and McLean who finished with a consistent performance that saw him end the round in tenth position.
In the second race of the day, Holden Young Lions youngster Michael Caruso and Howard Racing's Mark Howard started from the front row for the full reverse grid race. Experienced V8 Supercar driver Mal Rose, who has secured a drive for Rupprecht Motorsport in 2004, took full advantage of his third row start as he jumped to the lead ahead of Caruso and Howard.
The rain that the drivers encountered in the third race began in the second when the race was red-flagged on the twelfth lap. Youlden showed what his Ford Falcon was capable of by making his way from twentieth position on the grid to third position before the race was stopped and placed him in a competitive position for the remainder of the day.
Rose managed to hold onto his lead before the race was stopped, ahead of Caruso in his first weekend of V8 Supercar racing, and Youlden.
In the first race, Team Fujitsu's Kelly jumped on Andrew Jones' slow start of the grid, and battled with Cameron McLean for the lead of the first race.
Kelly led the race and looked set to record his first win for the year before technical trouble plagued the Team Fujitsu Ford Falcon and resulted in a DNF.
Konica Minolta debutant Alan Gurr showed how much potential the young guns have in the series this year as he finished the first race in first position ahead of White and McLean.
The next round of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series heads to the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide where it will run as the main support category to the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
Top Ten Positions Race Three (Second Race)
1. #19 Andrew Jones BOC Gases 14-laps
2. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western Oil/Jayco
3. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing
4. #70 Alan Gurr Smiths Trucks
5. #90 Phillip Scifleet Rupprecht Motorsport
6. #72 Lee Holdsworth Smiths Trucks
7. #30 Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing
8. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu
9. #64 Tony D'Alberto Independent Race Cars
20. #65 Marcus Zukanovic Actron Air/PCR
Top Ten Positions Race Two
1. #55 Mal Rose Rupprecht Motorsport 12-laps
2. #46 Michael Caruso Holden Young Lions
3. #30 Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing
4. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing
5. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing
6. #71 Owen Kelly Team Fujitsu
7. #89 Adam Wallis Rupprecht Motorsport
8. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu
9. #96 Kurt Wimmer Holden Young Lions
10. #64 Tony D'Alberto Independent Race Cars
Top Ten Positions Race One
1. #70 Alan Gurr Smiths Trucks 17-laps
2. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western Oil/Jayco
3. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing
4. #19 Andrew Jones BOC Gases
5. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu
6. #30 Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing
7. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing
8. #90 Phillip Scifleet Rupprecht Racing
9. #64 Tony D'Alberto Independent Race Cars
10. #56 Kevin Mundy Actron Air/PCR
Top Ten Pointscore after Round One
1. #70 Alan Gurr Smiths Trucks 166pts
2. #30 Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing 166pts
3. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western Oil/Jayco 160pts
4. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu 158pts
5. #64 Tony D'Alberto Independent Race Cars 144pts
6. #72 Lee Holdsworth Smiths Trucks 136pts
7. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing 136pts
8. #89 Adam Wallis Rupprecht Motorsport 134pts
9. #19 Andrew Jones BOC Gases 122pts
10. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing 122pts
Release Date: 22/02/2004
AVESCO (Konica Minolta)
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