Shell Boys Upbeat After The AGP
12/3/2004 16:28 (Press Release) -
Both Shell Helix Racing drivers are happy with the development of their Fords after their runs in the V8 Supercar races at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
Steve Johnson backed up his ninth placing yesterday with a seventh today while Warren Luff, in the number 18 Ford, managed to keep out of trouble and gain valuable track time.
"Of course it's really nice to start the season with a couple of top-ten placings," Steve Johnson said.
"We were hoping to continue on from last year's season ending form at the Grand Prix this weekend, so yeah it's positive.
"But I have been even happier with the set-up testing that we have been able to achieve over the course of the event.
"We changed the Ford last night to try some new things today, in particular the shocks.
"The Falcon felt OK but we won't know how well our set-up was today until we get back to the workshop.
"We'll go through all of the data from this weekend and work out the optimum set-up for Adelaide."
Shell Helix Racing engineers were very happy with Warren Luff's performance in today's ten-lap sprint, the final V8 race of the event, believing it to be easily his best performance all weekend.
"Today I aimed to drive consistent lap times while keeping my tyres in the best condition possible," Warren Luff said.
"I also wanted to drive a lot cleaner; I have been a little messy on the track this weekend.
"I definitely achieved this today, while managing to pass a few drivers also.
“My weekend was definitely not about track position it was about getting comfortable in the Falcon, keeping it straight and finishing every session, which I managed to do."
Luff felt a little hard done by when at the start of the race a Simon Wills off prevented a big jump up the standings.
"It was bad timing when Simon Wills went off, I thought I was in a position to overtake a few drivers because I was well placed on the track but unfortunately I got caught behind it all and was forced to go onto the grass.
"So instead of making up what could have been three, maybe four places I lost a couple.
"However later in the race I was able to make up four places very easily allowing me to finish eighteenth."
With Adelaide just around the corner Johnson is looking forward to further improvement.
"I love Adelaide and I usually go well there," Johnson said.
"After this weekend I think we do have a top-ten car, Adelaide has always been good for us so it's exciting."
The Adelaide Clipsal 500 starts on Thursday, March 18.
Release Date: 7/03/2004
Shell Helix Racing
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