Bowe Inside Top Ten For Landmark 175th Start
1/5/2004 6:12 (Press Release) -
Brad Jones Racing’s John Bowe has guaranteed himself a minimum top ten start for his historic 175th race appearance, qualifying in 9th position ahead of tomorrow’s Top Ten Shootout for the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe Raceway in New Zealand.
An experienced Shootout competitor, Bowe has given his OzEmail Falcon every chance of a memorable grid position to tackle the landmark occasion in tomorrow’s opening race. After being first and then second in the two earlier practice sessions, a front row start is not out of the question for the former touring car champ.
“At one stage during qualifying I didn’t think I was going to make it into the top ten. I was sitting in twelfth position with just a few minutes left and but I managed to get in a good lap just before the chequered flag,” said Bowe.
“I was a relief to get in [to the Shootout] but we really should have done better than 9th. We were consistently the fastest car this morning [during practice] and I really didn’t get any advantage from the new tyres that we put on for qualifying.”
“Tomorrow’s another day though, I’m really looking forward to the Shootout and hopefully getting back to a starting position that reflects the car speed of my OzEmail Falcon,” Bowe added.
On the eve of his momentous 175th race start, Bowe is playing down any significance of the event – “It’s in the back of my mind that it’s going to happening tomorrow but the reality is that I’m more concerned about getting a good result in the Shootout and putting the OzEmail Falcon into a competitive position for the first race.”
“We have the package to do well here this weekend and getting an on-track result is where my focus is,” Bowe concluded.
For Team Owner, Brad Jones, it was a day of ups and downs. A disastrous opening practice session was overcome by a blistering time in the second outing, positioning him inside the top ten.
Qualifying proved challenging as Jones faced the same problem encountered by his team mate. Like Bowe, he was unable to get any time gains from new tyres, eventually coming in 22nd.
“To be honest with you, I’m really not sure what is going on. We should have got at least half a second gain from new tyres but I got one tenth [of a second] which is the same as JB,” Jones said.
Release Date: 30/04/2004
Brad Jones Racing - Ozemail
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