Hidden Valley A Happy Hunting Ground For In-Form PWR Racing
20/5/2004 21:20 (Press Release) -
PWR Racing teammates Jason Bright and Paul Weel next week head to Hidden Valley Raceway, outside Darwin, high on confidence after both got their season back on track at the previous round in New Zealand.
Bright drove away from the field in two of the three races at Pukekohe Park Raceway to comfortably win Round 3, while Weel also found a happy balance in the constantly changeable conditions to finish 6th.
Last year at Hidden Valley, Bright and Weel finished 3rd and 10th respectively in the oppressively warm and sunny conditions which have become the trademark of the V8 Supercar Championship Series’ northernmost destination.
Bright last year led the championship before Hidden Valley’s three sprint races, and had stretched that lead by the weekend’s end.
“It was pretty enjoyable to take the lead so early on in the championship and hold on to it for the first half of the season,” Bright said. “But I can look back now and say I’d trade all that to be holding the lead for just one round – the last one.
"Hidden Valley has been a pretty happy hunting ground for me, the second year the V8s went there I won the round in a Ford, and I've won a few races there since coming over to Holden as well. Last year we were thereabouts all weekend.
"It's very different to, say, New Zealand, which is flat out, balls-out all the way around. Hidden Valley is a lot more technical, you have to touch every apex and stay right on the racing line, because there's no grip off it. It's a real test of your own skill, as well as the skills of your engineer, when you have to be centimetre-perfect all the time.
"After winning the round in New Zealand we feel we've definitely got a pretty good understanding of the car, and there are some rounds coming up that I think are really going to suit our style.”
Weel was equally upbeat. “There’s a bit of buzz around the place this year, ever since our first test sessions in these cars we knew we were on to something pretty good,” he said.
“I was a bit crook last year coming into the Darwin round and that showed in my early weekend results.
“As usual in these shorter races, half the battle is qualifying well and in NZ we were one-tenth away from being in the Top Ten Shootout. It’s time we took that step up.”
Bright said that although consistency remained the key to his championship hopes, winning rounds was still important.
“You can’t rely on anyone dropping a round, so you have to make your own luck. If that means I have to consistently beat the Ambroses, Murphys and Richards to make up for the start I have given them, then that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”
Release Date: 13/05/2004
PWR Racing
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