Brad Jones Racing : Perth Friday Practice
13/6/2004 22:31 (Press Release) -
Predictions of record breaking times at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway have come true with the newly laid track surface cutting almost two seconds off the previous best practice lap.
Whilst the new surface slashed times, both OzEmail Falcon drivers struggled with the new dynamics that the added track grip provided.
John Bowe was the best of the two, finishing today’s opening practice session in 10th place but admitted that both he and his car were a little nervous on the fresh bitumen – “The resurface completely changed the way the car behaved and by the end of the session we still really didn’t get a handle on things. 10th is a better result than I would have expected but we have a long way to go to get to where we should be.”
Bowe who earlier in the day was the first V8 Supercar driver to experience Barbagallo’s improvement when he competed in the “Champions Challenge” in a 1971 XT GT Falcon. It was an easy win for Bowe, when Mark Skaife’s GTR XU1 failed to start the race due to mechanical failure.
Brad Jones was enjoying the light sprinkle of rain that fell during the opening minutes of the first practice session, sitting inside the top 4 in the early stages. As the track dried, Jones battled with exactly the same handling problems as team mate John Bowe, eventually finishing in 23rd place.
“My car is completely different to the way it was last year and it’s going to take some time to get used to all the extra grip the track has. I had the chance to file a couple of good laps but stuffed up on Kolb Corner. And in the end, I really didn’t get enough time on the good tyres that we bolted on at the end of the session. I think we’ll be ok though, we’ve got two good race cars.”
Saturday will see the both drivers complete another practice session before official qualifying, top ten shootout and the opening race in the afternoon.
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