Team work the name of the game for Orrcon Racing
13/6/2004 22:37 (Press Release) -
The Orrcon Racing team proved that teamwork is the name of the game to be successful in 2004 V8 Supercar Championship today at West Australia’s Barbagallo Raceway.
When Jason Bargwanna was involved in an incident with Paul Morris and Craig Baird during the round’s second 42-lap race his Orrcon Racing Falcon endured severe damage to the front right corner of the car.
“There was contact between myself and Paul (Morris) forcing me into a spin which left Bairdy nowhere to go apart from straight into me,” said Bargwanna.
“Such was the impact that it virtually destroyed the majority of the bolt on components in the region.”
As Bargwanna was stranded in the sand he watched his Orrcon Racing team mate, Mark Winterbottom move up the order to finish 16th.
With only an hour between the two races it was a case of all hands on deck to complete the repairs, including Bargwanna who got his hands dirty ensuring the Orrcon Racing Falcon made the start for the final 42-lap journey.
As Winterbottom gridded up for the final race Barwganna buckled into his car in the pit area while the crew thrashed to complete the required repairs.
Forced to start from pit lane Bargwanna focused on gaining valuable Championship points and making every passing opportunity count.
In the early laps Winterbottom had moved inside the top 15 and following his compulsory pit stop engaged in a battle with Greg Murphy and Cameron McConville. Winterbottom’s pace was impressive disposing of the duo and matching times shown by the leaders.
“All weekend the guys worked hard to improve the car and the results showed with the consistent race pace that I was able to show,” said Winterbottom.
“The rain mid way through qualifying yesterday cost me a good starting position but to be able to match times during the last race to that of the leaders gives me confidence, especially considering it is my first visit here.”
Unlike the previous two races of the round today’s final battle was not punctuated by safety car periods. Over the closing laps Winterbottom closed in on Jason Richards for 14th but simply ran out of laps to construct a pass.
Throughout the journey Bargwanna was engaged in a titanic battle with Max Wilson, McConnville, Tony Longhurst, Simon Wills and David Besnard to cross the line 19th.
“The changes that the guys made overnight to the car certainly made some good improvements and I was just outside the top ten prior to the race two incident,” said Bargwanna.
“The last race result was amazing and a true credit to the guys, their effort o repair the car in the short time between races was simply amazing, they never gave up and gave me a chance to get some Championship points.”
Jason Bright won the round ahead of Marcos Ambrose and Rick Kelly.
Ambrose now leads in the race for the Championship on 872 points ahead of Kelly (822) and Steven Richards (820). Bargwanna is 13th on 496 with Winterbottom 16th (442).
The next round of the Championship will be held at Queensland Raceway on July ¾.
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