Youlden To Prove Championship Lead In Queensland
29/6/2004 0:13 (Press Release) -
Current leader of the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship, Luke Youlden is fighting back at suggestions that he is winning the series as a result of good luck in the current points system rather than good management.
Youlden will continue to prove his point at round five of the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship at Queensland Raceway on the 2 – 4 July 2004 when he takes his Super Cheap Auto Racing Falcon onto the track to extend his current series lead.
“To say that I am leading the series due to good luck is ridiculous,” Youlden said, “at the end of the day Super Cheap Auto Racing has faced its own fair share of adversity in the Konica series it is just that myself and the crew have managed to rise above such challenges in a more efficient manner than the other teams.”
“When you consider I was turned around at Wakefield Park, got passed by two cars under a yellow flag in Adelaide and lost valuable positions due to a flat tyre at Winton, you can see why good management is critical because without it there is no way I would be leading the series.”
This year, Youlden has taken a holistic approach towards his 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship with the Super Cheap Auto Racing driver reaping the rewards of this professional attitude and an in-depth physical and psychological training schedule.
“Training has been a huge factor in the success I have achieved to date in the Super Cheap Auto Racing Falcon. I have upped the amount of physical training and worked with my brother, Clint who is a sports performance coach on my mental preparation prior to each event,” Youlden stated.
“The days when you could arrive at a Konica meeting without previous training and win races have gone and my training approach reflects this and is similar to the ground work put in by athletes prior to a sporting event such as the Olympics.”
Super Cheap Auto Racing Team Manager, John McLean backs up the belief of fans, competitors and the media, who state that Youlden is racing for the championship rather than here-today-gone-tomorrow race wins.
“Luke [Youlden] and the team are certainly racing for the championship,” McLean said, “like or hate it, the points system of the year has been implemented and it is a matter of each team devising a good strategy to provide their driver with the best chance of winning the series.”
“When you consider Luke has finished every single race of 2004 when most of his competitors at one stage or another have recorded a DNF, why shouldn’t he be rewarded with the series lead?”
Youlden is leading the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship by 84 points with his nearest competitors, Andrew Jones and Cameron McLean equal second with 577 points.
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