White in the thick of it
4/7/2004 11:44 (Press Release) -
The closest qualifying session in the history of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar series has set Matthew White up for a round win at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
With the Konica Minolta series making it’s first foray into Queensland, White will start from fifth on the grid. And he is confident there is enough improvement left for him to claw his way to the top of the time sheets in tomorrow’s two races.
"The Gulf Western Oil/Jayco Caravans Ford was very good, it has a lot of potential. I just didn’t get the best out of it in qualifying," White told the post-qualifying media conference.
The times White was able to produce from the ex-Briggs Motorsport AU Falcon improved throughout the session and he posted his best (1m11.47s) on the final lap. That was just 0.3s behind pole sitter Owen Kelly. But the two times series runner-up is convinced he can extract even more from his machine under race conditions.
"I know I can tidy things up and gain a good result this weekend," he said.
White’s championship aspirations have suffered several setbacks with unfortunate incidents in reverse grid races at the previous two rounds. The most recent costing not only valuable points but also a race engine.
Matthew White Racing has established a giant-killer reputation, and the team have rallied to replace the engine and ensure White has the hardware to take the battle up to teams with larger budgets.
"It’s very consistent with the new engine, the boys have done great job, they always do."
Despite languishing in seventh in the championship standings, White has not abandoned hope of a championship victory. "I think that the championship is still up for grabs, anything can happen."
But with only one round remaining after round five this weekend, the pressure is on if his championship dreams are to become a reality.
Known as the most consistent racer in the Konica Minolta series over several seasons, White is putting aside speculation on his commitments for the V8 Supercar endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst later this year and concentrating on maximizing his points haul this weekend.
The first of three Konica Minolta series races get underway at Queensland raceway tomorrow at 12.10pm followed by the reverse grid race at 3.15pm.
The final KMS race is scheduled for 11.15am on Sunday as part of the build up to the Queensland 300.
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