Johnson qualifies on second row at Winton
14/8/2004 14:56 (Press Release) -
Shell Helix Racing's Steve Johnson has enjoyed his, and the teams, best performance of the year to date by qualifying his Ford in third place for tomorrow's 300-kilometre V8 Supercar race at Winton Raceway.
Johnson's third placing today was his best qualifying performance since the Calder Raceway round of the 2001 championship, when he sat in second behind Mark Skaife.
"It's great to be up the front of the grid instead of way back in the pack," Steve Johnson said.
"It means that I can drive the race the way I want to instead of being forced on the defensive from the start.
"Normally I have to brake a hundred, hundred and fifty metres before the brake markers because I'm starting in twentieth place, I won't have to do this tomorrow.
"The aim is to get a good start and keep it clean in the first few laps as everyone sorts themselves out and gets comfortable.
"It'd be nice to get to the first corner first, as we'd all like to do, if I see the opening I'll go for it but I want to avoid any contact with other cars."
Johnson believes that the Shell Helix Ford will be competitive in tomorrow's race and will be able to hold its position with the others.
"I've got a good, solid Ford to drive out there," Johnson said.
"We've been making steady progress all year, particularly since Perth, we've just got to put all of the little improvements together in a race.
"Our splits have been good; we've consistently shown that the car has the potential, we've just failed to put it together over a lap. When we do this, and we're getting there, we will be able to stay with Stone Brothers and the other leading teams."
Johnson also admits that the Ford is strong in the wet.
"In the wet we've got a good package," Johnson said.
"We made steady improvement during the practice sessions and by qualifying were very competitive.
"In the last ten minutes of the session the tweaking really made the difference."
Luff also enjoyed a strong qualifying, initially sitting in 12th, but soon after was relegated to 14th.
"It was really disappointing to lose the two places," Warren Luff said.
"The red flags came out as I was coming onto the main straight so I thought I'd be right to finish the lap off.
"I would definitely have pitted had I seen a red flag before pit entry, but the stewards saw otherwise and didn't count it (the lap)."
Like Johnson, Luff intends to drive a smart, clean race tomorrow to maximise the chances of finishing high up.
"We worked hard for today's success so to do something silly would be a waste, both for me and the team," Luff said.
"Our set up in the wet is strong, if I drive the car to its potential, minimise the mistakes and put it all together then I think we'll finish well.
"The aim is to finish no lower than we started, it'll be a good day if we can achieve this."
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