Walden - down but not out
18/9/2004 17:53 (Press Release) -
In true endurance style, Walden Motorsport has finished in 24th position after being 30 laps down in the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 for Round 9 of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series. With the amount of effort that went in over the weekend, the team was in extremely high spirits for their flight back to Sydney late last night.
Team Manager Brian Walden said, “The guys have put in an unbelievable performance here this weekend. They have all worked hard every day, getting the car to where we wanted to be with its performance, and, above all things, finished the race.”
“Garth [Walden] is continuing to develop his skills greatly and really getting a good feel for the car and the competition. And Grant [Elliott] stepped up for the co-drive excellently after running a Commodore all year, showing what only a couple of full years on the track can do.”
With ever increasing performances all weekend, Walden Motorsport were expecting a solid performance during the race, but a broken top control arm threatened to send the team home early on lap 6.
With the team working to make the change, the AU Falcon was sent back out on lap 38 of the race to complete the required 75% race distance.
“Unfortunately that’s what happens in motor sport, things go wrong, and parts break,” said Brian.
“The team had some work ahead of them, and today’s finish is a testament to their abilities in getting the car back on the track. That’s what endurance racing is all about, being there at the end.”
With the race being declared based on time at 4:45, Garth Walden passed the post seconds before the checked flag was shown and with his final lap he picked up two in-race positions to finish in 24th position.
“I was always going to go out there for a solid run, but with the early dramas I had a little more to put in and it was a great feeling to head down the straight that last time, passing the checked flag,” said Garth Walden.
Earlier that day, Garth had driven the Falcon in the warm-up session and had set times to be 4th fastest after his 12th lap, only to be bumped back to 19th position by the field on their final laps.
“The car really felt good out there today, and I think having Grant [Elliott] come in with his experience, especially in other vehicles has helped to correct the smaller details in the set-up over the weekend.”
Walden Motorsport started the race from 33 on the grid after a decision to use both drivers in the qualifying session, a strategy adopted by only three vehicles, with the fastest being the #7 Castrol Perkins combination whose lap time was only 0.1 seconds faster than Garth Walden’s to place them in 32nd for the race start.
“Strategy plays such a crucial factor in these races, and with both Garth [Walden] and Grant [Elliott] were feeding of the other’s performance to gradually bettering their own, we thought they both may as well have a shot at qualifying,” said Brian Walden.
“At the end of the day we finished the race and that’s what really matters to us at the moment…we can’t exactly win the championship so we’re concentrating on what we can do, and that is finish with solid performances.”
The team now looks forward to the next endurance round at the iconic Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 on the Mount Panorama Bathurst circuit from 7-10 October.
Drivers’ times:
Friday
Practice 1:
Garth Walden, 29 laps, Fastest (lap 22) 1:14.6348
Grant Elliott, 6 laps, Fastest (lap 4) 1:16.1619
Finish 35
Practice 2 (Co-drivers only):
Grant Elliott, 19 laps, Fastest (lap18) 1:13.9909
Finish 28
Saturday
Practice 3:
Garth Walden, 11 laps, Fastest (lap 9) 1:27.3327
Grant Elliott, 12 laps, Fastest (lap 8) 1:26.6030
Finish = 32
Qualifying:
Grant Elliott, 8 laps, Fastest (lap 6) 1:35.2546
Garth Walden, 10 laps, Fastest (lap 10) 1:28.7261
Finish = 33rd
Sunday
Warm-up:
Garth Walden, 12 laps, Fastest (lap 12) 1:14.9298
Finish = 19th
500km Race:
Grant Elliott, 56 laps, Fastest (lap 30) 1:14.5235
Garth Walden, 67 laps, Fastest (lap 37) 1:13.4291
Finish = 24th
* Fastest laps of second driver are given relative to their total laps completed, not the total number of laps completed by the team in that session.
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