BJR ready to pounce after making Shootout
8/10/2004 22:30 (Press Release) -
BJR’s Bathurst campaign is going exactly to plan after John Bowe has placed the black OzEmail Falcon into tomorrow’s Top Ten Shootout for the V8 Supercars at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst.
After missing most of this morning’s practice session when the car’s starter motor caused exhaust damage as it rattled from its mountings, the Bowe/Jones have bounced back, comfortably securing a shootout berth. Although qualifying king, John Bowe wasn’t entirely happy;
“There’s nothing terribly wrong but the OzEmail Falcon is lacking grip. To set my time [of 2:08:51] was harder than it should have been.”
“We searched and searched during the session for a better lap time and we were getting a little but of gain here and there but nothing substantial,” Bowe added.
“What today has done is give us a great platform to pounce from for tomorrow’s shootout. To do well, we must have a fast race car, that a prerequisite but we also have the experience of knowing what it takes to be on the front row.”
“We still have a few tricks up our sleeve and we’ll be working on those overnight. Come tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be somewhere up the front,” he concluded.
Continuing the BJR Bathurst onslaught is the second OzEmail Falcon of Andrew Jones and John Cleland. After taking pole position in the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar qualifying just minutes before, Andrew Jones continued his form with a brilliant effort in the main V8 Supercar series qualifying.
Finishing second in the lower 50% bracket, his time of 2:08:74 will see the combo start from a more than credible 15th position for Sunday’s Great Race.
For Jones, swapping from the Team BOC AU Falcon to the OzEmail BA Falcon did prove to be a handful – “Going straight from the AU to the BA was more difficult than I thought. It took me a few laps to get used to the way the OzEmail BA rides the bumps, in some ways it’s a completely different car.”
“By the time we bolted on my second set of tyres, I was feeling much more at home and overall I’m really pleased with where we ended up. The car is just great and I can’t wait for Sunday,” Jones concluded.
Andrew Jones will take part in the 25 lap Konica Minolta Series support race at 1.30pm tomorrow, whilst John Bowe will be looking for his third front row Bathurst start in a row, in the Top Ten Shootout at 3.40pm.
|
|
