Surfers street fight begins for Orrcon Racing
9/11/2004 18:29 (Press Release) -
In the lead up to this weekend’s Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge Orrcon Racing V8 Supercar drivers Jason Bargwanna and Mark Winterbottom sampled the sun, surf and even the snow in Surfers Paradise.
Today the pair got down to business aboard their Orrcon Racing Falcons.
“This weekend has a lead up and atmosphere that is certainly unique to the Championship, now it is time to get down to business,” said Bargwanna.
Throughout the two 35-minute practice sessions held earlier today Bargwanna focused on reacquainting himself with the 4.47km street circuit, while Winterbottom sampled the concrete cauldron for the first time in a V8 Supercar.
“During the opening session the car was pretty unsettled under brakes, costing me a fair bit of time,” said Bargwanna.
“In between the sessions we changed a lot in the set up of our suspension, along with some minor changes in the geometry, these changes were highlighted by the improvement in the lap times which had me inside the top ten for the majority of the session.
“I am confident that we will be on right top of a fast set up by the time we qualify this afternoon, the aim is to make my sixth start in a top ten shootout for the year.”
Throughout both sessions 23-year-old Winterbottom improved his lap times as he continued coming to grips with the tricky street circuit.
“The opening session was basically an orientation session for me, settle into the groove, find my braking markers, and establish how hard I should be pushing into the chicanes,” said Winterbottom.
“The track seems so much smaller than when drove here in 2000 in the Honda Young Guns Challenge, I think it may have something to do with the fact that now I have over four times as much horsepower under the go pedal.
“Given we qualify this afternoon the most important thing to achieve during practice was to ensure that I kept the car away from the concrete and got as many laps under my belt as possible.
“In the second practice I was battling with the rear end being loose under brakes which was hampering my times, the guys are currently working on a solution this prior to qualifying.”
Bargwanna improved his time by over a second between sessions to be 13th fastest in the second practice. Winterbottom set his fastest time in the opening practice where he was 25th fastest time.
Qualifying for the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge, round 11 of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship, begins this afternoon at 4:00pm.
The top ten shootout will be held tomorrow afternoon at 12:10pm followed by the opening 22-lap journey at 3:50pm.
Network Ten’s coverage of this weekend’s Lexmark Indy 300 event begins tomorrow at 11am through until 5pm. The telecast continues on Sunday from 10am highlighting the second V8 Supercar race of the weekend scheduled for 30-laps.
ORRCON RACING DRIVER HISTORY AT THE GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE
Jason Bargwanna
Best Finish – 1st (2002)
Best qualifying position – 9th (1998, 2001)
Podium Finishes – Two - 1st (2002), 3rd (1998)
Debut - 1998
2003 results – Qualifying 28th, Race One 17th, Race Two 21st, Overall 12th
Mark Winterbottom
Best Finish – N/A (Debut 2004)
Best qualifying position – N/A (Debut 2004)
Debut - 2004
2003 results – N/A (Debut 2004)
GILLETTE V8 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1994 John Bowe
1996 John Bowe
1997 Greg Murphy
1998 Mark Larkham
1999 Paul Radisich
2000 Paul Radisich
2001 Garth Tander
2002 Jason Bargwanna
2003 Russell Ingall
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday October 22
4:00pm - 4:20pm – Qualifying Lower 50%
4:25pm – 4:45pm – Qualifying Upper 50%
Saturday October 23
11:45pm – 12:05pm - Warm Up
12:10pm – 12:50pm - Top 10 Shoot Out
3:50pm – Race One (22 laps)
Sunday October 24
9:00am – 9:20am - Warm Up
12:00pm – Race Two (33 laps)
TELECAST TIMES
Network Ten
Saturday October 23
11:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday October 24
10:00am – 5:00pm
Release Date: 22/10/2004
Larkham Orrcon Racing
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