WPS RACING EASES INTO INDY
9/11/2004 18:45 (Press Release) -
The Wright Patton Shakespeare-supported WPS Racing team of Alex Yoong and John McIntyre today felt their way around the tight Surfers Paradise street circuit on day one of the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
The pair, who have never driven at Surfers Paradise and have just five V8 Supercar starts between them, spent the day’s practice and qualifying sessions getting to know their new surrounds and fine tuning their cars.
By day’s end, McIntyre had qualified for the first of the two-race round in 28th position and Yoong in 29th.
McIntyre showed steady improvement through each session and continues to soak up the vibrant atmosphere of the Gold Coast event.
“I’m loving it and it’s a hugely challenging circuit to drive on,” said McIntyre.
“The corners just appear from nowhere … I haven’t come across anything like it before.
“But everything so far is going according to plan. I’m getting quicker and quicker every time I go out there.
“Obviously I would like to be a bit further through the field but we’ll just keep working on it and hopefully a good result will follow.”
It is the first time since a street race in Wellington, New Zealand, that McIntyre has driven on a street circuit and it is also just his fourth V8 Supercar drive.
He came into the race as the replacement driver for David Besnard, who has qualified in 13th position in his one-off drive in a Champ Car as part of the Lexmark Indy 300.
“It’s an honour to be in David’s car while he drives in the Champ Cars,” said McIntyre.
“He’s doing really well and I am having an awesome time just being part of the whole Indy experience.”
His team mate, ex Formula One driver Alex Yoong, had a difficult day with his Car 48 Ford Falcon experiencing engine problems through the practice session.
“This is an interesting circuit and I haven’t come across anything like the chicanes across the back of the track before,” said Yoong.
“I had some engine problems in the practice and that set me back but we found the problem for qualifying and my times started to come down,” said Yoong.
“It’s still not perfect but it’s getting better and I’ll be looking to improve over the weekend.”
Yoong was on his fastest lap of the day on the final lap of qualifying when he overshot the final turn and put the front end of his car into a tyre wall.
There was no damage to the car and he will take his place in the field over the weekend.
IMAGES: To download high resolution photos click on the thumbnails and enter the password media2004.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1:50.3768
2: Russell Ingall (Ford) 1:50.5786
3: Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1:50.5878
4: Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 1:50.6233
5: Rick Kelly (Holden) 1:50.7828
6: Todd Kelly (Holden) 1:51.0062
7: Steven Richards (Holden) 1:51.0302
8: Jason Bargwanna (Ford) 1:51.2554
9: Steve Ellery (Ford) 1:51.2962
10: Greg Murphy (Holden) 1:51.2966
11: Jason Bright (Holden) 1:51.3406
12: Simon Wills (Holden) 1:51.3409
13: John Bowe (Ford) 1:51.4574
14: Max Wilson (Ford) 1:51.5087
15: Glenn Seton (Ford) 1:51.5229
16: Steven Johnson (Ford) 1:51.5676
17: Garth Tander (Holden) 1:51.6971
18: Warren Luff (Ford) 1:51.8894
19: Paul Weel (Holden) 1:51.9067
20: Paul Dumbrell (Holden) 1:52.0735
21: Cameron McConville (Holden) 1:52.1209
22: Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 1:52.2443
23: Jason Richards (Holden) 1:52.5695
24: Anthony Tratt (Holden) 1:52.8991
25: Brad Jones (Ford) 1:52.9284
26: Dale Brede (Holden) 1:52.9905
27: Paul Morris (Holden) 1:53.0985
28: John McIntyre (Ford) 1:53.3698
29: Alex Yoong (Ford) 1:53.4289
30: Tony Longhurst (Holden) 1:53.6257
31: Paul Radisich (Ford) No Time
Release Date: 22/10/2004
WPS Racing
|
|
