Motorsports Mossman - V8 Supercars 09

The

V8 Supercars - Townsville 2009

July 10th to 12th '09

with a little Ford focus...

Dunlop Townsville 400 blows NQ away

The praise of the inaugural Dunlop Townsville 400 came thick and fast all week and it was no different at the end of the final day.

V8 Supercars Australia Executive Chairman Tony Cochrane, said he was just “blown away” with the success of Townsville first event.

“This has been a massive success,” said Cochrane.

“It really leaves us wondering how much bigger this sport can become. To think this replaced an event at Eastern Creek in Sydney which last year had a three-day crowd of around 29,000. (168,057 people attended Townsville!)

“The numbers in our heads were nothing like this. It is a tremendous result and something that everyone involved should take tremendous pride in.

“We had a couple of small teething problems and if it was not for those, which we are already addressing for next year, this would have been a triple-A rate event.”

V8 Supercar Events boss Shane Howard said there was a real feeling of accomplishment in being involved in such a successful first-up event.

“Like Tony, I am simply blown away,” said Howard.

“When you think about those very early preliminary discussions about this event 10 years ago to what we produced over the last three days – you have to wonder where the years actually went.

“We simply surrounded ourselves with good people who got the job done. We have already started debriefs to fix some of our issues for next year for an event I am sure is going to be even bigger and better.”

The Story Of The Feature Races

Courtney takes one for The Team Sunday 12/07/2009 - Race 12

James Courtney scored his first race win with Jim Beam Racing and the second of his career at the Dunlop Townsville 400 today (Sunday).

His first race win was at Queensland Raceway last year when he drove for Stone Brothers Racing, but Courtney joked that he didn’t even remember that win because it was so long ago.

And it was a far cry from yesterday’s race when after leading he was forced to retire because of engine dramas.

It was arguably a race win that took place in the pits. Courtney lead the way home after he got out in front of TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup, who finished second, during their second and final stops.

From there, Courtney was able to hold off any challenges and did not lose the lead.

Toll Holden Racing Team driver Garth Tander’s #2 car was the first Commodore to cross the finish line, ending the race in third place.

Courtney was glad to repay his crew for their efforts and acknowledged they played a huge part in his race win.

“It’s been a tough start to the year; everything that could go wrong did go wrong and it’s just great to be able to reward the guys with a win,” he said.

“It’s been a long time coming. We came straight off the back of the truck this weekend and the car was electric, it was on fire and makes my job so much easier through the weekend.

“The teams had a bit of a race in the pits as well so everyone was involved and it made for a great race.”

There were two Safety Car periods during the race, both to fix issues on the new circuit.

The first was to fix a loose manhole cover while the second was to remove bolts which had become visible at the ripple strip at turn 6.

After the second restart, Whincup was able to close the gap and ready for Courtney to make a mistake.

“If he slipped up I was there,” Whincup said.

However Courtney would have liked a bit more breathing room.

“We were just talking on the way over and I said ‘jeez mate, you’ve had a few of these, you could have made it a bit easier’, but no he pushed me all the way,” Courtney said.

Race 12 top 10

1st - James Courtney Falcon

Jamie Whincup Falcon

Garth Tander Commodore

Will Davison Commodore

5th - Steve Johnson Falcon

Mark Winterbottom Falcon

Lee Holdsworth Commodore

Paul Dumbrell Commodore

Craig Lowndes Falcon

Michael Caruso Commodore

Whincup streets them Saturday 11/07/2009 - Race 11

Jamie Whincup continued his impeccable street track form to record a historic win in the Dunlop Townsville 400 at Townsville but the win caught the attention of race stewards.

Whincup's actions came under scrutiny when he made contact with the rear of Jack Perkins' Commodore mid-race however stewards said the incident did not warrant an investigation.

In front of a massive Saturday crowd of 60,117 Whincup scampered to a win in the 72-lap race holding off a Toll Holden Racing Team (HRT) charge with Will Davison and Garth Tander filling the podium.

Whincup charged from ninth on the grid, capitalising on the misfortune of some quicker cars, to consolidate his Championship lead.

It was a scratchy, patchy win by Whincup who confesses that it was far from one of his best or more satisfying victories.

There was further controversy when it was discovered after the race that race officials had declared the result at lap 71 when it became a timed race so effectively the following lap meant drivers were racing and risking their machinery for no reason.

Whincup had earlier had several brushes during the race but he managed to extract enough firepower from the TeamVodafone Falcon to withstand the HRT surge at the end.

“I must admit it was a bit of a lucky one,” Whincup said.

“I clipped Michael Caruso on the way through and bent the steering and got hit by David Reynolds under safety car and I had a tap with Jack Perkins.

“We had a bit of a touch and had we have been racing for position I would have had to redress that.

“But lucky enough it wasn’t for position but it’s not good; I owe Jack a couple of beers I think.”

Runner-up and good mate Davison thought otherwise when he commented on the incident at the post-race press conference.

“He was pretty lucky to get away with it I thought,” Davison said with a chuckle.

Davison said he was struck with an oil pressure problem over the last 20 laps and was told by his team to use only 50 per cent throttle through turns 9, 10 and 11 to nurse the red Commodore home.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was told to save the car through those turns,” Davison said.

“But in the end the car survived and I had just enough pace to keep Garth behind me.”

Davison said he had been hampered all weekend with an electronics problem with his dash.

“You might have noticed I started the race with my high beams on because the dash wouldn’t light up unless the headlights were on,” Davison said.

Davison said the track was breaking up badly in certain parts and it was expected that repairs wouldn’t be ordered overnight in time for the final day on Sunday.

Tander was satisfied with his day’s work, coming hard at the end and hunting his teammate.

“But I wasn’t prepared to compromise both of our races just to get past Will,” Tander said.

“After we did our second stop we made a change and the car was absolutely fantastic for the latter part of the race.

“I think we’ve got a fast car here on the long runs.”

Race 11 top 10

Jamie Whincup Falcon

Will Davison Commodore

Garth Tander Commodore

Craig Lowndes Falcon

Michael Caruso Commodore

Russell Ingall Commodore

Rick Kelly Commodore