Round 5, Midas 400, Sandown International Motor Raceway, VIC

Stone Brothers Racing Falcons raced into the top ten in the opening race of the Midas 400 at Sandown International Motor Raceway today, the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon placing sixth and the SP Tools Racing Falcon finishing in ninth position in the 39-lap race.

Both SBR Falcons recovered from a tough qualifying session this morning where JELD-WEN Motorsport ’s James Courtney just missed the top ten, setting the 11th fastest time, and SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen forced to settle for 17th on the grid.

A strong start was essential and both Courtney and van Gisbergen were up to the task, the pair gaining two and three positions respectively on the opening lap.

The SBR pit crew provided seamless stops for both cars, enabling Courtney to emerge in eighth position and van Gisbergen in tenth.

As the compulsory pit stops played out, Courtney moved up to sixth position, moving away from Rick Kelly in seventh and gaining ground on Garth Tander in fifth. In the end, the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver ran out of laps to catch Tander, crossing the line in sixth.

Van Gisbergen looked settled in tenth until Lee Holdsworth hustled past him on lap 34. The young Kiwi driver settled in behind the Garry Rogers Motorsport car and waited for an opportunity to regain his position.

The chance came on lap 38 , when Mark Skaife made an error and in turn held up Holdsworth, giving van Gisbergen the opportunity to slide up the inside of both to claim ninth position.

The SP Tools Racing driver grabbed his chance and held position until the chequered flag.

Courtney and van Gisbergen will be on track on tomorrow’s Queen’s Birthday public holiday at 12:15pm for race two, following by race three at 4:05pm.

In the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, Stone Brothers Racing’s Jonathon Webb qualified in sixth position following this morning’s top 50% session.

Webb remained consistent in today’s 15-lap race, bringing the Tekno Autosport Falcon home in sixth position.

James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport
“We had a few issues with traffic in qualifying; it was pretty hard to find a clear lap.

“We made some changes to the car that we didn’t like but with the way that qualifying is now, you don’t have time to change back so we had t o make do with what we had.

“The JELD-WEN Falcon struggled early in the race but from the mid-point on the car was great and we were as fast as the guys in the lead and catching (Garth) Tander in front of us. We could have done with a few more laps to get him.

“The guys will work on the car overnight to try and improve it in the early part of the race so that we are strong over the whole 39 laps.”

Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon
“We had a good race with a few guys today; (Lee) Holdsworth and (Mark) Skaife.

“So many of the cars in the field are so even and it is so competitive that it is hard to find a chance to pass.

“I had to sit and wait until Skaife and Holdsworth made a mistake and when they did I was able to dive up the inside and take them both.

“Once we got through the SP Tools car had the speed to keep ahead; it was good to get inside the ten.

V8 Supercars – Race 1
1. Jamie Whincup
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Craig Lowndes
4. Russell Ingall
5. Garth Tander
6. James Courtney
7. Rick Kelly
8. Fabian Coulthard
9. Shane Van Gisbergen
10. Mark Skaife

V8 Supercars – Qualifying
1. Jamie Whincup 1:09.6987
2. Mark Winterbottom 1:10.0184
3. Will Davison 1:10.0328
4. Rick Kelly 1:10.0588
5. Fabian Coulthard 1:10.0800
6. Russell Ingall 1:10.1399
7. Steven Richards 1:10.1750
8. Todd Kelly 1:10.1754
9. Craig Lowndes 1:10.2646
10. Jason Richards 1:10.5183
11. James Courtney 1:10.3794 (time set in leg 2)
17. Shane Van Gisbergen 1:10.6738 (time set in leg 2)

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Round 4, Bigpond 400, Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia

Stone Brothers Racing drivers James Courtney and Shane van Gisbergen have carved their way through the field in the second race at round four of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Barbagallo Raceway today, making up 30 positions between them in the 50-lap race.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport and SP Tools Racing Falcon’s clawed their way back to seventh and tenth respectively after starting from 20th and 27th on the grid courtesy of Courtney’s drive-through penalty and a bruising first-lap incident for van Gisbergen yesterday.

Courtney began his charge through the field early, a clean pit stop on lap 14 helping him into ninth position by lap 32. The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver continued to make progress following his stop, passing Andrew Jones and Todd Kelly on his way to seventh place.

Van Gisbergen also produced a fantastic drive to pick up 17 positions in the 50-lap race. The young Kiwi driver showed great speed, particularly in the wet conditions, crossing the line in 10th position.

Race three proved to be a little tougher, with both Courtney and van Gisbergen struggling to make headway in the pointy end of the field. Both drivers maintained their starting positions early but had to settle for eighth and 12th at the chequered flag.

JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney claimed eighth for the round while SP Tools Racing’s Shan e van Gisbergen was 17th, his race one retirement proving costly in the points haul.

Courtney is currently ninth in the V8 Supercar Championship standings; van Gisbergen is 16th.

Round five of the V8 Supercar Championship Series is at Sandown Raceway on the Queens Birthday long weekend, 7-9 June 2008.

James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport
“We had a big improvement in the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon today.

“The car was faster than a couple of the cars in front of me in the last race but this is a tough circuit to pass on.

“I could have had a lunge but there was a good chance that that would result in contact and I just can’t afford to do that.

“The drive-through yesterday killed our weekend; you get a good finish in race one and you can be up in the top five in race two and three. The result yesterday hindered us today.

“Still it was a good recovery today and we are slowly crawling back and chipping away at the championship. There is still a long way to go.”

Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon
“The SP Tools Racing Falcon was as good as new today with the repairs the guys did last night.

“We started third to last and came right through to tenth; the car was really fast in the rain. We picked up a lot of track position then.

“We pitted late and had really good tyres because we didn’t finish the first race so that helped us too.

“In the last race we ran into a bit of a wall; it’s a lot harder to pass those guys who have close to the same pace as you.

“We had a slow stop which cost us a couple of spots but overall, I’ve had a pretty good first race here; a top ten in qualifying and good speed.”

Meeting Points
1. Mark Winterbottom 300 pts
2. Garth Tander 270 pts
3. Jamie Whincup 236 pts
4. Craig Lowndes 234 pts
5. Rick Kelly 210 pts
6. Will Davison 202 pts
7. Steve n Richards 200 pts
8. James Courtney 154 pts
9. Fabian Coulthard 138 pts
10. Andrew Jones 132 pts
17. Shane van Gisbergen 98 pts

Championship Points
1. Garth Tander 896 pts
2. Rick Kelly 882 pts
3. Mark Winterbottom 872 pts
4. Jamie Whincup 776 pts
5. Steven Richards 721 pts
6. Craig Lowndes 711 pts
7. Will Davison 640 pts
8. Lee Holdsworth 626 pts
9. James Courtney 577 pts
10. Fabian Coulthard 569 pts
16. Shane van Gisbergen 464 pts

Race 3
1. Mark Winterbottom
2. Garth Tander
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Craig Lowndes
5. Will Davison
6. Rick Kelly
7. Steven Richards
8. James Courtney
9. Fabian Coulthard
10. Cameron McConville
12. Shane van Gisbergen

Race 1
1. Mark Winterbottom
2. Garth Tander
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Craig Lowndes
5. Rick Kelly
6. Will Davison
7. James Courtney
8. Todd Kel ly
9. Steven Richards
10. Shane van Gisbergen

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SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen didn’t fare any better than his team-mate, taken out on the first lap by a spinning Michael Caruso.

Van Gisbergen put in a fantastic qualifying effort in his first Barbagallo appearance, claiming 10th on the grid.

The SP Tools Racing driver made a steady start only to be the innocent party in an incident involving Jason Bright, Michael Caruso and Greg Murphy at the last corner on lap one.

Van Gisbergen came straight into the pits for repairs but was unable to rejoin the race. The SBR crew will repair the SP Too ls Racing Falcon overnight in time for race two tomorrow.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport and SP Tools Racing Falcons will be back on track at 10:15am for race two before the third and final race at 2:00pm.

Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon
“The hit from Caruso took me by surprise.

“I was coming out of th e corner and had the power down and all of a sudden I got drilled.

“I spun around a few times and went straight into the pits but we couldn’t get the SP Tools Falcon back out on the track.

“It was a shame that we couldn’t carry on after a really good qualifying session. It was great to be in the top ten again.

“I guess I will have plenty of passing practice tomorrow.”

Race 1
1. Mark Winterbottom
2. Mark Skaife
3. Garth Tander
4. Steven Richards
5. Craig Lowndes
6. Rick Kelly
7. Jamie Whincup
8. Will Davison
9. Todd Kelly
10. Cameron McConville
20. James Courtney
DNF Shane van Gisbergen

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SP Tools Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen made his Barbagallo debut at round four of the V8 Supercar Championship Series today, the young Kiwi also celebrating his 19th birthday.

The youngest driver in the field spent today’s two-and-a-quarter hour practice session learning the 2.42km circuit, eventually finishing with the 27th fastest time after experiencing some throttle problems throughout the session.

Team-mate JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney also had a debut today, the Gold Coast-based driver taking the new SBR BF Falcon for its first competition laps following the car’s shakedown at Queensland Raceway last Friday.

Courtney was happy with the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon’s progress early in the session but suffered problems with the balance in the new car once he moved to green tyres.

The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver was 14th fastest after practice and will work with his crew to find a good qualifying car for tomorrow.

Courtney and van Gisbergen will be on track at 10:50am tomorrow for the three-leg elimination style qualifying session, followed by race one at 2:00pm.

James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport
“The new car was running really well on old tyres today.

“All the changes we were making were in the right direction and we made great progress quickly.

“As soon as we put new tyres on we lost all balance. We will have to have a good look into it tonight.

“We are in pretty good shape though. We have a great race car, just not the best qualifying car at the moment; we are looking to change that tomorrow.”

Shane van Gisbergen, #9, SP Tools Racing Falcon
“With Barbagallo being a pretty small circuit there is not too much to remember. It’s pretty low grip and all the times are really close.

“We had a few problems in practice with the throttle sticking on. I also locked up and killed a tyre which hurt us in the end as we were without a full set to use.

“I was hoping to have a better day on my birthday but we have three good sets of tyres for qualifying tomorrow and we will be away again.”

Practice
1. Garth Tander 0:56.5381
2. Steven Richards 0:56.5758
3. Craig Lowndes 0:56.6550
4. Russell Ingall 0:56.7316
5. Mark Winterbottom 0:56.7590
6. Rick Kelly 0:56.8037
7. Mark Skaife 0:56.8309
8. Lee Holdsworth 0:56 .9129
9. Greg Murphy 0:56.9292
10. Jamie Whincup 0:56.9322
14. James Courtney 0:57.0421
27. Shane Van Gisbergen 0:57.6017

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It was a case of ‘close but no cigar’ for Stone Brothers Racing’s V8 Supercar tyro Shane van Gisbergen at the New Zealand Formula First Association’s annual One-Hour race at Manfeild on Saturday.

The 18-year-old who drives the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon for Stone Brothers Racing in the 2008 V8 Supercar championship, was in the leading bunch with just three laps to go when his car slowed suddenly then stopped w ith what turned out to be a pushrod problem.

It was an unfortunate end to the race for the young Kiwi, who had lapped the 3.33km Manfeild circuit up to 1.5 seconds quicker than any of the other drivers in the wet practice session on Friday and was one of three drivers vying for the win when his car’s engine cried enough.

The annual One-Hour race is one of the most popular fixtures on the New Zealand Formula First (nee Vee) Association’s annual fixture calendar and carries serious bragging rights – hence van Gisbergen’s desire to return from his new home on Australia’s Gold Coast to compete in it.

The 18-year-old got his career break in the New Zealand Formula First championship in 2004 after winning the annual SpeedSport magazine scholarship – which offers winners an all-expenses-paid season in the category in conjunction with top team Sabre Motorsport.

With fellow New Zealand young gun Andrew Waite and 2007 /08 recipient Richie Stanaway, he was one of three Speedsport Scholarship winners to return for the 2008 race.

Stanaway went on to win the race from Matthew Stubbs and Simon Evans. Evans’ younger brother Mitchell was also in the running but spun late in the race.

With the New Zealand Formula First Association celebrating its 40th anniversary over the weekend van Gisbergen was one of 18 drivers and over 100 current and former drivers and associates gathered in Feilding and Palmerston North for a weekend of activities.

Of the weekend van Gisbergen said;

“Overall it’s been a lot of fun and it’s been good to come back and see everyone. It was a bit of a shame the way the race panned out, but I guess that means I’ll just have to come back again next year! The three of us (van Gisbergen, Stanaway and the second of the Evans brothers, Mitchell) were pretty even and when the engine went I was just sitting back watching Ric hie and Mitch to see what they were going to do on the last lap.”

And of returning to his racing roots, in a car which could not be more different to the SP Tools Racing V8 Supercar he said;

“You’d think it would be easy but they’re just so different they take a bit of getting used to again, particularly the way they react. When the Supercar steps out it does so fairly slowly, but with these cars it all happens pretty quickly so you’ve got to be ready for it.”

Stone Brothers Racing’s young gun now heads back across the Tasman to prepare for the fourth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar championship at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway this weekend.

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The SBR Transporter had a face lift while the cars were in New Zealand.
The results are sensational.

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