SP Tools Racing

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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