A 30 minute practice session got the day under way for the The Bottle-O Commodore. Two stops were made in the 14 laps completed by #55 for changes to roll centre and dampers.
The green machine was sent out for qualifying with new shock absorbers after a change inbetween practice and qualifying. TD got 9 laps under his belt, with his 9th lap being the fastest with a time of 1.35.1692 to put #55 in 24th for the 100km race.
'The track is very different to last time we were here, which is just under 2 months ago. We are struggling to get power down as is everyone, so we will tweak the car a bit for the race'.
A great start was had by The Bottle-O Commodore, moving to the inside and gaining several positions. Fending off Slades attempts at passing, a late pit stop stratagie saw TD work his way up the order to be in 4th before pitting for fuel and tyres, rejoining in 23rd.
A safety car was deployed bunching the field together, before lights went out and the safety car pulled in with 5 laps remaining. The mad dash to the chequered flag had #55 battling with Lowndes and Reynolds in the fight to the end, with the green machine finishing in 20th position.
'The car had some good pace, but we were will still struggling for grip and were finding the track slippery. We will again make some changes and hope that helps us tomorrow.'
Once reviewed by the panel later in the day, the incident between Lowndes and Kelly, which resulted in the safety car period, had Lowndes handed down a 10 second penalty by the officials, which moved #55 up into 19th position.
Qualifying for race 2 begins tomorrow at 10.35am before the race mid afternoon!.
Last Modified on 20/11/2009 23:40