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Stone
Brothers Racing achieved
its third Bathurst 1000
podium in three years at
Sunday’s Supercheap Auto
Bathurst 1000, the
JELD-WEN Motorsport duo
of James Courtney and
David Besnard fighting
back to claim third
place in an amazing
race.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport
team’s race looked all
but over in the middle
stages when the SBR crew
suspected a broken rear
roll bar in the BF
Falcon but their
never-say-die attitude
kept the number-four car
in the race to grab a
fantastic result.
Starting from third,
Courtney avoided a
stationary Garth Tander
on the front row of the
grid and moved quickly
through the front
runners to lead the race
by lap four.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport
Falcon showed great turn
of speed and pulled away
from the field giving
Besnard a handy lead
when Courtney pitted on
lap 28.
Only a couple of laps
into Bernard’s stint,
the JELD-WEN Motorsport
Falcon turned into a
handful, sending the
JELD-WEN co-driver
quickly down the order
to be in 16th place as
the race reached 50
laps.
Besnard bought the
JELD-WEN Motorsport
Falcon into the pits on
lap 55 with a shredded
left front tyre and a
suspected broken rear
roll bar. A quick check
of the rear revealed
nothing and after a full
stop and some
adjustments to assist
with balance, Courtney
rejoined the race.
An inspection of the
offending tyre revealed
a slow leak as the cause
of the handling problems
in the JELD-WEN Falcon
and while the number
four car was still a
handful, Courtney was
able to continue on.
The race improved from
there for Courtney and
Besnard, with another
two regular stops on
laps 76 and 106 and the
JELD-WEN Falcon
reclaimed the lead on
lap 129.
However, there was still
another challenge to
overcome, with the
JELD-WEN Motorsport
Falcon out of sync with
the rest of the field
and still to make its
final fuel stop.
Courtney stopped on lap
137 and remained in the
car but relinquished the
lead dropping to 13th
position.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport
driver turned it on in
the final 25 laps of the
race, producing a gritty
charge through the field
to pass Steven Richards
on lap 160 to claim
third place.
On the other side of the
garage, the SP Tools
Racing Falcon were
looking strong early in
the annual 1000km race,
Shane van Gisbergen
working his way up to
the top ten before his
pit stop on lap 20.
Co-driver Jonathon Webb
continued with good pace
and was in sixth
position when he made a
good call on a
delaminating front tyre,
bringing the SP Tools
Racing Falcon in just in
time on lap 46 for the
second stop.
A driver change put van
Gisbergen back in the
car, the 19-year-old
completing only 22 laps
before suffering the
same fate as his
team-mate, a
delaminating front tyre.
It forced another driver
change with Webb
continuing in the SP
Tools Racing Falcon.
Webb worked his way into
11th position and when
the safety car was
deployed on lap 90 the
SBR crew took the
opportunity to stop for
fuel, tyres and pads.
The SP Tools Racing
Falcon exited after the
restart on lap 92,
rejoining the race for
only half a lap when
cold tyres and full
tanks caught Webb out,
the SP Tools Racing
driver hitting the wall
at turn nine.
The number-nine car
suffered broken steering
and despite his best
efforts to get the car
back to the pits, Webb
was forced to park at
the top of the mountain.
Courtney’s result at
this year's Supercheap
Auto Bathurst 1000 puts
him in seventh place in
the V8 Supercar
Championship Series
standings with van
Gisbergen in 15th place.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport
and SP Tools Racing
teams will now focus
their attention on round
11 of the V8 Supercar
Championship Series, the
Lexmark Indy 300 at the
Surfers Paradise Street
Circuit from 23-26
October 2008.
James Courtney, #4,
JELD-WEN Motorsport
“I would have to say
that I am a little
surprised to be on the
podium. I thought the
day was done when we
thought we had broken
the rear roll bar.
“But we were able to
come back and it’s a
credit to the team and
to David that they never
gave up.
“I was pretty determined
in that last stint; I
double stinted and I was
taking no prisoners.
“I pushed like crazy to
get up there and used up
a lot of the brakes and
tyres coming through.
When I saw that Richo
(Steven Richards) was
having problems I jumped
at the opportunity to
pass.
“It’s a great
achievement for SBR and
myself to be on the
podium three years in a
row and David two in a
row. I can’t thank David
and the boys on the team
enough.”
David Besnard, #4,
JELD-WEN Motorsport
“I’m really satisfied to
be on the podium but I
guess in some ways James
and I are also a little
disappointed.
“This was probably our
biggest chance for a
win, the JELD-WEN Falcon
was great but by the
same hand, with the
dramas we had early in
the race, a podium
result is fantastic.
“This would have to be
the hardest Bathurst
I’ve done and the bloke
beside me (James) drove
amazingly.
“And for SBR to have the
faith in both of us and
for them to stick with
me this year, its great
to bring home another
podium.”
Shane van Gisbergen,
#9, SP Tools Racing
“We were running pretty
strongly today so it was
a real shame not to
finish the race.
“We struggled a little
in my first stint but
the SP Tools Racing
Falcon was coming good
in the second stint and
Jonathon (Webb) was
doing a really good job.
“The SP Tools Racing
team was looking good on
strategy so Jonathon and
I are pretty gutted with
the result.”
Jonathon Webb, #9, SP
Tools Racing
“The SP Tools Racing
Falcon was running very
well today.
“In the first stint
Shane was showing good
speed and we were both
comfortable with the
pace of the race, just
keeping an eye on tyres
and keeping it straight.
“Turning into the grate
at turn nine the car
seemed to understeer and
I missed the apex and
ran out of road on the
exit.
“We broke the steering
and I tried to get it
back to the pits but it
had done just enough
damage to put an end to
our race.”
V8 Supercars - Race
1. C.Lowndes/J.Whincup
2. G.Murphy/J.Richards
3. D.Besnard/J.Courtney
4. S.Richards/M.Winterbottom
5. B.Jones/M.Wilson
6. W.Davison/S.Johnson
7. D.Canto/L.Youlden
8. J.Perkins/N.Pretty
9. J.Bright/A.Macrow
10. F.Coulthard/A.Davison
DNF S.
van Gisbergen/J.Webb
V8
Supercars Meeting Points
1. C.Lowndes/J.Whincup
300 pts
2. G.Murphy/J.Richards
276 pts
3. D.Besnard/J.Courtney
258 pts
4. S.Richards/M.Winterbottom
240 pts
5 B.Jones/M.Wilson 222
pts
6. W.Davison/S.Johnson
204
7. D.Canto/L.Youlden 192
pts
8. J.Perkins/N.Pretty
180 pts
9. J.Bright/A.Macrow 168
pts
10. F.Coulthard/A.Davison
156 pts
V8 Supercars
Championship Points
1. Jamie Whincup 2316
pts
2. Mark Winterbottom
2283 pts
3. Garth Tander 2234 pts
4. Craig Lowndes 1923
pts
5. Will Davison 1865 pts
6. Steven Richards 1834
pts
7. James Courtney
1802 pts
8. Rick Kelly 1792 pts
9. Steven Johnson 1471
pts
10. Russell Ingall 1464
pts
15. Shane
Van Gisbergen 1208 pts |
