Like sands through the hour-glass … that was the Bahrain Desert 400.
November 6th 2007 04:43
Celebrations for both Ford and Holden fans last weekend in Bahrain with a round win for FPR’s Mark Winterbottom and Toll HSV driver Garth Tander taking back the lead of the championship points table from Jamie Whincup.
Not even a dramatic hit in race two between Tander and his team mate Rick Kelly, which resulted in Garth spinning his Commodore, could stop the lanky Western Australian from scraping together enough points and once more gaining control of the championship.
"I didn't know Rick was so far up on the inside," Tander said. "There was only a small bit of contact but with very little grip here it was just enough to turn the car around. Rick and I have raced together for several years without swapping paint so it's unfortunate that it has cost us points.”
Whincup’s weekend went from bad to worse, scoring no points and resulting in the Team Vodafone driver dropping from first to third on the points table.
Mark Winterbottom picked up his first solo round win ever after a number of weeks of bad luck with an impressive tally of two wins and a third place in the three races. “It’s been a long time coming and to have the speed we do without the results has been a major disappointment to the team,” Frosty said.
He took pole position in race one, his fourth of the year, following up with victories in the first two races. Only impressive drives by Craig Lowndes and James Courtney in race three prevented the FPR driver from taking out the hat trick.
“This weekend all went smoothly and when it is like that you get the results. It is great to have gained my first solo win at this international event and to keep the team's Desert 400 Champion title in tact. The team did an outstanding job this weekend."
Being voted out of Dancing With The Stars last week doesn’t seem to have adversely affected James Courtney who finished the weekend in second behind Frosty. “All year we’ve had little things go wrong that have cost us podiums here and there but it’s good to be getting a few now in the back half of the year,” the Jeld-wen Ford driver smiled.
“We ran quite well all weekend; Mark (Winterbottom) was the pace setter. To get a great start and get ahead of Mark in the last race and to be able to pull a gap on him was great for us. When Craig (Lowndes) came out of the pits I knew that he would have very good tyres so I really couldn’t fight too much. I hoped that once his tyres went off he might come back to me but that didn’t happen.”
“SBR has had three in a row now so it’s great to finally have things coming right and get the rewards. I thought that a round win could finally be on the cards today. We’ve been getting closer and closer. We may not always have the outright pace of some of the others but we have been racing really well. It’s been driving me crazy seeing these guys on the top step; hopefully our turn is not far away.”
Third overall was a dogged performance by Jim Beam Racing driver Steven Johnson, coming in just ahead of his team mate Will Davison on points. “… we had a bit of luck with a few orange (Toll HSV) cars coming together and taking each other out but it is still great for the team,” Johnson said.
The championship is really hotting up now, with just two rounds to go only 34 points split Tander in first on the table and Rick Kelly in fourth.
1. Garth Tander 530 points
2. Craig Lowndes 510 points
3. Jamie Whincup 501 points
4. Rick Kelly 496 points
Racing in the desert sands
Not even a dramatic hit in race two between Tander and his team mate Rick Kelly, which resulted in Garth spinning his Commodore, could stop the lanky Western Australian from scraping together enough points and once more gaining control of the championship.
"I didn't know Rick was so far up on the inside," Tander said. "There was only a small bit of contact but with very little grip here it was just enough to turn the car around. Rick and I have raced together for several years without swapping paint so it's unfortunate that it has cost us points.”
Whincup’s weekend went from bad to worse, scoring no points and resulting in the Team Vodafone driver dropping from first to third on the points table.
Mark Winterbottom picked up his first solo round win ever after a number of weeks of bad luck with an impressive tally of two wins and a third place in the three races. “It’s been a long time coming and to have the speed we do without the results has been a major disappointment to the team,” Frosty said.
He took pole position in race one, his fourth of the year, following up with victories in the first two races. Only impressive drives by Craig Lowndes and James Courtney in race three prevented the FPR driver from taking out the hat trick.
Mark Winterbottom enjoying his victory
“This weekend all went smoothly and when it is like that you get the results. It is great to have gained my first solo win at this international event and to keep the team's Desert 400 Champion title in tact. The team did an outstanding job this weekend."
Being voted out of Dancing With The Stars last week doesn’t seem to have adversely affected James Courtney who finished the weekend in second behind Frosty. “All year we’ve had little things go wrong that have cost us podiums here and there but it’s good to be getting a few now in the back half of the year,” the Jeld-wen Ford driver smiled.
“We ran quite well all weekend; Mark (Winterbottom) was the pace setter. To get a great start and get ahead of Mark in the last race and to be able to pull a gap on him was great for us. When Craig (Lowndes) came out of the pits I knew that he would have very good tyres so I really couldn’t fight too much. I hoped that once his tyres went off he might come back to me but that didn’t happen.”
“SBR has had three in a row now so it’s great to finally have things coming right and get the rewards. I thought that a round win could finally be on the cards today. We’ve been getting closer and closer. We may not always have the outright pace of some of the others but we have been racing really well. It’s been driving me crazy seeing these guys on the top step; hopefully our turn is not far away.”
Third overall was a dogged performance by Jim Beam Racing driver Steven Johnson, coming in just ahead of his team mate Will Davison on points. “… we had a bit of luck with a few orange (Toll HSV) cars coming together and taking each other out but it is still great for the team,” Johnson said.
The championship is really hotting up now, with just two rounds to go only 34 points split Tander in first on the table and Rick Kelly in fourth.
1. Garth Tander 530 points
2. Craig Lowndes 510 points
3. Jamie Whincup 501 points
4. Rick Kelly 496 points
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