IRWIN Racing has put in its best qualifying performance of the season at the biggest race of them all, the Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst.
Warren Luff qualified the Ford in 22nd position and just missed the chance to make the top 20 and another qualifying segment.
The first session of qualifying was halted for around 30-minutes due to a heavy accident involving Damien White.
Luff was 21st and had just two flying laps to set a time. He was on a quick final lap when he was caught behind Paul Radisich in the Toll HSV Commodore.
“After the red flag the track got quicker, but I only had two laps to set a time, ” said Luff.
“I got my best run up the Mountain but got held-up by Paul and lost around half a second. That should have got us into the top-20.
“In saying that, the car has come along leaps and bounds. It’s comfortable to drive and that means I don’t have to be on the edge to get the best out of it.
“It’s been more important for us to get a comfortable car. What it has done is give us a quick car as well. It has been good on its tyres and if we can have a car like that throughout 161-laps I’ll be more than happy. ‘
Lead driver Alan Gurr was happy with his time behind the wheel during practice this morning.
“We are moving forward with the car, ” said Gurr”
“We have had a better racecar than a qualifying car all year. I have to say that if we can carry through this pace for the race we can look at a strong result.
“The good thing is that the pace between Warren and I has been very consistent. So we are clearly both working well inside and outside the car.
“There are a lot of cars that set quick times in qualifying that have really been on the edge. Our car has been very comfortable to drive and that’s a critical factor over 161 laps.
“We are not starting a long way down, so we can look to move up through the field during the first half of the race on Sunday.
IRWIN Racing Lead Engineer Greg Foletta was pleased with the car’s improvement ahead of the big race.
“By far our best qualifying performance this year and that’s an indication of the improvements we have made in the car, ” said Foletta.
“Importantly we believe there’s still some more to come, but we will concentrate our efforts on race set-up.
“We have another 60-minute session that we can concentrate just on the race. That will probably be the most important session ahead of the race itself. “
The 60-minute session gets underway from 10am
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