JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney has claimed his maiden V8 Supercar pole position at the Clipsal 500 today on a sizzling Adelaide Street Circuit.
Courtney, racing at the Adelaide circuit for only the second time in his career, conquered last year’s demons in fine style, topping the time sheets in both the second and third legs of qualifying in searing 37 degree heat.
The 2006 V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year, who failed to finish either leg of the 500km event last year, has entered his second V8 Supercar season filled with confidence, buoyed by strong performances at the end of last season.
The new Formula One qualifying format suited both Stone Brothers Racing drivers with Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall also making it to the final cut of qualifying, ultimately grabbing eighth position.
Earlier in the day, Ingall and Courtney showed promise in the first V8 Supercar practice, claiming seventh and eighth fastest respectively. Practice two did not go as planned for the pair, with both missing much of the session while the Caltex and JELD-WEN crew’s ironed out problems.
Ingall and Courtney will be back on track at 11:25am tomorrow for the V8 Supercar warm-up before embarking on the first leg of the Clipsal 500 at 2:30pm.
SBR also tasted success in the first race of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series today with Jonathon Webb taking a podium in his Fujitsu V8 Supercar debut, claiming third place.
Russell Ingall, car #9, Caltex Racing “It was pretty hot out there today.
“It was a bit of a build up to the new qualifying format, because no one really knew how it was going to work.
“While the first experiment with the three 10-minute runs worked well on the longer Clipsal layout, there is no doubt that it is going to be very interesting on some of the smaller circuits we visit.
“The pit lane also seemed incredibly busy with the majority of teams making at least one stop for tyres through each run.
“It was amazingly busy among 31 cars in the first 10 minutes, but we managed to get through and eventually qualified eighth despite losing a bit of time.
“I think the Caltex Falcon should have some reasonable car speed for tomorrow’s first race.
“I think we are in reasonable shape and hopefully it won’t be as hot tomorrow. â€
James Courtney, car #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport “The guys were a little bit nervous about coming back here.
“It was good to pay back the team; they’ve been working some crazy hours over the break getting the cars ready. It was also good to give Ross and Jimmy (Stone - team owners) something back to repay their faith in me.
“We definitely had good speed on our test day last week. We didn’t run new tyres on the JELD-WEN Falcon whereas my team mate did and we did a good time for the tyres we had. We knew that we had quite good pace and we would be somewhere near the front.
“We’ve been pushing really hard for this. I’m not going to lie and say that we knew we were going to take pole. It’s a nice surprise, a great result and I’m super happy.
“There was a lot of soul searching after this round last year but the turning point was really at Queensland when I ran with Garth for most of the event and just missed the podium.
“It was probably the turning point for my V8 Supercar career and it’s just got stronger and stronger.
“I had a strong finish to the year; I made a small mistake at Phillip Island that cost me ninth in the Championship.
“I knew what I had done wrong and knew what I had to do to fix it. I was confident in SBR that the car would have the speed this year and it’s all come together nicely. I’m looking to carry that on for the rest of the year now. â€
Jonathon Webb, car #94, Stone Brothers Racing (Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series) “It’s great to be with a good team in SBR and have a good car. The ex-Ambrose chassis had a total clean up from top to toe for me to get in.
“After qualifying I wasn’t happy with tenth but to be on the podium today in the first race is fantastic.
“It’s a good start to the year and we’ll try to keep it rolling like this. â€
Ross Stone, Team Manager, Stone Brothers Racing “Qualifying was strong for both SBR cars today.
“James really nailed it when the top 20 went out and then he repeated that. It was just what we needed.
“It was a good reward for everyone in the team as was Russell’s eighth. We are looking forward to a strong performance tomorrow. â€
“To finish off with Jonathon on the podium in his first Fujitsu V8 Supercar race was a great end to a great day for SBR. â€
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