IRWIN Racing’s Alan Gurr has endured a character-building weekend at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
In his first race weekend aboard the IRWIN Falcon, Gurr finished 23rd in the opening race before being caught-up in an incident on just the first lap of race #2.
That incident broke the steering on the Ford and he was unable to continue.
Gurr worked into a steady pace over the weekend as he adapted to the new surroundings, including engineer Greg Foletta.
Gurr started the first race from 27th position and was looking to make a move forward through safety car strategy. However, the entire 250-kilometre race went caution free and despite experiencing gearbox problems he finished 23rd.
Race #2 was over in less than one kilometre, when a slow moving car caused the field to bunch and Gurr was squeezed into another car. He was eliminated on the spot.
“It was a disappointing end to what had been an encouraging weekend, ” said Gurr.
“This weekend was a big learning experience and it was a shame to not get through the second race. As it showed we could have improved from where we finished on Saturday.
“We had a couple of issues in the first race, but we felt very confident that we had better pace for Sunday.
“I have taken a lot away from working with the team and especially with my engineer Greg Foletta. I know that we are both still learning each other, but we came a long way this weekend.
“Experience means everything in this game and I know that we can continue to move ahead.
“I’m sure at the next round we can show more of that potential and get some points.
Head Engineer Greg Foletta is already looking forward to Perth.
“Both of us will be much better off going to Perth, ” said Foletta.
“We got so much out of this weekend. There’s been a lot to take in, but I feel a lot more confident in what we can achieve going forward.
“I’ve been very impressed with Alan. He’s given fantastic feedback and together we will be able to improve the package.
“It would have been good to finish that second race, but that’s racing.
“The team will regroup from this weekend and a better result in Perth is defiantly on the cards. “
The next round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series is at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway on 23-25 of March.
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