Stone Brothers Racing drivers Russell Ingall and James Courtney have one objective at round 14 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series this weekend at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; to finish the season in style.
Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall is single minded about what he wants to achieve this weekend; finish the championship inside the top ten.
Ingall, who has claimed a top ten Championship position every year since he started competing in the V8 Supercar category in 1996, is currently 11th in the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The 2005 V8 Supercar Champion needs only 15 points to pass Will Davison and cement himself into the ten.
The Caltex Racing driver is searching for a strong result at the flowing 3.22km circuit to keep his enviable record in tact.
JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney is also out for championship points. The Gold Coast-based driver is keen to make up as many championship positions as possible at the final round. In addition, Courtney has a race win on his mind.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport driver has led a number of races in recent rounds but has not been able to break through for his maiden race win and is eager to do so before the season ends.
SBR has the momentum to put in a strong finish to the season with three podium finishes in the last four rounds, shared between Courtney, second at Bathurst and Bahrain, and Ingall, second at Indy.
Phillip Island marks the end of the V8 Supercar season and also the end of an era for SBR, with Caltex adorning the number-nine SBR Falcon for the last time.
Caltex will depart V8 Supercars after eight years as a major sponsor of Stone Brothers Racing, having been part of three Championships with the team in 2003, 2004 and in 2005 when Ingall and SBR took the Caltex Racing Falcon to number one.
The SBR Falcons will hit the track at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on Friday at 1:15pm for the first practice. Qualifying and race one will follow on Saturday with races two and three on Sunday.
Russell Ingall, car #9, Caltex Racing “Two years ago I was preparing to go to Philip Island to clinch my first Championship.
“Unfortunately this year hasn’t gone to plan and the main goal now is to achieve the best result possible so that I can finish in the top ten in the Championship.
“I’ve never finished outside the top ten since I started in the series in 1996 and I’m not about to start now.
“It would be nice to get on the podium again and end the season in style. ”
James Courtney, car #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport “Phillip Island is a great circuit with a European style. It is just the type of high speed flowing circuit that I like.
“You really need a good stable car at the circuit through the high speed corners. The boys are working hard to make sure that the JELD-WEN Falcon is just that.
“We have had some good results in recent rounds and we really want to finish off the year strong.
“If we could grab a couple of more championship positions and finish the year with a race win it would be fantastic. ”
Ross Stone, Team Manager, Stone Brothers Racing “The SBR crew has been working really hard and they key will be to have good cars out of the truck and then tweak them for qualifying.
“On analysis we have missed a lot of opportunities by having an average race on Saturday, whether by drive through penalties or other problems. That really sets you back for the rest of the weekend.
“We are focused on building a strong foundation for the weekend so we can carry that through till Sunday.
“It’s really important to everyone at SBR to finish the season in a strong position for Caltex and on the JELD-WEN side, to get James’ first race win. ”
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