WPS Racing has made significant progress up the order in the opening race of the PlaceMakers V8 Supercars at Pukekohe Park Raceway in New Zealand today. Drivers Max Wilson and Jason Bargwanna advanced through the field over the course of the 43-lap race, with Wilson narrowly missing a points scoring finish in 16th position.
Wilson rose seven positions in the #8 WOW Racing Falcon, chasing down Paul Radisich over the final stages of the race and falling 1.9 seconds short of 15th position. The Brazilian driver faced a four second gap to Radisich with five laps remaining and closed on the New Zealand driver substantially, but unfortunately fell just short of the final points scoring place.
Bargwanna improved six places over the course of Race One in the #10 WPS Racing Falcon, gaining two spots in the pits through some slick pit work by the WPS Racing crew. Bargwanna shadowed the back of Steve Owen’s car in the closing stages but was unable to make a pass for 19th position, finishing 0.1192 seconds behind Owen.
Garth Tander won today’s opening race of the PlaceMakers V8 Supercars ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Todd Kelly. Tomorrow will see the final two races of the third round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series completed in what is the final V8 Supercar round to be held at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY …
Max Wilson – #8 WOW Racing Falcon
“The gap to (Paul) Radisich in the end was just a little too far for me to pull in to get into the points today, ” said Wilson.
“We passed some cars at the start and were able to pass some more cars over the first part of the race. After our pit stop the car was still good but the cars ahead of us were a little bit further ahead.
“We managed to catch (Cameron) McConville and pass him for 16th and then we were coming up to Radisich but the gap was just a bit too big for the amount of laps we had to get there.
“Our race pace was good today and after doing 43 laps in the race I’m pretty confident we can improve the car for tomorrow in a few areas.
“In qualifying we had some decent pace. On our second set of tyres I was on a lap that would have put us in the top 15 and certainly through to the next segment of qualifying. But I went off at the hairpin and that was it. A small mistake but it cost us spots on the grid for the race.
“Tomorrow we will start further up the order, which is a better representation of our car speed. We just missed points today so we will look towards the top 15 for tomorrow. ”
Jason Bargwanna – #10 WPS Racing Falcon
“We got through the first lap unscathed and the car got better as the race went on, ” said Bargwanna.
“As the fuel load went down the car felt a lot better and I was able to make up some spots.
“We’ll go away now and think about it all again. It’s definitely good that we were able to move forward through the field like that. The goal will be to keep the progress going for tomorrow. ”
Craig Gore – Team Owner
“We showed strong pace today and some of the lap times the boys were putting in shows that, ” said Gore.
“Both Max and Bargs drove a really tough race out there today and moved forwards with some good driving.
“We’ll be starting higher up the grid for Race 2 and we’ll be working at getting the cars a bit better after the first race.
“The whole team did a solid job today and I think we can be right up there on Sunday. ”
RESULTS: Race One
1. Garth Tander – 43 laps
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Rick Kelly
4. Jamie Whincup
5. Steve Richards
6. Todd Kelly
7. Jason Richards
8. Russell Ingall
9. James Courtney
10. Mark Skaife
11. Will Davison
12. Greg Mutphy
13. Steven Johnson
14. Craig Lowndes
15. Paul Radisish
16. Max Wilson
17. Lee Holdsworth
18. Cameron McConville
19. Steve Owen
20. Jason Bargwanna
21. John Bowe
22. Fabian Coulthard
23. Paul Dumbrell
24. Shane Price – 42 laps
25. Dean Canto – 40 laps
26. Andrew Jones – 37 laps
DNF Paul Morris – 31 laps
DNF Alan Gurr – 21 laps
DNF Brad Jones – 20 laps
DNF Jason Bright – 14 laps
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