WPS/WOW Racing has experienced mixed fortunes while earning its equal-best race result for the year in Race One of the Skycity Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin today.
Max Wilson piloted the #8 WOW Racing Falcon to ninth place in today’s 42-lap race to equal the team’s best race result for the season, also a ninth place from Wilson, in Race 1 of the Winton round in May.
Meanwhile Jason Bargwanna made an outstanding start to the race in the #10 WPS Racing Falcon, only to have his race end on the first lap of the race with tailshaft failure.
Bargwanna had worked his way into the top 10 from 16th on the grid and drove well to avoid a multi-car incident at Turn Four on the opening lap, only to lose drive with the driveline breakage as he exited the hairpin.
Wilson also avoided the carnage and showed very strong car speed in the early stages of the race to work his way forward to 11th.
The Brazilian and the WPS/WOW Racing team opted to keep the WOW car out on track longer than many before serving its compulsory pit stop on lap 13, and a lightening fast stop from the crew gave Wilson a further jump up the order into ninth.
While Wilson was unable to pass Jamie Whincup and Will Davison in the second half of the race he battled on, driving in hot and uncomfortable conditions due to his ‘cool suit’ failing.
Mark Skaife won today’s race ahead of Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes. The winner of the Skycity Triple Crown will be decided tomorrow with a further two races held.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY …
Max Wilson – #8 WOW Racing Falcon
“We had a strong race today and definitely showed better form than we did in qualifying earlier today, ” said Wilson.
“I had a good start and got a bit lucky by getting around the accident at turn four.
“From there I tried to pit later than most of the other cars. This track is fairly hard on tyres so I wanted to do as many laps on my first set as I could to make it easier on the second set.
“I was behind (Will) Davison and (Jamie) Whincup for a while there after my stop but as my tyres got a bit older they went away a bit and it gave them a gap over me.
“But I still had plenty of pace compared to the cars behind me and was able to make sure they were not catching me, so we had enough to get a great result and set ourselves up with a good starting position for tomorrow.
“The last half of the race was pretty hard for me. My cool suit did not work properly and it made it extremely hot and uncomfortable. I will have to work at re-hydrating and cooling down this evening to make sure I am better for tomorrow. ”
Jason Bargwanna – #10 WPS Racing Falcon
“I got off to a very good start and made it through the turn four debacle, ” said Bargwanna.
“On the exit of the hairpin I lost drive. The tailshaft broke and that was that and it was all over for the day.
“The tailshaft break was completely unrelated to the incident at turn four.
“It was really unfortunate as we had a great start and were already up into the top 10 after we got around the accident. ”
Craig Gore – Team Owner
“This is a great start to the weekend for Max, ” said Gore.
“It proves that we blew qualifying. We really need to get on top of qualifying and have good pace right from the start.
“Today in Race One we had very good pace, especially in the first half of the race, when we were one of the strongest cars out there.
“Top 10 is our aim and it’s where we should be. Max drove a great race and our crew did an outstanding pit stop.
“I feel very sorry for Bargs. He had made a terrific start and he should have been right up there with Max in the top 10 but the tailshaft failure ended his race. ”
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