Stone Brothers Racing has good reason to be optimistic about its chances at round five of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, which returns to Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway this weekend after the venue’s absence from the V8 Supercar calendar in 2006.
SBR has posted strong results at the fast and flowing circuit in recent times, achieving five podium finishes over the last four years, including two round wins in 2003 when Eastern Creek hosted two V8 Supercar rounds in the one season.
The Gold Coast-based team also has proven speed at the 3.93km circuit, taking three pole positions at the event since 2001.
With both SBR drivers currently inside the top ten in the V8 Supercar Championship, JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney and Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall are aware that they must achieve race wins to close the gap to the front runners.
Courtney is currently 112 points behind Championship leader Rick Kelly in fifth position. Ingall is a further 15 points behind Courtney in ninth.
Courtney and Ingall have been competitive all year but have been unable to convert their performances into the desired results. However, both SBR drivers are confident that podium finishes are within reach and not far away.
SBR’s third test for the year has also given the team added confidence heading into this weekend. The Caltex Racing and JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcons ran at Queensland Raceway last week, with both cars completing in excess of 140 laps each.
The Caltex Racing and JELD-WEN Motorsport crews focused on testing new components and set ups while also giving newly announced endurance drivers Luke Youlden and David Besnard valuable track time in the SBR Falcons.
Ingall and Courtney will be on track at 1:15pm on Saturday for the opening V8 Supercar practice session. Qualifying and race one will follow on Sunday with races two and three taking place on Monday for the first time in V8 Supercar history, taking advantage of the Queens Birthday long weekend.
Points of Interest
SBR finished on the podium at the last V8 Supercar Championship round to be held at Eastern Creek, taking second place with Marcos Ambrose. SBR has a successful history at Eastern Creek Raceway; three pole positions (2001 and twice in 2004 with Ambrose), two round wins in 2003 (Ambrose), and three other podium finishes (second in 2002 and 2005 with Ambrose and third in 2003 with Russell Ingall). Russell Ingall made his V8 Supercar debut at Eastern Creek in 1996; this will be his 12th start at the circuit. James Courtney will make his Eastern Creek debut this weekend; Courtney grew up only 20 minutes from the circuit. SBR tested the Caltex Racing and JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcons along with SBR’s Fujitsu V8 Supercar on Thursday 31 May at Queensland Raceway.
Russell Ingall, #9, Caltex Racing “We’ve had some reasonable results at Eastern Creek.
“It’s a decent track. It probably doesn’t lend itself to the most exciting racing as the field tends to spread out a bit but there is always a chance of rain there and some of the best racing has been in the wet.
“It could be a bit like Winton, if there is a bit of rain kicking around it might spice things up.
“We’re inside the top ten in the Championship now. We push hard every meeting but we have to push even harder to close the gap to the front runners now.
“If we can get everything in sync on the day then we will be in front and we can climb the Championship ladder. There is no cruise mode from here until the end of the season. ”
James Courtney, #4, JELD-WEN Motorsport “Eastern Creek should be my ‘home’ track considering I grew up a couple of exits down the freeway, but I was overseas for a long time so I’ve never raced there.
“The ride day at Eastern Creek in December last year was wet, but even in those conditions turn one was an eye opener; it’s going to be exciting in the dry.
“I got pretty used to learning tracks in a short time last year. It’s not too bad if the car set-up is close to the mark straight away. I’m up-beat about racing at Eastern Creek. All tracks go left and right so it’s just a question of working out which kerbs you can or can’t use, and where the bumps are. “
“We’ve been competitive all year so far; things just haven’t gone our way in a few instances. We’ll be out there to win again this weekend. Some of the Holden teams are strong, but no one is unbeatable. “
Ross Stone, Team Manager, Stone Brothers Racing “We had a really positive test day last Thursday and a lot of hard work has gone into the cars since Winton.
“I believe we should be strong at Eastern Creek this weekend.
“Both the Caltex and JELD-WEN head offices are in Sydney so it would be great to get a result at Eastern Creek for them. ”
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