Over fifty thousand passionate New Zealand race fans have bid the final Pukekohe Raceway round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series goodbye, as Team BOC had another day to forget.
The day didn’t start well when the team had their second power steering problem for the weekend, although it was in a different car. After yesterday’s impact with Jason Bargwanna, the complete left front corner and steering rack on the #12 Team BOC Falcon of Andrew Jones was replaced overnight; however the new steering rack failed on the out-lap of today’s first race. The race then became yet another Team BOC test session, with Andrew completing 15 of the 43 laps.
For the teams second Falcon of Brad Jones, a relatively clean race saw the #14 car start from 29th and move through to 22nd by race end.
Brad’s luck didn’t carry into race three however. On lap six, contact with Paul Morris saw both cars hit the wall at the very fast turn seven. The impact with the wall sending the Morris Commodore over onto its roof – Brad stopping and getting out of the car to make sure the Queenslander was OK. Damage sustained to the fuel cell on the #14 Falcon after the contact with the wall, forced Brad’s eventual retirement from the event.
For Andrew, the third race was very similar to Brad’s second. Starting from 27th, Andrew was able to make his way through the field cleanly, passing John Bowe for 22nd on the last lap of the race.
The next round of the championship is Team BOC’s home round at Winton Motor Raceway from May 18.
Session Details Session: Placemakers V8 Supercars – Race Two and Three Winner – Race two: Garth Tander, Toll HSV Dealer Team Fastest – Race two: Mark Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing 0:56.5605
Winner – Race three: Rick Kelly, Toll HSV Dealer Team Fastest – Race three: Rick Kelly, Toll HSV Dealer Team 0:56.4550
Weather: Warm
Car 12: Andrew Jones Race Two Position: DNF Laps completed: 15 Fastest: 0:57.6054
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