Bundy Red Racing’s Fabian Coulthard has finished today’s first Sucrogen 400 race inside the top 15 after crossing the finish line in 14th position this afternoon.
Coulthard’s #24 Commodore was strong during qualifying this morning when the 27 year old put his Bundy V8 Supercar inside the top ten earning himself a place in the shootout which followed shortly after. He improved again on his one flying lap picking up three positions, booking a starting position of seventh for the race.
The first two stints of Coulthard’s race were good; the Kiwi was pushing hard for track position before his first pit stop. He pitted from sixth on lap 21 and the stop was looking good. Unfortunately, he was forced to wait for pit lane traffic, a Garry Rogers Motorsport car holding him up and costing him valuable time.
Back on track, his car had strong race pace and he came in again on lap 44 for his second and final stop of the day. After changing four tyres and taking on a full load of fuel to get him to the finish, all Coulthard needed to do was maintain his rhythm for the final 28 laps.
But his final set of tyres didn’t seem to hold up and Coulthard lost valuable positions over the closing laps of the race eventually coming home 14th. Despite finishing outside the top ten, Coulthard said he was happy with the progress he had made.
Coulthard’s younger team-mate, Andrew Thompson, was pushed from pillar to post over the opening lap of the race which caused major damage to the steering of the #10 Bundy Red Commodore.
Thompson lost vital laps and fell significantly down the order while the team attempted to fix the rear panel damage and the front left steering. Once the repairs were completed, Thompson rejoined the race. However, the damage was too extensive for the car to hold up for the remainder of the 72 lap battle and he was forced to retire mid way through.
Holden’s Jamie Whincup crossed the finish line first when the chequered flag dropped with Toll HRT’s Garth Tander close behind. Ford’s Mark Winterbottom rounded out the top three.
The Sucrogen Townsville 400 concludes tomorrow with a further 20 minute qualifying session and a second 200km race.
Fabian Coulthard - #24 Bundaberg Red Racing VE Commodore (Qualifying: 7th, 1:14.0071, Race 15: 14th)
“I’m disappointed really! After the first two stints, the car was strong but after we came in and pitted for our second stop, the last stint was just terrible. We couldn’t take a trick really and we were very vulnerable towards the end of the race. At a track like this you rely heavily on the brakes into turn two and you require drive immensely which we didn’t have. It would have been nice to finish inside the top ten, because we had a strong start to the day this morning after qualifying, but tomorrow is another day. Our pace early on in the day doesn’t really reflect our overall result. But that is racing, we have to move on and now focus on tomorrow’s race.”
Andrew Thompson - #10 Bundaberg Red Racing VE Commodore (Qualifying: 18th, 1:14.0246, Race 15: DNF)
“We actually made a good start and were edging our way forwards, however, by turn three there was a bit of a scuffle with a few cars behind and I copped a whack in the back of the car. It was a fairly decent hit which damaged the panels at the rear of the car seriously affecting the aerodynamics. Then I was squeezed out coming onto the main straight which broke the front left steering arm and left us limping back to pit lane. We managed to get back out there to try and finish the race and pick up some points but we discovered a few other issues from that first lap contact which forced us to park the car. It’s a bit disappointing for the boys who now have to fix it. So we need a promising qualifying tomorrow to try and get further up than where we were today in order to avoid all that carnage.”
