Thursday March 18, 2010DAVID RUSSELL : Clipsal
David Russell made a strong debut in the MW Motorsport Jayco Falcon at round 1 of the Fujitsu V8Supercar series. Russell had only completed several testing laps with the team the week prior but still hit the ground running in practice, consistently in the top 3.
Russell went on to qualify third with the team not quit getting the car where it needed to be. Steve Owen grabbed pole with an impressive time that would have had him 18th on the Supercar grid. Russel was slow to get away at the start of race 1 dropping to 7th, however a series of great laps and good moves moved the Jayco Supercar back up to 4th. A clash between Tim Blanchard and Russell proved costly with Russell unable to get moving and resulting in 14th place, Blanchard was penalised for the incident however as fate would have it only costing him 1 place to Russells 10.
Race 2 Russell made a blinding start from p14 and by the end of lap 1 was up to 8th, the team made suspension changes between races and Russell made good use of the gains charging through the field to 3rd place. Unfortunately when starting that far back the leaders had gapped the field while we were battling with traffic.
The team were rapt with the excellent recovery but now have some work to do going into round 2 of the series at QLd Raceway on April 30. Queensland Raceway was a strong point for the team last year with Jonothon Webb clean sweeping the event, Pole position and 3 race wins. A big thanks to Jayco, Hydraulink, Palmtrans and Lubrimaxx for helping bring it all together.
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ANT PEDERSON : Clipsal
Ant Pedersen made an outstanding debut in the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series at Clipsal with The New Zealand V8 rookie finishing third overall for the weekend, taking sixth and fourth in the two races.
Pedersen drove for MW Motorsport, steering the ex-Jonathon Webb series winning Falcon from last year. His drive with the team was a one-off deal, but is committed to contesting the entire series.
Team owner Matthew White said his form and presence was well above his 21 years of age, "We’ve run a lot of people over the years and he was one person who I knew was going to be very good – right from the first test".
"He’s definitely got some talent. To finish on the podium on his debut, he had some good races against strong competitors, it was a great result.
"Ant was keen to dip a toe in the water at Clipsal, but now we have to find some funds to complete the rest of the season. I’d like to see him continue with us."
"He’s a lovely kid as well. A real breath of fresh air in our team and it was a pleasure to work with him."
"It was a good way to start the Championship," Pedersen said.
"I’m new to the car and the track so we’re really happy to finish, and finish with a straight car. We didn’t touch a wall all weekend.
"It’s all new to me so I’ve just got to keep learning and building as a driver.
"We tested last week with the boys at Winton and the test went really well and the pace was good so
we thought I’d come here with an open mind, not expect too much and learn and really listen what the boys have to say. "We slowly improved but I certainly wasn’t as quick as the front two."
The next round of the Fujitsu V8 Series will be held at Queensland Raceway on April 30-May 2
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Watch all the action this Sunday...
Channel 7 @ 11.30am
Sunday 21 March 2010
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