PRA’s Harbour City Invasion

Prodrive Racing (Australia) is preparing for a seven car assault on this weekend’s Sydney SuperSprint where it will make its final stand ahead of the Supercars endurance season.

Joining the team’s four main series entries are the Ford squads two regular Super2 entries plus an additional second-tier entry for Enduro Cup driver Richie Stanaway who is making his solo race debut.

The team won last time out with Chaz Mostert in Queensland and following a strong performance he sits fifth overall, a little more than 100 points back from third.

Mostert has claimed four of the last five poles at the circuit, plus two wins from his last five races at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Mark Winterbottom grew up not far from the venue and will be using local support to score a big haul of points heading into the busy last part of the year.

Cameron Waters is enjoying a breakout season and despite only two Supercars race starts at the venue he is eager to push well inside the top 10 of the points before being joined by Stanaway for Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast 600.

Drivers' View 

Mark Winterbottom - #5 The Bottle-O PRA Ford
"I can’t wait to get to Sydney for my home race which is always special. We’ve adopted the #55 car’s philosophy on set-up which is obviously working and our car hasn’t been as consistent. I’ve wanted to do it and I’ve finally got the green light for it. I can’t wait to see what it does. We had a good team result previously which gives me confidence and I am pretty pumped up. Feeling fit and strong and really motivated.”

 

Cameron Waters - #6 Monster Energy PRA Ford
"I’ve only been there once in a Supercar which was last year and I didn’t have the best round. But we’ve obviously had a pretty good year so far and been pretty consistent so I am confident we’ll have a good weekend. The plan is to keep learning and developing the car and get a little further up the front. Staying in the top 10 all weekend is the continued aim and that is no different heading to Sydney Motorsport Park.”

 

Chaz Mostert - #55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford
"I am very excited to go back to SMP. I didn’t realise the stats around our previous success but the car has been pretty lit there in the past. I am excited to be coming off the win at Queensland Raceway and there is no better time to be coming on form than heading into the enduros. This weekend is one more crack before we head into the longer races and we are eager to learn some new things, dial the car in and try and keep our strong tyre life going at a very high degradation track. I am excited to see if we’ve learnt something which we can apply to the car and get another strong result. If we can come away with a podium and some champagne it will be another cracking weekend.”

 

Tim Edwards
Team Principal
"Sydney Motorsport Park is a critical event for us as it’s the final chance to prepare for the Enduro Cup and to keep closing the gap to the leading quartet. Winning and being more consistent last time out in Ipswich was encouraging and we feel we can bring that performance to this weekend’s two races. Our qualifying form is ever improving and we’ll be looking to put all four cars in the top 10 for the third event in succession which would be the first time in Supercars history a team has done that. That would be a nice feat, but our race pace needs to be stronger and if we can qualify up front we will be in the hunt for the podium.”

 

EVENT NAME: Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint
DATE: 28 – 30 July
LOCATION: Ipswich, Queensland
EVENT NUMBER: 8 of 14
FORMAT: Friday – 1 x 30-minute co-driver practice, 2 x 45-min prac;
                 Saturday – 1 x 45-min prac, 1 x 15-min qualifying, 1 x 39-lap race;
                 Sunday – 1 x 20-min qualifying, 1 x 65-lap race

CIRCUIT: Sydney Motorsport Park
LENGTH: 3.905-kilometres
DESCRIPTION: The circuit formerly known as Eastern Creek has undergone a significant transformation in recent years and is now one of Australia’s premium motorsport facilities. The high speed, flowing layout requires maximum commitment in the fast turn one, while braking stability and tyre life are required to conquer this western Sydney layout.
TRACK RECORD: 1m30.912s – Garth Tander, 2012 (race)
PRA BEST RESULT: 1st – Mark Winterbottom (2008), Chaz Mostert x 2 (2015)