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Wet and Wild Weekend at Tasmania Supersprint

11/04/2017

Wet conditions wreaked havoc at the Tasmania SuperSprint leading to an unprecedented crash that claimed half the field. Thankfully the Prodrive Racing Australia drivers qualified high enough in the grid to miss most of the carnage with only Cam Waters receiving minor damage. Most of the race was red flagged while the cars involved in the accident were retrieved. Due to these exceptional circumstances, no Championship points were awarded for Race 3.

Race 4 on Sunday was less eventful however there were still a number of Safety Cars due to the wet weather. Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters took advantage of an early Safety Car and ended up at the front of the field where they stayed for most of the race until minor errors from both drivers resulted in them ending up further down field. Mark Winterbottom had to double stack which unfortunately resulted in him losing a few positions.

 

Saturday

Prodrive Racing Australia is lucky to have four straight cars after a terror outing in Race 3 at Symmons Plains. In wet conditions the back half of the field found themselves in trouble with little visibility on the run down to turn four, resulting in a 13-car pile-up and a red flag.

Narrowly escaping the carnage, Cam Waters had his rear wing endplate replaced under the red flag while no other cars required attention. Jason Bright emphasised the importance of qualifying well in conditions experienced today, with the strong starting positions of all four PRA cars resulting in top-10 finishes.

Mark Winterbottom has confidence heading into Race 4, pleased with the strength of his car.

Despite a stellar start to the race, a lock-up prior to the carnage on lap two saw Mostert fall down the field after an off-track excursion. Pleased with his qualifying efforts, Mostert will look to match, if not better his starting position for Race 4.

 

DRIVER'S VIEW

Mark Winterbottom - #5
Qualifying: 10th – 58.17s
Race 3: 7th
"We did one lap effectively so it was disappointing because I think we made good gains with the car. It's a bit weird because you want to race and we really only did one lap and it was classified as a finish. To make up three spots in one lap was good but it kind of leaves you a bit deflated because we wanted to race."

Cameron Waters - #6
Qualifying: 13th – 58.24s
Race 3: 9th

"I had a really good start. With the accident I got hit by Fabian (Coulthard) at turn two and ran wide, and then coming through turn three Fabian and Rick (Kelly) were into each other and we all kind of lifted and braked and it all went haywire from there. I need to watch the vision but it all happened that quick that I just tried to avoid everything. Otherwise it was a very uneventful race really with only two laps."

Chaz Mostert - #55
Qualifying: 2nd – 57.80s
Race 3: 5th

"I had a good start and I was pretty shocked with that. I kept trucking along and then I just locked a front, it was a pretty amateur mistake and I'm a bit disappointed for the team because it would have been an easy win because the race technically didn't even start but then again if you did win it wouldn't really feel like you did anyway. The circumstances weren't great. I think we only had a two lap race so it just wasn't what we really wanted. Overall I'm pretty happy with today's efforts. To qualify second in the wet was pretty good; we'll take the positives of the good start as well and leave the negatives behind. Some good points, up there in the championship but we still have work to do to find more pace in these cars."

Tim Edwards
Team Principal

"Not a lot to report from today really. Very thankful that we escaped it with only a broken rear end plate and nothing more. It's a credit to the crew and the drivers for getting the qualifying results that they did and starting the race so well. The cars looked good, all of them seemed to have some good speed but we'll really get to test that out in Race 4."

 

Sunday

Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert have claimed a solid points haul on Sunday at the Tasmania SuperSprint after finishing the race in sixth and seventh place respectively. After a strong start from third, an early safety car saw both Mostert and Waters re-join in first and second positions where they would sit for the majority of the race.

Electing to start on slick tyres, Waters also made a solid gain from his starting position of 10th, before falling down the field following a mistake at turn four.

Mostert also suffered in the slippery conditions, losing the lead mid-way through the race after coming off at turn seven.

While running in the top 10 early, Mark Winterbottom fell through the field at the mid-race safety car after being forced to stack behind Waters in pit lane. A hit from behind from Shane van Gisbergen is being investigated post-race, which caused Winterbottom to lose further positions.

 

DRIVER'S VIEW

Mark Winterbottom - #5
Qualifying: 12th – 59.22s
Race 3: 13th

"Today was disappointing. We didn't quite have the speed that we needed to keep up with the top five guys and then we were forced to stack at the pit stop behind Cam so that was pretty much our day done from there. The hit from behind didn't help but you just have to get on with it. There are a few things to look at before Phillip Island but these tracks are very similar so we'll see how we go."

Cameron Waters - #6
Qualifying: 10th – 59.19s
Race 3: 6th

"It was a really good day. I started on the slicks and made good track position with that and from there it was all a matter of just seeing how our pace was from then on. The pace was pretty good, the car was alright too, it was setup for both the dry and the wet so it wasn't perfect but I'm really happy to come home with sixth, some good points and it's all kind of clicking now which is nice."

Chaz Mostert - #55
Qualifying: 3rd – 58.70s
Race 3: 7th

"Yeah it was unfortunate to lose the lead of the race but we still bagged a decent amount of points and there's a long way still to go this season. I don't believe in bad luck, I believe in mistakes and I made a mistake today which sucks. We'll take the positives. The car was awesome; we were running away from the guys behind us for most of the race which was really good. These things happen, we'll turn it around and focus on Phillip Island."

Tim Edwards
Team Principal

"It was great to bag a decent amount of points today. Both Chaz and Cam have stayed consistent in that regard, did a good job on track, stayed clean and held their position. Unfortunate for Chaz but he'll learn from this for next time. There's quite a bit to look at again after this weekend and I'm confident we can keep improving."

 

Results - Race 4
1) Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske
2) Scott McLaughlin – DJR Team Penske
6) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
7) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
13) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team

Championship Points
1) Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight: 384
2) Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske: 364
5) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing: 312
6) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing: 309
12) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 189

Team Championship Points
1) DJR Team Penske: 729
2) Triple Eight: 717
3) Prodrive Racing Australia: 333

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