AGP - A Good Performance

Prodrive Racing Australia has experienced a mixed weekend at the Australian Grand Prix with various situations playing out across the four, 13 lap races.
 

Friday

The weekend's opening race saw all four cars improve on position following the rolling start, with three cars in the top 10 after the first lap. Mostert held onto third place for the majority of the race, pleased with the car's ability to keep up with the leading challengers. Drama ensued for both Cameron Waters and Jason Bright in the final stages of the race with both cars taken for a spin, causing them to fall to the rear of the field. Mark Winterbottom enjoyed a consistent and trouble-free race, moving up four spots to finish eighth.
 
Mark Winterbottom was one of the top improvers in Race 2 moving eight spots on the opening lap of the race before finishing Race 2 in sixth. Despite their strong performances, both Winterbottom and Bright believe there are still aspects of their car setup that can be improved.

Cameron Waters credited setup changes made between races for a better car in Race 2 where he was able to compete with those around him. Running in seventh for most of the race, Waters was passed at the last moment to finish eighth. Chaz Mostert received a pit lane penalty in Race 2 following contact in a racing incident with Shane van Gisbergen. After running in sixth place, Mostert finished the race in 19th.

 

DRIVERS’ VIEW

Mark Winterbottom - #5
Race 1: 8th
Race 2: 6th
"Finishing sixth after starting 16th is a pretty good day. The car is straight; we're making improvements but we still need to do some work in areas. Braking is almost fixed but is still a drama for us but we'll get on top of that. A good day, good progress and we're getting there."
 
Cameron Waters - #6
Race 1: 19th
Race 2: 8th
"We missed the setup by a fair way in Race 1 I think. The car was really good for five laps but then dropped away and I got turned around by Scott Pye so that was pretty average. We changed the car a lot for Race 2 and it was a heap better so we ran seventh but Whincup got me right at the end in a drag race. A lot better in Race 2 but we're still got a bit of work to do. Moving forward which is good."
 
Chaz Mostert - #55
Race 1: 3rd
Race 2: 19th
"Didn't finish the day off as planned. I had an okay start but then got bomb-dived down into turn one and it was going to be messy if we didn't split so I went onto the astroturf and lost a heap of spots, I shouldn't have been that far back but I battled away. I think I had speed on a couple of the cars in front. I was battling away and thought I had a good enough run, had a go into the second last corner and went in there but it started to tighten up so tried getting out late and tried to pull the car up but just tagged the side of Shane (van Gisbergen) and he's looped it. Not ideal racing and not ideal for our team to get a penalty but obviously you don't want to see any other cars get damaged out there either. Learning a lot this weekend and we'll keep learning and taking it on to the next one. Race 1 was good. To get third was pretty cool but this weekend is all about building momentum and making our cars better and better."
 

Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
"Great to get in the top three in the first race. We've got some pace in these cars and I think it's evident out on the track. I'm really pleased with the improvements made across all four cars  and the drivers are much happier with where we are now compared to where we started the weekend.  I was a bit disappointed and confused as to how Chaz's incident was adjudicated. I thought they did they right thing in Adelaide leaving it to a post-race investigation for when they had all of the in-car footage but they seemed to rush it through this time. More upset about the process rather than the outcome. The main thing for us is that we're making good headway with the car."
 

 

Saturday

Chaz Mostert has continued his consistent run at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, finishing fourth in Race 3 after starting in the same position. Mostert enjoyed a trouble-free race but insists there are further gains to make.

Mark Winterbottom found himself caught in the pack at the start of Race 3. Beginning the race from ninth, Winterbottom fell to the middle of the field in the tussle of the rolling start where he ran out the race to finish 12th.

Cameron Waters endured a race full of battles; with the Monster Energy driver fighting for position throughout the 13 lap hit-out. Holding his ground, Waters finished the race in 15th.

 

DRIVERS’ VIEW

Mark Winterbottom - #5
Race 3: 12th
"Still working on the car. We didn't have a good start and that put us back straight away so we kind of just ran it out from there. The pace was reasonable but we're still working on those few brake issues which have been haunting us all weekend. One more to go so we'll see if we can get it tuned up for that."
 
Cameron Waters - #6
Race 3: 15th
"It was pretty rough out there. Not the race we wanted but it was good to be battling with some of those other guys and seeing what the car can do in the pack. It's competitive which is good, but not quite competitive enough to be up with the top guys so there are a few things we still need to work on."
 
Chaz Mostert - #55
Race 3: 4th
"Another good result getting fourth there but that's all we really had. It gets tricky; you sit behind someone for a while and the tyre pressures come up quite quickly. We tried something a bit different in that race, we found some more positives and found some negatives with it but that's what's important about this weekend. As long as we keep finding those positives and keep tuning the negatives out we'll hopefully keep moving forward. Overall another good race, start fourth, finish fourth, I'm pretty happy."
  
Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
"Across the board we did a few different things in Race 3 so there's a lot to take from it. Quite a few positives which is the main thing. This weekend is all about learning about the super soft tyre and making inroads with that and I feel like we’re making good ground with it. If we can keep going the way we're going I'll be pleased. That race was very much where you started was where you raced but there's a lot that we can take from it."

 

 

Sunday

Chaz Mostert has taken out third overall by one point in the Coates Hire Supercars Challenge at the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix after winning Race 4 by 10 seconds. Starting from fourth place, Mostert was able to move past Shane van Gisbergen for third before the race leader Fabian Coulthard suffered a puncture. With Coulthard back down the field, Mostert took his chance to move past Whincup and take the lead.

Mark Winterbottom, Jason Bright and Cameron Waters all found themselves caught up in the carnage of turn one on the first lap, with Winterbottom pushed to last place.

Winterbottom recovered to finish 15th, while Jason Bright carried on with a relatively strong car to finish within the top 10.

Forced off the track, the front bar of Waters' FG X picked up grass between turn one and two resulting in a grass fire in the front of the car. Entering the pits, Waters did not re-join the race.

 

DRIVERS’ VIEW

Mark Winterbottom - #5
Race 4: 15th
"We just got caught at the start, suffered some damage to the steering and it was over from there pretty much. We can't learn much from a damaged car so there's nothing we can take from that race really. Not our weekend but there's a lot that we can take from it overall. Chaz and Brighty seemed to have good cars. It was good to see Chaz up on the podium so we’ll have a look at what they did."
 
Cameron Waters - #6
Race 4:  DNF
"Not our day again. There was a fair bit of contact at turn one on the first lap, I went off the track, picked up some grass and smoke started coming out of the front of the car so our day was pretty much done from there. By the time they caught the grass fire and got it all cleaned out there wasn't any point in re-joining. Well done to Chaz, it's awesome to see one of our cars up on the podium for the weekend."
 
Chaz Mostert - #55
Race 4: 1st
"Really happy with how we ended the weekend. The crew and my engineer Adam De Borre all did an awesome job to get the car together and working like it did. There are still a few little things that we need to work on but I feel like we have a good direction for the next few events. To get the race win and then third for the weekend is awesome."
  
Tim Edwards – Team Principal:
"Great racing from Chaz in that last race. He had the speed which was great to see. We have made some great progress with the cars this weekend. Obviously we still have a few things to look at but to have the positives shining through weret fantastic. It was interesting to see a few punctures out there but thankfully none of our cars suffered from one. A good weekend overall but plenty to look at back at the workshop."

 

 

RESULTS
RACE 4
1) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing
2) Shane van Gisbergen – Triple Eight
3) Tim Slade – Brad Jones Racing
15) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team
DNF) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing
 
EVENT POINTS
1) Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske: 241
2) Scott McLaughlin – DJR Team Penske: 235
3) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing: 223
9) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 162
17) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing: 101