At Indy this weekend, the Blue Oval team continues to defend its lead to eventually hold this year’s V8 Supercar Championship.
Today at the action packed round 11 of the race, Stone Brothers Racing's Russell Ingall made it second on the podium. Jamie Whincup, meanwhile, looked certain to take out the Gold Coast event until mayhem struck on lap 24 of the 27 lap race 3 today which caused a DNF for the #88 Falcon. But he remains the Championship leader.
Ford Performance Racing continued to radiate ideal form with Mark Winterbottom scoring his 3rd pole of the year with the #5 Falcon however was unfortunately stripped of the position due to a minor ignition timing breach, handing the prime starting spot to Garth Tander who continued to take out the round.
In 2 weeks time, the Blue Oval’s lineup of V8 Supercar drivers will hit the track again for the round 12 of the race in Bahrain. The race is set from November 1 to 3.
RUSSELL INGALL
"I am a big fan of street circuits and Indy rates up there as one of the best. It's a unique track and of the ones that we race at there are only a certain few drivers that can get their head around it. We visit fast and unique tracks around the world, but it's here that a few of the guys get spooked. Our pace in the second race was pretty good even though we were persevering without a sway bar, but Murph managed to give me a bit of a touch up and I lost about four or five positions.
"Pit stops are critical at Indy, and we had a gun go down in race two today which saw us set back a little bit. In race three we had a flat which certainly didn't help. In the final race today I was battling with Jason (Richards) and Murph was in the mix again. At that stage I was leading the points for the round, but I knew that Garth only had to get to 16th to be equal in points. I figured Jason wasn't going to make it too easy for me, I had a crack at passing him but he had pretty good speed and I knew I was a safe second.
"The officials did a fantastic job this weekend, the volunteers and the flaggies were right on the ball all weekend, so I'd like to convey a very big thanks to them."
RAY PRICE
"What Ford has continued to show is that we have a number of cars that have outright competitive speed, and a number of drivers who are in hot contention to win races. Our guys are repeatedly topping the timing charts and combined with pure driving talent and excellent strategy by the teams we're gaining good results. We're still leading the Championship and with three rounds to go it will very much be a fight to the finish."
TOM GORMAN
"Ford is still on a high from winning both Sandown and Bathurst, with the latter boasting a 1,2,3 finish and seven Ford's in the top ten. We're still leading the Championship and the fight is very much alive. Jamie Whincup is showing incredible talent and it was a shame that due to incident he didn't take out a deserved round win today. It was great to see Russell on the podium, and Steven Richards' win in race three was fantastic result for Ford Performance Racing."
INDY V8 SUPERCARS ROUND TOP TEN
1. Garth Tander, TOLL HSV, Holden
2. Russell Ingall, Caltex Racing, Ford
3. Jason Richards, Tasman Motorsport, Holden
4. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone, Ford
5. Steven Richards, Castrol FPR, Ford
6. Greg Murphy, Tasman Motorsport, Holden
7. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing, Ford
8. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone, Ford
9. Rick Kelly, TOLL HSV, Holden
10. Max Wilson, WPS, Ford
V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP TOP TEN
1. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone, Ford 501
2. Garth Tander, TOLL HSV, Holden 492
3. Craig Lowndes, Team Vodafone, Ford 473
4. Rick Kelly, TOLL HSV, Holden 466
5. Todd Kelly, Holden Racing Team, Holden 324
6. Steven Richards, Castrol/FPR, Ford 299
7. Mark Skaife, HRT, Holden 283
8. Mark Winterbottom, Ford Credit FPR 281
9. Russell Ingall, Caltex Racing, Ford 263
10. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing, Ford 257
[credits: Fullboost, Australia]