Bright Wins Twice, Weel Among Quickest In Grand Prix Warm Up
12/3/2004 16:30 (Press Release) -
Jason Bright has dominated the three-race Netspace V8 Supercar Challenge at Albert Park by winning two races, while teammate Paul Weel was among the quickest in the field as he recovered from an early mishap to finish the weekend in a respectable eighth position.
The outstanding results made PWR Racing the most successful team of the V8 meeting, and delivered it a timely confidence boost prior to the first round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Adelaide in two weeks.
After qualifying 3rd and finishing 2nd in Friday’s 50km race, Bright’s #50 VY Commodore was clearly the quickest car in the field as he raced into the lead in the first corner of Saturday’s 100km race, and was never again headed as he cruised to victory in today’s 50km grand prix warm-up event.
“Albert Park’s not the easiest place to get a good start and I was lucky enough to get off quickly and get the inside so I could protect the line into the first corner,” he said. “That was crucial in our strategy.”
Incredibly, with tyre wear a significant factor for the majority of the field in the latter stages of the third and final race, Bright set the weekend’s fastest race lap (1min59.191sec) as he held a commanding lead just two laps before the race finish.
“We were pushing pretty hard over the whole race, not doing anything stupid,
but in the latter part of the race we gave it a good hammering just to see how the tyres would be at the end and they were pretty good.
“Full credit to the guys for setting up two new VYs and getting them up to speed immediately.”
Weel was disappointed with his qualifying position of 15th on the grid for the first race and set out on mission to restore lost pride, but an ambitious bid to overtake Ford rival Russell Ingall late in Race 1 saw him black-flagged to start from a lowly 27th position for Race 2.
He threaded through the back of the field to finish an amazing 12th in the 100km race, and set about showing he had the speed and skill to match it with the category giants by overtaking Todd Kelly, Steve Ellery and Paul Morris – and holding nemesis Ingall at bay – to claim an outstanding 8th place finish.
“I’m dirty on myself for not getting off to a very good start,” Weel said. “The Ingall incident could have been avoided, I was obviously faster than him and just gave him a push that sent him off.
“The car was a pleasure to drive all weekend and seemed a little quicker than most others. The tyres hung in well and I think we’ll take a pretty good package to Clipsal (in Adelaide) with us.”
Bright’s wins and Weel’s hard-charging performance capped a weekend which began with the announcement that electrical retailer Chandlers had joined PWR Racing as a major team sponsor for the 2004 season.
Team principal Kees Weel said he was pleased and proud to have lured a well-known national chain into the sport in a difficult environment for attracting sponsors.
“When you look over the field this year there aren’t too many new names on the side of the cars, which tells you how tough it is becoming to pay the bills in a very expensive sport,” he said.
“Chandlers is looking for widespread exposure and saw that opportunity with PWR Racing because they genuinely share our belief that this team can be very successful this year.”
Chandlers joins PWR Performance Products, Hog’s Breath Café, HSV, Biante Model Cars, NGK and Bridgestone as sponsors of PWR Racing.
Release Date: 7/03/2004
PWR Racing
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