Jones on track to take Series lead
2/7/2004 19:12 (Press Release) -
Andrew Jones has qualified third in the Team BOC Falcon for tomorrow’s round five of the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship at Queensland Raceway. This is the first weekend that Queensland has played host to the series and is also the first time that Jones has driven a V8 Supercar at the Willowbank track.
It was a result that disappointed Jones after he had dominated early practice sessions. Prior to this round Jones has received the pole position award at the last two rounds at Eastern Creek and Winton.
“When you’ve had a couple of poles during the year, qualifying third is kind of disappointing,” said Jones.
Despite his disappointment, today’s qualifying performance has placed Jones in a strong position to take the lead in the championship from current series leader, Luke Youlden who today qualified in eighth position. Coming into this round just 84 points separated Youlden and Jones.
“This is the first round of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar series that has been held in Queensland and it should be a great event with the championship being so close,” commented Jones.
Currently Jones is running in equal second with Cameron McLean who has qualified second for tomorrow’s first race.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s race, Jones is feeling positive about the performance of the Team BOC Falcon, given the consistency it showed in this morning’s practice sessions.
“The car was consistently fast, so we are looking good for tomorrow,” said Jones.
Starting from the second row, Jones understands that gaining a good start in tomorrow’s first race will be critical in order for him to remain in the hunt for the Championship title. He will be seeking to put as much distance between himself and McLean as possible in the early stages of the race.
“We know that to have any chance of winning the title we have win the round, so there’s going to be no holding back for us. We’ll be giving everything we’ve got,” Jones added.
Jones has endured a tough lead-up to this weekend’s round of the championship, with the death of his grandfather, Phil overshadowing much of the team’s preparation.
“We are missing Grandpa and I’m a little bit more inspired to get a good result this weekend,” stated Jones.
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