Sandown success beckons Ellery and Youlden
10/9/2004 12:42 (Press Release) -
After outstanding success at last year’s Betta Electrical Sandown 500, Super Cheap Auto Racing’s Steven Ellery and Luke Youlden are once again striving for achievement at round nine of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship.
Ellery and Youlden will once again team up for the 2004 Betta Electrical Sandown 500 with last year’s most successful endurance pairing set be even stronger when they take the to track on Friday morning.
“The only thing that has changed since last year is that Luke has obtained another 12 months worth of driving experience and I have trained harder at the gym and built my fitness to the highest level it has ever been,” Ellery said.
“When you consider these two critical elements, Super Cheap Auto Racing is in a stronger position than last year when we came second at the Betta Electrical Sandown 500.”
Like any professional sportsman, Ellery is striving to repeat the feeling of elation after surprising many critics when he came second in last year’s Betta Electrical Sandown 500.
“It [second position] was the ultimate high, after going through a really rough time before Sandown, no other team needed the second position more than us,” Ellery stated.
“Sandown is one of my favourite races along with Bathurst, I was happy to have the race back on the calendar and to achieve such a fantastic result on the return of the event was just great. It wasn’t a win, but it was so close and felt just as good.”
After a blistering season in the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship, Luke Youlden is feeling positive about mixing it with the ‘big boys’ of Australian and international motoring racing during the 500 kilometre endurance race.
“I am feeling very confident about Sandown. At our last test day I felt really comfortable with the car set up, especially after making the change from the Super Cheap Auto Racing AU Falcon which I campaigned in the Konica series to Steven’s [Ellery] BA,” Youlden commented.
“I know this year we will go into the event with a bit more respect. I was so proud to be part of Super Cheap Auto Racing last year when we came out fighting and surprised everybody with second position.”
Ambitious Youlden is looking forward to seizing the opportunity to test the skills acquired in the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Championship while assisting co-driver Ellery and proving his own talent.
“While a number of other co-drivers finding themselves in a position where there is pressure on them for the sake of their team mate’s standing in the championship, there are also the unspoken demands that a co-driver places on themselves for their own sake,” Youlden noted.
“Sandown and Bathurst are the only chance young drivers like myself have to race against the benchmark of the main series in equal cars and conditions and prove ourselves, so a good result is also critical for my future.”
In their last test prior to the Betta Electrical Sandown 500, both Ellery and Youlden were impressed with the Super Cheap Auto Racing, with Team Manager John McLean saying the constructive results of the a test day will become imminent at Sandown.
“At Super Cheap Auto Racing’s recent test at Queensland the team tried a few things in relation to chassis set up which resulted in both Steven [Ellery] and Luke [Youlden] being extremely happy with the car,” McLean concluded.
“We also made some changes to the brakes and with we will go to Sandown with a better Super Cheap Auto Racing Falcon.”
The Betta Electrical Sandown 500 is round nine of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship. Practice commences on Friday 10 September with qualifying the following day.
The 500 kilometre race commences at 1pm on Sunday 12 September with both Ellery and Youlden striving to complete 161 laps around the Sandown International Raceway, 25 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.
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