News

Track: Queensland Raceway
Race:  Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint
Date:  22nd July 2016
 
No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Ford - Fabian Coulthard
Practice 1            P 12        Fastest Lap 1:10.64
Practice 2            P   1        Fastest Lap 1:09.70                         
 
No. 17 Penske Truck Rental Ford - Scott Pye
Practice 1:           P  2         Fastest Lap 1:10.39
Practice 2:           P  9         Fastest Lap 1:10.11         
 
Practice Recap: The Penske Truck Rental Fords of Fabian Coulthard and Scott Pye have shown very good speed in the opening day's practice at Queensland Raceway. After a 30 minute session devoted to the co drivers, the main drivers were in the cars for two 60 minute sessions.

Scott Pye led the way in the first Practice finishing in second place and then Fabian Coulthard went one better in the final hour topping the time sheets. The No 12 Penske Truck Rental Ford driver made continuous changes to the car in the lead up to the 'green' tyre run at the end of the session. It proved to be the right strategy with Coulthard grabbing first place with a few minutes to run.

Pye was also back it the Top 10 but felt his No 17 Ford was better on the used tyre and did not get the gain he was hoping with the new tyre. Both cars performed well and with differing strengths today, the team will now look to an optimum Qualifying set up for Saturday.

Fabian Coulthard Quote: "We stuck to the plan today and it paid off. It was pretty hot in the middle of the day and the Penske Truck Rental Ford was slipping and sliding all over the show. We worked on a few things and didn't go too far away from what we know. We put the new tyres on at the end and it was good. The car was not too bad on the used tyre so we need to replicate this result tomorrow."

"It would be nice to bounce back here and get our Championship back on track. We need to look for Top 5’s on a regular basis. We have got some work to do as this is only Friday."

Scott Pye Quote: "We rolled out here at the first test day this year and we were pretty competitive. I think our base set up here is not too bad. On the older tyres the Penske Truck Rental No 17 was more competitive but we struggled a bit on the new tyre. Relative to Fabs I think I have a better car on older tyres, and he was a bit quicker on the 'greens.'

Tonight we can go through that and see what we can learn from it. Somewhere in between would be good as you need a car that is good on old tyres but Qualifying is the easiest place to overtake and make position."

About Penske Truck Rental
Penske Commercial Leasing Australia is a venture of Brisbane, Australia-based Penske Commercial Vehicles and U.S.-based Penske Truck Leasing, Co., L.P. that offers commercial rental and leasing services of Western Star, MAN and Freightliner prime movers in Australia. Trading as Penske Truck Rental Australia and Penske Truck Leasing Australia, this collaboration combines Penske Truck Leasing's extensive fleet operations expertise with the market knowledge of Penske Commercial Vehicles. Penske Commercial Vehicles is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG).  Penske Truck Leasing, Co., L.P. is one of the premier truck rental and leasing brands in North America. The company operates and maintains among the largest truck fleets in the world consisting of more than 200,000 vehicles and it employs approximately 25,000 people worldwide.