News

Track: Mt Panorama, Bathurst  
Race:  Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Date:  6th October 2016
 
No. 12 Shell V-Power Ford - Fabian Coulthard / Luke Youlden
Practice 1          P    2       Fastest Lap 2:06.51 - FC
Practice 2          P    8       Fastest Lap 2:07.81 - LY        
Practice 3          P    2       Fastest Lap 2:05.70 - FC
               
No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford - Scott Pye / Tony D’Alberto
Practice 1:         P 25        Fastest Lap 2:09.33 - SP
Practice 2:         P 18        Fastest Lap 2:05.86 - TD
Practice 3:         P 23        Fastest Lap 2:07.50 - SP
 
 
Practice Recap: The Shell V-Power Fords have finished the first day of practice at Bathurst with a second place for Fabian Coulthard and a series of long race pace runs by Scott Pye.

Coulthard was one of the fastest cars on the Mountain today with times not seen on a Thursday before in the history of the event. Co-driver Luke Youlden backed up with an eighth place result in his session before Coulthard was back in the car to finish in second position for the day.

Scott Pye lost some track time with an off-track excursion in the first practice and then set about using the final sixty minutes this afternoon to run full tank, race simulation runs. He was very happy with the car in a race configuration and can turn his attention to a Qualifying set up on Friday morning.   
 
Fabian Coulthard Quote: "It was a good start to the weekend in the Shell V-Power Ford. We had a good plan and worked through it over the three sessions. We tried a new set of tyres towards the end of the day and I'm sure it will give the boys something to look at overnight.

"The way it has rolled out in Practice 1, then Luke's performance in the co-drivers session and then to end the day in P2 is a good start. I drove a very quick car here last year but to go quicker already on a Thursday sets us up well. We will fine tune the car and try and make it faster for tomorrow. There is a long way to go but we are pretty happy at this point."
 
Scott Pye Quote:  "We knew it was going to be a tough day given the tyre condition we had and I felt we were a little hampered in the final practice session as well with a long brake pedal.
"We did lose some track time in two sessions, but towards the end of P3, we stuck to the one set of tyres and ran a full fuel load. I am really happy with the race runs we did. It was what we needed to achieve today in the Shell V-Power Ford, and I am comfortable we did that."

"Tony had a good run getting comfortable with the car although he was also suffering with a lack of tyre quality. We tested a few things and got a good direction for tomorrow."