News

Track: Surfers Paradise Street Circuit  
Race:  Gold Coast 600
Date:  21st October 2016
Race 1 – 300km – 102 Laps

Race Recap: The opening race of the Gold Coast 600 finished in dramatic fashion when Fabian Coulthard was taken out of an excellent fifth position by Garth Tander at the fastest point of the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Coulthard and co driver Luke Youlden had clawed their way up the field in the SellMycar Ford with some clever strategy and race craft from their twenty third grid spot. The high speed crash left the No 12 Ford badly damaged and the team decided to leave the car on the flat bed recovery truck and take it straight to chassis manufacturer PACE Innovations for a potential rebuild. The team will announce later tonight if the car is repairable.

Scott Pye and Tony D'Alberto also moved up the field from position 15 on the grid in the Hog's Ford with D'Alberto shouldering sixty four of the 102 laps due to Safety Car periods. Tony moved comfortably into the Top 10 until a throttle issue tumbled him down the order. Pye took over and despite intermittent issues ran to the end of the race to finish in eighteenth position.

The Gold Coast 600 wraps up on Sunday with the final 300km race.

No. 12 SellMyCar Ford - Fabian Coulthard / Luke Youlden
Qualifying:      P  23     Fastest Lap 1:11.54
Race 1:          DNF      Accident lap 96    
    
Fabian Coulthard Quote: "We started 23rd and to move up the field was a real positive. Luke did a good job and we were able to improve position after every stop."  

As far as the accident goes, I think the vision speaks for itself and I don’t have to say too much. Someone of his experience, championship winner, I kind of expected a little bit more from him but what can you do?

"It was a big hit. I'm just thankful the team have done all this development with the leg protection. They are always thinking and trying to make things better. I really feel for the boys as we have to get the cars turned around by next Friday for New Zealand."

Luke Youlden Quote: "We should be celebrating a good result today having come from twenty-third to fifth, so it is a really disappointing end."

"It was tough to get a result from that position so in my stint we tried to save as much fuel as we could as we knew we would get it back in the pit stops. It worked out and gave Fabs a really good position to run home.Of course it did not end that way."

No. 17 Hogs Ford - Scott Pye / Tony D'Alberto
Qualifying:     P 15     Fastest Lap 1:11.25 - SP
Race 1:         P 18     

Scott Pye Quote:  "We were on for a really good result today but a mechanical issue hampered us. Throttle problems at a track like this is pretty scary but fortunately it was not a problem of it jamming open. I think that we were on for a top five or six position so it is very disappointing. Tony did a mega job so we have to really focus on the race tomorrow."

Tony D'Alberto Quote: "I think we were in a really good spot. We were not losing ground to the guys in front and the car had reasonable pace. To have a problem was very disappointing. There is no way to sugar coat it as it cost Scott and I a strong result."