Steve Owen extended his Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series lead with victory in Saturday’s 14-lap encounter at the Sucrogen Townsville 400.

The TeamVodafone endurance driver overcame an early challenge from Ford’s James Moffat to lead home the 26-car field in the first of three Fujitsu Series races this weekend, replicating hisBathurst teammate Jamie Whincup’s form on the North Queensland track.

“We qualified on pole by a pretty good margin,” Owen said, “but then fluffed the start a little. Moffat got the best start of the frontrunners so had the momentum to pass me into the first turn,” the Earthex Racing star said.

Owen was back in the lead a few corners later, however, when Moffat’s Norton 360 Ford Rising Stars Racing’s Falcon lost momentum.

“He dropped a wheel off the circuit on the back of the circuit,” Owen explained. “So I got by him and it was all pretty smooth-sailing after that. We had good balance in the car, so it augers well for the two races tomorrow [Sunday].”

Owen’s margin of victory was just 0.9sec, as two safety car periods eroded the buffer he built over his fellow Victorian.

Team Jayco’s David Russell, in another Falcon, was third. Fourth was Paul Morris (The Love Machine Commodore), with Craig Baird (Jax Quick Fit Tyres) fifth in his first Fujitsu Series outing for 2010. But no one had Owen’s speed, either in the race or qualifying.

One safety car appearance was to clean up the mess left after a second corner pile-up that ended the races of Aaron McGill, Luke Youlden, Geoff Emery and Marcus Marshall. Several others, including Rodney Jane and Nick Percat, were significantly delayed.

Percat (Sip ‘N Save Commodore) battled back to finish 10th but lost second place in the championship fight to fellow rookie Tim Blanchard (Team Sonic Falcon), who came home sixth.

One consolation for Percat is that he will start from position one for race two tomorrow. The top 10 finishers from race one have their starting positions reversed for Sunday morning’s 14-lap race. He will start alongside 17-year-old Scott McLaughlin, a driver who sit his road licence test next week.

An 18-lapper Sunday afternoon will complete round four.

Owen scored his fourth consecutive Armor All pole position on Saturday morning. This means, with just three rounds remaining, he is an unbeatable position for the honour of most poles for the season.

The old saying “You get out what you put in” was proven at Mallala by Nick Parker’s team, as the damage from race one was repaired well enough by a very hard working team for the car to be classified a starter. After being rear ended in race one, the tail of the #39 Commodore resembled the bow of the Titanic. Some smart thinking, plenty of elbow grease and no doubt a few choice words have resurrected Parker’s weekend and given him the opportunity to grab points from race 2.

His assailant, Matt Chick, also had some work to do for the front of his car although not nearly as extensive as Nick, with the front of the #7 car being restyled, sans headlights. Chick’s light houses will be replaced by race tape for race two.

More work overnight for the Aerial Motors racing team, with the clutch being replaced and some tweaks back to a more comfortable standard for driver Chris. It was a mud bath for the West Coast Windows entry of Ross McGregor, who potentially could have finished around fifth before going off shortly before race end. The front of the #99 car revealed no damage after quite a few kilos of Mallala’s finest dirt was washed away.

Adam Beechey, who tangled with Scott Andrews and had some minor front right damage, was confident the better (meaning dry) conditions for Race two would go well and not much work was required to get the car ready.

Some work on the rear right of the Gerard McLeod entry was also required, with the tail light section needing some metal massaging before race two, while race one winner Tony Bates was looking forward to starting from pole and getting away to a clean start and building a good lead. Josh Hughes, who stayed out of trouble, will start third and look to build his points also.

Northern Territory based drivers Steven and Dave Ling, alongside Geoff Cowie, said with broad smiles, they don’t have the chequebook ability to run at the front of the field so will do their best to have fun.

Race Two

Fatigued metal carried over Territorian Cowie’s unlucky form from race one, where, in the final moments of the race he’d broken his gear lever. On the warm up lap for race two, his engine let go, depositing oil on the track which would later come into play.

Weather wise it was windy and overcast yet the rain had stayed away, allowing the drivers to put down a clean start. Bates, on pole position had Adam Beechey next door and Scot Andrews was ready to take advantage, from P4, of any errors.

Matt Chick started two positions down from the expected position as an overnight decision had been made to penalize him 28 seconds for his hit on Parker, moving Matt Hayes and Chris Stevenson up one each as a result. Chick started with the front end looking good but by half way through the race it had broken again, clearly affecting the handling of the vehicle. This, after a mile of race tape and cable ties looked set to solve the problem for the immediate short term.

With the pit window open, Hughes again made the first dive in, which proved to be a good move, finishing fifth overall. Hughes did lead for a period however some slick pit work saw Beechey and Bates out in front on the lead laps. Although down from where he started, it came courtesy of some brilliant tactical driving from Bates, Beechey and guerilla fighting between Parker and Andrews on the penultimate lap, which unfortunately forced Hughes into some immediately necessary defensive driving.

McLeod was next in followed by Matt Chick, with Steve Ling and race one winner Bates earlier than the day before. Second round driver Hayes made a late dash followed by Chris Stevenson, with some changes to his car appearing to keep the same speed yet stabilizing more. Unfortunately, Stevenson appeared to find the oil from Cowie and went off near the same spot as McGregor in race one.

Parker, Andrews and McGregor rounded out the freight train of pit stops but while all this was happening, a smoky VH for Steve Ling resulted in a mechanical black flag and a DNF in the end.

The final few minutes of the race saw Bates extend a clear and comfortable lead, with Beechey driving defensively to hold out a determined Parker, Andrews and Hughes. At the final turn on the second last lap, an apparent hip and shoulder from Parker on Andrews had Hughes scrambling to get out of the way, Andrews relegated to fourth momentarily before regaining a well deserved third. A slow pit stop again may have cost him a potential higher finish while Bates mastered Mallala to take the round and move to third overall in the points standings, with Beechey behind Andrews by a solitary point.

With the next round of the Commodore Cup being the enduro round, the current situation leaves the door open for followers to enjoy some classic one make V8 racing as Australia’s affordable V8 racing category heads south to Victoria’s Winton Raceway for June 26/27.

Race one for the Commodore Cup, the third round of the series, resulted in a drought breaking win for Tony Bates and bent metal for a few others. Nick Parker was the worst affected after being tail slammed by Matt Chick. A soaking track, a slippery white line and locked wheels under brakes saw the #7 car deep into the boot of Parker, leaving the team looking towards a long night of repairs. Second place getter Adam Beechey had his front right rearranged after contact with Scott Andews at the northern hairpin while a despondent Jason Domaschenz looked set to pull the pin on the weekend after also losing his right front, damaging his spoiler irreparably. Newcomer Gerard McLeod was “blooded” with a damaged right rear and the race both finished a few minutes early and under safety car with Ross McGregor and Domaschenz buried in the mud with barely a minute or so left before the five minute pit window closure.

The race itself was the first of the season seen as a mini enduro plus incorporating a mandatory pit stop. The pit window was twenty minutes, starting five minutes after and closing five minutes before race start and end respectively. Polesitter Andrews had his measure taken by Bates and Beechey off the line with the trio sitting within a few car lengths of each other for most of the race. Chris Stevenson had clutch and accelerator spring issues, causing the engine to over-rev and speared him off early in the race. Bates snagged the lead on lap nine after a superb battle between he, Andrews and Beechey.

The expected flurry of pitstops when the window opened didn’t occur, with Josh Hughes the first in after the window had been opened for around five minutes. From there it was a steady progression, with Bates the last in. Confusion for McGregor with officials and other team members causing the Southern Star Windows entry to miss his pit bay, forcing his pit crew to chase him down. This appeared to have been the catalyst for McGregor’s off shortly after, followed by the #85 of Domaschenz.

A win is a win, regardless, and Bates was happy, commenting his Fujitsu Racing experience aided him in areas such as braking, plus he had kept the car undamaged. Race two is scheduled for around midday on Sunday and with the weather forecast to be an improvement on Saturday, it bodes well for the determined #24 Sportsalive.com.au pilot.

Steve Owen has extended his points advantage with second for the round. The Greg Murphy Racing driver finished second in yesterday’s opening race before racing home to fourth and second in Race 2 and Race 3, respectively.

Originally, Owen was competing in the Fujitsu Series on a round-by-round basis, but the TeamVodafone endurance driver confirmed that it is “looking positive” for him to compete in the remainder of the series, aiming to win his second crown (adding to his 2008 title).

“At this stage it’s looking positive,” he said.

“I’ve got another sponsor on the car this weekend in Tricor, as long as the car keeps coming back straight and we don’t end up blowing motors up or having big shunts, I think we should be able to get there. If it goes for a couple more rounds it’s going to be hard for those guys to not do the rest of the year.”

The Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series rolls on to the Sucrogen Townsville 400 (July 9-11) for Round 4. Highlights of the Winton round will be shown on the Seven Network this Saturday.

Source: Speedcafe.com.au

New Zealander Daniel Jilesen will suit up in Greg Murphy Racing’s second Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series Commodore VE this weekend at Winton Motor Raceway.

Jilesen, 26, will drive the #46 ex-Tasman Motorsports Commodore which has only just arrived back in Australia after being used in a Castrol corporate day at Hampton Downs Raceway, New Zealand recently.

Jilesen, a former Formula Ford and Toyota Racing Series driver from Taumarunui, has only completed about 10 laps in a V8 Supercar before. According to team boss Kevin Murphy, Jilesen will use the Winton weekend as an extended test session to find his feet in the class.

“It’s all going to be a bit new to him, but he’s treating it as a toe-in-the-water test session,” Murphy Sr told Speedcafe.com.au.

“He wants to get to know the culture of racing over here, and all going well, he may look at another round later this year with an envision of competing in the entire series next year.

“We wanted to give him a test day, but we couldn’t get on the track for different reasons. He’ll go in pretty raw, but he is very level headed, a good person and not the sort of guy who’ll jump in the car and try to prove how good he is.

“It will be a learning thing for him, not a chance for him to prove a point. The thing that made our mind up to put him in for Winton is that we didn’t want him to debut at the next round at Townsville. Winton is a slower speed circuit that isn’t too difficult to learn. It’s just an all-round good meeting for him to start.”

Greg Murphy Racing’s lead driver Steve Owen currently leads the Fujitsu V8 Series after winning the first two rounds in Adelaide and Queensland Raceway. It will be the first time this year that GMR has entered two cars in the Fujitsu Series.

The Victorian-based team will also sport a new one-off sponsor for this weekend’s Winton round, with Tricor Engineering, an automotive workshop installation company, adorning the doors of Owen’s red Commodore.

Source: Speedcafe.com.au

Steve Owen has continued his Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series dominance at the Ipswich 300 this weekend – and his TeamVodafone enduro teammate Jamie Whincup is excited by Owen’s fine form.

After finishing second in Saturday’s Race 1 at Queensland Raceway, Owen won today’s Race 2 before placing second behind Jack Perkins in the final Race 3. The weekend’s three top-two placings were enough to position Owen at the top for the round’s pointscore. The result follows Owen’s cleansweep of the opening round at the Clipsal 500.

The Ipswich 300 Fujitsu Series round win extends Owen’s Series lead to 141 points over rookie Tim Blanchard, a performance Whincup to excited about come the 2010 endurance races.

“I know he was going to do well in the Fujitsu Series but basically my decision was made after watching him in the last 10 years at Bathurst, he always does a good solid job,” said Whincup.

“No matter what car he’s driving in any conditions, he always gets the most out of it.

“I think what he’s done this weekend in the Fujitsu Series really stamps the fact that he’s right up there with the best drivers in the country.

“You want your co-driver to have plenty of miles. There’s no substitute for laps and practice so when making the decision for a co-driver, the fact that he’s doing the Fujitsu Series and the opportunity we can give him to drive the car on test days, ride days and Friday practice sessions all comes to the decision of why he’s the best man to partner me for the enduros.”

Owen was also impressed by his Fujitsu Series form and hopes for more of the same at the next round at Winton Motor Raceway.

“It’s coming along well in the overall scheme of things. This weekend, we certainly didn’t have the car pass like we did in Adelaide and obviously had a bit more competition from the local boys, but it was probably a really good result in the end from what was a pretty tough weekend,” said Owen.

“We’ll get to Winton. The car keeps coming back straight and hasn’t had a scratch on it, we haven’t broken anything and the sponsors are still happy so we’ll be on the phone to them Wednesday morning and try to get some interest for later in the year. If we can get to Winton and extend the lead again it’ll be hard for them to say no, hopefully.”

Jack Perkins scored second for the round, taking victory in the final race after finishing fourth and third in Race 1 and Race 2, respectively. Perkins drove a Supercheap Auto Racing-liveried Commodore from the Paul Morris Motorsports outfit.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when I came here, but when I came here with proper tyres, I was top two all Friday, qualified third and quickly realised that car was pretty good,” said Perkins.

“It’s probably the best V8 Supercar I’ve ever driven, the engine and chassis were just awesome and I know that once we had the better tyres on that I’d saved all weekend that we would win the last one – the one that mattered.”

Paul Morris claimed third for the round after finishing seventh and third in Sunday’s two races following his Race 1 victory in Saturday’s race.

The Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series will next visit Winton Motor Raceway on May 14-16 for Round 3.

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Round 2 points

1. Steve Owen – 280

2. Jack Perkins – 268

3. Paul Morris – 261

4. Tim Blanchard – 217

5. Nick Percat – 197

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series standings – after Round 2 of 7

1. Steve Owen – 580

2. Tim Blanchard – 439

3. Ant Pedersen – 397

4. Nick Percat – 395

5. James Moffat – 358

Steve Owen has won the opening race of the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series at the Adelaide Parklands street circuit this evening.

Owen led every lap of the race, only running in second place in the first part of the first lap after a tight tussle with James Moffat at the first chicane.
A small mistake from Moffat allowed Owen and John McIntyre through, but Moffat re-passed McIntyre later in the race to seal second place.

Owen, who is only locked in to compete in this weekend’s round, said it was the perfect start to the year.

“The car has just got better and better over the weekend,” Owen said.

STEVE Owen has claimed pole position for today’s twilight race in the Fujitsu Series for V8 Supercars by taking fastest lap time in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the Clipsal 500.

Owen clocked a 1min 22.91sec lap on lap three, breaking David Russell’s qualifying record.

The Fujitsu Series opening race for 2010 tonight will be followed by their second race tomorrow.