Jim Beam Racing’s Steven Johnson and James Moffat gave fans a taste of things to come with both qualifying top ten in race 7 of the V8 Supercar Championship in Perth today.
Johnson showed great pace in the #17 Falcon, starting P4 on the grid behind Whincup, Davison and Lowndes.
“We split the oil line in practice 2 so we went into qualifying with less data than we would have liked.” said Johnson.
“But the car was quick and even though it was a pretty scrappy qualifying session we got a good result.”
A lightning start saw Johnson jump Lowndes and settled in behind Davison in 3rd position.
After a slick pit stop on lap 21 Johnson experienced steering problems which became progressively worse as the race wore on.
“Every time I braked the wheel was wrenching to the right,” he said.
“By the end of the race it was pretty bad so we were actually lucky it was a shorter race format.”
Despite the steering issue Johnson held onto fourth position until the final stages of the race when he was overtaken by a fast finishing Shane Van Gisbergen on fresher tyres.
“All things considered fifth wasn’t a bad result.” Johnson said.
“We know the car has good speed and we are competitive on softs so we will definitely be chasing a podium in tomorrow’s races.”
The day started promisingly for team mate James Moffat who qualified P9, the rookies first top ten qualifying result.
But Moffat’s good fortune was short lived when the #18 Falcon FG stalled on the start line dropping him back to 27th.
“It’s really disappointing,” said Moffat post-race.
“Qualifying was good and it was great to notch up our first top ten start.”
“But – for whatever reason – the car stalled at the start and my race was pretty much over from there.”
Moffat remain composed and proceeded to work his way back through the field, his battles with the likes of Ingall, Dumbrell and Reynolds some of the most entertaining of the race.
By the time the chequered flag dropped Moffat had faught his way to 18th.
“We shouldn’t have been that far back,” mused Moffat.
“But the car was pacey and we were competitive with the group we were racing with.
“Generally the car has handled the soft tyre pretty well so we will see what tomorrow brings.”
The Perth Trading Post Challenge continues tomorrow at Barbagallo Raceway.
Johnson showed great pace in the #17 Falcon, starting P4 on the grid behind Whincup, Davison and Lowndes.
“We split the oil line in practice 2 so we went into qualifying with less data than we would have liked.” said Johnson.
“But the car was quick and even though it was a pretty scrappy qualifying session we got a good result.”
A lightning start saw Johnson jump Lowndes and settled in behind Davison in 3rd position.
After a slick pit stop on lap 21 Johnson experienced steering problems which became progressively worse as the race wore on.
“Every time I braked the wheel was wrenching to the right,” he said.
“By the end of the race it was pretty bad so we were actually lucky it was a shorter race format.”
Despite the steering issue Johnson held onto fourth position until the final stages of the race when he was overtaken by a fast finishing Shane Van Gisbergen on fresher tyres.
“All things considered fifth wasn’t a bad result.” Johnson said.
“We know the car has good speed and we are competitive on softs so we will definitely be chasing a podium in tomorrow’s races.”
The day started promisingly for team mate James Moffat who qualified P9, the rookies first top ten qualifying result.
But Moffat’s good fortune was short lived when the #18 Falcon FG stalled on the start line dropping him back to 27th.
“It’s really disappointing,” said Moffat post-race.
“Qualifying was good and it was great to notch up our first top ten start.”
“But – for whatever reason – the car stalled at the start and my race was pretty much over from there.”
Moffat remain composed and proceeded to work his way back through the field, his battles with the likes of Ingall, Dumbrell and Reynolds some of the most entertaining of the race.
By the time the chequered flag dropped Moffat had faught his way to 18th.
“We shouldn’t have been that far back,” mused Moffat.
“But the car was pacey and we were competitive with the group we were racing with.
“Generally the car has handled the soft tyre pretty well so we will see what tomorrow brings.”
The Perth Trading Post Challenge continues tomorrow at Barbagallo Raceway.