Bahrain: Kelly Racing race 1 report

BARGWANNA CHARGES UP THE ORDER TO FINISH 15TH IN BAHRAIN

Rock Racing driver Jason Bargwanna has escaped several close calls to charge up the order and finish 15th in the opening race of the Gulf Air Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit today.

Bargwanna endured a below-par qualifying session earlier in the day but a back-to-basics car set-up saw the #11 Rock Commodore roar back up the order in today's 37-lap race.

Bargwanna lost spots when avoiding the spinning Alex Davison on the opening lap and also survived a high-speed moment when run wide by Paul Dumbrell, but the veteran was able to keep it on track and finish in 15th position after starting from 23rd place.

Bargwanna now sits in 13th position in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Standings after three races, just 18 points outside the top 10.

Tony Ricciardello continues to improve aboard the #16 Super-Max Commodore, but electrical problems delayed his race in Bahrain today.

A lengthy pit stop was needed to fix the problems, but Ricciardello rallied to gain more track time and post enough points to sit 25th in the series standings.

Jamie Whincup won today's opening race of the Gulf Air Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes.

KELLY RACING QUOTEBOARD

Jason Bargwanna - #11 Rock Holden Commodore:

"We were certainly out of our window in qualifying with the set-up," said Jason Bargwanna.

"We had to really sit down and think about it and we decided to go back to our base set-up. We had tried something that theoretically should have worked here but it did not. It caught us out big time in qualifying so we went back to what we know for the race.

"That move has delivered a half-good result. If we can start in the top half of the field tomorrow there is top 10 potential there for the Rock Commodore.

"I got tagged once and run wide another time and lost a few spots out of a few incidents, but I think our tyre strategy put us on good tyres towards the end, which allowed us to catch and pass a lot of cars.

"The boys did well and we took a bit of a risk on the fuel but still managed to have a good race. The key to it all is scoring points and keeping it on the track and we are very focused on that at the moment until we can get a bit more race pace out of it."

Tony Ricciardello - #16 Super-Max Holden Commodore:

"After the first stop we had a problem with something electrical, like battery power or the alternator," said Tony Ricciardello.

"We had to come in early and we lost quite a bit of time in the pits. From there we were just trying to get back on track, get a few points and bring the Super-Max Commodore home in one pace.

"Our pace is improving all the time so our crew is hoping for a good run tomorrow."

-source: kelly racing