Phillip Island: Hi-Tec Oils Racing Saturday notes

MCNALLY JUST MISSES TOP 10 FINISH IN PHILLIP ISLAND PRELUDE

Mark McNally has brought the Hi-Tec Oils Racing Commodore home in 12th place in the first qualifying race for the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in Victoria today.

McNally drove a storming race from 28th on the grid, taking advantage of the requirement for a pit stop in either race. While others faulted, McNally stayed on track to give the team a boost ahead of tomorrow's 113-lap enduro.

The high for McNally was matched with a low for team-mate Tony Ricciardello. The fellow West Australian was looking to move up from his 31st starting position during the second 14-lap qualifying race. However, his race was ended on just the opening lap when he was caught-up in a multi-car collision.

With a Did Not Finish (DNF) recorded by Ricciardello, the Hi-Tec Oils Racing Commodore will start tomorrow's 500km race from 30th position.

Todd Kelly and Mark Winterbottom won today's two qualifying races at Phillip Island, with the pairing of Winterbottom and Steven Richards earning pole for tomorrow's L&H 500.

Mark McNally - #16 Hi-Tec Oils Holden Commodore:

"It was disappointing to DNF that second race, it was just one of those things, we were unlucky," said Mark McNally.

"I was quite happy with 12th in the first race. The car wasn't as fast as what I would have liked, we tried a few different things, so hopefully we will just go back to how we had it for qualifying and have pretty good pace in the race tomorrow.

"Starting 30th is not ideal, but it's a long race."

Tony Ricciardello - #16 Hi-Tec Oils Holden Commodore:

"It was a very messy first lap, I think one of the BOC cars might have stalled it on the grid a bit and he sort of tried to make up all of his positions on the first lap and started hitting everyone," said Tony Ricciardello.

"We got caught up in the mess, so it's a bit disappointing for the Hi-Tec Oils Red Rooster Commodore. Tomorrow is a big day and we will see how we go.

"We will see how we go in the warm up tomorrow, we made a few changes for that race and we think they might have been positive steps. We will see how we go in the warm up, we are going to repair the car and see how we go in the race tomorrow."

-credit: h-tor