Winton: Caltex Racing Friday report

WHINCUP INSIDE TOP TEN DURING WET PRACTICE AT WINTON

Rising star Jamie Whincup has finished with the tenth fastest time aboard his Caltex-backed TeamVodafone Falcon during practice for round four of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series at the Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria today.

With the 2 ½ hour, limited lap, session interrupted midway through by a rain shower the track surface was very slippery for the majority of the day. It wasn't until the final ten minutes when drivers were able to post their quickest times, including Whincup who recorded his fastest lap on his 38th, and final, circulation.

Young gun James Courtney was the next best of the Caltex-backed drivers recording the 16th fastest time around the 3.0km circuit.

Defending Winton round champion Craig Lowndes endured a difficult day behind the wheel of his Caltex-backed TeamVodafone Falcon. Despite setting a time just over a second behind the fastest time set by Paul Dumbrell Lowndes found himself down the order in 20th position at the end of the day.

Likewise former Series Champion Russell Ingall found it difficult to get a grip on the optimum set up aboard his Caltex Racing Falcon. Ingall, who has recorded four podium finishes including two victories at Winton, recorded the 21st fastest time today.

Qualifying will be held tomorrow at midday followed by the opening 40-lap race in the afternoon. Sunday will be highlighted by a pair of 40-lap journeys.

CALTEX QUOTEBOARD

Russell Ingall - #9 Caltex Racing Ford Falcon

"We expected that the teams that test here would be quick straight up and that's what we have seen today," said Ingall.

"The rain in the middle of the session didn't help us with our progress.

"We didn't have a good run on our better tyres today so we'll have to improve that tomorrow."

Craig Lowndes - #888 Team Vodafone Ford Falcon

"Our final result was a bit disappointing we were definitely hoping to finish the session further up the order," said Lowndes.

"We didn't have car balance to start with so we worked on that during the first session and the car was definitely at its best straight after the break.

"We decided to make more changes which resulted in a further imbalance that we never solved.

"I am confident that the engineers will find significant improvements for tomorrow's qualifying."

Jamie Whincup - #88 Team Vodafone Ford Falcon

"We were slightly caught out by the track conditions and failed to come to a good balance setup," said Whincup

"It looks like it will be a long night studying the data to come up with a good setup for qualifying.

"If there is a positive to come out of the session we were quite fast in the wet conditions."

James Courtney - #4 Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon

"We didn't have a really good run in the first part of practice and once the rain arrived, it made the rest of the session pretty difficult," said Courtney.

"I had an off which didn't help and we have a few issues with the car to sort out overnight.

"We did make the most of the wet weather though. We had a chance to try a wet set up and we were one of the quickest on the track at that stage so I wouldn't mind some more rain tomorrow."

-credit: cr