21 Oct 2011 - 23 Oct 2011
Gold Coast - Surfers Paradise Street Circuit
Slow punctures, stewards' penalties and, ultimately, a spinning car made the Gold Coast weekend one to forget for Team BOC.
International co-driver Stephane Sarrazin was pushed into the wall off the start of today's race and the resulting slow puncture and steering damage saw him spear off a few laps later.
Lead driver Jason Bright jumped into the car on lap 42 just as a safety car was called. It picked him up just as he exited pit lane putting the team two laps down.
Protocol for a restart states that any car more than one lap down should drive through the pits to avoid getting in the way. Bright was unaware, however, and subsequently issued a drive-through penalty.
In a fitting end to a miserable day, a stranded Gianni Morbidelli was instructed by stewards to flick his WesTrac-sponsored car around just as Bright rounded the blind corner. The resulting contact put Bright out of the race.
The V8s head across Bass Straight for the Falken Tasmanian Challenge next month from November 11-13.
Jason Bright
"Seeing the WesTrac car coming towards me was a bit of a shock; You don't expect someone to be coming around the corner at you. There were double yellow flags out so I went through there very cautiously but it's just something that should never happen. Apparently the official there was waving him through but obviously the road wasn't clear. The safety car was already out; they should have waited until the whole train was behind it before they got him to move.
"There are plenty of reasons to have a crack at the stewards this weekend; the list is endless. We've got to do something about it because they're making a joke of our sport.
"Obviously we need to improve our cars; they're just not fast enough at the moment. We keep on getting knocked but we will regroup and go to Tassie in a couple of weeks. We had a good result there last year, but ever since Winton we've been having dramas here and there, plus a couple more penalties than anyone else. We'll go to Tassie and put these last few rounds behind us."
Stéphane Sarrazin
"A car hit me in the wall at the start and I had a slow puncture. I went off down the slip road because of the flat tyre. It was not so exciting a race like yesterday for me.
"The car was very difficult to drive. I had a big vibration on the front but my personal average was not too bad; very consistent. But it was a very tough weekend with the car. When you're not happy with the balance here you lose many places.
"I would want to come back for sure. I like to be with Jason. He's a very cool guy and very fast. It could be good if we do one good race in the future because I enjoyed working with him now and in the past."
Armor All Gold Coast 600 - V8 Supercars Races 21 & 22
SURFERS PARADISE STREET CIRCUIT
Qualifying Race 22
01 Whincup, TeamVodafone, 1:10.9615
02 Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team, +0.0424
03 Winterbottom, Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon, +0.1693
04 W.Davison, Trading Post FPR Falcon, +0.3184
05 Lowndes, TeamVodafone, +0.3308
06 Owen, V.I.P. Petfoods, +0.3559
07 Murphy, Pepsi Max Crew +0.4112
08 Holdsworth, Fujitsu Racing GRM, +0.4253
09 Moffat, Jim Beam Racing, +0.4740
10 Reynolds, Stratco Racing, +0.5025
25 Bright, Team BOC, +1.2151
Armor All Gold Coast 600 - V8 Supercars Races 21 & 22
SURFERS PARADISE STREET CIRCUIT
Race 22
01 Winterbottom / Lyons, Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon
02 Whincup / Bourdais, TeamVodafone
03 Holdsworth / Pagenaud, Fujitsu Racing
04 Murphy / Gavin, Pepsi Max Crew
05 R.Kelly / Bergmeister, Jack Daniel's Racing
06 Courtney / Turner, Holden Racing Team
07 Owen / Said, V.I.P. Petfoods
08 Ingall / Magnussen, Supercheap Auto Racing
09 T.Kelly / Westbrook, Jack Daniel's Racing
10 Slade / Castroneves, Lucky 7 Racing
DNF Jason Bright / Stephane Sarrazin, Team BOC