IRWIN RACING BACK FOR SECOND CRACK AT PHILLIP ISLAND
IRWIN Racing's Alex Davison is confident of a strong performance at the
Island 300 when the V8 Supercars Championship Series returns to Phillip
Island on 7-8 November.
For the second time in two months Davison will take to the ultra-fast
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit after the Bahrain round was rescheduled to
the second event of the 2010 season.
The L&H 500 in September was the first endurance race of the season with
Davison sharing the driving duties in the #9 Stone Brothers Racing entry.
Davison was running in third place over the opening 18 laps of the race
before a loose wheel ended the team's hopes.
Now back aboard the #4 IRWIN Racing Ford, Davison is confident that the same
speed can be repeated this time around.
Although the shorter race format for this event at Phillip Island is a 100km
race on the Saturday and a 200km race on Sunday, there is just one 30-minute
practice on the Saturday morning in a truncated schedule.
The Island 300 comes in the middle of a busy back-end to the V8 Supercar
Championship Series, with races every fortnight since Bathurst. The previous
race on the streets of the Gold Coast left some teams with extensive damage.
Fortunately the IRWIN Racing team suffered relatively minor damage and
detailed planning has also guaranteed trouble-free preparations for the
Island 300.
WHAT ALEX DAVISON HAS TO SAY:
"It's good to go back to Phillip Island after running so strongly in the
500km race although it was in the #9 car. The smartest thing to do is run
exactly the same set-up that worked in #9 car that weekend. I'm confident
that we can show the same speed from our car and really be on the pace. The
abbreviated format will be OK as we were only at Phillip Island in
mid-September, so we can really get straight into it from Saturday morning.
From Bathurst until the end of the year all the races are on top of each
other. As a driver it's great being in the car as much as possible, but
certainly for the team to prepare and maintaining the IRWIN Ford it
certainly means plenty of long hours. It has already been a very big week
for IRWIN Industrial Tools with Jamie McMurray winning in the IRWIN MARATHON
with Weld-Tec Ford at the NASCAR race at Talladega in the US. It would be a
great way to reward everyone at IRWIN with another top result from our team
to round-out the week!"
WHAT IRWIN RACING ENGINEER WES McDOUGALL HAS TO SAY:
"Compared to the Gold Coast where we last ran week, Phillip Island is like
chalk and cheese. Very high average speeds and long flowing corners, plus it
is a permanent race circuit and not a street track. All the information we
gained in September at Phillip Island will be applied this time. It is a
unique format with the two-day race meeting, including the single practice
session prior to qualifying on the Saturday. It is very much go, go, go and
our goal is to have the IRWIN Racing Ford roll out of the truck on the pace
and carry that into qualifying and the races."
-credit: irwin
