IRWIN Racing Bathurst 1000 race report

Irwin Racing Falls Short Of Strong Result At Bathurst

David Brabham, #4 Irwin Racing

Photo by: Chris Von Wieldt

IRWIN Racing’s impressive practice and qualifying performance indicators have failed to translate into a strong result at Bathurst this weekend.

The IRWIN Tools backed Falcon was one of the standout cars leading into the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. It was rarely out of the top 10 and had Alex Davison not been blocked during qualifying he would have made the top 10 Shootout.

Starting 12th, the entire team knew that it would be in with a shot at winning the race based on the IRWIN Ford’s pace.

Davison started the 1000 kilometre race well, handing the IRWIN Ford to David Brabham in the top 10. A front-right wheel lock and subsequent contact with another car handed the team a drive through penalty which dropped it to the rear of the grid.

A strong race strategy and impressive driving performances by Davison and Brabham saw the team return to the top 10 but a lack of airflow to the engine caused handling problems that reduced straight line speed.

Unable to keep other cars at bay, the IRWIN Falcon lost several places before crossing the finish line in 16th place.

Despite the disappointing result, Alex Davison retains ninth place in the V8 Supercars championship as the team heads to Queensland for the ArmorAll Gold Coast 600 in a fortnight’s time.

What IRWIN Racing’s Alex Davison had to say:

“We had a lot thrown at us, but it wasn’t our day. We had a pretty good first stint, got up into the top 10 and David (Brabham) was having a really good stint and had great pace. Unfortunately we had to double pit with the nine car during the safety car period which put as long way back. David also had a tussle with another car which earned us a drive through; we were a long way back at one point and then got back up into the top 10. We then had a problem with the motor from the contact that David had with (Jack) Perkins and we just had absolutely no power in the end. We also had a few handling issues. It wasn’t to be today but we had a lot of promising signs. We had great pace before everything started falling to pieces. Yet again we've had an average result and consolidated our position of ninth in the championship, which is amazing. All we can do it press on to the Gold Coast 600, which we are all looking forward to.”

What IRWIN Racing’s David Brabham had to say:

“We had really good car pace early today. In the first pit stop we got caught out, we couldn’t get in and we dropped from eighth right down to 19th, then it was a case of trying to get back up. I had a big lock up into the Chase, hit Jack Perkins up the rear, dented the front of the car and had to come in and replace the tyres. When we got back out there Alex (Davison) had to serve the drive-through and we were dead last. We managed to get back into the top 10 but with the damage to the front of the car we weren’t quick on the straight. It was really hard for Alex to keep people from behind him passing.”