Top 10 finish for Nissan at Bathurst

BATHURST, Australia – James Moffat and Taz Douglas have recorded a top 10 finish after 161 laps at the Bathurst 1000. The race was filled with numerous incidents and variable weather conditions challenged both drivers and teams.

The #99 Mack Trucks Nissan Altima started the race in 5th position after a stellar top 10 shootout performance. After dropping four places at the start of the race, James Moffat raced a solid first stint before handing over to co-driver Taz Douglas in the first safety car period.

Both drivers were challenged during the greasy conditions, which included a short downpour mid-race. Moffat spent much of the race in the midfield before he passed teammate Michael Caruso for tenth position on lap 147. The #99 would eventually hold off any advances and maintain the top 10 result as the highest finishing Nissan.

The #23 NISMO entry of Michael Caruso and Dean Fiore showed glimpses of pace in the early stages of the race, often leading a trio of Nissan's in the mid-pack. As the rain fell it would be Fiore who would take the brunt of the wet weather stints.

The car's progress would be halted shortly after as Fiore was adjudged to have breached safety car protocol. The resulting drive through penalty forced both drivers to battle it out for the remainder of the race. Targeting a top 10 finish, their charge eventually faded dropping back to 13th.

Jack Daniel's Racing drivers Rick Kelly and David Russell spent their Sunday attempting to regain the momentum lost from earlier in the week. On a day where weather provided an opportunity for some surprises, the cards simply didn't fall at the right time. With the #15 Altima forced to double-stack in pitlane three times, the duo were constantly losing valuable track position. Kelly's relentless recovery approach eventually yielded a 16th placed finish in a race that, at the start of the weekend at least, promised so much.

The #7 carsales Racing entry's challenge was effectively ended following a black flag penalty handed for loose bodywork after contact with another competitor. As a consequence, the car would eventually go one lap down, forcing Todd to take risks in conditions where he'd have preferred to remain conservative.

Mid-race contact with the wall at the top of the mountain hindered any chances of regaining the lap, as the combination of Todd Kelly and Alex Buncombe eventually finished in 20th position.

The Championship moves to the Gold Coast 600 for the finale in the Pirtek Enduro Cup. The driver pairings will remain the same as each of the four Nissan Altima's attempt to win one of the event's classic surfboard trophies.

NISSAN MOTORSPORT QUOTEBOARD

James Moffat, #99 Mack Trucks Nissan Altima V8

"The Team did a fantastic job all day. To finish tenth is not what we came here for, but we did everything we could today and tenth is all we had, so we'll take that for what it is and we have a straight car so that's good.

"When it was wet there, the car was quite strong. We just didn't have any track position at that stage. I was in the car with about five or 10 laps to go thinking that a bit of wet weather might be good for us but it never came.

"Thanks to Taz, he did a great job and brought the car back in one piece. We left nothing on the table. Gold Coast is very different, but we've been good there in the past so I'm looking forward to getting up there with Taz, hopefully we can walk away with a surfboard."

Taz Douglas, co-driver #99 Mack Trucks Nissan Altima V8

"After coming second last year, I don't think anything would have satisfied us except for first. But for what we had, tenth is absolutely unbelievable. Moff drove the wheels off it every single lap, he did an awesome job to get us where we are today.

"The mixed conditions were difficult, but we've been racing for a long time and we've been there before. You just have to adapt and make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Todd Kelly, #7 carsales Racing Nissan Altima V8

"The only real positive to take out of it is that the crew and the cars ran faultlessly all day. In my case, we were looking ok. We were hovering around the back of the 10 just trying to get to that last stint.

"We had reasonable pace. I was probably overly cautious in the wet and got clobbered from behind by Jason Bright, which damaged the rear of the car and we got a black flag for it. That put us a lap down and from there we were trying to perform a miracle.

"I was pushing way too hard to try and get back into the race which eventually resulted in me tagging the fence up the top. We've got a lot of development items to put on the cars so we can look forward to the Gold Coast and hopefully make it up there."

Alex Buncome, co-driver #7 carsales Racing Nissan Altima V8

"It's great to be here and to work with these guys again. It's been a tough day for us, a little bit up and down. We were getting close to the top 10 and then had a little bit of a body work issue right at the end of the wet weather. It was unfortunate because a few laps later we could have boxed for slicks and done both at the same time.

"We lost the lead lap unfortunately then, but the safety car helped us and we got back onto the lead lap.

"Unfortunately Todd touched the wall up the top with a few laps to go, he was trying his hardest to get the car back up. We had been struggling with the front end of the car up there all day and he went in a bit hot.

"We'll be back fighting and we look forward to the Gold Coast. I have a lot more experience in the car. I'm learning every lap in this car and how to get the best out of it."

Michael Caruso, #23 NISMO Nissan Altima V8

"Unfortunately the way the race panned out at the end there wasn't good for us.

"It's disappointing. The car seemed good all day and we lost a few spots. It's championship points, but we'll sort it out when we get back home, head off to the Gold Coast and give it a good crack.

Dean Fiore, co-driver #23 NISMO Nissan Altima V8

"I had a shocking start which is disappointing and then received the softest drive through I've ever been given. I did three or four weaves out of the elbow, it didn't affect us that much.

"We stayed out on wets a bit too long to try and pick the fuel window. Towards the end the engine got a bit hot so we stayed in 13th.

"It wasn't our day today but I'm looking forward to the Gold Coast, we went really well there last year."

Rick Kelly, #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima V8

"It was a bit of tough day on us, but never the less. I really enjoyed it. The car was pretty reasonable – very good to drive across the top of The Mountain.

"Unfortunately we had a poor qualifying result, which meant that the way that the race panned out, on three occasions we had to double stack behind car 7.

"So we went to last three times. We fought back a little bit, but then we obviously had that contact with (Jack) Perkins which spun us off the track and back to last again.

"We tried to recover after each of those incidents, but it obviously wasn't our day to be right up there.

"We can take a lot from the weekend, and every day is a good day if you can come and race around this place because it is pretty special.

"Even though we were back there, I really enjoyed getting around The Mountain again."

David Russell, #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima V8

"It was definitely a long day here for us. We got knocked around a fair bit with double stacking today, which kept shuffling us back. We had to keep making our way forward. There were definitely a few things that didn't go our way.

"We worked hard on the car. On every stop we were tuning the car to bring it on, but ultimately we didn't have the pace today to match it with the front runners anyways.

"On the positives, we have a straight car to go to the Gold Coast with, and the crew is working really well together. Some days go like that, and unfortunately today wasn't our day."

RACE RESULTS

1. Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards
2. Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen
3. Garth Tander/Warren Luff
4. Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden
5. Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat
6. David Reynolds/Dean Canto
7. Jason Bright/Andrew Jones
8. Shane Van Gisbergen/Jonathon Webb
9. Lee Holdsworth/Sebastien Bourdais
10. James Moffat/Taz Douglas
13. Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore
16. Rick Kelly/David Russell
20. Todd Kelly/Alex Buncombe

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
After 25 races

1. Mark Winterbottom- 2491 points
2. Craig Lowndes- 2092
3. David Reynolds- 2059
4. Chaz Mostert- 2017
5. Fabian Coulthard- 1934
6. Garth Tander- 1892
7. Shane Van Gisbergen- 1800
8. Jamie Whincup- 1688
9. Scott McLaughlin- 1434
10. Rick Kelly- 1415
13. Michael Caruso -1173
17. Todd Kelly - 1375
18. James Moffat - 1385

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