Jack Daniel's Racing overcome setbacks in the Sandown 500; Norton Hornets experience ups and downs

VICTORIA, Australia – The Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altimas survived the Sandown 500 yesterday, but the four team drivers had to overcome various setbacks along the way in the opening endurance race of the season.

Following a late race safety car, the combination of Rick Kelly and David Russell were in position to challenge for a top-ten result. Unfortunately for the number 15 machine, a pair of lapped competitors were not displayed the blue flag for an extended period, in which time Kelly lost touch with the cars ahead for position.

After 161 laps, the duo were the leading Nissan in 13th position. Like Russell, V8 Supercar debutant Alex Buncombe had an extended first stint in the car after an early safety car scrambled race strategies. Double stacking in the pits, followed by lead driver Todd Kelly being spun off the circuit, saw the pair eventually finish in 20th place.

The V8 Supercars Championship continues with the Bathurst 1000 from October 9 to 12.

Jack Daniel's Racing Quoteboard

RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima:
Race result- 13th
"We really wanted a top-ten from today. After that last safety car I was pretty excited, because we had good tires and saved fuel really well, and we were going to have a good battle. Unfortunately it's really difficult to pass, and we had a couple of lapped cars in front of us. We sent a couple of emails in, but it took 18 laps for the blue flags to get waved to both of them to get out of our way. We stormed up to (Tim) Slade, unfortunately I only caught him on the last lap, and it was too late to do anything. I would have loved to have had a battle with Tim and Fabian (Coulthard) because we had the pace on them, but it was a matter of whether we could have snuck by or not. Opportunity missed with that one. I'm quite disappointed. I think 18 laps is maybe a little too long."

DAVID RUSSELL - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima:
Race result- 13th
"For us it's bitter sweet. Towards the end when we had that safety car period we were set to capitalize. It's really tough; everyone is having their own battles, and we got held up lap after lap with cars that were a lap down, and it just separates the field. To be honest, our pace was better than some of the guys in front of us. For me though, I'm happy with my stint, but I didn't think I would be doing half the race! It was good. I feel good. Now I can't wait til Bathurst, bring it."

TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima:
Race result- 20th
"It wasn't an ideal day for us. The car actually wasn't all that bad, it was certainly good enough to hang around where we started, but it was one thing after another that put us back to nowhere. It wasn't raw speed, or any mistakes from anybody that caused it. I got turned around by Lee Holdsworth, which put me a lap down, and once you're in that situation it's pretty tough going. On the restart I've tried to let a few guys through that weren't a lap down, and they almost fed me into the fence, so it was just one of those days. On a positive note, the car was reasonable, we qualified pretty well for a track like this, and the first two races weren't too bad."

ALEX BUNCOMBE - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima:
Race result- 20th
"I ended up doing 80 odd laps, but that's just how it worked out with the safety cars. At the start of the race, my first lap wasn't as good as yesterday's. I bogged a bit at the start and got passed by a couple into turn one. I settled down into a bit of a rhythm, I made a few little mistakes here and there, a couple of lockups, and a couple of guys got past. I'm quickly learning that if you make a mistake in one of these cars, you pay for it and you pay for it big. I'm learning every time I get in the car, which is the main thing, but things didn't really work for us today. The safety car came out and we got called to the pits. Unfortunately we had to stack up behind the other Jack Daniel's car, and we had to wait probably 15 to 20 seconds for that. Then Todd got out there and unfortunately got turned around going into the last corner by Lee Holdsworth, who ended up having the massive shunt. It just went from there really. We've finished P20, which is a tough day. Things didn't really go our way, but we'll be back at Bathurst."

Sandown ups and downs for the Norton Hornets

The two-car Norton Nissan team has endured a difficult day at Sandown Raceway yesterday. Michael Caruso and Dean Fiore finished in 18th place, while James Moffat and Taz Douglas failed to complete the race.

The #36 Caruso/Fiore car was on course for a top 10 finish after a solid first stint from Fiore. All of his hard work came undone when the car was handed a drive through penalty for spinning its wheels during the pit stop.

Caruso was left to fight on a lap down, eventually making his way back to 18th place.

The James Moffat/Taz Douglas entry was out of the race after just 10 laps when a dry break fuel filler malfunctioned. After a large fuel spill in pit lane, the team decided to retire the car.

Norton Hornets Quoteboard

Michael Caruso, #36 Norton Nissan Altima
"Unfortunately, we had a hard day out there – full of ups and downs. It's not the result we were after, and with the amount of points we've given away, it's going to hurt us in the championship. We need to regroup as a team, and we're less than a month away from the big one (Bathurst 1000) and I'm very confident that we can get it together because I think we can do a good job."

Dean Fiore, #36 Norton Nissan Altima
"There was a top 10 finish there for us, no drama, but for the first time in my life, I left the car in first gear when we pitted. That's what cost us a pit lane penalty and, ultimately, a good result. All of the good work from the team was gone from that one mistake, and that's reasonably disappointing."

James Moffat, #360 Norton Nissan Altima
"I'm pretty gutted. It has been a disastrous weekend, and to not even get the opportunity to get out there in the race means our championship is going to take a big hit. We'll go back and have a look it the problem. Anything can happen in endurance racing, and we didn't give ourselves a chance. I feel sorry for the guys, but it has been a terrible weekend. We've had no car speed here, so all we can do is move onto Bathurst."

Taz Douglas, #360 Norton Nissan Altima
"I felt that we marginally improved the car from yesterday. We were able to fight better. I got a decent start and made up a couple of positions. We decided to pit on Lap 10 but unfortunately something happened in pits and we took no further part in the race. It's pretty disappointing – not just for myself but the team and Moff – his championship has taken a dint. There's not much else we can do other than move onto Bathurst."

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