James Moffat Takes Top 10 Clean Sweep for Nissan at Barbagallo Raceway

• Three top 10 finishes for James Moffat in Western Australia
• Moffat rises to 13th in 2013 V8 Supercars Championship points standings

Nissan Motorsport has finished inside the top 10 in all three races at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia. James Moffat, driver of the #360 factory Nissan Altima, was the shining light for the new V8 Supercars manufacturer, making it seven top 10 finishes for the Altima in the Nissan's return to top-level Australian Touring Car racing this year.

PERTH, Australia - Nissan Motorsport has finished inside the top 10 in all three races at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia, with James Moffat finishing 10th, 10th and eighth over the weekend.

The Victorian, driver of the #360 factory Nissan Altima, was the shining light for the new V8 Supercars manufacturer, making it seven top 10 finishes for the Altima in the Nissan's return to top-level Australian Touring Car racing this year.

Moffat's great results have also elevated him into 13th place in the championship.

The Nissan Altimas are proving to be very fast in race trim, with all drivers able to make up many places in the races, relative to their qualifying positions.

The most positions gained were by Moffat, who qualified 20th for Race 12 of the championship (Sunday's second race) and finishing eighth. Rick Kelly also proved the superior handling capabilities of the Altima, racing from 26th to 16th in Race 11 (Sunday's first race).

While Moffat was pleased with his top 10 haul, his Norton 360 Racing teammate Michael Caruso was disappointed not to be able to build on his encouraging 11th in Race 10 (Saturday's race). The Sydney-born driver suffered from two pit lane mishaps in Sunday's races, leaving him to record a 25th and 'DNF' in the two races.

For the Jack Daniel's Nissan Altimas, Todd and Rick Kelly were encouraged by their race pace, but rued lowly qualifying positions that ultimately cost them better results.

Rick Kelly's consistency has seen him remain in a competitive 16th place in the championship race.

Both of Sunday's races were won by three-time V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup.

History will be made in the next event of the V8 Supercars Championship when the 28 cars head to Austin, Texas, for the Austin 400 at the Circuit of the Americas venue on May 17-19. It will be the first V8 Supercars event staged in North America.

QUOTES & RESULTS

James Moffat - #360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima:

Race 10 qualifying: 13th
Race 10 result: 10th
Race 11 qualifying: 13th
Race 11 result: 10th
Race 12 qualifying: 20th
Race 12 result: 8th
Championship position: 13th

"It has been a good weekend. To come away with three top 10s has made for a really solid event," said Moffat.

"The car was very good in all the races. It's a great race car, and we know where our weaknesses are, and the team is working as hard and as fast as they can to improve them.

"This is by far the best result that I've had here at Barbagallo. It's one of the hardest places on tires, which shows how well the chassis is performing.

"I had a good battle with GT (Garth Tander) in both of today's races, so to be racing against a former series champion and someone of his caliber is very encouraging.

"I think with the ongoing development of the car, I see no reason why we can't be more of a threat up the front of the field. You don't want to count your chickens too early, but the signs are good."

Rick Kelly - #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima:

Race 10 qualifying: 27th
Race 10 result: 26th
Race 11 qualifying: 26th
Race 11 result: 16th
Race 12 qualifying: 24th
Race 12 result: 18th
Championship position: 16th

"We just had a fair bit of drama getting the pace out of the car in qualifying," said Rick Kelly.

"In the races we made a huge step forward compared to the rest of the year with the race pace and the car handling and it was really the most comfortable I've been in the car in the race.

"It's just too difficult to make up that many positions. We managed to move from 26th to 16th which was great and a few more laps would have been more again, and the same in the second race.

"We continued to move forward, but everything was stacked against us, the safety car didn't go our way, we got ran off the track a couple of times and unfortunately the way the pit stops played out put us a fair way back.

"We can take a lot from that, but we need to get on top of getting a little bit more out of the car and myself in qualifying and then we'll start to see some really good results."

Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima:

Race 10 qualifying: 28th
Race 10 result: 20th
Race 11 qualifying: 20th
Race 11 result: 17th
Race 12 qualifying: 26th
Race 12 result: 21st
Championship position: 26th

"We changed the car a little bit for the last race and it didn't really help the issues that we were having and I had a puncture early on in the race, so that put me a lap down and we just dead set ran out of tires," said Todd Kelly.

"We were still hanging on to the back of the field and attacked and passed guys at the end who had quite a bit better quality tire on, so there is a lot of potential there, we just need to have a good clean weekend and get it out of the car.

"It wasn't the best result, but certainly the car has got a fair bit left in it."

Michael Caruso - #36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima:

Race 10 qualifying: 25th
Race 10 result: 11th
Race 11 qualifying: 19th
Race 11 result: 25th
Race 12 qualifying: 21st
Race 12 result: DNF
Championship position: 22nd

"We had a strong car this weekend and that showed in Saturday's race," said Caruso.

"Once the pit stop element came into the attack, it cost us good result.

"(James) Moffat did a fantastic job all weekend, running inside the top 10, and that's where the capability of our car is at. We were running there in the last race, but a small mistake cost us the result.

"In such a short period between here and Texas, we need to assess because there's four compulsory pit stops there and we'll need to improve."

RESULTS: Race 10

1. Craig Lowndes
2. Jamie Whincup
3. Mark Winterbottom
4. Jason Bright
5. Alex Davison
6. Alexandre Premat
7. David Reynolds
8. James Courtney
9. Shane Van Gisbergen
10. James Moffat (#360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
11. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
20. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
26. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)

RESULTS: Race 11

1. Jamie Whincup
2. Jason Bright
3. Mark Winterbottom
4. Fabian Coulthard
5. Will Davison
6. James Courtney
7. Shane Van Gisbergen
8. Craig Lowndes
9. Alex Davison
10. James Moffat (#360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
16. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
17. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
25. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)

RESULTS: Race 12

1. Jamie Whincup
2. Craig Lowndes
3. Jason Bright
4. Will Davison
5. David Reynolds
6. Shane Van Gisbergen
7. Fabian Coulthard
8. James Moffat (#360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
9. Garth Tander
10. Chaz Mostert
18. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
21. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
DNF. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)

2013 V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP

Points Standings after Race 12

1. Jamie Whincup 958
2. Will Davison 893
3. Craig Lowndes 843
4. Jason Bright 797
5. Shane Van Gisbergen 720
6. Fabian Coulthard 712
7. Garth Tander 689
8. James Courtney 674
9. Mark Winterbottom 666
10. Scott McLaughlin 589
13. James Moffat 513 (#360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
16. Rick Kelly 468 (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
22. Michael Caruso 336 (#36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima)
26. Todd Kelly 245 (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)

About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 248,000 employees globally, Nissan provided customers with more than 4.8 million vehicles in 2011, generating revenue of 9.4 trillion yen ($94.4 billion AUS). With a strong commitment to developing exciting and innovative products for all, Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. A pioneer in zero-emission mobility, Nissan made history with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF, the first affordable, mass-market, pure-electric vehicle and winner of numerous international accolades, including the prestigious 2011-2012 Car of the Year Japan and 2011 World Car of the Year Awards.

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