Will Davison and Luke Youlden stood on the podium for Castrol
After qualifying on pole for today?s L&H 500 at Phillip Island, Will Davison and Luke Youlden flew the Castrol flag, taking a last gasp third placing when Shane van Gisbergen (partnered with Castrol NZ driver, John McIntyre) suffered a tyre issue late in the race.
The race for the second year was taken by TeamVodafone combination, Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife, who fought through an inter-team battle, a battle with the Garth Tander/Nick Percat car and then saw off the charge from van Gisbergen late in the race.
The Trading Post FPR Falcon of Davison and Youlden led early, however were compromised by Youlden losing radio communication with the Ford Performance Racing team. Once Davison got into the car, he was able to work on the balance, which was not right.
Nevertheless, third and a win in yesterday?s qualifying race was a good result for Davison and Youlden leading into Bathurst.
David Reynolds exceptional year in the Kelly Racing Stratco Commodore continues ? he and Tim Blanchard getting through for an excellent sixth placing after a relatively trouble free run.
Rick and Owen Kelly (no relation) banked some solid points for the Mildura driver?s Championship in eighth aboard the Jack Daniel?s racer, whilst Greg Murphy and Alan Simonsen survived a torrid race to finish 13th.
After an off for Simonsen early in the race, Murphy got tagged by Paul Dumbrell at turn one. Thankfully, the Kiwi?s car control came to the fore ? avoiding what could well have been a nasty accident.
Todd Kelly and David Russell were the next pairing home in 14th, with Steve Owen and Paul Morris completing a trio of red, green and white in 15th.
Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards had a nice run going until the first pitstop. Richo was used as a braking marker by a Fujitsu GRM car on his outlap and the resultant off put them down the order. They were looking good for a top 10 before drifting to 17th at the finish.
Russell Ingall and Jack Perkins had a relatively quiet day, bringing the Supercheap Autos machine home 20th with Dale Wood and super-sub Taz Douglas in 21st. Douglas was called to the starting lineup yesterday when Tony d?Aklberto was sent home with a dose of chickenpox.
The Paul Dumbrell/Dean Canto combination had the ability for a strong finish, but a stop and go penalty for a pitlane infraction along with a litany of other dramas saw the pair cross the line in 23rd. Yesterday, the Rod Nash Racing/FPR team put in a mighty effort to do a full engine change on the #55 car between the two qualifying races ? about one hour
The teams are now straight from Phillip Island to Bathurst preparation mode, with the Great Race only a few weekends away.
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Will Davison and Luke Youlden (left) stood on the podium for Castrol
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