Jim Beam Racing News
Jim Beam Racing to start fourth and fifth at Phillip Island
13 September 2008
The only team to put both cars in the Top Five in qualifying, Jim Beam Racing's Falcons will start tomorrow's V8 Supercar L&H Phillip Island 500 from fourth and fifth on the grid.
Will Davison and Steve Johnson will start from fourth, just ahead of team-mates Steve Owen and Warren Luff, who were the class of the combinations without a regular V8 Supercar driver.
In a new format to determine the grid for the year's first endurance race, each driver contested a practice session, qualifying session and race today.
Davison finished second in the 'Driver B' race, continuing a strong weekend where he has been inside the Top Four in each session.
"I made a great start and Jamie [Whincup] and I were running side-by-side for the first four corners," Davison said.
"We had good speed, and focused on having a clean race to secure a good starting position.
"The car looked after its tyres quite well, which is going to be very important tomorrow; it's going to be a very demanding race."
Earlier in the day, Johnson finished 18th in the 'Driver A' race, after completing the team's pitstop and being forced off track on Lap Three.
"Everything's coming together well for tomorrow," Johnson said.
"During my race we were able to regain some of the spots we lost and caught another group of cars late in the race, but weren't able to make up any more places.
"We've got a good car and we're starting at the right end of the field, hopefully we'll be up there at the end of the race as well."
In one of the standout performances of the day, Owen qualified fifth for the 'Driver A' race, and finished second after spending the entire race inside the Top Four.
"It's my first drive with Jim Beam Racing, so I'm really happy to get a great result first up," the Fujitsu Series points leader said.
"It's nice to slot straight in and work with such a successful and professional team.
"We've been chipping away in each session, everything's going very well."
Luff made inroads early in the 'Driver B' race to run ninth before making the #17 entry's compulsory pitstop.
Running at a strong pace throughout, he eventually finished 18th, securing fifth on the grid for the pair - easily the best of the combinations without a fulltime V8 Supercar driver.
"We made a setup adjustment in the pitstop, which transformed the car," Luff said.
"Late in the race we had really good speed without having to push too hard, we'll make another couple of little changes tonight and be ready to go tomorrow."
Tomorrow's 113-lap L&H Phillip Island 500 starts at 1:30pm.
Print This Article
