Jim Beam Racing News
Jim Beam Racing's desert experience in Bahrain
10 November 2008
With both Steve Johnson and Will Davison qualifying inside the top six at the Bahrain International Circuit at the weekend, Jim Beam Racing were well placed for a top showing at round 12 of the V8 Supercar Championship.
Johnson was the quicker of the two Queensland based drivers, and put in his best qualifying performance of the year to sit on the second row of the grid in fourth position for the opener with a lap time of 1:25.3824.
Davison wasn't far behind in sixth position on the third row after posting a 1:25.4, and after only being able to complete 9 laps during practice due to mechanical issues it was a terrific result with limited preparation on the long and sweeping corners of Bahrain's desert circuit.
Less than one second separated the top 16 positions in qualifying, where Johnson debuted a brand new engine in Jim Beam Racing's famous #17 to accompany the new D engine that debuted in Davison's car for the first of the Endurance events at Phillip Island.
Race one saw Johnson lead at one stage and in terrific race position, when a botched safety car deployment affected his overall result, seeing him lose several race positions to finish in sixth place.
With Jamie Whincup leading the race, a safety car was deployed when Fabian Coulthard was caught in a gravel trap.
However the safety car entered the race in front of Garth Tander instead of race leader Whincup allowing a number of drivers to pit and re-enter the race in front of Johnson when the safety car waved the field through to takes its correct position in front of Whincup.
Will Davison was the victim of a DNF in a freak incident that forced him to park his Jim Beam Falcon and pull out of the weekends opening stanza.
The electric motor pumping air into the driver helmet blew up, resulting in unbearable toxic fumes blowing straight into the helmet of Davison affecting both his vision and breathing and leaving him no choice other than to exit the car.
Race two saw Davison storm through the field, after a disappointing opening result Davison put in the drive of the race, incredibly working his way from the rear of the grid to tenth place in just 32 laps to get his round 12 result back on track.
Johnson was again in the top ten, finishing in eighth place in race two while racing incidents in the final race left him having to make up lost ground, eventually crossing in 13th.
Davison again picked up positions in the final race to finish sixth, an inspiring performance after his opening race difficulties to finish 12th overall for the round.
Salvaging some valuable Championship points in his quest to finish inside the top five on the V8 Supercar points table at season's end with two rounds remaining, Davison fell one place to sixth in the standings but is confident of regaining the fifth position he has held since Round 8 at Winton earlier this year.
Johnson's result sees him retain his spot inside the top ten with the series headed to Tasmania and Sydney's Oran Park for the final round of the year in what will be a farewell to the circuit as a V8 Supercar venue.
Steve Johnson quotes:
"Qualifying was a really top result for us and kicked off the weekend in perfect fashion, the new engine gave the car a great feel and gave me real confidence in the speed we showed first up.
"Unfortunately there were a number of incidents during the weekend that were out of my control and cost us valuable race positions, but I am really confident of some better results in the final two rounds.
Will Davison quotes:
"Overall we fought back to a very respectable position after the opening race which really ruined any chance of a podium finish from that point on, but these kinds of freak things do happen in motor racing unfortunately."
"I'm not satisfied with the overall result, but we made the best of the situation and fought back, it's just disappointing such a minor thing in the opening race really cost us in a big way," said Davison.
Top Ten Championship Standings
1 Jamie Whincup, 2916pts
2 Mark Winterbottom, 2729pts
3 Garth Tander, 2624pts
4 Craig Lowndes, 2367pts
5 Steven Richards, 2178pts
6 Will Davison, 2153pts
7 James Courtney, 2136pts
8 Rick Kelly, 2046pts
9 Russell Ingall, 1908pts
10 Steven Johnson, 1837pts
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