Jim Beam Racing News
‘The Team’ take away positives from a tough Clipsal 500
22 March 2009
Photos from the Clipsal 500
It was weekend of highs and lows for Jim Beam Racing at this year’s notoriously difficult Clipsal 500. From fast times in practice through to the amazing prowess of the team to pull a broken car back together in time for the final race, it was a weekend that covered the spectrum of Motor Racing emotions.
“We will take away a lot from this weekend and not just bashed up panels” Team Sporting Director Adrian Burgess explained. “We need to look at the positives, Steve had a great weekend and showed amazing consistency and speed. To go from 14th on the grid into finishing 4th and 6th for the two races is a testament to the aptitude Steve has as a driver. The car was great, the driver was flawless and the team were incredible. We’ll take all of that away from this weekend”.
Steven Johnson finished in 4th and 6th respectively for the two races across the weekend – putting him in 4th place on the championship point’s ladder after the first round. After a fiery start in practice and continuing through the two races, Steve showed great consistency throughout the weekend. “The car was great today, after fixing a few things yesterday there was nothing I could fault today. I was comfortable across the weekend. Now that we have had some great track time under our belt and we know the car better we can only move forward from here” explained Steve.
James Courtney suffered a huge blow in practice on day 2, when he kissed the exit to the dicey new configuration in turn 8. This small rub then caused issues with the right rear – throwing James into the back of Turn 4 with such force he continued into the wall on the exit, also causing major damage to the front right. The car received extensive damage to the right hand side and the entire team moved into action in order to ensure that James could at least take the track for Race 2, to give the team valuable points for the round. After a frenzied 3 1/2 hour repair, incredibly, Courtney started race 2 from Pit Lane.
“This weekend is one I would just rather forget, we started so well and the car just has incredible pace, we know that now, but it all ended so badly”, explained Courtney. “The effort ‘The Team’ put in to put my mess back together in time was just amazing – they really are ‘The Team’. And not just my team but Steve’s crew as well as Triple 8 sending down their engineer to lend a hand with the chassis. I felt bad they all had to work so hard, it was an awesome effort by the whole team.”
Courtney’s car still managed to complete 63 laps of the 78 lap race, giving valuable points to the team for the weekend. Even with the damage it had suffered car 18 still showed great speed around the Adelaide circuit and the team is looking forward to gaining more valuable track time at the AGP in order to iron out any finer lines that may still exist.
Jim Beam Racing Co-owner Dick Johnson explains the weekend; “All in all it was a weekend that we may not be absolutely pleased about, but there are elements that showed us that both cars have great pace and both drivers have what it takes. Steve shone this weekend, he was consistent and focused. He will go away from this weekend with a better belief in himself. James has also learnt a lot and the AGP will give us time to make sure that we get the set up right again in time for the Hamilton Round and more championship points. The whole team really put in the hard yards this weekend, their effort was incredible. Our cars were fast and as far as we are concerned that is the most important thing.”
‘The Team’ will now pick up stumps and move to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for the non championship demonstration round.
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