"We're obviously not at the stage where we can push for race wins, but with higher qualifying positions, I think that we can push for podiums. To be just outside the top five is great for the team, the sponsors and the fans. I'm particularly happy for the team, they all did a great job during the pit stops, and worked hard to improve our situation throughout the weekend."
Stone Brothers Racing endured a bittersweet round. Defending Champion Marcos Ambrose prematurely ended race two with brake issues forcing him to spin at the hairpin (Turn Four) and shred his Dunlops. Russell Ingall maintains his championship lead after finishing seventh after another conservative approach to a race meet.
"We really battled all weekend, but at the end of the day we came away with a straight car and still a reasonable points lead," said Ingall.
"We don’t really need to stress ourselves too much about the final round, but we certainly need to ensure we have a decent game plan heading into Phillip Island. We had brake issues on both cars this weekend and we need to go back to the drawing board in that area.
"We always knew Craig (Lowndes) would finish the season strongly, but we need to concentrate on what we are doing and not what they are doing up the road. A lot of people have put an enormous amount of work into this championship campaign and the title is there for us to win. I would rather be 49 points in the lead, than trailing by 49."
Greg Murphy also performed extremely well to carve through the field in race two and cement himself in the overall top ten after being caught up in incidents on Saturday.
Todd Kelly’s championship took a severe beating this weekend, but he managed to salvage some vintage driving for Sunday to finish ninth overall, whilst Dodo Racing’s Jason Richards rounded out the ten. Mark Skaife endured a tough Triple Challenge – one that was fraught with incident – and has all but filtered out of the championship picture. Larkham-Orrcon Racing, Team Repco Valvoline Cummins, WPS Racing and Team BOC all endured tough and lacklustre weekends.
