Garth Tander [Toll HSV Dealer Team]
“We are really, really happy with that. It is the first time I have won a race here since my first V8 Supercar race win in 1999. I am pretty happy with the car. The only problem was the driver stalling in the pits. If it hadn’t been for that, we might have come out in front of Brighty. But I managed to get through and after that the car was fantastic. I wanted to win the race because it was me who lost the lead in the pit stop. I wanted to get it back for the guys because they have been working very hard on their stops. I wasn’t going to lay it all on the line, but Brighty seemed to be having some braking issues and he gave me plenty of room and I ended up getting past fairly easily.”
Jason Bright [Caterpillar Racing]
"I didn't get a good start - I got the jump off the line but couldn't get the power down well, giving Garth the lead into the first corner. The car was very good early on, but as the race progressed a problem developed with the brakes which was similar to what we experienced in Perth. This forced me to pump the pedal more to build up pressure during the race. The team told me that Garth had stalled in pits and our plan was always to get past during his stop. It was difficult to hold him back following that and I also went off the circuit briefly while trying to find the limits of the brake problem. We know what we need to do to fix it and while this isn't an ideal situation to be in, I am sure that we will be faster tomorrow."
James Courtney [Jeld-Wen Motorsport]
"We had a really good test day here not long ago and I think it’s shown here today with the speed we had in qualifying and the race. It was great to get third today, not only for me but for the team as well. We have been struggling throughout the whole year for pace. We found a bit of direction in Darwin and the cars have come on a bit since then. Hopefully we can carry it through the rest of the year. I wanted to get past Rick as I lost the position in the pit stop. I was driving pretty hard as I really wanted the result for the guys. They have been working really hard this year. I was pretty confident that I could hang onto third position today. I probably used a bit too much of my tyres battling with Rick to get back past and didn’t leave myself too much in the end. But I managed to keep Craig behind me and come out third.”
Craig Lowndes [Team Betta Electrical]
“The car was much steadier than qualifying but it still wasn’t spot on, that’s something we’ll work on tonight. The team did a great job in working out a race strategy which allowed us to pick up a number of spots in the pits, and I was also able to get cleanly through the chaos up in Turn 3. The understeer made the car quite difficult to drive, more so because Queensland Raceway really relies on set-up, but the track changes so rapidly it is difficult to cover all bases. I’m very happy to be up amongst the top 4 considering the 6th row start, tomorrow’s reverse grid race should be quite interesting with the opportunity to score some good points.”
Russell Ingall [Caltex Racing]
“We got part of the way there today, putting in a decent qualifying performance to put the Caltex Racing Falcon towards the front. We had pretty good pace in the race; we were certainly able to maintain our position. But we are just lacking that push to make gains through the field. The boys are working hard to find that bit extra that we need so we’ll have a look at it tonight.”
Rick Kelly [Toll HSV Dealer Team]
“We are pretty happy to finish seventh, considering. Unfortunately, we tuned the car a little bit between qualifying and the race. But we started well and made a good decision on the pit stop. Skaifey turning us around was a bit of a bummer. It cost us track position, some points and the life of our rear tyres. But we know we can improve and we will be working on it for tomorrow.”
Jamie Whincup [Team Betta Electrical]
“Overall I am very happy with today’s finish, the car was great early on in the race and was beginning to get better before I had my run slowed in traffic. I was confident of a good result here and had been focusing particularly on getting better starts and it paid off, I was able to stay with the lead guys and definitely would have been able to climb higher had the race have run for just a few more laps. Rick (Kelly) and I were engaged in a pretty fierce battle right towards the end, but he was coming off the corners just that little bit better than myself. We’ve kicked things off very solidly here today and I’m hoping to continue the run tomorrow.”
Mark Winterbottom [Ford Credit/BroadIP Racing]
"I got off to a very good start and gained a place, pitting from fifth position early in the race. I was held in the pit box as other cars trundled down pit lane and lost six positions by the time I re-entered the circuit. We also tried a different brake pad for the race that didn't work as well as we had planned, so overall it was a disappointing race. On the positive side we gained another top ten finish and I am well positioned for the races tomorrow."
