Saturday, 10th May 2008

FPR ace holds off Holden threat to win at Barbagallo.

"We made the most out of a bad qualifying run," said Whincup, "The car balance we have had this weekend actually worked for us in the race. If I can hold position at the start we will be in a good place to progress up the order tomorrow. I am sure Roland and our engineers will sleep a lot easier knowing that the fundamentals of our car set-up are right."

Davison, Todd Kelly and Cameron McConville rounded out the top ten, just ahead of veterans Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy. The Sprint Gas Racing driver had earlier been involved in the opening lap shunt that accounted for Caruso and Bright, however.

The trio had run three-abreast down the main straight, and the squeeze into the next corner did not work, with Bright and Caruso spearing off. The Valvoline Cummins Holden driver then slid across the wet infield and straight into the path of the oncoming traffic, collecting a totally unsuspecting Shane van Gisbergen, who was also forced to retire with rear-end damage to the SP Tools Ford.

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“I feel sorry for Shane, but I had absolutely no control over where I was going,” Caruso said.

“The hit took me by surprise," van Gisbergen admitted, "I was coming out of the corner and had the power down and all of a sudden I got drilled. I spun around a few times, and went straight into the pits, but we couldn't get the SP Tools Falcon back out on the track. It was a shame that we couldn't carry on after a really good qualifying session, but it was great to be in the top ten again. I guess I will have plenty of passing practice tomorrow.”

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