OzEmail: Win some, lose some...

OzEmail Racing have rolled the dice during the opening race of the New Zealand V8 International at Pukekohe Raceway, the gamble paying off for #888 driver John Bowe but team boss, Brad Jones' wasn't so fortunate.

The race, conducted in pouring rain, was immediately sent into safety car conditions after the two leaders, Mark Skaife and Max Wilson crashed on the second corner and three other cars piling up on the main straight. When the compulsory tyre pit stop window opened on lap 3, the race cars were still behind the safety car, creating the perfect pit stop scenario.

OzEmail: Win some, lose some...

OzEmail Racing have rolled the dice during the opening race of the New Zealand V8 International at Pukekohe Raceway, the gamble paying off for #888 driver John Bowe but team boss, Brad Jones' wasn't so fortunate.

The race, conducted in pouring rain, was immediately sent into safety car conditions after the two leaders, Mark Skaife and Max Wilson crashed on the second corner and three other cars piling up on the main straight. When the compulsory tyre pit stop window opened on lap 3, the race cars were still behind the safety car, creating the perfect pit stop scenario.

Bowe was called in for an immediate tyre change. A decision that gained the Tasmanian born driver three places, eventually crossing the line in 12th position. The gamble to leave Jones out on a clear track backfired when an intermittent fault in his wiper made it virtually impossible for the nine times Australian champ to take advantage of the situation. Jones dropping six positions to finish in 22nd.

"It was pretty tough out there and my OzEmail Falcon wasn't particularly nice to drive in the wet. We made up all of the spots in our pit stop, so the crew are the ones that should be taking the credit for the result," said Bowe.

"12th is better than the 15th place we started from and if we can continue to improve in tomorrow's two races, we might end up with a decent result out of New Zealand," Bowe concluded.

Brad Jones was philosophical about his misfortune, claiming that it was either a hero or zero decision: "The team decided not to que both of our OzEmail Falcons and leave me out to get as much gain as I could with a clear track. With the track so wet, we all thought it was a safe bet there would be another safety car period. We were wrong.

"Plus on the next lap my wiper stopped working which started costing me about two seconds a lap, so all our advantage was gone."

At three quarter race distance, Jones pitted for his compulsory tyre change and the crew were able to rectify the wiper but it was too little, too late: "When I could see out of the windscreen properly again, my car felt pretty good. I certainly had the same pace of all the cars around me."

Two 100km races will conclude proceedings tomorrow.

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