Lucas Oil Products’ V8 Supercar Team TEKNO Autosports has started this year’s endurance season with a sixth place finish at the Sandown 500 despite battling a power steering issue.
Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb showed strong car speed for the entire weekend but progress in the final part of the race was slowed when the #97 Commodore lost power steering and van Gisbergen was forced to wrestle the car until the end.
According the van Gisbergen, the issue cost the team a top five finish.
“I was probably on for fifth but the power steering started going so that stopped me from challenging the front guys – which we could have done,” van Gisbergen said.
“The first bit of the race was pretty good. I got in about seventh and we were quite reasonable.
“We had a good car most of the weekend but I don’t know if we kept up with the changing track,” he said.
Having started from the front row, co-driver Webb got off to a good start and chased leader Paul Dumbrell in his first stint.
“I was really happy with the start. I got away clean, PD and myself ran away pretty , but he just had too much speed for me,” Webb said.
“Unfortunately I lost his tow and from there just kept pushing along. I found my rhythm, found my feet and I was quite happy with the first stint.”
Progress for the VIP Petfoods/ Lucas Oil Commodore was hampered by tyre pressure problems in in the second part of Webb’s stint.
“From there it sort of went downhill. The car just wasn’t great on the second set of tyres and we knew it wasn’t going to be good but we realised a little bit too late. We possibly didn’t get the pressures to where they needed to be or they didn’t build up the way we expected them to,” he said.
TEKNO Autosports heads to Australia’s great race, the all-important Supercheap Bathurst 1000 with confidence and strong car speed.
“We’ll sort out a few little issues ahead of Bathurst which will put Shane and I further toward the pointy end,” Webb said.
“Bathurst is the biggest race of the year and it’s crucial to get a good result there. It’s the race everyone wants to win.
“We came into Sandown wanting a good points haul, which was hopefully a top five, and we’re not far off it, but as far as points in the championship are concerned, we’re still pretty happy,” he added.
SVG remains fourth in the V8 Supercars standings.
The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 takes place 9-12 October at Mt Panorama, Bathurst, 200 kilometres west of Sydney.
2014 V8 Supercars Championship Series
Top 10 Drivers' Championship Points
- Jamie Whincup: 2325
- Craig Lowndes: 2052
- Mark Winterbottom: 2046
- Shane van Gisbergen: 1982
- James Courtney: 1964
- Fabian Coulthard: 1856
- Chaz Mostert: 1694
- Scott McLaughlin: 1677
- Garth Tander: 1662
- David Reynolds: 1402
Top 10 Teams' Championship Points
- Red Bull Racing Australia: 4427
- Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 3765
- Holden Racing Team: 3676
- Brad Jones Racing: 3185
- Norton Hornets: 2575
- Erebus Motorsport V8: 2469
- Wilson Security Racing: 2417
- Valvoline Racing GRM: 2290
- Jack Daniel's Racing: 2167
- Tekno Autosports: 1977*
* Single-car team.
