Fujitsu Racing’s Jason Bright believes a good handling chassis will be the key to success at the eighth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series at Winton Motor Raceway in Central Victoria this weekend.

Bright has been delighted with the handling of his Fujitsu Ford, but has been chasing straight-line speed on the higher speed circuits.

The friendly confines of the Winton layout not only suit the Fujitsu Falcon, but also Bright who has scored four podium finishes, including one round win from eight starts.

“Winton has been good to me in the past and I’m sure we will go well there this year,” said Bright.

“We’ve had a few tough rounds recently and it’s good to be heading to a track that we feel will really suit our car.

“Along with all the Victorian-based teams, it’s our test track so we know it very well, but we do feel we have an edge with our handling and brake package over our rivals.

“With this being the final round before the endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst, we are very keen to get some momentum heading to those big races.”

Fujitsu Racing Chief Engineer Geoff Slater is looking forward to Winton after a busy month of racing in Darwin and Queensland.

“Nice to be heading to our home test track,” said Slater.

“We do have a good handle on the car and the track. So it’s a very buoyant mood heading to Winton.

“The track does provide plenty of challenges, including the cool and often wet weather. Again with our strength in the handling department we feel that we have all bases covered.”

Teams hit the track for extended practice on Friday with the elimination-styled qualifying on Saturday ahead of the opening 40-lap race that afternoon. Sunday concludes proceedings with two more 40-lap races.

2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Round 8 - Winton Motor Raceway, Victoria

Championship Standings after 7 of 14 rounds
1. Mark Winterbottom – 1694 points
2. Garth Tander - 1572
3. Jamie Whincup - 1486
4. Rick Kelly - 1312
5. Steve Richards - 1299
6. James Courtney - 1211
7. Craig Lowndes - 1175
8. Will Davison - 1154
9. Russell Ingall - 1061
10. Lee Holdsworth – 1016
23. Jason Bright – 558

Weekend Schedule
Friday 1 August
12:35pm – 1:05pm – Practice (Part 1)
1:20pm – 1:50pm – Practice (Part 2)
2:30pm – 3:45pm – Practice (Part 3)
Saturday 2 August
11:15am – 12:10pm – Qualifying
3:30pm – Race One (40 laps)
Sunday 3 August
10:55pm – Race Two (40 laps)
1:30pm – Race Three (40 laps)
*All times AEST

V8 SUPERCARS ON TV
*All programs are shown on Channel 7
Saturday 2 August
11:30am – 3:00pm (Perth)
1:30pm – 5:00pm (Sydney, Brisbane)
2:00pm – 5:30pm (Melbourne, Adelaide)
Sunday 3 August
11:30am – 1:00pm and 4:00pm – 5:30pm (Sydney, Brisbane)
12:00pm – 1:30pm and 4:30pm – 6:00pm (Adelaide)
12:00pm – 3:00pm (Melbourne, Perth)
*Times subject to change. Check local guides

ABOUT THE TRACK
Situated in Central Victoria, near Benalla, the Winton Motor Raceway hosted its first race meeting in 1961. Winton was the venue for the first race meetings of legend drivers such as Peter Brock, Alan Jones and Allan Moffat. In 1985 the venue hosted its first ever round of the Group A Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, which was also the first Touring Car round to be televised by the Seven Network. Winton has the unique characteristic where the public can see all of the racing from almost any part of the facility.
Location: Hume Highway, Winton, Vic
Circuit length: 3.0km
Circuit direction: Clockwise
Average speed: 129 km/h
Maximum speed: 240 km/h
Current Qualifying Lap Record: Jason Bright, Holden Commodore VX, 1m22.6618s, 2002
Current Lap Record: Jason Bright, Holden Commodore VX, 1m23.1514s, 2002

Previous Ten Winton Round Winners (1997 – 2007)
1997 Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VS
1998 John Bowe Ford Falcon EL
1999 Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VT
2000 Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VT
2001 Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
2002 Jason Bright Holden Commodore VX
2003 Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
2004 Cameron McConville Holden Commodore VY
2006 Craig Lowndes Ford Falcon BA
2007 Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF

Previous Ten Winton Motor Raceway Pole Winners (1997 - 2007)
1997 Larry Perkins Holden Commodore VS
1998 Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VS
1999 Jason Bargwanna Holden Commodore VT
2000 Glenn Seton Ford Falcon AU
2001 Russell Ingall Holden Commodore VX
2002 Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon AU
2003 Marcos Ambrose Ford Falcon BA
2004 Craig Baird Holden Commodore VY
2006 Jason Bright Ford Falcon BA
2007 Todd Kelly Holden Commodore VE

St.Arnaud drags go to www.starnaud.net.au for all info. Need heaps of enterys for this year.

 

 

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