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V8SDS: Decina Racing Wakefield Saturday notes
LUFF QUALIFIES IN TOP FOUR AT WAKEFIELD PARK Decina Racing's Warren Luff has overcome a bent shock absorber to qualify fourth for race one of the HPDC V8 Supercar Series at Wakefield Park. The 2004 V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year topped the ...
Published: May 15, 2005, 12:42 AM
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LUFF QUALIFIES IN TOP FOUR AT WAKEFIELD PARK
Decina Racing's Warren Luff has overcome a bent shock absorber to qualify fourth for race one of the HPDC V8 Supercar Series at Wakefield Park.
The 2004 V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year topped the time sheets during the opening practice session around the 2.2kilometre circuit and was confident of putting his Decina BA Falcon on the front row. However Luff battled a handling problem throughout the qualifying session to set the fourth fastest time.
Following the session it was discovered that Luff had bent a shock absorber in an off track excursion to hamper his speed.
Fellow Ford drivers Dean Canto and Adam Macrow claimed the two front-row spots with Tony D'Alberto taking third in front of Luff.
"It seems as though we broke the front shock very early in qualifying as the car was a real handful and we were unable to get the maximum advantage out of our new tyres," said Luff.
"It felt like a flat tyre or something and it was like that almost from the outset of the qualifying session."
"The damage to the shock wasn't identified until after the qualifying session, so while it's a big disappointment, tomorrow is another day."
Luff is philosophical about today and remains confident of finishing on the podium tomorrow afternoon.
"I think we would have given the other guys up front a big shake if the shock hadn't bent, but it did and so we now look forward to tomorrow and race one," said Luff.
"Sunday is a big day; there are three races and the reverse grid throws something extra into the deal. For us fourth is not the ideal start, but we have good car speed and with patience we can come back from there.
"We just need to keep a level head and just move slowly through the races and do nothing silly."
Luff's teammate, Phil Scifleet qualified in sixth position aboard his Paul Cruickshank Racing prepared Doric Falcon.
PCR team principal Paul Cruickshank was happy with the speed of the car in the first two sessions, which saw Luff set the fastest time on the last lap of the session.
"We went okay early (in practice and the first part of qualifying) but somewhere he put a wheel off the track and bent the dampener," said Cruickshank.
"Not knowing that, when Warren found himself struggling with the car, we changed to a second set of tyres but that was no good either, so it (damage to shock) must have happened somewhere near the end of the first set (of tyres).
"It's (fourth) not where we want to be, and of course we would like to be on the front but we're not so now we will work out something for tomorrow."
Decina Racing team manager Jim Morton was disappointed with the end result after the early promise of the Falcon.
"Obviously we are disappointed, but we had good speed early on, fourth is not too bad considering. We should be able to make a race of it," said Morton.
Tomorrow's first race begins at 10.30am and is 17 laps. The second "reverse grid" format is also17 laps and starts at 12.45pm with the third and final 30 lap race starting at 3pm and completing the second round of the HPDC V8 Supercar Series.
<pre> TOP 10 QUALIFYING 1: Dean Canto Ford 1:00.1294 2: Adam Macrow Ford 1:00.2116 3: Tony D'Alberto Holden 1:00.5093 4: Warren Luff Ford 1:00.5797 5. Gary McDonald Ford 1:00.7299 6. Phil Skifleet Ford 1:00.7380 7. Mike Porter Ford 1:00.8535 8. Jay Verdnik Holden 1:00.8677 9. Grant Denyer Ford 1:00.9647 10. Grant Elliott Holden 1:01.2258
-dr-
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