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V8SDS: Drew Russell Sandown summary

Damage Hampers Drew Russell's Performance in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown A single stone has caused major problem's for Drew Russell in the 4th round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown Raceway. The weekend began well ...

Published: Jun 10, 2008, 7:50 PM

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Damage Hampers Drew Russell's Performance in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown

A single stone has caused major problem's for Drew Russell in the 4th round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Sandown Raceway.

The weekend began well with Drew finishing in 12th position in the second practice session on Saturday. Drew and the Novocastrian Motorsport Team used both practice sessions to shakedown the car after the work they had carried out on the car since Wakefield Park, including rebuilding and remapping the engine.

Drew went out in the first qualifying session and set the second quickest time of the session, behind Grant Denyer. After the second session had been completed, Drew had qualified in 16th position.

Race one was held on Sunday afternoon, under blue skies and bright sunshine.

Drew dropped a place back to 17th on lap one, but worked his up to 15th by lap 4. He held this position for the remainder of the race.

Monday morning saw race two held in cool, cloudy conditions.

Drew charged forward in the opening lap, moving up to 12th place, gaining another place when Steve Owen spun in front of him. Drew held on to 11th position until he was passed by Mark McNally on the sixth lap.

Drew fought hard to hold 12th position, keeping a train of up to 12 cars behind him before his engine began to overheat.

The team had no choice but to call a devastated Drew into the pits and retire from the race.

After the race the team found the engine overheating was down to a stone being flicked up from the track that caused a hole in the radiator.

The team sourced a second hand radiator from another competitor and worked hard between the two races to fit it to the car and ensure no other damage had been done.

As a result of the DNF in race two Drew started back in 23rd place for race three.

Drew worked his way up into 18th place by the end of the race -- a run that was hampered by the dampness of the track off the racing line.

"Attempting to pass other competitors was very difficult today. The dampness of the track off the racing line made grip levels very low so I had to sit behind and try and force the other drivers into making a mistake," said Drew after the race.

"We knew we would struggle with a lack of horsepower and consequently speed this weekend, so we were relatively content with our performance in race one and the start of race two.

"Not finishing in race two and having to start well down the order in race three really hurt us today.

"We feel the work we made in the break since Wakefield Park has helped us and we are hopeful we can return to the top 15 again in the next round at Queensland."

Drew and the Novocastrian Motorsport team would like to extend their thanks to Geoff from 'Good Vibrations -- Adult Erotica' for his continued support.

They would also like to thank two new sponsors that have come on board for this round; The Lencrow Group and Erect-A-Rack.

The Lencrow Group is a privately owned company dedicated to providing materials handling solutions including the sales, service and hire of forklifts to industries and organisations throughout Australia.

Erect-A-Rack provides pallet racking and shelving solutions, maximising warehouse space.

The Novocastrian Motorsport team truck will remain in Melbourne this week. They will make the trip out to Phillip Island next weekend where Drew's younger brother Aaren is set to compete the Formula Vee race at the 2008 Shannon's National Motor Racing Championships.

The next round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series will be held at Queensland Raceway on the 18th -- 20th July 2008.

-credit: dr

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