Ellery, Brabham Queensland practice report

ELLERY & BRABHAM ON THE PACE AT VIP PETFOODS QLD 500
Steve Ellery and Geoff Brabham have settled into the warm conditions at Queensland Raceway today, with the Super Cheap Auto Racing Team notching second fastest time in the first practice today, the second fastest ford and seventh overall.

Testing their qualifying setup, Ellery says he's pleased with the form of the Ford and his co-driver's times, but will try and pull more speed from the car before tomorrow's qualifying.

"We had a play with tyres in the last session to get a feel for what we should expect tomorrow. I'm feeling relaxed after that session and after putting Geoff in the car with the entire field on track, I'm sure he'll easily match the times once he settles into the race setup" Ellery explained.

Ellery expects tomorrow's qualifying will deliver some surprises and believes it's impossible to predict who'll come out in front, because conditions at the track can change so dramatically within the session.

"Even in that session the track had fast spells and slow spells and that reflected in the times on the board. We still need to find quite a bit more time before tomorrow but we're both pretty comfortable out there. We'll have a chat and come up with a few ides," Ellery said.

"It means you can't afford to relax in qualifying. You have to be on it and you have you have to be out there all session trying to get faster times. It's an odd track, it seems like the clouds come out and the times get quicker. While you wouldn't say its a technical track, it can be hard to find the front of the pack."

Brabham enjoyed his first run in the car in traffic and says now he just wants to race.

"It was just like normal for me. I felt comfortable and even though I would have liked to be a bit quicker, I'm sure it'll come. I'm comfortable that when the race comes around I'll be matching times and keeping pace with the front." Brabham said.

Ellery's fastest time was 1:11.20min and Brabham's 1:11.94min.

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PRACTICE 1 1.Skaife/Bright 1:10.99H 2.Ellery/Brabham 1:11.20F 3.Perkins/Ingall 1:11.26H 4.Mezera/Longhurst 1:11.34H 5.Besnard/White 1:11.39F 6.Johnson/Radisich 1:1146F 7.Ambrose/Crick 1:11.51F 8.Murphy/Kelly 1:11.53H 9.Bowe/Wills 1:11.57F 10.Morris/Neal 1:11.58H

PRACTICE 2 1.Morris/Neal 1:10.65H 2.Mezera/Longhurst 1:10.70H 3.Ambrose/Crick 1:10.85F 4.Skaife/Bright 1:11.06H 5.Perkins/Ingall 1:11.13H 6.McConville/Bates 1:11.18H 7.Besnard/White 1:11.30F 8.Johnson/Radisich 1:11.37F 9.Murphy/Kelly 1:11.66H 10.Ellery/Brabham 1:11.72F

-SCAR