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Supercars Ipswich
Whincup says costly pitstop problem "human error"
Jamie Whincup says the pitstop bungle that helped Scott McLaughlin blow the Supercars points lead out to more than 100 points at Queensland Raceway on Saturday was ‘human error’.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Jul 29, 2017, 12:00 PM
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Off the back of taking his first win of the season last time out in Townsville, it was a difficult day for Whincup. He was just ninth quickest in qualifying, before being pushed back to 14th on the grid thanks to merging into the side of James Moffat’s Commodore during the 15-minute session.
Things went from bad to worse in the race, Whincup dropping to the back of the field thanks to a long stop. The issue was the air spike, a second unit required to get the car off the ground which then wouldn’t free itself from the coupling when the stop was completed.
Whincup then spent the rest of the race bottled up behind Jack Le Brocq’s Nissan, ultimately coming home 20th.
“We didn’t have any pace in quali, and then I got docked those five spots for contact with James Moffat; there’s a bit of a communication issue between me and my engineer – so [the penalty] was justified,” said Whincup.
“I got a good start, and then the pitstop… the car didn’t go up when the spike went in. It was just human error, I think, which is why it didn’t go up. We’ll rectify that.
“And once you’re back in the pack it’s all over. When you pit early, you need track position, because all the people coming out in front had better tyres on. So you’re done. If you pit early and something goes wrong in the stop and you lose track position, you’re done.
“I followed the Nissan, I couldn’t get past because he had slightly better tyres. I cooked my car, and that was the end of it.”
The poor result blows race winner Scott McLaughlin’s lead out to 111 points, Whincup admitting that it’s a disappointing situation to be in given how consistent he’s been so far this season.
“I’m disappointed because we ground it out for three months, and we made some good inroads – and then we’ve thrown it all away today,” he added.
“It’s disappointing, but that’s motorsport. We know that when we sign up for it.
“And I know this is what the losers say, but tomorrow is another day.”
Lowndes relieved after front row start
Whincup’s Triple Eight teammate Craig Lowndes enjoyed a much better day, breaking out of his qualifying rut with a front row start.
While he slipped back to fifth in the race after opting for an aggressive strategy underpinned by a Lap 4 stop, Lowndes said the second place in qualifying – which broke a run of qualifying 18th or worse that covered six of the last seven races – was a big relief.
“There was a big cheer when I came back in. I think everyone was relieved,” he said.
“Everyone has pressure on each other to lift and perform and it was just a matter of time before we got back to the front.
“We still haven’t unlocked the secret yet. We’ve got to do it all again tomorrow and then we’ll move on at Sydney Motorsport Park.
“[But] it is a relief, it shows that the guys’ hard work is paying off.”
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