Winton: Adrenalin Motor Racing event summary

Novocastrian brothers Drew and Aaren Russell have overcome a number of obstacles to finish in 7th and 8th in the final race of the third round of the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Winton Raceway in Victoria.

The Adrenalin Motor Racing drivers had very different experiences this weekend with Aaren driving some of the best races of his life to finish the round in 9th place outright and Drew having to fight back from a DNF in race one and come from 22nd and last in the third race to storm through the field and finish in 7th place.

The weekend was run in a bright sunshine but with cold mornings and evenings - vastly different to the temperatures experienced in the previous round at Ipswich Raceway just two weeks ago.

Drew and Aaren qualified in 13th and 18th positions respectively and race one saw both get away cleanly, making up one position each in the opening lap.

Due to a number of strong passing moves and other drivers falling back, Aaren was able to work his way up into 13th place, two places behind his older brother in 11th.

With six laps to go a safety car was forced out and when it came in both drivers withstood massive pressure from behind and took advantage of problems for other cars with Drew sitting in 8th and Aaren in 11th in the closing stages of the race.

Drew was tagged heavily from behind by Zukanovic with just over 3 laps to go and was sent flying off the track. He was able to limp back to the pits but the car had received substantial damage in the hit, bending the differential.

Aaren put in an strong performance to hold off McCashney and to come home in 10th place.

Zukanovic was given a 32 second penalty after the race for the incident and Perkins was penalised for a separate incident, promoting Aaren to 8th place and a grid position of 3rd for the second race which had a reverse grid.

Both drivers struggled with lack of grip in their Zemana backed V8 Supercars in the second race.

Starting in 20th position Drew had a sensational opening lap and was in 14th position by the end of lap one, but struggled to make up any further places finishing the race in 14th place.

Aaren who started in 3rd, got the jump on McCashney and was 2nd going into the first corner. He was chased down and passed by a number of quicker cars coming through as he fought the car. He finished in 15th place.

Aaren started the third and final race of the day from 8th position, Drew started in 22nd and last position as a result of his DNF in the first race and 14th in the second race.

In an impressive opening lap Drew fought his way up nine places to be in 13th position after just one lap.

Drew continued to work his way through the field and by lap 12 Drew was in 8th place just behind his brother. Aaren was able to hold him for a couple of laps but Drew was able to get through and set about catching Jane in 6th.

The chequred flag fell a few laps later with Aaren holding onto 8th and Drew in 7th.

While Drew has had a difficult weekend, it will not be long before he is back in a V8 supercar, this time it will be during a rookie test with Brad Jones Racing.

"I can't wait to get out in their main game car next Monday," said Drew.

"It will be great opportunity to measure how well I am going against other drivers in the same car on the same day and in the same conditions.

"I am really pleased everything finally came together for us in the final race. The car was much better and I can't wait to get back out there in a main game car."

Aaren's performance this weekend saw him finish the round in 9th place outright and saw him jump Drew in the championship be in to 11th position. As a result of Drew's DNF in race he has dropped back to 12th in the Championship.

-source: Adrenalin Motor Racing