V8 – Intergalactic combat at the Gold Coast 600

The V8 Supercars calendar has its particularities. It includes a few specific events such as the Bathurst 1000 and the Armor All Gold Coast 600. For this race, the usual protagonists of the discipline must share the wheel with drivers operating in other disciplines. This year, although we must unfortunately deplore the absence of Alexandre Prémat, registered for the year in V8 Supercars, there are no less than five French people, including Sébastien Bourdais, the title holder. He will join in with his compatriots simon pagenaud, Stéphane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Nicolas Minassian.

After the free practice sessions, it is an understatement to say that the debates were very close. The best time of the first session was signed by the pair Will Davison-Mika Salo in 1'12"0639. During the two sessions reserved for “guests”, Marc Lieb twice dominated the rest of the pack. First of all thanks to a time of 1'13"0563 allowing him to precede Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais, then thanks to a lap completed in 1'12"4673 placing him ahead of Ryan Briscoe, Simon Pagenaud and Stéphane Sarrazin. The French are therefore well in the game. The fourth and final session saw specialist Michael Caruso shine in 1'11”6912.

The serious stuff begins tomorrow at 9:35 a.m. local time (1:35 a.m. French time) with qualifying, followed by the Top 10 Shootout. The first of the two races will start at 13:40 p.m. (6:40 a.m. French time). On Sunday, qualifying will take place at 11:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. in France) and the second race at 13:40 p.m. (6:40 a.m. in France).

The entry list for the Armor All Gold Coast 600:

1 – Jamie Whincup / Sebastien Bourdais (Team Vodafone / Commodore VE2)
2 – Garth Tander / Ryan Briscoe (Holden Racing Team / Commodore VE2)
3 – Tony D’Alberto / Vitantonio Liuzzi (Team Hiflex / Falcon FG)
4 – Lee Holdsworth / simon pagenaud (Irwin Racing / Falcon FG)
5 – Mark Winterbottom / Will Power (Orrcon Steel FPR Ford / Falcon FG)
6 – Will Davison / Mika Salo (Trading Post FPR Ford / Falcon FG)
7 – Tim Blanchard / Marco Andretti (Jack Daniel's Racing / Commodore VE2)
8 – Jason Bright / Stéphane Sarrazin (Team BOC Commodore / VE2)
9 – Shane van Gisbergen / Jeroen Bleekemolen (SP Tools Racing / Falcon FG)
11 – Karl Reindler / Frank Montagny (Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing / Commodore VE2)
12 – Dean Fiore / Gianni Morbidelli (Jim Beam Racing / Falcon FG)
14 – Fabian Coulthard / Nicolas Minassian (Lockwood Racing / Commodore VE2)
15 – Rick Kelly / Graham Rahal (Jack Daniel's Racing / Commodore VE2)
17 – Steven Johnson / Max Papis (Jim Beam Racing / Falcon FG)
18 – James Moffat / Peter Kox (Team Norton DJR / Falcon FG)
19 – Jonathon Webb / Marc Lieb (Tekno Autosports / Commodore VE2)
21 – David Wall / Jamie Campbell-Water (Wilson Security Racing / Commodore VE2)
22 – James Courtney / Darren Turner (Holden Racing Team / Commodore VE2)
30 – Taz Douglas / Mike conway (Team iSelect / Commodore VE2)
33 – Greg Ritter / Ricky Taylor (Fujitsu Racing GRM / Commodore VE2)
34 – Michael Caruso / James Hinchcliffe (Fujitsu Racing GRM / Commodore VE2)
47 – Tim Slade / David Brabham (Lucky 7 Racing / Falcon FG)
49 – Steve Owen / Boris Said (VIP Petfoods / Falcon FG)
51 – Greg Murphy / Justin Wilson (Pepsi Max Crew / Commodore VE2)
55 – David Reynolds / Nick Heidfeld (The Bottle-O Racing Team / Falcon FG)
66 – Russell Ingall / Peter Dumbreck (Supercheap Auto Racing / Commodore VE2)
91 – Michael Patrizi (Tekno Autosports / Commodore VE2)
888 – Craig Lowndes / Richard Lyons (TeamVodafone / Commodore VE2)