Let it rain… We’re used to it!
That’s the message from Brad Jones Racing as the team faces up to the November 22-24 Sargent Security Phillip Island 360 and a make or break weekend for Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright’s Drivers’ Championship hopes.
With five races and a maximum 600 points left up for grabs until the season ends at the Sydney 500 in early December, Coulthard (Lockwood Holden Commodore VF) trails Championship leader Craig Lowndes (Red Bull Commodore) by 396 points and Bright (BOC Commodore) is 552 points down.
Three sprint races will be decided and 300 points allocated at Phillip Island, meaning both Coulthard and Bright must gain ground if they are to stay in contention for the title.
And not only on Lowndes. His teammate Jamie Whincup is only six points off the pace with FPR Pepsi Max Falcon driver Mark Winterbottom 88 points adrift. His teammate Will Davison is 122 points from the lead. In total, eight drivers still have at least a theoretical shot at the Championship.
So why is wet weather okay for BJR? Because no team this year has had its test schedule affected by wet weather more.
And it happened again this week when the rain blew in on Tuesday while the Albury-based team was conducting its final scheduled test of the year at Winton.
After getting about two and a half hours of dry running the weather turned inclement. But rather than pack up and head home the team elected to stick it out and learn what it could.
Given the fickle conditions at Phillip Island, the knowledge gained could prove helpful, BJR team manager Chris Clark told v8supercars.com.au.
“We have had a bit of wet testing so we should be the ones on the money,” he joked.
Along with Bright and Coulthard, Wilson Security Commodore driver David Wall also braved the conditions along with development series driver Chris Pither.
“We did a lot of wet running,” Clark said. “We tested a new screen and some new coatings as well to see if they misted up.
“We also did a lot of stuff with the engine mapping, trying out different things. So it’s not like we didn’t learn anything.”
Whatever the weather conditions at Phillip Island, Clark made it clear BJR would be fighting tooth and nail to keep Coulthard and Bright in the Championship hunt headed for Sydney.
“You never give up until you hit the floor,” he said.
“You have always got to think about the Championship because you never know what might happen. All it will take is for some of those front boys to have some DNFs.
“Unfortunately we have had a couple of DNFs and that is the thing that really scuppers your championship chances.”
The test also allowed BJR to give Bright’s Commodore a run after its heavy collision with the wall and Gold Coast rebuild with the help of Pace Innovations.
“They did a great job of rebuilding it, so it is pretty good,” said Clark. “We are not concerned about it. It could do with some paint on some panels but because of time constraints we have elected to leave that for now.”
Clark said he was confident BJR would be competitive at Phillip Island in any conditions, acknowledging the challenge all teams faced in adapting Car of the Future to the resurfaced track for the first time.
“We are pretty strong, we are showing good speed. It is how quickly we can dial the cars into the surface on the day,” he said.
