Wilson
puts in a sterling effort at Symmons Plains
Press Release
WOW Racing’s Car #45 finished in fifteenth position at the Symmons Plains Tasmania – Round 12 of the 2005 V8 Supercar Series, with driver Max Wilson putting on an impressive display in front of record crowds over the weekend.
After qualifying in 20th position on Saturday with a time of 0.52.4763 Wilson pushed his #45 Holden Commodore through the 42 lap 100 kilometre race, and despite inconsistent weather conditions, the Wow Racing’s Car managed to pick up five positions and finish in the top half of the group.
“It is quite a short circuit, being just 2.4 km in length, however we were reaching speeds of 260 km/hr along the main straight prior to the slowest part of the circuit at the hairpin,” Wilson said.
Race one saw Car #67 encroach on Wilson’s space at the hairpin which caused the pace to slow for Wow Racing’s Car #45.
“I had a slight altercation with Paul Morris at the hairpin, when he tried to duck down the inside of me where there wasn’t room, my car wasn’t damaged, however, Morris broke the steering arm on his car and didn’t finish the race.
“It is very difficult to pass on this circuit, there are
basically only two safe areas to attempt a passing manoeuvre, either at the
end of the back straight or at the hairpin at the end of the main straight,
otherwise you just have to tuck in and hound the car ahead of you and hope they
make a mistake,” Wilson said.
Fine conditions for Sunday drew a record crowd of 62,000 spectators and Wilson’s
#45 Holden Commodore handled the circuit well throughout the race.
“This was possibly the best race of the weekend, plenty of action with every driver driving at ten tenths for the entire 42 laps. My car was performing very well but just lacked that little extra power to be in a position to make my way up through the field.
“In the previous two races I chose to pit relatively early, however in this race I stayed out until the halfway make before pitting for my tyres. This gave me clear air for quite a time and I think the cars performance benefited from that,” Wilson said.
“Brakes were the main factor hear today, believe me they got very hot with such high speeds and continuous hard braking for the tight corners put extra strain on everyone’s car, however I would have liked to have finished closer to the front but that was not to be.”
The Wow team will now prepare for the final round 13 in this year’s series at Phillip Island in Melbourne from November 25 – 27, 2005.
“We trust we can arrive at a better result for both team and sponsors,” Wilson said.