Triple F Racing encouraged by speed at Queensland Raceway
Monday 22 August 2011
Dean Fiore and his Triple F Racing outfit showed exceptional speed throughout the weekend at the Coates Hire Ipswich 300, which is extremely encouraging ahead of the endurance races. The team started off Friday's practice strong, with endurance driver Michael Patrizi behind the wheel for the first of the days four practice sessions. Dean Fiore then used the last remaining sessions as qualifying runs, ending up 12th in the final session, showing that the team was headed in the right direction for the weekend.
The team made a few slight changes ahead of Saturday's qualifying session, but the changing conditions and gusty winds at the track caught the team off guard and Dean was unable to extract the same speed out of the #12 Falcon that he had the day before. This resulted in a lower qualifying position than they would've hoped for in 25th, with a mere second covering the entire field, further displaying how competitive the series has become.
The team then set about finding a workable race set-up for Saturday's unique format of two 22-lap races which were run on Dunlop soft compound tyre.
For the first 22 lap race, the #12 Falcon was on song, albeit subject to some decent panel rubbing throughout the race, with Dean managing to bring it home in 23rd position.
The team made a few minor changes in the short 15-minute break between races before starting the second race from where they finished the first under the event rules.
Dean improved on his starting position to 21st in the second race, which was a mighty effort after having to deal with a bent steering arm incurred at turn one on the first lap of the race. He was looking at a solid top 15 result before being pushed off the track by Jason Bright.
Sunday's qualifying session was a vast improvement on the previous day's, with Dean extracting some much needed speed out of the car to qualify 18th, where an extra two tenths would have seen him inside the top 10.
"It was an extremely encouraging session as we managed to do our fastest time three times throughout the session. And to be able to out qualify two factory teams of HRT and FPR was also very promising," Dean said.
The car set-up was very sound for Sunday's 200km 65 lap race, with the #12's race pace proving strong early before Dean came together with David Reynolds after pitting for new tyres. Dean out broke himself on cold tyres and nudged an innocent Reynolds, however Dean purposefully nosed him to ensure he didn't spin. The stewards then deemed this fit for a drive through and the promise of a good result was dashed.
"It was very disappointing to have our chances of a very good result ruined in Sunday's race.
"We did have a great last stint in the race that saw us comparable and keeping check with the top 7 cars on track. The positives to come out of the weekend were the fact that we have found some race pace which we have been struggling for in previous rounds.
"I'm really pleased with the efforts of the team. We are hamstrung in a few areas before we even rock up and my boys just keep their heads down and keep working at it. It's a really good feeling when you have got good support behind you," Dean commented.
Triple F Racing will now turn its attention to the upcoming endurance races, with the L&H Phillip Island 500 only weeks away from September 16-18.
