Monday 19 September 2011

Triple F Racing have gained valuable insight and knowledge from the first of the V8 Supercar endurance races for 2011 at the L&H 500 Phillip Island to take to the pinnacle of Australian motorsport in just over three weeks time.

Both Dean Fiore and co-driver Michael Patrizi spent lengthy periods behind the wheel of the #12 FG Falcon where they gained further understanding of how their car performs on worn tyres - vital for success in the endurance rounds.

The team was focused on its race pace, rather than completing short runs on new tyres, thus compromising their pace in practice and the qualifying sessions with the goal of saving extra sets of new Dunlop control rubber for the feature race.

Saturday's unique qualifying format for the L&H 500, saw the day start with two practice sessions, followed by two qualifying sessions and two sprint races to determine the grid for Sunday's 113-lap main race.

Fiore managed to qualify 18th for his grid sprint race, and finished in a solid 15th position with no one in front of him pitting. This was then accumulated with Patrizi's 22nd position after qualifying 21st and having to make the team's compulsory pit stop, resulting in a 23rd grid position for Sunday's race.

The #12 showed great pace throughout the 500km journey where it managed to nurture its tyres extremely well and came on exceptionally strong at the end of the race, where Fiore managed to set the 9th fastest lap of the race.

Track position proved to be the downfall of the weekend, where the qualifying position was highlighted as the hindrance for their optimum result for the first of the endurance races.

"I also had a racing incident with Luff and Murphy in my stint and that put us back 8-10 seconds in a crucial part of the race when the car was coming on really well. It was unfair on the team and Michael as we were tracking well until then," Fiore said.

However, Fiore and Patrizi both managed to drive a strong and consistent race, bringing the car home inside the top 20 in 19th position.

"I am happy with the car speed we had over the course of the weekend, and the team did a great job on the car," Fiore commented.

"A big thanks for Kenny from KRE Race Engines for the extra horsepower too which we will definitely need going into Bathurst."

Co-driver Michael Patrizi also saw the weekend as a step in the right direction, "I think we had a good trial leading into Bathurst. The result was not what we wanted but from a driving point of view, we achieved the best outcome for what happened in the race."

The V8 Supercar Series continues in three weeks time with the biggest event of the year - the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama from October 6-9.