Revival Race For Lockwood

Mechanics who pulled an all-nighter fixing the Lockwood Racing Commodore were repaid today with a top ten finish at the Gold Coast.

The car suffered extensive damage in yesterday’s start-line incident but the team worked hard to have it rebuilt in time for Fabian Coulthard to qualify 20th this morning, despite some lingering problems.

International Co-Driver Nicolas Minassian had another risky moment at the start of the race, having to take evasive action after Peter Kox stalled in front of him. Once settled, however, he drove a solid 56 laps before handing over to Coulthard.

The Kiwi rejoined 18th and pushed hard to finish tenth at the chequered flag.

V8 Supercars will be back in action from 2-4 November in Abu Dhabi.

Fabian Coulthard
Lockwood Racing

“After yesterday’s incident, and the fact that the team was still working until 4:30am this morning, I think 10th is a pretty good result.

“We pitted a few laps from the end and came out in 18th position. I got a count down on laps with 15 to go but, before I knew it, it was the last lap. I pushed harder to pass the cars ahead of me and then we got back up to 10th place.”

Nicolas Minassian
Lockwood Racing Co-Driver
“Yesterday was such a disappointment and today I took a different approach.

“Fabian and I did the best we could with a car that wasn’t responding the best and it didn’t feel right but I’m very proud of the guys for fixing it and putting us back on the track.

“When I did my stint I moved up several spots and Fabian finished the job in the last five laps.

“I felt more comfortable in the car today and hopefully, if I’m asked to come back next year, we will do much better.

“Full credit to the team, it’s been fantastic and working with these guys is a breath of fresh air.”

2012 Armor All Gold Coast 600 – V8 Supercars – Races 22&23
SURFERS PARADISE STREET CIRCUIT
V8 SUPERCARS Race 23 qualifying
01 Jamie Whincup, TeamVodafone, 1:11.1077
02 Mark Winterbottom, Orrcon Steel FPR Ford, +0.1455
03 Jonathon Webb, Tekno Autosports, +0.2140
04 Will Davison, Trading Post FPR Ford, +0.2367
05 Rick Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, +0.2650
06 James Courtney, Holden Racing Team, +0.4843
07 Craig Lowndes, TeamVodafone, +0.6255
08 Steve Owen, VIP Petfoods, +0.6608
09 James Moffat, Team Norton, +0.6845
10 Shane Van Gisbergen, SP Tools Racing, +0.7326
20 Fabian Coulthard, Lockwood Racing, +0.9618

2012 Armor All Gold Coast 600 – V8 Supercars – Races 22&23
SURFERS PARADISE STREET CIRCUIT
V8 SUPERCARS – Race 23
01 Will Davison / Mika Salo, Trading Post FPR Ford
02 Jamie Whincup / Sebastien Bourdais, TeamVodafone
03 Mark Winterbottom / Will Power, Orrcon Steel FPR Ford
04 Tim Slade / David Brabham, Lucky 7 Racing
05 Garth Tander / Ryan Briscoe, Holden Racing Team
06 Craig Lowndes / Richard Lyons, TeamVodafone
07 Russell Ingall / Peter Dumbreck, Supercheap Auto Racing
08 Lee Holdsworth / Simon Pagenaud, Irwin Racing
09 Shane Van Gisbergen / Jeroen Bleekemolen, SP Tools Racing
10 Fabian Coulthard / Nicolas Minassian, Lockwood Racing