Whincup on pole at Clipsal

TeamVodafone has commenced their 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series campaign in the best possible way, with young gun Jamie Whincup the fastest man on track in today’s qualifying session at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
On his way to claiming pole position, 25 year old Whincup recorded the quickest lap times in both of the morning practice sessions and set a new practice lap record with a time of 1.21.3707.

The TeamVodafone driver then bettered this time by four one hundredths of a second in qualifying to set another lap record.

“It is a great result for the whole team,” said Whincup. “We knew after the test day that the car was going to be quick but I didn’t expect to end up on pole at the first round of the championship.”

“We can’t get too excited, there is still along way to go but it is nice to be recognised as the fastest person on the day.”

“Tomorrow we will do 78 laps around this unforgiving circuit and with pitstops for fuel and tyres it will be the best overall team on the day who greets the chequered flag first,” Whincup added.

Teammate Craig Lowndes qualified sixth in his new chassis which makes its racing debut this weekend and said the sister car to last years Bathurst winner was responding well to the changes the team were making.

“I am very happy with the progress the car was making today but personally I am a little bit disappointed in myself as there is definitely more speed in the car,” Lowndes explained.

“Sixth is starting to become my regular starting spot but in all honesty to qualify anywhere in the top three rows is good here.”

“I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race as my fitness is much better than last year and this will be a crucial factor in driver performance. 78 laps around this circuit makes for a very long day in the office,” he continued.