DJR - Barbagallo - Chill Perth 360

[Blue Thunder 2]

Hi All,

The XR6 & XR8 Club of Qld would like to wish DJR all the best for the Barbagallo - Chill Perth 360. Have a great weekend and bring home some points.

It's a massive weekend coming up for Dick Johnson Racing. Chaz Mostert will make his highly anticipated 'main game' V8 Supercar debut and the exciting extended support for Shell Australia on the famous #17.

Here is where you can catch Dick, Chaz and Tim over the weekend;

Thursday

12:30pm - 1:30pm - V8 Supercar Autograph Session with Chaz and Tim - Forrest Place, Perth

Friday

9:30am - 10:00am - DJR Autograph Session with Dick, Chaz and Tim - DJR Merchandise

10:55am - Practice #1
12:05pm - Practice #2
1:15pm - Practice #3

Saturday

8:30am - 8:45pm - DJR Autograph Session with Dick Chaz and Tim - DJR Merchandise

8:45am - 9:00am - DJR Autograph Session with Dick Chaz and Tim - Wilson Security Merchandise

9:45am - Practice #4
12:05pm - Qualifying
1:45pm - Race 10

Sunday

8:15am - 8:30pm - DJR Autograph Session with Dick Chaz and Tim - DJR Merchandise

8:30am - 8:45am - DJR Autograph Session with Dick Chaz and Tim - Wilson Security Merchandise

9:35am - Qualifying 1
10:00am - Qualifying 2
12:05pm - Race 11
2:05pm - Race 12

[Blue Thunder 2]

Weekend Wrap Up From DJR

Friday - 3 May 2013,

DJR deliver best practice performance of the season in opening hit out at Chill Perth 360

The Wilson Security / DJR team continued the march up the time sheets today with new FPR recruit Chaz Mostert posting the 11th best time of the day. The DJR cars of Mostert and Tim Blanchard ran all three practice sessions and both drivers were well in contention throughout the day.

Mostert’s first outing in the FPR spec DJR Falcon resulted in an outstanding performance pushing the Wilson Security #12 Falcon into 9th place in Practice 3. The new signing was pleased with the day and felt there was still a lot to come both from himself and the car. Across the DJR garage, team mate Tim Blanchard was also enjoying a strong run, but only got as far as the end of pit lane in P3 when an oil pressure problem forced him to shut the engine down. The car was towed back to the pits and an engine change was the outcome as Tim took no further part in practice.

The DJR team were very encouraged by the days running and with the continued FPR engineering support are confident of finding further gains over the weekend.

#12 Chaz Mostert – Wilson Security Falcon

“Straight out of the box the car didn’t feel too bad. We had out test day at Morgan Park last week and the car feels very similar to how it did there. The DJR car feels almost the same in the front end to our FPR FG Falcon from last year. A bit different in the rear but you just have to get your head around that. The cars will get better in time as we continue the development program. I am really pleased with today, although I didn’t get the best run in P3. I wasn’t quite happy with the balance in that final session, but I’m sure we will tune it up for tomorrow.”

#17 Tim Blanchard – Wilson Security Falcon

“We struggled a little in the first session on the harder tyre. We moved to the soft tyre in P2 and it seemed to suit our car a lot more. We were far more competitive on used soft tyres, so it was encouraging. In P3 we had some engine drams and didn’t get past the end of Pit Lane. It was very disappointing as it would have been good to build some more data for tomorrow. With the FPR relationship we will have a good spread of data so I am looking forward to Qualifying on Saturday to see what we can deliver.”

IMG_1065.jpg

Saturday - 4 May 2013,

The Wilson Security / DJR team has banked a Top 15 result in the opening 60 / 60 sprint format at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway today. V8 Supercars main game debutant Chaz Mostert fought hard to bring the Wilson Security Falcon home in a fine 15th place. Earlier in the day, Mostert had posted DJR’s best qualifying performance of 2013 with a Top 10 berth. Team mate Tim Blanchard was not quite as fortunate as a red flag caught the #17 crew out getting the best of the Dunlop Sprint tyre.

The Saturday race format was a 25 lap race followed by a 15 minute break. The cars would re grid and start behind a Safety Car with all drivers keeping an eye on the critical AZ (Acceleration Zone) to ensure a good start. The first leg saw Mostert hold his Top 10 starting position and run in 8th place for the bulk of the race. Tyre degradation was effecting many runners and Mostert was managing as best he could but was getting outpaced by those with better tyre life. He dropped from 8th to finish leg one in 15th place.
Blanchard was making some good progress but was locked in battle for almost the whole race with the Kelly brothers and David Wall. Having missed a full practice session on Friday was now showing for Tim who was not able to get the Falcon any further up the field. He would benefit from some major set up changes at the 15 minute break.

The second leg was a less fraught for Mostert, however he was in a huge battle with Jonno Webb for most of the race. The #12 Wilson Security Falcon crossed the line in 15th place with a happy Mostert enjoying his first outing for DJR.

Once again Tim Blanchard was in a battle group consisting of Todd Kelly, David Wall and Russell Ingall. Whilst a lot happier with the set up of the Falcon, the closeness of the group from Tim right up to position 16 saw little passing. He crossed the line finally in 23rd position.
The Chill 360 concludes with 2 x 42 lap races on Sunday.

#12 Chaz Mostert – Wilson Security Falcon

“I ended the day in 15th so am pretty happy with that. I am looking forward to tomorrow with two Qualifying sessions and the races. I had a really hard race with Shane (Van Gisbergen) in the first race and I think when we touched it knocked a bit of the steering out. The last five laps I was hanging on for the finish. It is a learning curve for me. I really like the format as you finish one day then it is a whole new game in the next one. We did not have that in the Dunlop Series.”

#17 Tim Blanchard – Wilson Security Falcon

“We really had two different race cars in each leg today. We did not get the set up right in the first race and the car was a real handful from lap 1. It made it tough a race, so we decided to make significant changes between races. The car was really good in race two, and we were able to pass a few cars and battle on for the whole distance. Qualifying of course was the difference and had we been further up I reckon we could have made more ground. We have a good direction now for tomorrow.”

IMG_1064.jpg

Sunday - 5 May 2013,

The performance of the two Wilson Security / DJR FG Falcons continued to improve today with Chaz Mostert grabbing the team’s first Top 10 finish in the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship in Perth. Two qualifying sessions determined the grids for races 11 & 12 and Mostert continued his superb debut form with 11th in both sessions. Team mate Tim Blanchard put in his best time for the weekend in the second session but still could bring the sister car further up the grid.

Race 11 saw Chaz settle into P12 and had Tim locked in a huge battle with Slade and Pye. Mostert held station until the pit stops started to roll through, but a slightly messy stop cost the #12 Wilson Security Falcon and he rejoined in P20. Blanchard had stopped a little earlier and benefited by jumping Ingall, Slade and Wall. As the race ran down, Mostert clawed his way back to 15th and Blanchard picked off Webb to record another Top 20 finish.
Race 12 had Chaz lining up again in 11th and he was quickly able to consolidate his position. Meanwhile Blanchard was on the move grabbing three spots in the opening laps. Blanchard pitted earlier in this race on Lap 15 with Mostert in three laps later. Tim was the big winner after the stops and a Safety Car period moving up to 13th just two spots behind Mostert. His tyre life was suffering as the race ran however and he dropped three places as the race progressed.

Mostert moved into the Top 10 with on Lap 35 and secured the spot to deliver DJR / Wilson Security Racing their first Top 10 of the year in what was a sensational Championship debut. Blanchard’s strong run was spoilt by an overly ambitious move by Alex Davsion spinning the #17 Wilson / Shell Falcon at the final turn and ending the chance of a Top 15.

The 2013 V8 Supercars Championship now moves to Texas for its first USA round in two weeks time.

#12 Chaz Mostert – Wilson Security Falcon

“A fantastic start with DJR. The guys have put the car together really well for me and I had a strong run in all three races. It is great for all the backers like Wilson Security, Shell & Crimsafe who have hung in there this year. I’m glad to get them a result today. I was really happy with my qualifying pace over the weekend and I’m sure it helped our race results. I still have to learn more about the tyre management in the next few rounds, but overall I am really pleased.”

#17 Tim Blanchard – Wilson Security Falcon

“The pace was really good today in the races and we were making up a lot of spots. It was frustrating to be turned around as I felt we were in for a really good result today. We need to push on to get the Top 15 results and having one slip away today was rough. The encouraging thing is the car is getting better and better so I really need to focus on Qualifying to get those spots early in the race. Chaz did the job in qualifying and it did show in his results.”

IMG_1063.jpg

[Blue Thunder 2]

The XR6 & XR8 Club of Queensland would like to congratulate all the crew at DJR on a great weekend of racing at the Chill Perth 360.

What an awesome debut into the series from Chaz. Well done everyone!

The club is proud of its association with DJR as an affiliated car club, and we, as a club, only hope for bigger and better things for DJR throughout the rest of the year.

Good luck with your preparation for Texas guys. Hope it's a happy, safe and successful trip. Bring it on!

Go DJR! Go the Blue Oval!

IMG_1066.jpg