Tim Slade says he was pleased to record a fourth place finish in the second leg of the Armor All Gold Coast 600, despite being steamrolled by the Ford Performance Racing/TeamVodafone juggernaut in the closing stages.
A bold strategy from the Lucky 7 Racing crew and a strong double-stint from co-driver David Brabham had seen Slade join the race with the effective lead on Lap 63 of 102.
Slade held his position until shortly after the penultimate Safety Car restart 10 laps later, where Will Davison, Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom slipped past on successive laps, ending any chance of stopping the now 26 race streak of victories for either FPR or TeamVodafone.
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“We just didn’t quite have the pace of the first few which is the same as it was yesterday, but I think we were the best of the rest,” Slade told Speedcafe.com after the race.
“Overall I’m really happy… a fourth and a fifth (across the weekend) is a great result especially on a weekend like this where there are so many elements thrown at you.
“It’s great for the championship, we just have to work on a little bit of speed.”
Slade paid tribute to the efforts on both Brabham and his crew for putting him in a position to contend for the win.
“We ended up where were because of the strategy and David Brabham. All I had to do was pretty much drive it to the end,” he said.
“Our team pulled off the best strategy, and it was a big ask for Brabs. He had to stay in the car for a long time – more than half the race. For a non-regular, he did an awesome job.
“The car was good but it still lacked in a few areas and we were a bit vulnerable in the passing areas.
“I didn’t want to put up too much of a fight in the last few laps and didn’t want it to bottleneck and give others a chance to pass as well. I made it fairly easy, and as it turned out, we had better pace than those behind us.”
Brabham, who started both races from 11th on the grid, said he enjoyed returning to SBR for the event.
“We had the third highest points for the weekend so it was an awesome effort by the team,” he said
“It was great to be back with Stone Brothers again and have the opportunity to run up the front.”
