After scoring a maiden V8 Supercars race win in his first start with TeamVodafone at the Dick Smith Sandown 500, Warren Luff says that it’s not hard to see why the Queensland-based Holden squad continues to find success.
The Sandown result for Luff and primary driver Craig Lowndes marked TeamVodafone’s ninth consecutive victory in the 2012 championship, and its fourth endurance race win in three years.
The duo took the win after Lowndes passed team-mate Jamie Whincup with just over 20 of the 161 laps remaining.
Luff, who has driven for a variety of teams in both the V8 Supercars Championship and V8 Supercars Development Series since making his debut in the endurance races 10 years ago, points to consistency of staff as TeamVodafone’s greatest asset.
“I’ve driven a broad spectrum of cars, some good and some not so good, but I think right through the whole organisation (at TeamVodafone) everyone is just so focussed on the job of winning,” said Luff when asked of his impressions of the team after the win.
“It obviously starts at the top with Roland (Dane, team principal). He goes racing to win, and he makes sure he puts the right people around him and gives those people the tools they need.
“It’s all about creating a synergy within the team. Everyone there has been there for a long time, which proves that it’s working well.
“If you look at some of the teams in the off-season and you look inside the garage at the first event the following year it’s hard to recognise some faces.
“But I think TeamVodafone have a great crew of guys who love being there. You can’t buy that sort of loyalty, it’s something that develops over a period of time.”
Starting from sixth on the grid, Luff completed the first 73 laps of Sunday’s race before handing the car over to Lowndes in a net second place.
Although Luff’s two stints had seen the #888 car lose track position to Paul Dumbrell – who had started 19th in the team’s #1 entry – the 36-year-old says that the opening stints were all about tuning the car for the end.
“Early on in the race we didn’t have a car that was quick enough, but we kept chasing it and making it better on each of the stops,” he said.
“I think that by the time Craig got in we had given him a car that he could battle with for the win, and that’s what it’s all about.
“The worst part for me was those last 20 laps, I thought the race was never going to end!” he added.
Luff now turns his attention toward helping Craig Lowndes secure his sixth Bathurst victory in next month’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
