Emery and Bates Entertain at The Mountain

October 7, 2011

Emery and Bates Entertain at The Mountain

An entertaining contest between Geoff Emery and Tony Bates in Race 1, Round 5 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series has been the highlight of the day for Greg Murphy Racing at Mount Panorama today.

After qualifying 14th, Emery ran 13th for the opening laps of the race, before spinning off the circuit in the chase.

“I had too much brake bias on the rear, and I locked the rear brakes into the chase and spun,” Emery said.

The driver of the AC Delco / Simworx / NDD Commodore rejoined the racetrack right near the other, Favourit.com / Alternative Freight Services-sponsored Greg Murphy Racing Commodore of Tony Bates. The two drivers started battling, running side-by-side for a number of corners as they fought to gain the ascendancy over one another.

“It was a good race,” Bates said afterwards. “I’m starting to learn how to adjust the anti-roll bars to trim the handling of the car as the race progresses, and I was able to improve the balance of the car as the fuel load burnt down.

“Geoff and I had a great race; there was some light contact at one stage, but it was all clean and good fun.”

“I’m just happy to finish a race!” Emery added. “It was a shame I spun, but it was a good battle with Tony.”

In the end, Emery finished 14th and Bates took the chequered flag in position 16.

Finishing the race in between Emery and Bates was the Drillpro / Tricor entry of James Brock. After qualifying 17th, Brock used his experience and race-craft to improve a couple of positions early on, but fell back at the end.

“It was a solid race, but the balance of the car changed half way through and I had some oversteer at Hell Corner,” Brock reported.

Unfortunately, the other GMR driver, Daniel Jilesen (R & J Batteries / Earthex / King Gee) failed to finish. He qualified eighth and was running just outside the top-10 with a couple of laps remaining, when he copped a hit from Chaz Mostert at Forrest Elbow, with the resultant damage forcing Jilesen into the pits. While the team repaired the damage and Jilesen rejoined the circuit, his last lap time was not within the requirement for him to be classified as a finisher.

Race 2 for the Fujitsu Series will be held at 2:10 tomorrow afternoon.

© Scoop Media