PRA Win Enduro Cup At Gold Coast 600!

For the first time in team history, Prodrive Racing (Australia) has won the Pirtek Enduro Cup, thanks to a mighty effort by Chaz Mostert and co driver Steve Owen.

Following a third-place finish at Sandown, salvaging tenth at Bathurst, and winning Saturday’s Race 21, Mostert and Owen finished seventh on Sunday at the Gold Coast 600 to take the Enduro crown. It was the first race at the Gold Coast event in ten years to be completed without a safety car on the challenging 2.96 km street circuit.

Sandown 500 champion Cameron Waters and co-driver Richie Stanaway finished third in the Enduro Cup. The pair handled the conditions on Saturday better than most, but unfortunately they were unable to back it up on Sunday.

For Mark Winterbottom and co-driver Dean Canto there were a lot of positives to take from a consistent performance in Surfers Paradise. A fifth-placed finish on Sunday saw ‘Frosty’ move from 10th to seventh in the championship points race.

Saturday

On a Saturday filled with consistent rain from dawn to dusk, Prodrive Racing (Australia)’s Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen survived the storm, and a mid-race spin, to claim pole and victory in Race 1 at the Gold Coast 600. Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway used a strong stint from the latter to claim runner-up honours, while Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto finished strongly to claim eighth.

Drivers' View 

Mark Winterbottom 
#5 The Bottle-O PRA Ford
Started: 8th, 1m22.34s
Finished: 8th
“We had good pace, and I think we would have been on the podium as well if not for the penalty. No mirror in pit lane when you get released, and we hit Chaz. The penalty put us back to 21st or something like that, got back up to eighth, drove pretty well I thought, passed a lot of cars to get back through. But, yeah, sort of the story of the year, if we don’t have bad luck we have no luck at all. Awesome cars, could have been a good result, good for the team, not so good for me, but it is what it is.”

Cameron Waters
#6 Monster Energy PRA Ford
Started: 14th, 1m23.11s
Finished: 2nd
“We had come out of our pit stop and the engine was quite hot, so I couldn’t really warm my tyres too much. The first two, three laps (after the restart) I was just trying to get the tyres up, and Chazzy was monstering me, and that was probably three, four laps of the lead. Kind of towards the middle stint onwards I was pretty comfortable in the car and was as quick as Chaz. Really happy for the team, we’re going really well in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, we just want to keep that up and finish tomorrow strongly.”

Chaz Mostert
#55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford
Started: 1st, 1m21.54s
Finished: 1st
“Pretty tricky conditions there for every driver today, but this is probably the sketchiest track I’ve ever driven on in the rain. White lines, zebra crossings, crowns in the road, it was all going on out there. Just proud to get the good result for the guys because the car was very very speedy as you could see out there. It’s also great for the team to get 1-2. Ford’s wrapped up the manufacturer’s championship too, so that’s good for them as well.”

Tim Edwards
Team Principal
“A fantastic result for the team. To come home 1-2 and have all four cars in the top ten is tremendous, especially in the tricky conditions. Mark and Dean certainly could have been up for the podium today, so that penalty was unfortunate but we know we have four really good cars which is very positive news. Around the shop we had been talking about how the next Ford win seals the manufacturer’s championship, and we really wanted to get that win, so it’s satisfying to tick that box for Ford. We’ve got another round of it tomorrow, and it’s supposed to be dry, so we’ll see if we can make it happen again.”

Sunday

Contesting a completely dry Sunday following a downpour on Saturday, the Bottle-O drivers Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto led the team on Sunday with a fifth-place finish, Sandown 500 winners and Saturday’s runners up Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway suffered contact on Lap 34 with Car 888 that bent the steering arm on the #6 Monster Energy FG X, costing the team two laps, while pitting under green flag conditions and leading to a 21st place finish.

Sunday’s race saw Mostert lose six points in the championship hunt, but remains fourth, 126 points out of the lead with four races left on the 2017 calendar. Winterbottom’s top five combined with the misfortune of other drivers saw him leap from tenth back to seventh in the championship fight, with Waters eighth heading into Pukekohe in New Zealand in two weeks’ time.

Drivers' View 

Mark Winterbottom
#5 The Bottle-O PRA Ford
Qualified: 5th, 1m10.58s
Top Ten Shootout: 8th, 1m11.93s
Finished: 5th
“It was a good day, nice to finish a race trouble free for a change. It’s been a tough year, tough past couple of rounds, so to get through this one cleanly was nice. Dean did a good job to get us a few spots in his stint, and once I was in fifth was about where we should have ended up. I’m pretty happy to get this kind of result, it’s the kind of momentum we need to finish off the season strong.”

Cameron Waters
#6 Monster Energy PRA Ford
Qualified: 4th, 1m10.51s
Top Ten Shootout: 7th, 1m11.50s
Finished: 21st
“We had heaps of positives heading into today, just a really bad way to end our Pirtek Enduro Cup. Saying that, you can’t take anything away from what Richie’s done, he’s done a mega job all three races, and even today. It was touch and go, I think it was Richards in Car 888, just didn’t see him. Disappointing to end it this way, but so many positives to take out of it, and the car was fast, and that’s the main thing.”

Chaz Mostert
#55 Supercheap Auto PRA Ford
Qualified: 3rd, 1m10.58s
Top Ten Shootout: 5th, 1m11.21s
Finished: 7th
“Today just wasn’t our day. I think we had okay pace, just didn’t have the track position. Overall, great weekend. Got the surfboard I’ve been wanting, and wrapped up the Pirtek Enduro Cup that we came so close to getting in 2014, so that’s pretty awesome. It’s been a great weekend, and looking forward to New Zealand when that comes around, but before that I’m off to China to race some GT cars, so that should be an eye opening experience as well.”

Tim Edwards
Team Principal
“I suppose it’s not a bad thing that today seemed disappointing. One car in the top five and another took the Pirtek Enduro Cup, but we didn’t seem to have the speed we needed to win today. Would have liked to end the Enduros off with a win, but it’s fantastic to bring the Enduro Cup back with us. Chaz and Steve drove extremely well, and the team earned it. That trophy will look good back in the shop.”

Championship Points

1) Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight: 2580
2) Fabian Coulthard – DJR Team Penske: 2563
3) Scott McLaughlin – DJR Team Penske: 2553
4) Chaz Mostert – Supercheap Auto Racing: 2454
7) Mark Winterbottom – The Bottle-O Racing Team: 1872
8) Cameron Waters – Monster Energy Racing: 1858

Team Championship Points

1)  DJR Team Penske: 5151
2) Triple Eight: 4971
3) Prodrive Racing Australia: 3765

PIRTEK Enduro Cup

1) Chaz Mostert & Steve Owen: 660
2) Fabian Coulthard & Tony D’Alberto, 612
3) Cameron Waters & Richie Stanaway: 594
18) Mark Winterbottom & Dean Canto: 369