Jason Bright takes emotional win for Brad Jones Racing
Jason Bright took a stirring victory at the final race of the ITM 400 at Pukekohe for Brad Jones Racing. Determined to take the inaugural Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the overall round win, Bright took the chequered flag in convincing fashion, five seconds ahead of Garth Tander in second position. It was an inspired drive which gave him the overall round win, which he fittingly dedicated to the late Jason Richards.
Jamie Whincup made a dream start to the final instalment of the ITM 400, jumping pole-sitter Jason Bright off the grid, and opened up a gap of over a second in the early laps. However, as the race progressed, Bright appeared to have to superior car and never looked back after passing Whincup into the hairpin on lap 10. It was an emotional win for Bright, who was a close friend and team mate of Jason Richards during his time at BJR.
“I went to bed last night really determined to wake up and win this trophy,” he said. “I wanted to win it for the memory of Jason. It’s just so great that we can take this back to our headquarters in Albury.“
Whincup struggled for pace in the latter stages of the race, and was unable to withstand the pressure from Garth Tander in the closing laps. However, he was able to keep ahead of Fabian Coulthard in the second BJR entry to finish the final race of the weekend on the podium. Will Davison rounded out the top 5 and takes an 18 point championship lead over Jamie Whincup to the next round at Barbagallo.
It was a far more subdued 36 lap sprint compared to race 3; however it was not without some hair-raising moments in the early laps. Dean Fiore was speared off the track toward the pit entry at the end of lap 1, however to the amazement of all watching, managed to keep his Dodo Commodore off the concrete barriers and calmly cruised down the pit lane following the incident. Russell Ingall and Shane van Gisbergen almost came together on two consecutive occasions approaching the final corner; however both managed to keep in control over the bumpy surface.
Mark Winterbottom continued his run of poor luck in 2013, hampered by a left-rear tyre failure on the approach to turn 5 on lap 27, almost identical to what he had experienced in race 1 on Saturday. Winterbottom’s FPR stable mates Alex Davison and David Reynolds finished strongly in 7th and 8th respectively.
James Moffat led the Nissan charge with an impressive 10th place finish, while Maro Engel led the Mercedes trio in 21st followed by Lee Holdsworth and Tim Slade in 22nd and 23rd. Dean Fiore was the only retirement, while Scott McLaughlin was unable to start the race as a result of damage sustained in race 3.
The next round on the V8 Supercar calendar is Barbagallo Raceway outside of Perth in Western Australia. The Chill 360 consists of races 9, 10 and 11 of the season will take place between the 3rd and the 5th of May.
