Getting closer.. top ten looms!

REVIEW: Karl Reindler Racing, ITM400 Hamilton (NZ),
V8 Supercars Rnd#5/6 (April 15-17)
21 March, 2011

Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing's Karl Reindler turned in one of his best Supercar performances at the ITM 400 in Hamilton for round five and six of the Championships Series on a weekend where many of the leading contenders failed to make the most of the changeable conditions.

Caught out in qualifying by weather conditions which at times changed by the lap, Karl worked his way forward in both races to be classified 17th in race one, and an outstanding 13th in race two, just a handful of positions outside the top ten, and in front of championship contenders Garth Tander and series points leader Jamie Whincup.

From opening practice the Brad Jones Racing team understood that their weekend on Jason Richards' home turf was going be difficult, with all three BJR team pilots struggling to find a competitive setup in the unpredictable conditions.

Qualifying for the first of the two 59-lappers saw Karl down in 23rd place on the grid, immediately behind team-mate Jason Bright (21st) and in front of the third BJR entry of Jason Bargwanna (25th).

As the cars lined up for the fifth race of the 2011 season, the heavens threatened, but despite light rain on the formation lap, teams were able to run the opening segment of the race on slicks. Karl started on 'green' tyres and made a strong start to take three positions on the opening lap. On lap six though he lost his early advantage after a freight-train of cars led by team-mate Bargwanna moved through before he pitted on lap 19 for tyres [slicks].

A lap later he'd be back as the heavens opened on his out lap, forcing Karl to return for wet weather tyres in the treacherous conditions. Unfortunately things only got worse for the Fair Dunkum Sheds team after Lee Holdsworth spun in front of Karl on his way into the pits, blocking the pit entry, costing both drivers valuable time.

Despite this Karl mounted a strong recovery and was up to 16th before pitting again on lap 30 for a quick fuel stop. From there it was all about conservation and survival, with fuel consumption also a concern in the slippery conditions.

With seven laps to go though Karl was able to breathe a little easier after the safety car was called again, leaving just a short dash to the flag, the Fair Dinkum Sheds Commodore classified 17th at race end.

"That was a really stressful race from my standpoint," Karl admitted afterwards. "We unfortunately pitted one lap early and then the rain came so we had to make an extra pitstop.

"Then when I came in for my next stop, Holdsworth spun in front of me coming into
the pits and blocked the entrance - we lost a lot of time there."

"We struggled with no turn in the car, so we had massive understeer and then
it would break into massive oversteer on corner exit. I think that at the
moment it is safe to say that all three of our team cars could be working better.

"That said Bargs [Bargwanna] is showing some really good speed - bring on tomorrow, hopefully with a little less rain so the fans can enjoy the day a little more."

Sadly for Karl and the fans, Sunday started much the same way Saturday ended - wet - although qualifying started dry; but that didn't last long..

In the end, those that were on track early stole the qualifying advantage as rain started to fall just five minutes in catching a number of teams off-guard - BJR were one of those - all three cars qualifying towards the rear of field; Bargwanna P20, Reindler P23, Bright P24.

Karl was starting in line immediately behind title favourites Garth Tander (P19) and Mark Winterbottom (P21) and was hoping to take advantage from following the duo through the pack. It worked..

A strong start saw the Fair Dunkum Sheds Commodore holding down 18th at the close of the opening lap, and 17th a lap later, Karl quickly moving onto the tail of Bargwanna, with Bright not far behind.

By lap 10 the three BJR cars were line astern with Karl 15th still between Bargwanna and Bright. On lap 12 Karl came into the pits for tyres and fuel, exiting 17th, but suffering from a misting windscreen. Despite this he continued to make ground, and by the time the safety car was deployed on lap 20, he was eleventh, just off the tail of the lead pack. Karl elected to stay out and follow the teams fuel strategy, and two laps after the restart had moved into the tail of the top ten.

On lap 31 he came into the pits for what would be his final stop, but lost more valuable time as the team struggled to remove the windscreen tearoff.

He rejoined in 22nd position and set about recovering ground, moving back into 15th by lap 37 when a train of cars came to grief in front of him forcing Karl hard into the rear of Steven Johnson's Falcon, bending the bonnet on the BJR machine which made Karl's vision difficult. Despite the setback Karl was turning faster laps than race leader Michael Caruso, as he set about regaining lost ground.

Over the remaining laps a string of incidents and safety car deployments played havoc with race positions as first one contender after another ran into trouble. Karl however kept a calm head and attacked when he needed to, and defended wherever possible. At one stage he battled with former champion Craig Lowndes, keeping the Triple 8 pilot at bay for a number of laps before falling back a couple of positions as first Lowndes and then Dean Fiore and James Moffat streamed past.

When so many others had fallen foul of the conditions, Karl waited for the right moment and attacked both Fiore and Moffat in the closing laps to regain both positions a finish an outstanding 13th at the flag.

"That was an enjoyable race," Karl smiled afterwards. "I had a bit of an altercation with Moffat on the final lap and picked up a position, he wasn't too happy, but I felt like I drove with more confidence this weekend and was a little more aggressive.

"To lose some time in the pitstop was disappointing but we had to clear the windscreen. We got involved in some other people's crash mid race which damaged the front of the car so it was hard to see, but the car kept performing strongly so to finish 13th was a solid result."

The Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing team now turns it's attention to Karl's home circuit for race seven and eight in the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia for the Trading Post Perth Challenge from April 29.

2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Race 5, ITM400 (NZ) (April 16, 2011)
1. Rick Kelly (Holden) - 59 laps
2. Craig Lowndes (Holden)
3. Todd Kelly (Holden)
4. Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
5. Stephen Johnson (Ford)
6. Will Davison (Ford)
7. Fabian Coulthard (Holden)
8. Greg Murphy (Holden)
9. James Moffat (Ford)
10. Alex Davison (Ford)

17. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore)
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2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Race 6, ITM400 (NZ) (April 17, 2011)
1. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) - 59 laps
2. Lee Holdsworth (Holden)
3. Garth Tander (Holden)
4. Will Davison (Ford)
5. Steve Owen (Holden)
6. Rick Kelly (Holden)
7. Alex Davison (Ford)
8. Russell Ingall (Holden)
9. Steven Johnson (Ford)
10. Craig Lowndes (Holden)

13. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore)
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2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series (points after round four)
1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) - 654 points
2. Rick Kelly (Holden) - 573
3. Craig Lowndes (Holden) - 552
4. Garth Tander (Holden) - 543
5. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) - 543
6. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) - 534
7. Will Davison (Ford) - 528
8. Alex Davison (Ford) - 522
9. Steven Johnson (Ford) - 455
10. Fabian Coulthard (Holden) - 441

22. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore) - 269
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2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series Calendar   Rnd#1 - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi (February 12) - KRR DNF
Rnd#2 - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi (February 13) - KRR 11th
Rnd#3 - Clipsal 500, Adelaide (March 19) - KRR 19th
Rnd#4 - Clipsal 500, Adelaide (March 20) - KRR 17th
Non-champ. - Australian F1 Grand Prix (March 24-27) - 18th / 19th / 15th
Rnd#5 - ITM 400, Hamilton, NZ (April 16) - KRR 17th
Rnd#6 - ITM 400, Hamilton, NZ (April 17) - KRR 13th
Rnd#7 - Trading Post Perth Challenge (April 30)
Rnd#8 - Trading Post Perth Challenge (May 1)
Rnd#9 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC (May 21)
Rnd#10 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC (May 22)
Rnd#11 - Skycity Triple Crown, Darwin (June 18)
Rnd#12 - Skycity Triple Crown, Darwin (June 19)
Rnd#13 - Sucrogen Townsville 400 (July 9)
Rnd#14 - Sucrogen Townsville 400 (July 10)
Rnd#15 - City of Ipswich 300 (August 20)
Rnd#16 - City of Ipswich 300 (August 21)
Rnd#17 - L 500, Phillip Island, VIC (September 18)
Rnd#18 - Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, NSW (October 9)
Rnd#19 - Armor All Gold Coast 600 (October 22)
Rnd#20 - Armor All Gold Coast 600 (October 23)
Rnd#21 - Falken Tasmania Challenge (November 12)
Rnd#22 - Falken Tasmania Challenge (November 13)
Rnd#23 - Norton 360 Sandown Challenge (November 19)
Rnd#24 - Norton 360 Sandown Challenge (November 20)
Rnd#25 - Sydney Telstra 500 (December 3)
Rnd#26 - Sydney Telstra 500 (December 4)