Tough weekend for Karl at Darwin
REVIEW: Karl Reindler Racing, Hidden Valley Raceway V8 Supercars
Rnd#12/13 (June 18-19) 20 June, 2011
Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing's [FDSR]
Sadly Karl never had the chance to expand on his best Championship Series result after that now infamous startline crash with Steve Owen, but BJR team-mates Jason Bright (Team BOC) and Jason Bargwanna (Jana Living) continued to find form taking two more wins over the next four races. Coming to Darwin with a brand new [for BJR and Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing] TWR Commodore, Karl was hoping that he and his team-mates could continue to find the kind of form they'd discovered over the previous rounds. "The new car felt really good from opening practice," Karl admitted. "We were quick on old tyres, but didn't find much improvement through the new rubber." As the day got warmer and more rubber went down onto the circuit, the FDSR Commodore started to develop huge oversteer. The team made modifications prior to qualifying, yet despite being less than a second from pole, Karl was still not entirely happy with the balance of the car. Saturday again dawned fine and warm, yet despite finding some strong early pace, the team were unable to dial in any more speed from the green tyres, Karl ending qualifying just eight tenths shy of pole, and only three tenths off Winton race winner, team-mate Jason Bright; Bright was P15, Karl P27.. With the mercury hitting 30 degrees, Saturday's first race was underway. Karl was in the wars early fighting for position into turn one, which saw contact at the front of the car, bending the nose of the Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Commodore. Karl made his first stop on lap nine during the first safety car period, but had to queue behind his team-mates. He was in again on lap 34 for tyres, but dropped a lap in the process. On the restart Karl fought for position into turn one, only to find spinning race leader Mark Winterbottom - with nowhere to go - Karl made contact with the Falcon damaging the front of the car which caused severe overheating and ultimately retirement. "I got caught up in a lap one incident that crunched up the bonnet and that hurt our straight line speed," he admitted with frustration. "We just didn't have any race pace - every time I tried to pick up the pace we just lit up the rear tyres. I tried to conserve them as much as possible in the hope that we might be able to pick off a couple towards the end of the stint but our tyres were just as worn as everyone else's. "On the restart everyone went off at the first corner. I had fresher tyres and I went to the inside. Frosty [Winterbottom] spun around and was facing me parked on the track. I had nowhere to go and damaged the radiator. I just had to park it. It's just one of those days. "Before that I was driving the car as carefully and precisely and tentatively as I could and the tyres just weren't hanging on. They weren't our best set though so hopefully it will be better tomorrow."
Sunday's qualifier for race two saw some improvement for the FDSR Commodore, with Karl qualifying 22nd, just half a second off pole, and immediately behind reigning champion - Holden factory pilot - James Courtney.
"The car is better than yesterday. It still needs a little bit more drive out of the last turn, [but I'm] happy with the pace, not so happy with the position..."
A strong start saw Karl hold position, with Courtney right behind and former Bathurst champion Greg Murphy immediately in front. That's the way positions stayed until team-mate Jason Bright lost his engine on the main straight forcing Karl off in the process and in dire need of bodywork repairs after contact with Courtney damaged the front splitter. He immediately pitted and the team made temporary repairs however the damage was too great, the splitter almost immediately starting to drag on the circuit. He returned to the pits but lost three laps as the team made more permanent repairs, then came off again in the dying stages, necessitating another quick stop for repairs.
"That was a weekend I would like to forget from a race results perspective," Karl shrugged. "That said I was happier with our qualifying pace this morning, we were only five tenths off pole and a tenth [shy] of Brighty so I feel like I was driving the car we had quite well.
"As for the race we had pretty good race pace and were a match for guys like Murphy and Courtney early on, [but] it's just tough when you are racing around twentieth, there is a lot of hustle and banging between cars trying to make position and meanwhile the top 10 are driving off into the distance.
"When Brighty lost the motor and we got caught in the oil and got together with Courtney in turn one, we tore up the front splitter, and that basically ended any chance of having a decent day as the splitter was rubbing on the ground.
"We decided to bring the car in and change it but unfortunately we lost three laps doing it under green flag conditions. We were determined to at least get a race finish and salvage some points from the weekend, and despite having another off late in the race that resulted in some heavy damage to the drivers side of the car, we managed to get a finish and some more important points.
"Needless to say I just want to get to Townsville and forget Darwin 2011 as we just had a really average weekend all round."
The Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing team now turns it's attention again to street circuits, for the next round of the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series, the Sucrogen Townsville 400 from July 8-11.
2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Race 12,
Sky City Triple Crown, Darwin, Hidden Valley Raceway (June 18, 2011)
1. Rick Kelly (Holden) - 42 laps
2. Steven Johnson (Ford)
3. Craig Lowndes (Holden)
4. Lee Holdsworth (Holden)
5. Will Davison (Ford)
6. Tony D'Alberto (Ford)
7. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford)
8. Jason Bargwanna (Holden)
9. Jamie Whincup (Holden)
10. Steve Owen (Holden)
DNF. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore)
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2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series - Race 13,
Sky City Triple Crown, Darwin, Hidden Valley Raceway (June 19, 2011)
1. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) - 69 laps
2. Craig Lowndes (Holden)
3. Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
4. Tim Slade (Ford)
5. Russell Ingall (Holden)
6. Jamie Whincup (Holden)
7. Will Davison (Ford)
8. Alex Davison (Ford)
9. Steven Johnson (Ford)
10. Jason Bargwanna (Holden)
25. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore)
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2011 V8 Supercar Championship Series (points after race 13)
1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) - 1395 points
2. Craig Lowndes (Holden) - 1239
3. Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) - 1134
4. Rick Kelly (Holden) - 1082
5. Steven Johnson (Ford) - 1030
6. Will Davison (Ford) - 1020
7. Garth Tander (Holden) - 1013
8. Alex Davison (Ford) - 963
9. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) - 961
10. Jason Bright (Holden) - 920
27. Karl Reindler (Fair Dinkum Sheds Holden Commodore) - 444
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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) - KRR 7th
Rnd#8 - Trading Post Perth Challenge (May 1) - KRR DNF
Rnd#9 - Trading Post Perth Challenge (May 1) - KRR DNS
Rnd#10 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC (May 21) - KRR 20th
Rnd#11 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC (May 22) - KRR 23rd
Rnd#12 - Skycity Triple Crown, Darwin (June 18) - KRR DNF
Rnd#13 - Skycity Triple Crown, Darwin (June 19) - KRR 25th
Rnd#14 - Sucrogen Townsville 400 (July 9)
Rnd#15 - Sucrogen Townsville 400 (July 10)
Rnd#16 - City of Ipswich 300 (August 20)
Rnd#17 - City of Ipswich 300 (August 21)
Rnd#18 - L 500, Phillip Island, VIC (September 18)
Rnd#19 - Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, NSW (October 9)
Rnd#20 - Armor All Gold Coast 600 (October 22)
Rnd#21 - Armor All Gold Coast 600 (October 23)
Rnd#22 - Falken Tasmania Challenge (November 12)
Rnd#23 - Falken Tasmania Challenge (November 13)
Rnd#24 - Norton 360 Sandown Challenge (November 19)
Rnd#25 - Norton 360 Sandown Challenge (November 20)
Rnd#26 - Sydney Telstra 500 (December 3)
Rnd#27 - Sydney Telstra 500 (December 4)
Karl Reindler is proudly supported by Brad Jones Racing, Fair Dinkum Sheds, Yale, Wilson Security, Thompson Aviation, Westrac, EMT, JSW Drilling, National Tyres, Herbalife, Focus Bikes, ZIse and Sponsorxchange.com. For further information please contact Media Manager Damon Hill on 0411 669 910, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .