James Winslow made the most of his late call-up to the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series by racking up a top ten finish on debut and opening more than a few eyes with his impressive raw pace against newer machinery and more experienced V8 drivers.

 

Handed the chance to race in the season-ending Sydney Telstra 500 by Jay Motorsport, the Briton belied his lack of ‘tin top’ experience and seized the opportunity to stake a claim to a permanent place on the grid next year by qualifying just a handful of tenths off pole position and then showing more-seasoned rivals a clean pair of heels in both the weekend’s races.

 

Having concentrated largely on single-seaters throughout his successful career, Winslow had just 40 laps of testing in a V8 Supercar under his belt before hitting the track at the specially-constructed layout around Sydney’s Olympic Park, but quickly got to grips with the Holden Commodore at his disposal.

 

Having easily topped the times in each of his pre-race tests and featured in the top twelve in practice in Sydney, he hustled the ‘Sip ‘n’ Save’ car to a time just a couple of tenths shy of a spot on row three of the grid for race one, having been denied a cleaner lap by a slower car that hampered his new tyre run.

 

“The pace was very encouraging from the off,” Winslow commented, “Although it was frustrating not to be able to show exactly what I was capable of in qualifying, putting together my best sector times proved that I could have been as high as fifth on the grid, and that gave me great confidence for the two races to follow.”

 

Starting instead from eleventh spot, Winslow made a good getaway to gain a few places, only to see his early progress slowed by the appearance of the safety car as the Fujitsu field discovered just how tricky the Homebush Park circuit was in race conditions. Winslow, too, was not immune, whilst trying to overtake a defensive driver on the tight twisty track locking up his rear wheels while trying to make another pass and making light contact with the tyre barrier.

 

The #42 machine was undamaged in the incident and, having dropped back to 14th as a result, the Briton proceeded to charge back through the field, retaking five places in the remaining laps and setting the fourth fastest time of the race.

 

“The off was frustrating, but we had such good pace I had to make the moves to get through the field,” Winslow admitted, “Fortunately, the car was hardly marked and there was still enough time for me to make amends. It was good to be able to make moves, if slightly galling to know that we had the pace for a potential podium finish. In a class where Ford has dominated for the past few years, it was great to be able to come straight in and do a good job for Holden and become the fastest Holden on track.”

 

The second race of the weekend got off in similar fashion to the first, with Winslow making immediate gains at the start, before running into problems. This time, it was a slipping clutch that led to his downfall, dropping the Jay Motorsport entry back before eventually causing its retirement with two laps to run, but the Briton remained upbeat.

 

“I was fastest Holden again despite the gremlins, and very happy to be able to show that sort of pace against drivers with three years more experience than me,” Winslow conceded, “I made another good start, overtook three cars under braking for turn one and was running in sixth place, looking good. Then, at the end of the opening lap, I felt the clutch begin to slip and I lost drive.

 

“I had to stop flat-shifting, and then found that I couldn’t get full power as the problem got worse. I lost around 1 second per lap and sixth place, we struggled with the car in seventh before it eventually stopped. Again, I had the pace for third or fourth, which would have been a great result on my first appearance in V8 Supercars.”

 

Despite the frustration, Winslow found it easy to take positives from a great weekend.

 

“We were getting faster and faster with every session - and I know there is still a lot more to come,” the former triple F3 and Formula V6 Asia champion insisted, “This was a great debut, with some great racing. V8 Supercars are really very different to the single-seaters I have raced until now, a lot more physical, but you can really get stuck in - I loved it!”

 

“The whole Telstra 500 was a great event to be involved in. The new circuit is only two minutes from my home in Sydney and was fantastic to race on. Over 70,000 people came to the track every day - over 210,000 people to the event as a whole - and it is easy to see why the V8 Supercars is such a popular category.”

 

Although the end results may not have gone in his favour, Winslow did more than enough to attract attention for leading Holdens Fujitsu charge, particularly with the Australian media picking up on his Sydney performance and remarking about his immediate ability to run on the pace.

 

“I have had a lot of interest due to my pace this weekend, and I’d love to be involved in V8s again in the future,” he confirmed, “Along with the times I put up in testing over the past month, I think I have a strong case for consideration.

 

“Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of Jay Motorsport and team sponsors Sip ‘n’ Save, and also my fantastic supporters, a huge thank you to Emergency Transport Technology, ATS, World’s Best Technology, Code 3 and Driving Solutions who have all been just fantastic!”

 

 

Prepared by www.jameswinslow.com