The Bottle-O Racing's 2010 V8 Supercar campaign began strongly with one of the team's most competitive outings yet, new driver Paul Dumbrell racing to seventh and 12th place finishes in two twilight races in Abu Dhabi.

Raced at the UAE's brilliant and global benchmark Yas Marina track, the opening events in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship were a hard fought affair throughout, and saw The Bottle-O Falcon a contender in both 43-lap races under lights.
 
"It was a great way to start the season, the Bottle-O Falcon felt pretty good through both races, and if it wasn't for a costly delay at the start of race two, I think we could have ended inside the top 10 in both races," Paul Dumbrell said.
 
As it is, Paul is eighth in the Championship points standing after the season's first two events.
 
"We found our feet as a team, we found our competitiveness, Paul was 'on it' from the start, it was a pretty good weekend all 'round … and we built a very solid base to build on," team owner Rod Nash said.
 
Practice
 
The Bottle-O Racing team, Paul Dumbrell and its new Ford Performance Racing prepared Falcon racer began the 2010 season in the best possible fashion, quickest in the very first session of Practice at the Yas Marina circuit.
 
That form continued into Practice 2, this time Paul was fifth fastest, then eighth in the next session, before slipping to 25th in the final session as the team spent time experimenting with chassis changes.
 
Qualifying – Race 1
 
Despite a last minute delay with an electrical problem that saw Paul not emerge from pitlane until well into the brief Qualifying session, the Bottle-O Falcon flew to post 11th quickest time, which became 10th starting position when Garth Tander was penalised for a pit lane infringement.
 
Race 1
 
Paul Dumbrell jumped away brilliantly at the start of the race, immediately up several spots to seventh as he ran strongly with the leaders, fighting hard for position in several lengthy dices.
 
Two pitstops were affected quickly and without drama, the FPR-fettled Falcon needing only fuel and tyres as Paul continued to stake a claim as a leading contender for 2010.
 
By the end Paul had held his ground well to finish seventh, a great start to the season.
 
 
Qualifying – Race 2
 
Qualifying saw all three FPR-run cars break the nuts that bolt the brake rotors to the wheel hats. Each car had to come back into pits and change to another set of rotors, with a different type of nut.
 
By the time Paul got out onto the track he just missed starting his proper qualifying lap before the chequered flag came out. At that point he was clocking a time just short of Mark Winterbottom's pole winning lap (!), so he ended up a very frustrated 21st.
 
Ironically, all these bolts and nuts had just been replaced by FPR to eliminate any issues, so obviously the quality of the part will be looked at prior to the next event.

The Bottle-O car demonstrated great speed, so the team then moved into planning a strategy that would elevate Paul up the field during the race.
 
 
Race 2
 
Despite a good start, Paul got involved in a time consuming avoidance at the exit of the first corner, when the Bottle-O Falcon had to avoid the spinning Ford of FPR 'brother' Steve Richards.
 
Getting his head down once more, Paul moved up to 18th by lap 8, 13th by lap 20, and 12th by lap 30. Again, the two pitstops went without drama, and he ran strongly to the flag to finish 12th … lamenting the time lost by starting so far back.
 
"That's a reasonable start to the year, I think, the car is clearly competitive and the team did a great job, the signs for the year are very encouraging … I am going to Bahrain now looking forward to stronger results again," Paul Dumbrell said.
 
Next round of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship is at Bahrain on 25-27 February.
 
2010 V8 Supercar Championship (after two races):
 
1.  Jamie Whincup, 300 points
2.  Mark Winterbottom, 267 pts
3.  Craig Lowndes, 249 pts
4.  Shane Van Gisbergen, 231 pts
5.  James Courtney, 222 pts
6.  Lee Holdsworth, 207 pts
7.  Rick Kelly, 198 pts
8.  Paul Dumbrell, 165 pts
9.  Steven Johnson, 152 pts
10. Jonathon Webb, 141 pts