The Darwin wrap

Tony D’Alberto had a successful round at Darwin, producing a strong qualifying lap followed by great results in races 1 and 2 where D’Alberto finished as high as 15th. An unlucky set of tyres in Race 3 put an end to the chance for further gain in position, but the misfortune wasn’t enough to overshadow what has been a great weekend for Rod Nash Racing.

D’Alberto began Saturday by qualifying in a time of 1:10.8161 for a start in 26th. With less than a second separating D’Alberto’s qualifying lap from pole position it was clear that Race 1 would deliver a fiercely competitive race.

D’Alberto pressed his advantage on the opening lap to find a good racing rhythm and edge up the ladder to 22nd despite the traffic. As the pit window opened D’Alberto was shuffled forward as cars peeled away from the pack to complete their stops. D’Alberto remained out on track, notching up clean laps in a bid to gain further ground. He brought the car in on lap 13 to complete his stop. A slight delay in the pits left D’Alberto no option but to push harder to gain position.

The crew had done a superb job in setting up the #55 Bottle-O Commodore to suit the conditions and as the race continued D’Alberto put the car’s fine tuning to good use, squeezing extra pace out of the corners to comfortably hold 19th by lap 31. D’Alberto sailed through the remainder of the race, defending his position to finish in 19th.

D’Alberto got away to another strong start in Race 2, reaching 12th by lap 2. The car delivered on performance, powering through the Hidden Valley circuit under D’Alberto’s steady guidance.

The team chose to pit at the opening of the pit window with the car reinserting in midfield. D’Alberto was a man on a mission and quickly sliced his way back through the field to once more circulate within the top 15 cars. He dropped back slightly in the closing laps after a race restart but kept a firm grip for a solid finish.

The team headed into Race 3 with the same car set-up that had served so well in earlier races, however a change of tyres caused one big headache for D’Alberto. A lot of issues surfaced and the characteristics of the car totally changed. It wasn’t long before the situation dissolved into trouble and another car made contact, turning D’Alberto around and removing the front spoiler. D’Alberto tenaciously persisted but the missing spoiler created a lack of down-force, causing further havoc with the car’s handling. D’Alberto managed to coax enough from the car to complete the race in 23rd.

It was a great weekend highlighted by a strong effort in qualifying with D’Alberto producing very competitive lap times and rolling that success through the races that followed. It was an exceptional performance from a driver who’d never raced the circuit before. The trials of Race 3 were easily outweighed by the good results enjoyed across the rest of the weekend. The team’s next stop on the V8 Supercar calendar is another northern adventure with Ipswich playing host to three races from July 18.

Copyright © Rod Nash Racing 2008

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