BRAD Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright dominated last year’s V8 Supercar Series round at Symmons Plains, taking all three wins between them.
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Can they do it again this weekend?
Last year Team BOC’s Bright won one race, while Lockwood Racing team mate Coulthard grabbed the other two.
“I’m really confident we’ll have good pace there, it’s time to start collecting some silverware,” Bright said earlier this week.
Despite the rollover at the Clipsal 500 which necessitated the hurried building of a new car in time for the Grand Prix meet, Bright left the round with more points than he did last year and remains confident in the fight for the championship.
“Last year, Jamie (Whincup) was the one to beat all year and he came out of Adelaide looking pretty strong,” he said.
“We were left to play catch up with him.
“There were a few guys who came out of Adelaide this year, Jamie included, that have all got to make up a bit of ground if they’re going to be contenders — and that’s good for us,” Bright said.
Teammate Coulthard broke through for his first championship win at Symmons Plains last year and scored his first podium in 2009, so the circuit is a happy hunting ground for the Lockwood Racing driver.
Having started strong this season, Coulthard is second in the points and looking to capitalise at a track he describes as “good fun”.
Bright has warned his V8 Supercar rivals that he and his VF Commodore are ready to fight for victory this weekend, despite a few hiccups at the new car’s first outing at the Australian Grand Prix.
He finished 14th in the first race, eighth in the second and was fighting for fourth in the third race before a sticking throttle put him out of the race.
“I think the strengths that we had at the Grand Prix will really prove to be what you need at Tassie,” he said.
This weekend’s round sees the first Supersprint event of this year. One factor that has changed is the re-start procedure following a safety car.
According to Bright the procedure was a critical factor in the eventual rollover at Adelaide, with cars bunching up coming into the first corner.
Now comprehensive changes have been introduced, including faster speeds before restarting and the leader determining the start
“I think it will make a difference, we’ll have to wait and see if we can get through the first turn without writing one of the cars off,” Bright said.
Symmons Plains is followed next weekend by the Winton 400.