McNALLY KICKS OFF HOMETOWN CAMPAIGN
Hi-Tec Oils Racing's Mark McNally began his campaign in his home event, the
Bigpond 300, at the Barbagallo Raceway near Perth, Western Australia today.
McNally, who spent many years developing his craft behind the wheel of
Formula Fords around the Barbagallo layout, is competing in his first V8
Supercar event at Barbagallo this weekend.
By the end of the day McNally had shaved almost a second off his time from
the first session to finish with a time of 58.6752 seconds, just over half a
second outside the top twenty.
His time could have been even better if it wasn't for an engine issue late
in the practice session, which forced the #16 Hi-Tec Oils Holden Commodore
into the pit area prior to the end of the session.
Championship leader Jamie Whincup set the pace in today's practice ahead of
Fabian Coulthard and James Courtney.
WHAT MARK HAD TO SAY ...
Mark McNally - #16 Hi-Tec Oils Holden Commodore:
"It does help to know the track but it's a lot different between driving a
V8 Supercar and a 500kg Formula Ford, which I've done about a million laps
in, around here," said McNally.
"We went out there with a pretty good attack at it, albeit for P29, we were
right on the main bunch and only got held up on one of my late flying laps
and then missed the last 15 minutes due to an engine drama.
"It looks like we broke a piston, which means there will be an engine change
overnight. It would have been nice to put in a strong lap, as there was
probably a 58.2 or 58.3 in the car.
"I think we can go ahead with some confidence and look at a good run
tomorrow."
-credit: h-tor
