Triple F Racing Gold Coast event summary

Triple F Racing endured a tough weekend at the concrete jungle that is the Surfers Paradise street circuit, which saw the team in a constant struggle to find lap speed for the #12 WesTrac entered Falcon.

Gianni Morbidelli

Photo by: John Maricic

Saturday's qualifying was marred by a brief rain shower early in the session which meant Fiore missed his flying lap as he hadn't yet banked a quick time on new rubber, resulting in 27th grid spot for the first of the 300km races.

Gianni Morbidelli started the race on Saturday and pegged away at several positions and was running solidly before handing over the car to Fiore after his minimum requirement of co-driver laps. Fiore double stinted in the race and managed to take the chequered flag in 20th position.

The team was reasonably happy with time Fiore set in the early stages of Sunday's qualifying, which was seven tenths faster than the car had gone all weekend. However, later in the session when the other drivers were setting their quickest times, the WesTrac Falcon was struggling with under steer which couldn't be eradicated for the remainder of the session.

In an attempt to get a jump on the competition, the team decided to take the gamble and get Fiore to start Sunday's 102 lap journey, where he was the only regular driver starting on the grid.

The risk paid dividends until a faulty bollard sensor saw Fiore issued with a drive through penalty which forced the #12 Falcon to pass through pit-lane at a painfully slow pace. After a spate of supposed incorrect penalties, the bollard system was turned off straight after Fiore served the penalty costing the team dearly.

After Fiore took the car to over half race distance and was at one stage sitting in fourth prior to pitting, Morbidelli took to the wheel. Unfortunately after only a handful of laps, Morbidelli was an innocent victim to a charging D'Alberto which saw him turned around facing the wrong way at turn 12.

In an odd turn of events, a track marshal then waved Morbidelli on to turn the car around right into an oncoming Jason Bright. This resulted in considerable damage to both cars and ended their races prematurely.

"I think Gianni did a fantastic job all weekend, and was just a victim of circumstances on Sunday.

"It was great to see him again and hopefully we can bring him back again next year," Fiore said.

"In a way I am slightly relieved the co-driver rounds are over, as I can now focus on the last three rounds and bringing it home strong."

The series takes a two week break before the championship battle resumes at the Falken Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains from November 11-13.