Moffat Impresses In Fujitsu Debut
A win in his rookie appearance and a third place in his second event was enough to net Sonic Motor Racing Services driver James Moffat a second place overall for the first round of the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series at the Clipsal 500 this weekend.
It was a tremendous debut for the former Carrera Cup and Formula Ford Rookie of the Year though naturally the second generation Victorian hard charger would have preferred to take the round win if possible.
“Moff did a good job all weekend,” said Sonic Motor Racing Services Principal Michael Ritter, “all in all he was fast and we learned a lot about the car and the way Moff drives it. We can’t complain too much by any means, we just need to work on the sponsorship to ensure that James is a long term proposition.”
The sponsorship side of things for Moffat took a turn for the better Friday morning when the V8DVS naming rights sponsor Fujitsu stepped in a showed some interest in supporting the young turk after he set the fastest time in the first practice session of the weekend.
“At this stage we’re grateful for what Fujitsu have done for us this weekend, it’s been very helpful and a great confidence boost. I hope we can talk about something that will increase their involvement with us, we could really use it.”
Somebody else who threw everything into the Sonic Moffat assault this weekend was Trevor from Enkosi who provided invaluable logistics support for the team.
Talented South Australian wheel twister Bryce Washington had every reason to believe that this weekend would be a spectacular one in his magnificent Harrop Engineering Falcon, but bad luck and another car intervened in Race One.
Washington’s car was struck under safety car conditions from behind by another competitor as Bryce was weaving and warming up his tyres.
The damage to the car may total as much as $100,000 and ended the weekend on a bitter and disappointing note for the quietly spoken Adelaide racer.
“Bryce is devastated, naturally,” said Sonic Motor Racing Services Director Maria Ritter, “apart from the damage and the expense, it’s the disappointment of knowing that his whole Championship season is now under a cloud in terms of the points chase. It’s hard to even imagine how disappointed he is.”
Bryce missed the second race but is expected to return with team mate Moffat for the second round of the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series at Winton Motor Raceway in May.
Contact Wade Aunger on 0428 187 850 for more information on Sonic Motor Racing Services PR
