A starting spot outside the Top 10 did little to deter Tim Blanchard today in the first of three races in the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. As expected the grid was a mix of regular series runners and a host of big name drivers getting some race miles for the upcoming season. Qualifying did not go as well as the Sonic Team driver had hoped however a 12th spot still meant a good result could be achieved over the 14 lap race.

And achieve it he did! A first lap drama with team mate Rod Jane & Luke Youlden saw a Safety Car on track but then Tim began to make his move. Within two laps Tim had broken into the Top 10 and set about chasing down a big group in front of him. This included Fiore, Zukanovic, Douglas and a retiring David Reynolds. The Safety Car again came out late in the race for Reynolds retirement however Tim was now in 6th place and sitting right with Craig Baird in the Winton winning Commodore. From a tough qualifying and start came a great result and more points towards the Championship.

Quotes from Tim post race:

'Qualifying was really frustrating. We gained little on the new tyres and ended way back in 12th. The car was losing a lot of time through the last sector. I felt we had a good race car and this proved to be the case over the 14 laps.'

"The Safety Car at the start really did not do me any favours as I was still in 12th after lap 1 however once we got the green flag the car hooked up well and I could pick off the guys in front to get up with that lead group. I ran very close to Baird in the final laps but had to settle for 6th.'

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