Tim Blanchard has had a day of highs and lows in the first race of round 4 of the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series. The #27 Jayco / Cool Drive / Sanden Falcon had benefited from some overnight work by the MWR crew. Tim was looking for this to translate in Qualifying but although again running quick times, the final sheets saw Tim in 16th place.

'The car was better for sure but the second run was not any quicker.' Tim said after qualifying. 'A 10th of second quicker was good enough for a top 10 start, but we just did not get it' he added.

The first of three races for the Fujitsu series turned into a wild affair right from the first turn. A multi car incident involving Emery, Douglas and Russell put them out and saw cars taking avoiding action. Tim skilfully dived to the left and onto the dirt as the accident happened and got through unscathed. Lap 1 bought more action just one corner later with Perkins and Percat getting together and once more Blanchard was faced with spinning cars. He emerged after the end of the lap in a stunning 6th place having avoided everything and moving up 8 spots. The field settled behind the Safety Car as the officials cleaned the track, finally releasing the field on Lap 7.

With another safety car called on lap 9, racing laps were becoming a premium. Blanchard was settled into 6th place and was closing on Cam McConville when the car locked its brakes at the end of the back straight. Recovering quickly, Tim had lost five spots and the good work of his charge through the pack.

'I was determined not to get involved in all the carnage and came out in good shape. At the restarts I could hold onto the front pack but could see that they were all over each other, so I just kept the gap and thought about the points.' Tim said 'But at turn 3, I had the brake pedal go long again and locked it up. It was the first time the brake issues from Friday had come back but at just the wrong time.' Tim explained.

An 11th place at the flag was not the result Tim and the MWR team deserved after a heady race. With two races to run on Sunday Blanchard is looking at a strong recovery for the round.

The race was won by Scott McLaughlin from Andrew Thompson and Paul Morris