Barbagallo Raceway

Hazelwood ready to bounce back after fifth placing on day one

Dunlop Development Series, Todd Hazelwood Racing
Hazelwood in Practice yesterday. Credit: Jake Burgess/0-100 Photography

Hazelwood in Practice yesterday. Credit: Jake Burgess/0-100 Photography

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN Todd Hazelwood has placed fifth in practice for Round 2 of the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series at Barbagallo Raceway for the Perth SuperSprint this weekend.

The round is coming off the bat from a successful test day last week at Matt Stone Racing’s home track at Queensland Raceway, and the 19-year-old is confident going into qualifying tomorrow.

“Our performance in Practice 2 was very encouraging and showed that we have genuine speed to compete for the podium this weekend,” Hazelwood said.

“I was held up in traffic on my fastest lap which cost me time.

“We have good potential to move further forward tomorrow and hopefully we can put it all together in the short qualifying session tomorrow, as the times are very close so the smallest mistake will be costly.”

The teenager believes that preserving the tyres as much as possible will help this weekend in the races.

“The practice session was rather frustrating as the first few flying laps of the session were the fastest, and then for the last 30 minutes we were making good progress with set-up but didn’t have enough tyre life left to get a reading if we were making progress or not,” Hazelwood said.

“But it was good to have a long run on the tyres and see how long they lasted.

“We had good speed on old tyres, which will help us with long high tyre degradation tomorrow.”

The South Australian will head into Round 2 of the championship at Perth sitting inside the top ten of the Dunlop Development Series in ninth position on 174 points.

The Mike Kable Young Gun managed to finish fourth on debut at Barbagallo last year, and wants to go that step further gaining his first podium in the series.

Today’s racing kicks off with Qualifying and Race 1, which will be live on Foxtel.

Racing schedule: Perth SuperSprint (Live on Fox 5)
Saturday
Qualifying 1 – 11:55 (40 minutes)
Race 1 – 14:15 (28 laps)
Sunday
Race 2 – 10:10 (28 laps)
Race 3 – 12:45 (28 laps)

Screen Shot 2015-05-02 at 12.21.31 PM

Advertisement

Fourth Position Overall for Hazelwood at Perth

Dunlop Development Series, Todd Hazelwood Racing
Todd Hazelwood. Photo credit: Cam Waters

Todd Hazelwood. Photo credit: Cam Waters

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN Todd Hazelwood has finished an astounding fourth place for Round 3 of the Dunlop Development Series at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth.

The 18-year-old held off his more experienced rivals in the thrilling final race for the round, closely finishing in fifth position.

Hazelwood was only 12-points shy from his first Dunlop Series podium, but still managed his personal best result finishing fourth for the round.

“It was such an awesome feeling to have two top five finishes this weekend, there has been so much work going on behind the scenes to produce this result and I’m really proud to accomplish this,” Hazelwood said.

“I had some great battles throughout the race and it was tough to decide weather to push hard or conserve tyres, but with a great team behind me I was able to maximise both and have strong speed towards the end of the race.

“It’s great to race against ex-V8 Supercar drivers in this field, not only am I learning a lot but it also proves to myself that I have what it takes to mix it with some of the best.”

The youngster is now planning to find funding for the next round of the Dunlop Series at Townsville.

“With today’s great result, hopefully I have now proven to potential sponsors that I have what it takes to be racing in the V8 Supercars field,” Hazelwood continued.

“It would be great to find a major sponsor for Round 4 of the championship at Townsville.

“We would love to back-up our strong results produced in Perth, continuing our strong consistent form in both the rookie standings and the overall championship.”

Hazelwood currently leads the Dunlop Series rookie standings, and with today’s result the rookie has moved up to ninth in the championship on 510 points, with only 84 points separating ninth to third in the championship.

The next round of the Dunlop Development Series will be held as the Castrol Townsville 500 in conjunction with the V8 Supercars, over July 4-6.

Screen Shot 2014-05-15 at 1.52.28 PM

Dunlop Series Personal Best for Hazelwood Finishing Fifth in Perth

Dunlop Development Series, Todd Hazelwood Racing
Todd Hazelwood. Photo: Naomi Maltby

Todd Hazelwood. Photo: Naomi Maltby

TODD Hazelwood has finished his personal best in the Dunlop Development Series, coming home for Race 1 of Round 3 of the Dunlop Development Series in fifth position at Barbagallo Raceway.

The 18-year-old is ecstatic with today’s results, and believed it was only a matter of time before he could produce a top five result.

“What a fantastic way to start our weekend, with fifth place in Race 1,” Hazelwood said.

“It’s great to see all of the hard work we have all put in this year start to pay off and this is a great way to say thank you to everyone who believed in me, making this opportunity possible.

“It was quite a long race, I knew the key thing at the start was to look after my tyres to have something to work with at the end of the race.”

Hazelwood also set three fastest laps towards the closing stages of the race.

Tomorrow’s Race 2 will be a reverse-grid top ten, placing the teenager in sixth spot on the grid.

“Really looking forward starting from sixth position tomorrow in the reverse top-ten race,” Hazelwood continued.

“We know we have good car speed, so hopefully we can get a good start again and aim for another strong result.

The teenager is leading the rookie standings and with today’s result is now inside the top ten of the Dunlop Development Series Championship sitting in 10th position.

The second race for Round 3 of the championship will begin tomorrow at 11:40am (AWST), check your local guides for the television coverage of the race.

Race schedule – Perth 400 Barbagallo Raceway

Sunday: 11:40: Race 2 (38 laps) check local guides for television coverage

Screen Shot 2014-05-15 at 1.52.28 PM

Hazelwood Race Ready for Debut at Perth 400

Dunlop Development Series, Todd Hazelwood Racing

TODD Hazelwood is set for his debut at Barbagallo Raceway for Round 3 of the Dunlop Development Series, after having a successful test day at Queensland Raceway with Matt Stone Racing last week.

The South Australian is currently leading the Rookie standings in the Dunlop Series, and is currently 11th overall in the championship, looking to further his championship status this weekend at the Perth 400.

“I cannot wait to get back into the car this weekend for the Perth 400, it will be my first time around the circuit so it will be a challenge to learn the track fast to get up-to-speed to my competitors,” Hazelwood said.

“The track at Barbagallo is one I’ve been looking forward to, as it has some unique aspects other Australian circuits don’t have and from what I’ve been told is tricky to look after the tyres.

“The team and I had a very successful test day last week at Queensland Raceway, and I am forever learning more about how to get the best out of the V8 Supercar and I feel I have made some key improvements that will help me greatly this weekend.”

The 18-year-old also has a sponsor coming on-board for the round at Perth – the Pool Shop Group who trade from two locations, Kalamunda in the Hills and Floreat in the Western Suburbs of Perth.

Todd's new sponsor for the weekend

Todd’s new sponsor for the weekend

Owner of the Pool Shop Courtney Bishop said they are very excited to be sponsoring the teenager, and that they are not new to motorsport sponsorship, after partnering with the Perth Motorplex for many years.

“The Pool Shop Group is very excited to announce a new partnership with up-and-coming V8 Supercar racer Todd Hazelwood,” Bishop said.

“After contact with Todd and viewing his impressive resume and career plans, it was a no-brainer to get our brand behind this young star.”

Round 3 of the Dunlop Development Series Championship will begin Friday morning, with Hazelwood to hit the circuit for the first time for Practice 1 at 9:15am (AWST).

Race schedule – Perth 400 Barbagallo Raceway

Friday:  09:15: Practice 1 (40 minutes)
13:10: Practice 2 (40 minutes)

Saturday:11:00: Qualifying 1 (40 minutes)
13:25: Race 1 (38 laps) live on Seven

Sunday:   11:40: Race 2 (38 laps)
Screen Shot 2014-05-15 at 1.52.28 PM