George only managed seven laps on Friday’s practice prior to qualifying late in the afternoon as a result of clutch problems. This was a significant hurdle in the preparations since George had never raced this circuit before and needed the seat time to get familiar with the high speed circuit that sees the V8 Supercars doing in excess of 240km/h through turn one after the very long main straight and in excess of 280km/h through turn two!
With the team managing to get the car ready a few minutes prior to qualifying, George managed to qualify a credible 13th on the grid.
George had worked his way up to ninth place in Race One with less than three laps to go when he was hit by another competitor, effectively ending his charge.
The broken rear wheel and steering system as well as the body damage on the Jaguar were repaired by the pit crew prior to Race Two although George had to start from the back of the grid. With the car still suffering from the Race One incident and handling poorly, George still managed to beat his qualifying time by 1,2 seconds and brought the Jaguar home in sixth place and fifth overall in the V8 Supercar category for the weekend.
Final overall standings were: 1) Larry Wilford – Chev Corvette; 2) Franco Di Matteo – Jaguar XKR; 3) Daron Gudmanz – Chev Corvette; 4) Jody Van Zummeren – Chev Corvete; 5) George Smith – Jaguar XKR; 6) Ben Morgenrood – Ford Mustang; 7) Bevan Schwarz – Chev Corvette; 8) Steve Herbst – Chev Corvette; 9) Mackie Adlem – Jaguar XKR; 10) Clare Vale – Ford Mustang.
