Zukanovic recovers for eighth outright

February 23, 2008

Despite a difficult start to his 2008 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series campaign, Opes Prime Racing’s Marcus Zukanovic recorded a strong finish in the shortened second Clipsal 500 support race, to be classified eighth overall for the season opener.

Arriving in Adelaide better prepared than the team had ever been during their relatively short time in the category, Marcus was full of anticipation for the opening round, keen to improve on his difficult start to his ’07 campaign, so it was with great frustration that he lined up for the opening practice session with a debilitating headache.

“It was a hell of a way to get the season underway, but we battled on. I really struggled with practice and was well off the pace I was expecting. In the end I couldn’t shake it till qualifying and found a full two seconds,” he confirmed.

As was expected, former Supercar Championship Series regulars Dean Canto, Jack Perkins and Steve Owen put themselves off the first three positions for the opening race thanks to their qualifying speed, with Marcus recovering to be a less than perfect 15th, but a respectable position from which to mount a recovery.

Off the start of the first race, Marcus enjoyed one of his trademark strong starts and powered into tenth by the close of the opening lap but soon started to struggle with a push into the many 90 degree corners. “It started strongly and I thought wow, here we go, but then I really started to struggle. I honestly thought with the way practice had gone that it was me, and I really started to drive the thing hard to compensate, but even that didn’t help. After reviewing the data post-race with Glenn (Seton) it showed there was an issue with the setup, so we’ll make a change for Saturday’s second race and see how we go from there.”

As expected the fight for the lead of the opening race was between the three ‘experienced’ Supercar stars, with Canto holding an early lead before suffering from a fuel-pump issue, which handed the lead to Owen. Together with Perkins, the two Holden stars drove away from the field, with former local Tim Slade promoted to third. By the close of the 24-lapper Marcus had dropped to thirteenth, but with valuable series points, something the team were unable to attract 12 months prior.

From the start of the final race it was clear Marcus was on a mission. “The car felt awesome, no problem at all and I was feeling pretty strong too, so I just stuck the head down and charged.”

Three cars on the opening lap and two more by lap seven saw Marcus holding down eighth before Ashley Cooper’s unfortunate turn eight accident brought out the safety car, the field circulating for ten laps as safety crews attended to Cooper before the race was declared after 18 laps, Marcus classified eighth for race two, and eighth for the weekend.

“Our thoughts go out to Ashley’s family - he’s a hell of a nice bloke and a good steerer. We’ve had many good races together in V8 Utes and Commodore Cup, I just hope he pulls out okay.”

Race 1 (24-laps)
1. Steve Owen (VZ Commodore)
2. Jack Perkins (VZ Commodore)
3. Tim Slade (VZ Commodore)
4. Dale Wood (VZ Commodore)
5. Grant Denyer (BA Falcon)
6. Matthew White (BA Falcon)
7. Michael Trimble (VZ Commodore)
8. Karl Reindler (BA Falcon)
9. Jonathon Webb (BA Falcon)
10. Brett Hobson (VZ Commodore)
13. Marcus Zukanovic (Opes Prime VZ Commodore)

Race 2 (declared after 18-laps)
1. Steve Owen (VZ Commodore)
2. Jack Perkins (VZ Commodore)
3. Dale Wood (VZ Commodore)
4. Michael Trimble (VZ Commodore)
5. Grant Denyer (BA Falcon)
6. Brett Hobson (VZ Commodore)
7. Karl Reindler (BA Falcon)
8. Marcus Zukanovic (Opes Prime VZ Commodore)
9. David Reynolds (VZ Commodore)
10. Dean Canto (BA Falcon)

Fujitsu Series V8 Supercar Championship points
(after one round of seven)
1. Steve Owen (VZ Commodore - 300 points)
2. Jack Perkins (VZ Commodore - 276)
3. Dale Wood (VZ Commodore - 249)
4. Grant Denyer (BA Falcon - 222)
5. Michael Trimble (VZ Commodore - 216)
6. Karl Reindler (BA Falcon - 186)
7. Brett Hobson (VZ Commodore - 180)
8. Marcus Zukanovic (Opes Prime VZ Commodore - 156)
9. David Reynolds (VZ Commodore - 138)
10. Mark McNally (VZ Commodore - 132)

The Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series is televised on Channel 7, check local guides for details. Round #2 of the 2008 Fujitsu Series is scheduled for Wakefield Park (Goulburn) on April 4-6.

Opes Prime provides prime brokerage services to financial market participants and to sophisticated investors. The prime brokerage services include securities lending and borrowing, asset management, structured products, trade execution and corporate finance/advisory. Opes Prime has offices in Melbourne (head office), Sydney and Singapore. Visit www.opesprime.com for more details.

For further information or images, please call Opes Prime Racing’s media manager Sean Henshelwood on 0419 143 267