Top Kiwi V8 Supercar series pairing Shane van Gisbergen and John McIntyre are aiming for a better finish as they tackle their second L&H 500 endurance race together at Victoria's fast, flowing Phillip Island circuit this weekend.
The Stone Brothers Racing/SP Tools Ford Falcon pair qualified sixth last year butwere an early casualty of a mystery engine problem which slowed but never quite stopped the SP Tools Falcon and meant that, although they made it to the finish line, they finished a lowly 27th.
Van Gisbergen had previously twice finished 10th at the annual endurance season opener at Phillip Island, with team-mate Alex Davison in 2009 and with Jonathan Webb in 2008.
The L&H 500 meeting has a unique format with individual 20-minute qualifying sessions and 14-lap/60km qualifying races for each driver on Saturday and a shared 113-lap/500km enduro on Sunday.
A good run from each driver is important on Saturday because the grid for Sunday's enduro is based on the combined result from the two sprint races.
All three races will be on the regular hard tyre, rather than the softer sprint one used at recent events.
After a third-placed finish in the second race at the eighth round of the 2011 V8 Supercar series in Queensland last month, van Gisbergen has consolidated third place in the series points standings behind Team Vodafone team-mates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.
1. Jamie Whincup 1895 2. Craig Lowndes 1797 3. Shane van Gisbergen 1502 4. Rick Kelly 1418 5. Steven Johnson 1345 6. Garth Tander 1321 7. Mark Winterbottom 1321 8. Will Davison 1302 9. Alex Davison 1255 10. Lee Holdsworth 1140
