Dodo Racing Team driver Jack Perkins battled the heat in the Queensland House and Land.com 300 today.

The temperature inside the cabin of the #11 Dodo Holden Commodore soared to in excess of 50 degrees Celsius, and to make Perkins’ life more difficult his cool suit failed early in the race.  Perkins also lost another cooling hose inside the car forcing him complete the 65-lap race without the two cooling aids.

Jack Perkins in the Dodo Commodore at Ipswich

“We had cool suit failure on about lap 3. The air blower nose came off the cool box as well, so it was tough to get on with it,” said Perkins.

The Dodo Racing Team’s strategy for Perkins relied on the race having a Safety Car period. This did not happen forcing Perkins to pit an extra time out of the normal sequence.

“We were hoping for a Safety Car today to really utilise our soft tyres. It didn’t happen so it was good to finish and I’m looking forward to the next race,” said Perkins.

Perkins went on to cross the line in 26th place. Will Davison won today’s race ahead of Craig Lowndes and Russell Ingall.

The next race in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series is the L&H 500, the first of the two endurance races, at Phillip Island on September 11-13.

2009 V8 Supercar Championship Standings
Championship Points – After Race 16 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 2007
2. Will Davison 1824
3. Garth Tander 1479
4. Craig Lowndes 1478
5. Steven Johnson 1374
6. Mark Winterbottom 1332
7. Lee Holdsworth 1269
8. Russell Ingall 1187
9. James Courtney 1154
10. Michael Caruso 1134
26. Jack Perkins 534

RESULTS: Queensland House and Land.com Race 2
1. #22 Will Davison 65 laps
2. #888 Craig Lowndes
3. #39 Russell Ingall
4. #5 Mark Winterbottom
5. #10 Paul Dumbrell
6. #34 Michael Caruso
7. #6 Steven Richards
8. #18 James Courtney
9. #25 Jason Bright
26. #11 Jack Perkins

RESULTS: Sunday Qualifying
1. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:10.5290
2. #25 Jason Bright 1:10.5443
3. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:10.6263
4. #18 James Courtney 1:10.6583
5. #22 Will Davison 1:10.6746
6. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:10.7040
7. #111 Fabian Coulthard 1:10.7131
8. #39 Russell Ingall 1:10.7201
9. #2 Garth Tander 1:10.7442
10. #6 Steven Richards 1:10.7902
27. #11 Jack Perkins 1:11.6149

QUEENSLAND HOUSE AND LAND.COM 300 DETAILS:

Circuit: Queensland Raceway
Location: Ipswich, Queensland
Circuit Length: 3.12 kilometres
Format: 33-lap race (Saturday) and 65-lap race (Sunday)
2008 Polesitter: James Courtney
2008 Race 1 Winner: James Courtney
2008 Race 2 Winner: Mark Winterbottom
2008 Race 3 Winner: Mark Winterbottom