Forsythe welcome return to form

Brown, who joined Forsythe as technical director just three races ago after being dumped by PKV Racing, said: "We have some really good developments going on at the moment, and we've been very busy over the last six weeks.

"At Sebring, Paul tried lots of little tweaks to the car in anticipation of this race, and it was a good test. We've barely changed the car since then, and those tweaks have clearly worked. It's built up Paul's confidence in the car, and in the team, and he's always quick round this place."

Tracy himself said: "We've been working hard all year to get back into a situation where we're able to contend. It's been a lot of work and a lot of help from Oriol [Servia, erstwhile teammate, now at PKV]. When he came to the team, it was a big help for us.

"It's a shame he's not here with us today because the team mood is a lot better. But he's up here too, and we're going to have to fight with him tomorrow. For me, the season has had so many low points, and this is one of the high points for us. Hopefully today I proved the old man still has some speed in him."

Tracy, who has not started outside the top four in his last 11 visits to Surfers Paradise, said: "I know where I lost the time to Will [Power, pole-sitter], and that's at the VB chicane, the fast chicane at the back of the circuit. I'm better than most through there, but Will is just freakin' mega! I lost 0.25 or 0.3 seconds to him just in that sector."

Brown confirmed this, stating: "Yeah, his sector times were the same as Will's up to that point. But hey, we'll take second quickest."

Tracy, will start third on the grid, thanks to Servia's fastest time in Friday qualifying, and will line up alongside long-time nemesis Sebastien Bourdais of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing who was a mere 0.012 seconds slower.

Asked if that will make a difference to his tactics tomorrow, Tracy said: "Well, he has everything to lose and I have nothing to lose, and so if Sebastien wants to fight for the first corner, you know I'm going to fight for it.

"I'm here to try to win the race. That's gonna be my goal heading into the race. I'm not fighting for a place in the championship. I'm excited about tomorrow, the whole team is. After all the struggles we've been through this year as a team, the confidence was down. So it's good to see all the smiles on everybody's faces."