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PRACTICE ONE TIME: 9:35-10:05 CONDITIONS: Cold, windy FINISHED: 7th - 1:15.9883 FASTEST: James Courtney - 1:15.4821
PRACTICE TWO TIME: 11:00-11:30 CONDITIONS: Cold, wind FINISHED: 5th - 1:15.5369 FASTEST: Scott McLaughlin - 1:15.2014
QUALIFYING – RACE 28 TIME: 13:25 CONDITIONS: Cold, windy FINISHED: 8th - 1:15.6687 FASTEST: Scott McLaughlin - 1:15.1994
TIME: 16:10 CONDITIONS: Sunny, cold, windy FINISHED: 6th WINNER: Scott McLaughlin
RECAP The big change for the second part of our double-header was the use of the shorter 3.41km ‘west’ Tailem Bend track configuration, providing a new test for the drivers and engineers this weekend. The conditions certainly didn’t help matters - cold, windy and a bit soggy early on too! A bit of a struggle to nail the setup in the R&J Batteries Commodore in practice and qualifying - Nick still managing to get car #8 into the top 15 shootout and grabbing 8th on the grid for the single Saturday sprint race. Tyres were a massive issue last weekend but thankfully with the shorter circuit, tyre life wasn’t expected to be as big of an issue this time around. Great start from car #8, Nick getting his elbows out and grabbing a spot to finish the lap in p7. The team decided to run long and Percat pitted from the lead on lap 21 for left side tyres only - just 10 from the finish! The R&J Batteries Supercar slotted back into the race in 7th, right behind James Courtney. With fresher tyres Nick made short work of JC for p6 and immediately started to hunt down De Pasquale who was five seconds down the road. He almost got him too, crossing the line in 6th.
THE WORD FROM NICK “Sixth for us today which is a pretty solid finish. I struggled a little in the shootout so I’m happy to come away with P6 for the race. I had a fast car and was able to dive down the inside early on in the race to gain two positions. Thanks to the team for continuing to give me a strong, competitive, car. I just need to work on qualifying better tomorrow to get the R&J Batteries Supercar up a bit closer to the front. The West Circuit has different challenges that was a first for all of us today and I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow after what we’ve learnt today”.
COMING UP SUNDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 09:10-09:20 ACST (09:40-09:50 AEST) | Qualifying – Race 29 09:30-09:40 ACST (10:00-10:10 AEST) | Qualifying – Race 30 11:50 ACST (12:20 AEST) |Race 29 / 32 Laps 14:20 ACST (14:50 AEST) | Race 30 / 32 Laps |
