BJR switches focus at Bathurst 1000
Brad Jones Racing switches focus to race preparation at the Bathurst 1000.
All four BJR cars will use Saturday’s sessions to gain some insight into race pace and to prepare for the 1000 grueling kilometers at Mount Panorama.
While qualifying didn’t go to plan for the Albury squad, there is reasonable confidence within the team that their Camaros have pace over a longer stint.
The R&J Batteries car at the hands of Andre Heimgartner eked out a time good enough for 13th on the grid come Sunday(2:05.4700), missing out on making the shootout by just under two tenths.
While Bryce Fullwood in the Middy’s Electrical Camaro had trouble getting the most out of his runs on green tyres in qualifying and will line up 21st.
The Pizza Hut Racing entry starts the Great Race out of 24th, after a solid qualifying effort by driver Macauley Jones.
Jack Smith in the SCT Logistics Camaro will looks to charge forward come Sunday, starting from grid position 27th.
After the Sandown 500, where the BJR cars made up a considerable amount of positions in the race, there are similar expectations among the crew that the longer format race can see the Camaros climb the order.
With two practice sessions still on the schedule for Saturday, the crew will be on track tomorrow at 10:00 AEDT.
Super 2
Lochie Dalton put together a stellar recovery drive from a small qualifying error to finish seventh in the first of two Super2 races at Mount Panorama.
Dalton, in the AWC ZB Commodore qualifying 16th overall but off the line made up several positions and was inside the top ten by the end of the first lap.
The Tasmanian will do it all again tomorrow, with qualifying underway at 8:55 AEDT.
Supercars results
Practice 3
P10 - Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood R&J Batteries Camaro
P15 - Bryce Fullwood/Dean Fiore Middy's Electrical Camaro
P24 Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys Pizza Hut Camaro
P26 - Jack Smith/Jaxon Evans SCT Logistics Camaro
Practice 4
P14 - Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood R&J Batteries Camaro
P24 - Bryce Fullwood/Dean Fiore Middy's Electrical Camaro
P26 Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys Pizza Hut Camaro
P28 - Jack Smith/Jaxon Evans SCT Logistics Camaro
Qualifying
P13 - Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood R&J Batteries Camaro
P21 - Bryce Fullwood/Dean Fiore Middy's Electrical Camaro
P24 Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys Pizza Hut Camaro
P27 - Jack Smith/Jaxon Evans SCT Logistics Camaro
Super2 results
Qualifying
P16 - Lochie Dalton AWC ZB Commodore
Race 1
P7 - Lochie Dalton AWC ZB Commodore
Supercars Quoteboard
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars Driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
"It wasn't terrible for us, but we just sort of lacked a bit of speed at the end to really get into the Top 10. That was a bit disappointing. But it's a long race and I guess we just get to work on executing and some procedural stuff tomorrow and to see where we end up. A little bit disappointing with qualifying, but, we'll just put our heads together tonight and see what plans we can come up with for the race car."
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars Driver, #14 Middy's Electrical Camaro
"Tough day I think probably for the team, especially on our car. Certainly wasn't a qualifying that we were hoping for. We have another two practices tomorrow to now really buckle down and really concentrate on the race car. I think last year here we came from 24th to ninth and so we know you can certainly come forward in this race. It's a big unknown this race so we just need to keep working on the race car. But certainly wasn't the best day for us today, but we'll keep chipping away and eyes forward to Sunday."
Dean Fiore
Supercars Co-Driver, #14 Middy's Electrical Camaro
"I drove in practice three and four which was good because I didn't get many laps yesterday. So it was good to just get back into it and find my rhythm again. I'm feeling much better today after those laps and I've got a full hour for the co-driver session tomorrow so looking forward to that."
Jack Smith
Supercars Driver, #4 SCT Logistics Camaro
"It was a tough day. We lacked some pace all day and it was pretty tricky to find. But it's a long race on Sunday. And we've got all day tomorrow to work on making a fast race car. It's good to get quali out of the way. It would have been nice to be further up, but the big day is on Sunday."
Jaxon Evans
Supercars Co-Driver, #4 SCT Logistics Camaro
"Not many laps to me today. Obviously Qualifying was the main focus so only a few laps this morning before the boys started working away at a qualifying balance for Jack. So hopefully some more laps to me tomorrow and we can keep working on our race car. Seems like we're struggling a little bit overall pace-wise, but we've got a full day of practice to rectify things and hopefully improve for Sunday"
Macauley Jones
Supercars Driver, #96 Pizza Hut Camaro
"I would say it was a pretty tough day for us finding the balance. We definitely improved it over the day, but it was a handful especially in practice. We tuned it up for the qualifying but it's really not turning on its green tyre or lighting them up. So it was probably a bit disappointing. Feel like you're working really hard for something that's not coming your way. It's not that bad It's just not that fast, which is a bit of a problem. Not the qualifying really we wanted."
Jordan Boys
Supercars Co-Driver, #96 Pizza Hut Camaro
"We worked on the race car bit in the morning and that felt like we made some positive steps. Macca took it over for quali for the day. P24which is not what we wanted, but we're pretty confident that we've got a better race car than we do a quali car so yeah, we'll be right back"
Super 2 Quoteboard
Lochie Dalton
Super 2 driver, #43 AWC ZB Commodore
"It was a pretty average in qualifying. I just made a bit of a silly error and ruined our session and hurt a tyre. So we finished 14th in Super2 and 16th overall and that was pretty disappointing. And then in race one, we got a good start off the line and then moved forward on the first lap, got up to ninth and then think we finished 7th in the end. It was a pretty good recovery and hopefully we can move forward again tomorrow"