Homework to do for BJR before first race in Adelaide
There is work ahead for the Brad Jones Racing team after qualifying for Race 27.
While the practice session earlier in the day showed signs of promise and the four BJR drivers were comfortable with the stability of their Camaros, the qualifying session didn’t go according to plan.
With less than a second covering first to 23rd, the field was super tight in qualifying.
Andre Heimgartner in the R&J Batteries Camaro was the fastest of the BJR quartet, setting a 1:19.5666 to which put him in 17th
Middy’s Electrical’s Bryce Fullwood’s 1:20.0271 means he starts tomorrow’s race from 21st.
It was a disappointing session also for Macauley Jones who had confidence following Practice 2.
The Pizza Hut Racing driver’s fastest lap was a 1:20.0817 and he’ll start from 24th tomorrow.
Meanwhile team-mate Jack Smith in the SCT Logistics car will line-up on the grid beside Jones, in 25th having set a 1:20.7347.
The four drivers will work with their engineers overnight to fine tune their cars’ setup, with Practice 3 (9:45 ACDT) an opportunity to validate those theories.
The focus turns to long-run pace with the 250km race tomorrow afternoon (14:50 ACDT).
Super2
The dual qualifying sessions for Super2 proved tough going with red flag interruptions in both sessions difficult to navigate for rookie Lochie Dalton.
The Tasmanian qualifying 12th for the Saturday race, with the session called early and Dalton not able to complete his final flying run.
Qualifying 2 also threw weather at the young-gun, who again, wasn’t able to finish his final lap with a red flag bringing the session to a close two minutes early.
The difficult qualifying means that Dalton starts the Sunday race from 17th.
Super2 are on track tomorrow for their 30 minute race at 13:25 (ACDT).
Supercars Quoteboard
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars Driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
"We had a big mix today, practice wasn’t too bad we were just turning the car for qualifying and seeing what we had. It was dry today, thank god. Qualifying didn’t go to plan for us, we ended up 17th. So we’ll see how we go in the race tomorrow, we’ve got a good race car so we’ll see if we can race forward. But a bit disappointing but we’ll see what we can learn for the next qualifying."
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars Driver, #14 Middy's Electrical Camaro
"Challenging day here for us today. Practice didn't go the best for us , neither did qualifying. So we've got a little bit of work to do overnight. Probably all our cars weren't that strong in qualifying. So we've definitely got some work to do overnight. We've got another practice tomorrow to try some changes. So looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow and hopefully can go forward and race."
Jack Smith
Supercars Driver, #4 SCT Logistics Camaro
"Yeah, rough day today. Practice was moving in the right direction. We just didn't find the speed we needed in quali at all. It was a shame to qualify like we did. We've got another practice session tomorrow which is quite unique and quite convenient considering our position. Looking forward to practice in the morning and a good race in the afternoon."
Macauley Jones
Supercars Driver, #96 Pizza Hut Camaro
"Up and down day really. Felt we had some good strength in practice. But trying to qualify that car, it didn’t unlock the peak speed we need to maximise lap time. Bit of work to do but with the format of the weekend and another practice session it gives us another chance to have a reset overnight as a team and make some changes before we get racing. Not happy but keep chipping away and finding a good balance for the last couple races of the season."
Super2 Quoteboard
Lochie Dalton
Super2 driver, #43 AWC ZB Commodore
"It was pretty disappointing day. Both quali sessions were interrupted with red flags and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of them with where we start now. With the pit position bay we just sort of missed out on that last flying lap where it costs us at the red flag. Anyway push on and start from 12th and 17th tomorrow so got some work to do."