It was a tough day for Mobil 1™ Boost Mobile Racing today in Townsville, with Scott Pye finishing 14th, and James Courtney 18th, in the first of two 200km races for the weekend.
Scott Pye’s charge through the field in the closing stages was the highlight of a day that didn’t go to script for the team.
In a reduced schedule with qualifying being the first session this morning, both cars struggled for drive on the green tyre, meaning JC would start today from 15th, and Scott 19th.
200kms awaited them, on a track renowned for being hard on rear tyres throughout the race.
JC’s day was put on the back foot early, when he was tagged by Tander on lap 2, spinning him around and putting him to the rear of the field.
Scott got off the line well, but couldn’t get clear air amongst a gaggle of cars all fighting for position.
JC was the first in the field to stop, coming in on lap 14, while Scott went longer, stopping on lap 23.
A long middle stint for James meant he had to nurse the tyre, while Scott was making ground on the pack in front.
After the second round of stops, the boys were nose to tail.
A safety car with 15-laps to go was when the team took the gamble by pitting Scott for a third time, meaning he would have fresher tyres than those around him in the final few laps.
After dropping back to 21st, he carved his way through to 14th by the flag.
Contact from Goulding on the final lap relegated JC back a spot to 18th.
Overall, a testing day, but tonight we have the chance to develop our cars’ potential. Accordingly, tomorrow we’ve got another 200kms ahead of us, with the focus on turning things around.
Scott Pye
“The last few laps were a bit of fun picking off a few cars, but overall it was a tough day.
“We just struggled for balance on the new tyre, not getting the gains out of it we had hoped.
“Not the best day we’ve had at the office, but it won’t stop us. Everyone is already hard at work to make sure we turn things around.”
James Courtney
“Facing the wrong way definitely wasn’t the plan, especially being the innocent party on the outside.
“It put us on the back foot so from there it was a slog.
“Everyone did well to get back up the field a little bit, but the car just wasn’t quite there. No one is dropping their heads though, we’ve got a job to do tomorrow and I’m confident we can improve and move forward.”