Scott Pye has crossed the line in sixth place in race 24 of the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at The Bend, while James Courtney finished 13th.
After addressing the qualifying issue overnight, this morning was much more positive, with Scott setting the fourth quickest time, and JC the seventh. Both cars were much more balanced than yesterday’s session.
The 200km, 41-lap race journey was relatively uneventful, especially compared with yesterday’s race.
Once the flag dropped, JC pitted at the end of lap one searching for clear air, while Scott settled into fifth.
After 18 laps, both cars had completed their second stops, and were fuelled to get home.
From there, Pye was engaged in a battle for fifth, while JC was in a gaggle of cars looking for a top-10 finish.
In the end, Scott needed a little bit more to push into the five. JC slipped off the track in the closing stages as he battled to find the car balance he was after, dropping from 10th to 13th.
Overall, there were a lot of positives to take from today, including making genuine gains in our qualifying package.
The good news is we have another test coming up to continue that progression, before we kick-start our 2018 enduro campaign at Sandown after two weekends off.
Scott Pye
“I think we maximised our package today and got the most out of the car.
“We needed just a little bit more in the race today to move further up, but it was still a really solid result for the team.
“Qualifying was a lot better today, which makes the job a lot easier when starting up the front.
“I’m looking forward to the next test now to get some more laps, before getting Luffy back in the car as we have a crack at the enduros.”
James Courtney
“Qualifying was a definite improvement today, but we just didn’t have the same feel in the race car as we did yesterday which made life a bit tough.
“There’s some good bits to take from the weekend which we will continue to build on, especially into the test before Sandown.
“Then I get to have Jacko back in the car with me which is always nice. I’m really looking forward to it.”