It’s the night before the Bathurst 1000, and James Courtney and Jack Perkins will be starting out of position eight, while Scott Pye and Warren Luff will begin their race from 18th on the grid.
The greatest race of the year is only hours away, and the team are ready.
In what was a miserable start to the weekend weather wise, hardly any running was done on Thursday. All three sessions were completely wet. With no rain expected on Saturday or Sunday, not a lot was to be gained.
Thursday’s practice 4 began wet, but by the end the co-drivers were able to piece together a few laps in the dry. With both cars in the top-five, early signs were promising.
The rain returned for the main drivers practice 5, which meant qualifying that afternoon was the first dry laps around the circuit for Scott and JC.
For car 25, it was an electric session, consistently setting the pace throughout the 40-minutes.
After being the fastest car to the middle of his final lap, a small mistake into The Chase cost JC a top-3 spot, but he booked his ticket in Saturday’s Top-10 Shootout.
The news wasn’t as good for Car 2, with Scott struggling for drive, meaning he just didn’t have the speed needed to put the car in the 10.
Saturday morning was the first dry practice of the weekend, and Car 2 was a lot better, putting them in a good position for tomorrow’s race.
We only have to look back 12-months to see what is possible in 1000kms.
As the nation watched on, JC had a lap of Mount Panorama to himself, every Australian motorsport fan’s dream.
He set the eighth fastest time, which is where he and Jack will start the Great Race. The car wasn’t quite as balanced coming down the mountain and into the chase as it was yesterday.
All eyes are on the 11:10am start time tomorrow. We head in confident that we can challenge. Let’s get to work.
James Courtney
“The car was excellent from the first dry lap I had yesterday.
“It was a heap of fun ragging it in qualifying and being in the shootout is special. To have a lap of the mountain to yourself is incredible, but it certainly wasn’t the usual preparation having your first flying lap in qualifying that’s for sure.
“The car wasn’t quite the same in the back half of the lap as it was yesterday, but we’ve got a straight car.
“The car is good, Jack and I are confident, let’s see what tomorrow brings!”
Jack Perkins
“The car was good in all conditions out of the box so full credit to the team.
“James did a fantastic job in qualifying which shows the speed of the car.
“There’s plenty of work still to be done though. We’ve got 161 laps ahead of us tomorrow, in the most gruelling race of the year.
“I can’t wait.”
Scott Pye
“It’s been a really interesting weekend weather wise that’s for sure.
“The car balance wasn’t there for us in qualifying, but it was much better in practice 6.
“As we showed last year, it’s a long race, the longest of the year so there are plenty of opportunities to move forward and be in the mix in the last few laps. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Warren Luff
“We would have loved to be in the shootout, but we are still in the mix.
“The car was a lot better today, I’m confident we can really move forward tomorrow.
“It’s Bathurst, something will happen, it’s just about how we manage it and press on!”