Scott Pye has finished race 14 at Winton Raceway in eighth, and James Courtney 13th, both moving forward in the 200km, 67-lap race.

Pye held of fast finishing cars on fresh-rubber following a late-race safety car, while JC recovered to pick up two spots from his starting position after Chaz Mostert pushed him off the track early, costing him four spots on the road.

Scott began the day by advancing directly through to stage two of qualifying following the eighth best time in practice, while JC had to go through Q1.

Qualifying saw Pye set the 14th, and JC the 15th best time. Both cars didn’t quite have the rear end grip that saw them both inside the top-10 yesterday.

Strategies were split in the race. JC stopped on lap 5, while Scott was one of the last cars to take his first stop, 18-laps later.

In the middle stint, Mostert cannoned into the back of Courtney at the second last corner, pushing him off the track, before re-joining four spots down the order. Mostert was given a 15-second penalty as a result.

JC was once again one of the first cars to take his second stop, meaning he had 42-laps to get home, while Scott stopped with 30 to go, with majority of the rest.

The race was uneventful until a safety car was called with 10-laps to go to rescue a stranded Davison car.

It meant a few cars took a gamble with new tyres, while both our cars stayed out.

Pye had his hands, and mirror full in the final five laps, having to hold off both Percat and Mostert on brand new tyres, but he fought to the end and kept them at bay, making it consecutive top-10 finishes for the weekend.

A few of the other cars that stopped snuck by JC, but considering the age of his tyres, he did a great job to bring it home in 13th.

Reflecting on the weekend, there were some clear inroads made which was pleasing.

We’ve still got plenty of work ahead of us, but you can guarantee everyone will keep their heads down these next two weeks before we head to Darwin.

Scott Pye

“Overall it was not a bad weekend.

“Today’s race was pretty tough, that late safety car meant that we had those guys on new tyres to battle with, but it was good fun.

“We’re not spraying champagne just yet, but two top 10’s gives us plenty to build on as we head to Darwin. We’ll have our heads down working hard before then to make sure we keep moving in the right direction.”

James Courtney

“Today wasn’t quite as good as yesterday, we struggled for drive off the corner in qualifying and we had to deal with a few issues in the race like the incident with Mostert, but still, it was good to move forward.

“Overall I think we made some inroads this weekend. Once again, Terry, Carl and the whole team worked really well together, and there were positives to take from it all. We’ve got plenty to build from after this weekend.

“Everyone will be straight back into it tomorrow as we prepare for Darwin. I’m looking forward to getting up to the top-end!”