It was a tough finish to a promising Saturday at the CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint, with the first of three races of the weekend.

We are back in action tomorrow for two qualifying sessions, and two 38-lap races.

Practice

Practice 1 saw Bryce go 1.1 seconds quicker than last week, which put him straight to second for the session. It was a big turnaround since the first event, and one that filled him with confidence for the rest of the day.

Qualifying

Bryce 10th, Chaz 12th

A stellar lap by Bryce put him in P2 at the end of stage two of qualifying, with both cars advancing to the shootout. It was one of the quickest of the weekend, as the rookie showed a few how it’s done.

In the shootout, both Bryce and Chaz had little moments which cost them time. In a tight field, which has been covered by a second for most of the day, it dropped them down the order to P10 and P12.

Race 16

Chaz 9th, Bryce 19th

The race could have been a lot shorter if both boys’ reflexes weren’t sharp, as they had milliseconds to react to a stalled Scott Pye in front of them off the line.

Bryce stopped on lap four, one of the first cars into the lane, for rear tyres, putting him out in clear air. Unfortunately, while battling with Fabian Coulthard, he had a detour off the road at turn five, which cost him three spots. The No. 2 also struggled with balance on older tyres, which put Bryce in a fight late in the race.

For Chaz, he stopped on lap 21, after being stuck in the train for the first stint. Fresher tyres than some around him meant he was on the charge late, with two highlight moves around Winterbottom and Coulthard, but the No. 25 doesn’t feel as strong as it did last weekend.

That means tonight there will be a bit of homework to do on both sides of the garage, as we get ready for two more races tomorrow at the CoreStaff SuperSprint. Both cars are chasing the same issue, with rear end stability, so the engineering group will work together to try and find a solution overnight.

Chaz Mostert

“Tough day today, top-10’s are always good, but we had to work hard for that one.

“We need to do some troubleshooting overnight with the car, to make sure we are maximising what we’ve got tomorrow, and get some more points.

“We will put our heads together tonight, work as a team, and come out swinging tomorrow!”

Bryce Fullwood

“It was a really positive start to the day, and a massive improvement with outright speed compared to last week.

“I can utilise the car’s strength really well on the new tyre, but it’s when the tyre wears our car is struggling a little.

“It was a tough race, I had a few offs, really struggling to stop the car on a worn tyre, which was disappointing.

“Both cars are having similar issues, so we will tune them up for tomorrow.”