Albert Park and the Australian Grand Prix will play host to Round 2 of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship this week, the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400.
It’s a big weekend for the team as we look to bounce back from a disappointing Adelaide at one of the biggest events on the calendar.
While Adelaide didn’t yield the results anyone within the team wanted, it’s important not to panic, and remain confident in the work that was done over the summer break to continue our progression.
Supercars will celebrate race start 1000 this weekend, a fantastic achievement for the category, and a milestone full of wonderful memories for the team.
None are more prominent in recent memory than Scott Pye’s win in the Saturday night race in 2018. Who could forget the finish in the dark, with light rain falling, as Scott held off Jamie Whincup to take the first Supercars victory of his career.
In fact, Albert Park has keen kind to us, with 20 wins from 72 races, which is a winning rate of 28 per cent.
Like last year, we are playing for points this weekend.
The format for this weekend is action packed. Four races, four qualifying sessions and two practice sessions across four days means it will be on from the moment the cars roll out on Thursday morning.
The two 25-lap races have a compulsory stop, but the two 13-lap races do not, which makes qualifying even more crucial.
We will be on the super-soft tyre this weekend, which will be sure to provide some great racing.
Cars will first hit the track at 12:50pm on Thursday, before one race Friday, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday leading in to the Formula 1 race that afternoon.
Scott Pye
“This weekend is pretty special to me, and last year was something I’ll never forget.
“We are all desperate to do it again, and while Adelaide wasn’t the weekend we had planned for, I’m still confident in our package for this weekend, and this year.
“It’s a cool event to be involved with, and everyone loves having a look over the fence to see what the F1 guys are doing, so it should be good.
James Courtney
“I’m looking forward to it, can’t wait to get out there.
“Adelaide wasn’t the weekend we were after but it’s one round out of a big season, so we need to bounce back this weekend.
“The track changes a huge amount over the weekend as the F1 guys lay rubber down, so staying ahead of that is really important.
“It’s good fun, and the crowd love the race format so I can’t wait to get out there.”