James Courtney drove his Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing Commodore to eighth, and Scott Pye 16th in race 19 of the championship, the first of two this weekend.

That was a gain of four places for JC and two for Scott over the 120kms. JC also broke his own lap record, set in 2017, in the process.

After a qualifying session that saw both cars further down the field than hoped, the boys showed great fight throughout the race.

Both went longer than most of the field in the first stint, effectively splitting the race in half, and stopping one lap after the other.

The strategy seemingly paid off with the both cars popping out slightly down the order, but with the advantage of fresher tyres.

JC found himself locked in a battle for the top 6 with Whincup, Reynolds and Mostert, but just couldn’t find a way past in the dying stages.

Scott found himself in heavy traffic for the opening stages, picking off a few at the end to move forward. Despite the overall balance of the car being good, he just needed a little more in certain spots of the track to have the opportunity to overtake.

Moving forward, and setting a new lap record was pleasing, but these gains must continue as we look to qualify further up the grid tomorrow.

As always, we appreciate the support, and will work hard overnight before a big Sunday at Ipswich.

James Courtney

“The car was speedy, just not in the places we needed to get past.

“We used a lot of the tyre to get to where we were, so I just didn’t have much at the end.

“The guys made a good call on strategy, so we will look to step it up again overnight and move further forward.”

Scott Pye

“The race package was good today, but we just needed a little more in certain spots which would have really allowed us to move through the field.

“It would have made a big difference being able to clear the cars in front, so that’s what we will be looking at overnight, while making sure we are further up the grid.”