What the Supercars teams said: Bathurst 1000 Friday

There were numerous talking points from an action-packed Friday at the Bathurst 1000 and hear how the teams picked up the pieces following qualifying.
Penrite Racing: P1 Matt Payne/Garth Tander 2:05.6452 P10 Richie Stanaway/Dale Wood 2:06.1052
For the second day in a row, Matt Payne finished with the fastest time with the youngster taking provisional pole, while Stanaway snuck into the top 10 and survived a stewards investigation for holding up Fullwood.
“Really happy with today’s performance,” Payne said.
“Managed to put it together at the end and very happy with where we are at. Always room for improvement. The whole session we were behind the eight ball a little bit so was pretty happy.”
“Great job by the entire team because we did not get the quali prep we would have liked and leant on the #26 car a little bit to help set-up wise,” Tander said.
“Both cars looked really strong that session, so great turnaround.”
Tickford: P2 Cam Waters/James Moffat 2:05.6512 P19 Thomas Randle/Tyler Everingham

Image: Peter Norton
Despite three wild moments, Waters managed to come within 0.0060s of Payne, while Randle had to settle for 19th with a red flag coming at the wrong time.
“I had one coming in the Cutting, one at Skyline and another at Forests Elbow,” Waters said.
“I was just trying too find the limit and found it at those corners, so should be good for the shootout.”
Triple Eight: P3 Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup 2:05.6565 P5 Will Brown/Scott Pye 2:05.7663 P18 Cooper Murray/Craig Lowndes

Image: Mark Horsburgh
Both Red Bulls made it into the 10 with Feeney leading Brown, who was out of the bubble, whilst the wildcard struggled to replicate Thursday’s pace.
we’re in a better position than we were yesterday. It’s just super hard out there at the moment, you’re on the limit, but you do have to bring the car home in one piece,” Feeney said.
“Stoked to get in the top 10, but it was a hard day. I was out of the 10 before the last run. So, there’s a lot of pressure on us,” Brown said.
“Today was up and down. I thought we started the day with a really good car, and as the track really evolved, we didn’t follow it as best as the others,” Murray said.
Erebus Motorsport: P4 Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood 2:05.6646 P8 Jack Le Brocq 2:05.9775

Image: Peter Norton
Erebus are on the pace, with Kostecki especially rapid at different points, while Le Brocq is flying under the radar.
WAU: P6 Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth 2:05.7888 P15 Ryan Wood/Fabian Coulthard 2:06.2512

image: Peter Norton
Mostert found himself deep in the field at various times, but did enough to drag the #25 into the 10 as Wood fell a tenth and a half short.
“Super tough day but you wouldn’t expect anything different qualifying for the Bathurst 1000. We’ve been chasing our tails a bit this weekend, it’s a credit to the WAU team for trying a bunch of things and finding us a bit more speed to get into the 10,” Mostert said.
BJR: P7 Andre Heimgartner/Declan Fraser 2:05.9268 P16 Jaxon Evans/Dean Fiore 2:06.2532 P17 Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys 2:06.5656 P24 Bryce Fullwood/Jaylyn Robotham 2:06.9160

Image: Pace Images/BJR supplied
“Awesome result today to get in the ten, big group effort. We didn’t start today that amazing and we were sort of tracking the wrong way, but at the start of the qualifier, made some good tunes. And yeah, just really happy with the end outcome,” Heimgartner said.
“Really, really tough day here in our garage and our car. We didn’t quite get our last run in. We were on a really good lap to put us around the 10/11 or something like that and then got to McPhillamy Park and Stanaway was parked at the apex and I had to run off the track to avoid him. There was no yellow flags or anything and so just destroyed my lap. Now we’re at the back. So unfortunate,” Fullwood said.
“I was really happy with my first two runs in the car. I felt we were a little bit unlucky not to finish 12th or 14th. So this is good. I slightly tripped over myself in that last run,” Jones said.
“A pretty solid day. I think we’re happy with the way it all panned out. I think we’re not far away from the 10. Pretty happy with the way the car was, just needed a bit of a clearer lap,” Evans said.
DJR: P9 Anton De Pasquale/Tony D’Alberto 2:05.9942 P14 Will Davison/Kai Allen 2:06.2080
Mixed day for DJR, De Pasquale fought hard to maintain his Shootout streak, while Davison had an unfortunate crash at the end of qualifying.
“We checked on him and will get some fluid into him. Dr Carl will check on him soon but he has been through the medical centre and walked back here which is good. He looks okay at this stage (but) a bit disappointed and sore. Not sure about the car but if we can, we will give it a good crack and get it ready for Sunday,” CEO David Noble said.
PremiAir: P11 James Golding/David Russell 2:06.1052 P25 Tim Slade/Cam McLeod 2:06.9791

image: Peter Norton
Golding was a hard luck story, missing the shootout by 0.053s, but the struggle for pace for the #23 continues.
“We didn’t quite make it into the top ten shootout, missing by just a tiny bit which is unfortunate, but we have been focusing on the race cars,” Golding said.
“We are working towards something and I am confident we can make improvements ready for Sunday. It was a hard day out there,” Slade said.
Matt Stone Racing: P12 Cam Hill/Cam Crick 2:06.1681 P13: Nick Percat/Dylan O’Keeffe 2:06.1788

Image: Andrew Clarke
Despite both co drivers crashing the MSR Camaros in the penultimate practice, the team worked hard to get both on track in the next session and the main drivers almost rewarded them with Shootout berths. Percat impressed many with his assistance of Davison.
“I just got to him as quick as I could. I know as a driver you don’t want to feel trapped or anything, so just try and help him out and he’s a good mate,” Percat said.
BRT: P20 Aaron Love/Aaron Cameron 2:06.6722 P23 James Courtney/Jack Perkins 2:06.7475
Team 18: P21 David Reynolds/Warren Luff 2:06.6807 P22 Mark Winterbottom/Michael Caruso
Tough day for Team 18 with Reynolds crashing hard at The Dipper from fourth, while Winterbottom still could not match his teammate as their battle for pace carried on.
“Very challenging day. I’m very disappointed with what happened.Today my car was fast. I actually went in there a little bit slower than the lap before. They think a car ran off in front of me and then dragged some stuff on the track and it caught me out,” Reynolds said.
“We just got slower and slower as the week’s gone on. We will go back to where we think we’re most competitive and turn it into a good race car. It’s a lot better race car than a qualifying car,” Winterbottom said.
MCM: P26 Matt Chahda/Brad Vaughan 2:07.9523
2024 Bathurst 1000
Practice 1: 1: Matt Payne 2:07.2941 2: Cameron Waters +0.0366 3: Will Brown +0.0373
Practice 2: 1: J. Whincup 2:07.4788 2: C. Murray +0.0370 3: J. Ojeda +0.1860
Practice 3: 1: B. Feeney 2:06.7842 2: T. Randle +0.0614 3: J. Courtney +0.0700
Practice 4: 1: B. Kostecki 2:06.1820 2: C. Waters +0.1636 3: B. Feeney +0.3455
Qualifying: Fri 16.15-16.55
Practice 5: Sat 10.05-11.05 (co drivers)
Practice 6: Sat 13.05-14.05 (all drivers)
Top 10 Shootout: Sat 17.05
Warm up: Sun 8.15-8.35
Bathurst 1000: Sun 11.30 (161 laps)
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