What the Supercars teams said: Rd4 Tasmania
Tasmania produced one of its best rounds ever in its proud Supercars history so how do the teams reflect on another intense event?
Grove Racing: Matt Payne P15 P7 P1 Kai Allen P12 P18 P24
Image: DMAC
Grove Racing’s Symmons Plains struggles appeared set to carry on for another year until the team asked Payne to do a ballsy strategy and he nailed it, stealing the final race by 0.0550s. Rookie teammate Allen battled more as the weekend went on having been caught up in some clashes.
It (victory) was definitely not on my mind,” he said.
“When he had the Safety Car I knew we could be on for a pretty bold strategy and that changed our race.
“At the end you are just reacting to what is happening around you and it is so exhilarating when you can pull it off.”
“Kai Allen has been qualifying quite well but things are not falling his way in racing. That will turn soon,” David Cauchi said.
Triple Eight: Broc Feeney P1 P1 P2 Will Brown P5 P11 P3
Image: DMAC
Feeney was just half a car length short of the perfect weekend having dominated everything until he final stint, but still did enough to soar into the lead of the Sprint Cup with a stunning weekend.
Brown could not find the same car pace, especially on Saturday when he battled, but got pole in the finale, only to be outraced early on before pulling off the Payne strategy to snare an impressive podium, but lost points lead.
“I’m stoked to lead the Championship. But it’s a shame not to get the sweep. At the same time, I am really proud of the whole team. We made a huge jump forward this weekend. I think that people had a lot of questions about us after the last round, and I think we put all that chatter to bed. The car this weekend was ridiculous!” Feeney said.
“I’m super disappointed in myself with the start… I stuffed up there, and then I was running second right off the bat. Then I feel like Cam just shuffled me up the road and I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but that happens.From there I just got shuffled and ended up a fair way back. So we opted to go a different strategy because we were a bit behind, and thankfully it worked out for us,” Brown said.
PremiAir: James Golding P8 P6 P4 Richie Stanaway P10 P22 P5
Image: Mark Horsburgh
PremiAir enjoyed its most productive weekend yet and finished with both cars in the top five.
Golding was a force all weekend and a golden start gave him a chance to win before others jumped him on strategy, while a P5 will be a big boost for Stanaway with a spin in Race 2 the only downside in his best weekend at his new team.
“It was an awesome start. I did think that (that maybe this is the day for a win), it definitely entered the mind, but I just refocused back on the job and did everything I could possibly do to get there. Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be,” Golding said.
“It has been a great day for us.It is my best result so far for the team and my first shootout for the team. It was sort of about time I started to get some runs on the board,” Stanaway said.
Tickford: Cameron Waters P4 P3 P12 Thomas Randle P2 P4 P14
Image: Mark Horsburgh
Tickford had solid speed but faded as the weekend went on. Both drivers took a podium each on Saturday despite the small communication breakdown. However, the same pace was not there on Sunday as both cars lost ground.
“Today’s result was frustrating, but the weekend as a whole was not,” Randle said. “Pole, front row, podium (for teammate Cam Waters at his expense) and P4 on Saturday — that’s a strong weekend. We moved forward in the points, so it’s hard to be too upset.”
Team 18: Anton De Pasquale P17 P17 P23 David Reynolds P19 P9 P6
Image: Mark Horsburgh
After a tough start to 2025, Tassie provided a boost Reynolds needed with the Payne strategy helping him get his best result since Gold Coast. The new bits worked!
However, the usually consistent De Pasquale suffered his first tough weekend in Team 18 colours with a lack of quali pace before getting caught in first lap dramas on Sunday.
“Much better weekend from our TRADIE Energy Chevy car. What a race for us today. I’m pretty happy in its overall performance. We rolled out in practice relatively strong. We had a good base to start from last year and we’ve changed a lot of parts in the car, so obviously we’re starting to bear a bit of fruit and we’re starting to understand it and work on our balance a lot more,” Reynolds said.
“This weekend was a bit of a disaster for us. We had a lot of little different things go wrong and races didn’t go to plan. I started tenth and from there got absolutely t-boned at Turn 1. It closed all the exhaust up so we had no horsepower and that sort of derailed our whole day,” De Pasquale said.
WAU: Ryan Wood P6 P16 P7 Chaz Mostert P14 P19 P18
Image: Mark Horsburgh
With Mostert uncharacteristically struggling in the #25 all weekend and getting caught in incidents, youngster Wood had to lead the WAU assault. Started Sunday on the front row after a strong shootout lap, but could not quite break the top five.
“I think we were all hoping for a little more today, especially after the first stint, but still, it was a really strong race, the car was awesome, so disappointed of course but there was a lot to take from today and the weekend. Really excited to keep growing and moving forward with this momentum, it was cool to start on the front row again and mix it with the front of the field,” Wood said.
“Super tough one this weekend for the 25, but not through lack of trying. The team gave me as many changes as we could possible fit in this weekend. I’m still lacking a little bit of confidence with the car but we will get there,” Mostert said.
MSR: Nick Percat P20 P2 P9 Cameron Hill P13 P23 P10
Image: DMAC Photography
A solid, but not spectacular weekend for MSR at a track it loves. Almost snatched another win for Percat by pulling the same strategy as last year, but this time had to settle for second. Hill was hurt by a spin, but both cars got in the 10 in solid Sunday race.
“It was a solid weekend. Friday took a bit to get going and then we found out feet on Saturday. Race 1 could have been a lot better if we didn’t qualify poorly and then Race 2 was awesome to get on the podium. Sunday’s race we were really quick, probably didn’t qualify quite where we wanted,” Percat said.
“It was a tough weekend for me in the Supaglass car. It was me really, I just didn’t nail the qualifying sessions unfortunately. It’s so tight with the times here,” Hill said.
BJR: Andre Heimgartner P16 P15 P8 Bryce Fullwood P3 P14 P20 Jaxon Evans P7 P8 P11 Macauley Jones P22 P5 P16
image: Supplied
On a big weekend where the Toyota dream became true, BJR stepped up with all four drivers having time in the sun. Fullwood, Evans and Jones all matched their personal best results with Evans with most consistent. Usual team leader Heimgartner was the one that needed to stand up on Sunday and did just that.
It was great to finish on a bit of a high in the last race. We had really good speed and it was fun to race closely with others and get stuck in. I feel like we got a bit of our mojo back which was a great way to end the weekend,” Heimgartner said.
“unfortunately I had a tangle with Brodie coming out of the pits on four cold tyres – it was super close and a real shame. Apologies to him and his crew for that. The car actually had really strong pace,” Fullwood said.
Qualifying felt okay – just slightly on the wrong side of the ten. But I think we’ve made some good progress with the direction we’re heading in which is positive,” Jones said.
“Another strong day. I was really happy to qualify in the top 10 and make the Top 10 Shootout. Things were going well until we decided to pit based on our pre-race discussions. Unfortunately, the Safety Car came out two laps later. We finished just outside the top 10 so a bit of a frustrating way to end what was an otherwise very positive weekend,” Evans said.
BRT: James Courtney P9 P13 Aaron Cameron P21 P24 P19
Image: DMAC Photography
BRT enjoyed a weekend it needed after a shocking trip to NZ with team changes making an immediate impact. Courtney led the way with an impressive top 10 in Race 11, while he also made up ground on Sunday. Meanwhile, Cameron took a step forward in qualifying and was steady.
“What a turnaround from where we were three weeks ago in New Zealand. It was a much better weekend. We leaned into our relationship with WAU a lot more than in the past and that helped. It was a smoother weekend, and the results showed it. James Courtney was pretty excited to get some results on the board, to get his elbows out and race properly with a few people,” Tim Blanchard said.
Erebus: Jack Le Brocq P11 P10 P16 Cooper Murray P18 P20 P21
Image: DMAC
It was a tough weekend for Erebus with only one top 10 across both cars.
This disguised some of its pace with both cars being caught up in incidents on Sunday. Will be looking to step up in Perth.
It started really positively getting in the Shootout, but things unraveled pretty quickly with a silly error from myself. I locked up on the outside and went straight into Anton,” Murray said.
An interesting weekend and the place has not been kind to us this year. Had a braking issue on Sunday qualifying, pinching left fronts and the boys fixed it for the race. Had a fast car but got turned around and got caught in the chaos after the Safety Car,” Le Brocq said.
DJR: Will DavisonDSQ P21 P17 Brodie Kostecki DSQ P12 P22
Image: Mark Horsburgh
The weekend could not have been more disappointing for DJR with both cars disqualified due to the skid blocks on the front splitters, robbing its only top 10 courtesy of Kostecki. Both drivers got caught up in drama in the finale.
“A very challenging weekend, but in sport the progression is never linear. At certain times through the weekend we had some genuinely good car speed. That was positive and very encouraging. Now we have head back and pull things apart in the debrief ahead of Perth. I don’t think it’s complicated. There is no need to over-complicate a review from the weekend. It just didn’t go our way, so we need to be diligent, re-set, and go again,” David Noble said.
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