Bathurst 1000 in Tickford’s crosshairs

TICKFORD RACING – BATHURST 1000 PREVIEW
3 October, 2022
Four-car Ford team Tickford Racing has its sights set on the greatest prize in Australian motorsport, as it gears up for the 2022 Bathurst 1000, taking place this coming weekend. The 2022 edition of the Great Race, the 11^th stop on the 2022 Supercars Championship calendar, marks Tickford’s 20^th Bathurst 1000. In 19 previous attempts, the team has finished in the top two on eight different occasions, including back-to-back wins in 2013 and 2014.

Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) is hoping the third time is the charm, having finished second at Bathurst in both 2020 and 2021, and coincidentally sits second in the Supercars drivers’ championship heading into the 11^th round of the 2022 season. For the first time in his career, Waters will have a repeat co-driver, with James Moffat partnering the 28-year old as the duo aim to go one better than their runner-up result last year.

A mentor and mentee relationship forms the pairing in the Snowy River Racing garage, where James Courtney and Zane Goddard (No. 5 Snowy River Caravans Ford Mustang) will partner up in their quest to tame the Mountain. Courtney and Goddard’s relationship stretches back to the early days of the latter’s racing career, where Courtney helped guide young Goddard towards a foray in Europe. Now coupled for the most important race of the year, the pair are eager to have a red hot crack at the top step of the podium

Courtney – who finished seventh in last year’s race with Thomas Randle – will also be on baby watch through the weekend, with his newly-wed wife Tegan expecting the couple’s first child in the coming weeks.

Thomas Randle and Zak Best (No. 55 Castrol Racing Ford Mustang) make up the driving roster for Castrol Racing this year, with the two young guns looking to factor in at the front at the end of the 161-lap event. Randle has made notable improvements in his speed across the season, and paired with Best – who impressed many in his Bathurst debut in 2021 and scored a pole as a wildcard entry at The Bend Motorsport Park in July – their partnership will be one to watch across the weekend.

Best will be taking on double duty this weekend, also racing in the Dunlop Super2 Series at Bathurst, where he sits second in the championship heading into the weekend.

Tradie Racing is home to a brotherly affair at the Bathurst 1000, with West Australians Jake and Kurt Kostecki steering the No. 56 Tradie Ford Mustang. The 2022 season has been up and down for full-time driver Jake, but a top 10 finish at the Auckland SuperSprint last month has given the 22-year old a shot of confidence heading into the event, where the youngsters will make their second appearance together in the Bathurst 1000.

The Bathurst 1000 is Supercars Championship’s marquee event, and the longest and most prestigious race in Australian motorsport. On-track action at the 11^th round of the 2022 Supercars season gets underway Thursday with practice, followed by group qualifying on Friday afternoon, the storied Top Ten Shootout on Saturday to determine the pole sitter for the Great Race, and 161 laps of racing beginning at 11:15 a.m. AEDT on Sunday, October 9.

DRIVERS’ VIEW
No. 5 Snowy River Caravans Ford Mustang
James Courtney
“I always love going to Bathurst. It’s such a thrill to drive and a real driver’s track, and obviously the biggest event of the year, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be great to have my little mate Zano driving with me, he’s been getting lots of laps in the car to get comfortable and I’m looking forward to getting to the Mountain with him. We had a tough run in New Zealand, but the team’s been pretty strong at Bathurst, and we had a pretty crazy race last year, spending most of the race a lap down and coming back to finish in the top 10. It’s the only big event I haven’t won; I’ve won Gold Coast, I’ve won Adelaide, I’ve been on the podium several times at Bathurst, but never on the top step, so hopefully we can change that this weekend.”
 
No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Cam Waters
“We had a pretty good round in New Zealand coming second for the weekend. We probably should have come home with a race win or two, but we’re heading into Bathurst with some momentum, and obviously we’re going there to win. It’s awesome having Moff on board again, he’s a jet there, obviously we came second together last year, and we know each other and the car really well. We don’t have to think too much about how we work together or anything like that, we can just hop in and go racing, so we’re all set to head up there and give it a red hot crack. To be honest I’m a bit sick of being asked about coming second, the best way to stop being asked about it is to go win the thing, so that’s what we’ll try to do.”

No. 55 Castrol Racing Ford Mustang
Thomas Randle
“Bathurst is always really special, but going there for the first time as a main driver is pretty cool, and being the first proper Bathurst post-pandemic is going to be amazing. It’s going to be a huge weekend, but I’m feeling pretty good heading in, and I’m looking forward to getting on track with Zak in the Castrol Racing Mustang. We’ve been pretty competitive with car speed the last few rounds, and Zak’s had a really good year between Super2 and his wildcards in the main game, so I’m confident he’ll be able to slot in and do well for us. The team’s been very competitive at Bathurst over the years, so I’m optimistic we’ll have a strong car and a great chance to bring home a strong result.”
 
No. 56 Tradie Ford Mustang
Jake Kostecki
“I’m pumped to get to Bathurst, obviously it’s our biggest race of the year and a massive event. Racing with Kurt is going to be awesome, he’s been really quick in testing and obviously we know how each other drives and we want the same things out of the car which is good. It’s a long race but we’ll have a fast car, so it’ll just be about being up the front near the end and giving it our best when it counts. I can’t wait.”
 
Tim Edwards, Team Principal
“It’s no surprise to say we’re headed to Bathurst to go and win. For a lot of us the whole reason we go racing is to have the chance to win there, so it’s absolutely our goal. The team’s had a very busy few weeks getting everything just as we want it, and I think we’re pretty happy with where we sit going in. The cars are prepped, the crews are ready, we have a really strong set of driver pairings across all of our cars, we’re in a very good space to head to the Mountain and have four very competitive cars. There’s been a lot of days and nights that have gone into the preparation, but there’s no one day that’s more important in our sport than race day at Bathurst. We’re ready to tackle that and give it our all to be on the top step when all is said and done on Sunday.”

DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES
The Dunlop Super2 Series holds its fifth event of the 2022 season at Mount Panorama, where Zak Best (No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X) currently sits second in the championship after taking the round win at Sandown in August. The Benalla-native won the Super2 round at the Mount Panorama 500 in early 2021, and ended last year’s Super2 campaign with a third place finish for the round at the Bathurst 1000, sealing second in the championship in the process. While he will compete in the Bathurst 1000 on Sunday, Best remains laser-focused on a strong weekend aboard his No. 78 FG X Falcon, and hopes to gain ground in his chase to become Super2 champion.
 
The Dunlop Super2 Series hits the track on Thursday for practice, ahead of group qualifying and one race each on Saturday and Sunday, making up Races 9 and 10 of the 2022 campaign.
 
No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X
Zak Best
“lt’s going to be a big weekend at Bathurst, I’m pulling double duty again racing main game and Super2, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s a lot of time in the car, which I’m pretty excited about, and I’m confident in the car and the team that we can be up the front all weekend. Getting the round win at Sandown was great, it got us back to second in the championship and gives us a bit of momentum after Perth and Townsville didn’t really go to plan. We have a bit of ground to make up in the championship, but if we can maximise our points and have another strong round it’ll put us in a good position to have a crack at the finale in Adelaide.”  
 
EVENT NAME: Bathurst 1000
DATE:October 6-9
LOCATION: Bathurst, NSW
EVENT NUMBER:11 of 13
FORMAT:Thursday – 2 x 60-min RSC practice, 2 x 40-min DS2 practice; Friday – 2 x 60-min RSC practice, 1 x 60-min RSC quali, 1 x 35-min DS2 quali, 1 x 18-lap DS2 race (111 km); Saturday – 2 x 60-min RSC practice, 1 x RSC Top Ten Shootout, 1 x 35-min DS2 quali, 1 x 18-lap DS2 race (111 km); Sunday – 1 x 20-min RSC warm-up, 1 x 161-lap RSC race (1000 km)
CIRCUIT: Mount Panorama Circuit
LENGTH: 6.213-kilometres
DESCRIPTION:The longest and most technical circuit on the Supercars calendar, Bathurst is Australia’s premier race track and world-renowned for its challenge and history. With 174 meters of elevation change, tight, undulating corners, and speeds reaching 300 kph on Conrod Straight, Bathurst is the crown jewel circuit, and the Bathurst 1000 the crown jewel race of Australian motorsport.
TRACK RECORD: 2m04.76s, (Chaz Mostert, 2019)
TICKFORD RACING BEST RESULT: 1st – Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards (2013), Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris (2014)
 
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