Opposite Lock backs Best in Darwin
June 17, 2022
Waters’ win, podium lead Tickford’s Sunday in Darwin
June 19, 2022TICKFORD RACING – DARWIN TRIPLE CROWN SATURDAY REPORT
18 June, 2022
Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) has led Tickford Racing on Saturday at the Darwin Triple Crown, finishing eighth in Race 16 after a frustrating qualifying saw the Mildura native start 12th on the grid.
After a similarly difficult qualifying result, James Courtney (No. 5 Snowy River Caravans Ford Mustang) climbed nine places in the 38-lap race to finish 10th in the first race of the Darwin Triple Crown, his 10th top 10 of the 2022 Supercars season.
Jake Kostecki (No. 56 Tradie Ford Mustang) was the high qualifier for Tickford Racing after making his first career appearance in a Top Ten Shootout, and finished 12th in Race 16 following a solid Race 16.
Having nearly made the Top Ten Shootout himself, Thomas Randle (No. 55 Castrol Racing Ford Mustang) was punted off the track in the race’s early laps, and was resigned to a recovery drive the remainder of the race, eventually climbing back to 20th at the chequered flag on Race 16.
Making his first solo Supercars start, Zak Best (No. 78 Opposite Lock Ford Mustang) avoided a number of incidents from cars around him to drive to a 22nd place finish in Race 16, gaining valuable knowledge while completing all 38 laps in his solo debut.
The Darwin Triple Crown continues on Sunday with Race 17 and 18 qualifying starting at 8:35 a.m. ACST, with Race 17 beginning at 11:55 a.m. and Race 18 at 3:25 p.m. to conclude the sixth round of the 2022 Supercars season.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
No. 5 Snowy River Caravans Ford Mustang
James Courtney
Race 16 Quali: 1m05.88s (Q2), 19th
Race 16 Finish: 9th
“It was a crazy day, qualifying was pretty bad for us, we didn’t have a good run at all, didn’t help with what I did yesterday afternoon, so we started 19th. I had a really good start and opening lap and got up a heap of spots, and ultimately finished (ninth). Car pace was okay and in the race I think the strategy was quite good, kept my nose clean, and made up a few more spots. Ultimately we need to find some more pace out of the car, we’re currently having a look at all that, hopefully we can all tune them up and have a better run tomorrow.”
No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Cam Waters
Race 16 Quali: 1m05.56s (Q2), 12th
Race 16 Finish: 7th
“It was a pretty up and down day for us, we didn’t do the best job in qualifying which meant we started back in the pack a little bit, but we moved forward in the race. We got up to (seventh) from 12th which I’m pretty happy with, we did what we could even though it’s not where we want to be. We just need to do a better job in qualifying, the car’s quicker than where we were, it’s just really tricky in those sessions and the field’s so tight here, if you aren’t on top of it you pay for it on the timing sheets. But we’ll put our heads together tonight, try and improve the car, go better in qualifying and set up our Sunday a whole lot better.”
No. 55 Castrol Racing Ford Mustang
Thomas Randle
Race 16 Quali: 1m05.59s (Q2), 14th
Race 16 Finish: 19th
“It wasn’t the best race for me, we had some contact on Lap 2, interlocked wheels with another car and it sent me off the track and it put us down the back, so it was a pretty lonely race. I think our speed is there, but we just need to get through the first couple laps. We’ll have another crack tomorrow, two more qualifying sessions in the morning so hopefully we can finally crack into that top 10, and it’d be good to have a couple good races.”
No. 56 Tradie Ford Mustang
Jake Kostecki
Race 16 Quali: no time (Shootout), 10th
Race 16 Finish: 11th
“We had a pretty good day in the Tradie Mustang, we got into the Top Ten Shootout which was my first Top Ten Shootout, so I’m pretty happy with that. In the race things were going pretty well, we just had an air box fire in the pits that cost us a couple of seconds and lost us some spots there, but we came back to (11th). I’m pretty happy with that in the end, but we’ll tune her up for tomorrow and hopefully we can go a little bit better.”
No. 78 Tickford Racing Ford Mustang
Zak Best
Race 16 Quali: 1m06.36s (Q1), 27th
Race 16 Finish: 21st
“First race day in the books in the Supercars Championship, in qualifying we struggled a little bit, I just need to find a little bit more pace in the last sector, we’ve been working on that the whole weekend so hopefully we can put it all together tomorrow and move a few more spots. My first race was an eye opening experience, pushing hard and trying to make up a few spots off the start, I got in a few battles, made a few mistakes but I learnt a lot. We’ll just push on tomorrow and hopefully we can move up a few more positions and get into the top 20.”
Tim Edwards, Team Principal
“With the exception of Jake, qualifying was pretty disappointing for our whole team, so given where we started I think we had a decent race. Obviously Thomas got punted off early on and Jake had a hiccup getting out of his stop, but Cam and JC moved forward and consolidated some decent points, and Zak had a clean race which is good to note considering how many more experienced drivers went out and played dodgem cars today. We certainly want to achieve more, but credit to the team on their effort today, we’ll keep our heads down and aim to go better tomorrow.”
SUPERCARS DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Shane van Gisbergen – 1467 points
2) Anton de Pasquale – 1195
3) Will Davison – 1110
4) Cam Waters – 1107
10) James Courtney – 820
19) Thomas Randle – 522
23) Jake Kostecki – 467
SUPERCARS TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1) Triple Eight Race Engineering – 2414 points
2) Dick Johnson Racing – 2305
3) Tickford Racing (5/6) – 1927
11) Tickford Racing (55/56) – 989
Ends.
