Waters leads opening practice at Bathurst 1000
December 2, 2021
Waters’ wild lap nets third in Bathurst Shootout
December 4, 2021
TICKFORD RACING – BATHURST 1000 FRIDAY REPORT
3 December, 2021
Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) and Jack Le Brocq (No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang) have qualified in the top 10 for the Bathurst 1000, and will take part in Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout.
Waters and co-driver James Moffat have been mainstays at the pointy end of the field through two days on-track, with the 27-year old from Mildura ending up fifth in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Le Brocq qualified 10th, only just making the iconic Top Ten Shootout for the first time in his Supercars career.
James Courtney (No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang) was the lone Tickford car not to make Saturday’s Shootout, the 2010 champion had been near the front in every practice session of the weekend, but unfortunately could not put the lap together that he needed to finish qualifying in the top 10 on Friday. Courtney and co-driver Thomas Randle will start Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 from 16th place.
On-track action from the Bathurst 1000 continues on Saturday with Practice 5 at 10:15 a.m. AEDT and Practice 6 at 12:15 p.m., followed by the Top Ten Shootout for Waters and Le Brocq at 5:05 p.m.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang
Jack Le Brocq
Practice 3: 2m05.15s, 8th
Practice 4: 2m05.18s, 13th
Race 31 Quali: 2m04.49s, 10th
“It was a really good day for us, to make the Shootout’s unreal. We’ve just kept chipping away at the car and making gains, and I was able to put a good enough lap together when it mattered to just squeak into the 10. It’s obviously been a pretty tough year for us, so it felt good to deliver that for the boys. There’s still a bit more we can get out of the car, so we’ll work on it tonight and try to pick up a few spots in the Shootout tomorrow. I can’t wait, it’s going to be really cool to have that lap of the Mountain to myself.”
No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Cam Waters
Practice 3: 2m04.74s, 1st
Practice 4: 2m04.46s, 3rd
Race 31 Quali: 2m04.20s, 5th
“It was a pretty good day for us, Moff’s been on it since the start so we’ve just kept doing our thing and trying to make the car better each session. Qualifying was pretty good, I had a huge moment on my last lap going down the hill so that hurt us a bit, but it’s always great to make the Shootout. Obviously Saturday went pretty well for us last year, so we’ll tune up the car overnight and try to do it again tomorrow.”
No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang
James Courtney
Practice 3: 2m05.10s, 6th
Practice 4: 2m04.95s, 7th
Race 31 Quali: 2m04.90s, 16th
“It’s a bit of a tough pill to swallow, not making the Shootout. I think we definitely have a top 10 car, we’ve been really strong in every session, even earlier in qualifying we were in a pretty good spot but just couldn’t put it together at the end. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is, we have a good car and it’s Bathurst, anything can happen, so we’ll get to prepping our race car for Sunday and look to move forward.”
Tim Edwards, Team Principal
“Today was pretty good to us overall, obviously JC missing out on the Shootout was disappointing, but all three cars look strong which is encouraging. Cam and Jack did really well to get into the Shootout, so we’ll give them the best cars we can for the Shootout, then it’s all focus on Sunday.”
DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES
Along with taking part in Supercars practice sessions on Saturday, Zak Best (No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X) also competed in Race 9 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Bathurst on Saturday afternoon. The 20-year old started and finished fourth in the 15-lap race, but the Benalla-native feels confident a podium can be within grasp on Sunday as he battles for second in the overall Super2 championship.
The Dunlop Super2 Series concludes its 2021 season on Saturday with Race 10, a 16-lap affair at Mount Panorama.
No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X
Zak Best
Race 9 Start: 4th
Race 9 Finish: 4th
“It was a bit of a boring race for me, to be honest. I think we were quick enough to get to third or even second, but the Safety Cars hurt us quite a bit and stalled me out a couple times. Fourth’s okay but we want to be further up so today was a little frustrating. We start sixth tomorrow so it’ll be more work, but I think we have a good enough car to pick up some spots.”
Ends.
