Waters, Le Brocq qualify for Bathurst Shootout
December 4, 2021
Monster Energy Racing finishes 2nd in Bathurst 1000
December 7, 2021
TICKFORD RACING – BATHURST 1000 SATURDAY REPORT
4 December, 2021
Monster Energy Racing’s Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) has qualified third for the Bathurst 1000 in Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout at Mount Panorama, leading Tickford Racing on the day. In an effort even rivals praised as one of the most committed laps of the Mountain they’ve ever seen, Waters posted a lap of 2m03.69s, taking provisional pole for a time before being relegated to third in the final stages of the Shootout. It is, however, the third consecutive year Waters has qualified inside the top three for the Great Race.
As a result of qualifying 10th on Friday, team mate Jack Le Brocq (No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang) also took part in Saturday’s Shootout, his first at Bathurst. The first car on track, Le Brocq ended up 10th again in the Shootout, but was elevated to eighth following the disqualification of two cars in the Shootout, marking his best career starting position for a Bathurst 1000.
Having qualified 16th on Friday afternoon, James Courtney (No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang) spend his Saturday working on race set up with co-driver Thomas Randle. Despite their starting position for Sunday, both drivers are confident they have a car that can move forward across the 161-lap race.
Sunday at the Bathurst 1000 begins with a morning warm up at 9:10 a.m. AEDT, with Australia’s Great Race set to begin at 12:15 p.m.
DRIVERS’ VIEW
No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang
Jack Le Brocq
Practice 5 (Best): 2m06.34s, 8th
Practice 6: 2m04.97s, 7th
Top Ten Shootout: 2m05.33s, 8th
“It was super cool to make the Shootout, having a lap of this place to yourself is pretty unreal. The lap itself I wasn’t very happy with, it might’ve been a bit of track condition but I don’t think we got the set up right, but it is what it is. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, starting eighth is a pretty good place to be. Zak’s doing an awesome job and obviously locked up second in the Super2 standings today which is great, we’ll get a good rest tonight and see what we can do tomorrow.”
No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Cam Waters
Practice 5 (Moffat): 2m06.60s, 13th
Practice 6: 2m04.93s, 6th
Top Ten Shootout: 2m03.69s, 3rd
“I’m glad it was entertaining for everyone watching, it was a little bit different in the driver’s seat. For me, the car’s been pretty quick at times over the weekend, we just haven’t pieced it all together. I kind of knew the track was getting better and I knew the car had it in it, I just had to put it all on the line and have a crack, and I was pretty happy with my lap. I made a little mistake – I think my speedway career saved me at Forrest’s Elbow – but yeah, I’m happy, and Moff’s been doing an awesome job this weekend as well.”
No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang
James Courtney
Practice 5 (Randle): 2m06.18s, 4th
Practice 6: 2m05.61s, 12th
Top Ten Shootout: n/a
“It’s never as fun watching the Shootout as it is being in it, but that was pretty fun to watch, good on Cam and Jack and their crews for that. Our day was obviously focused solely on getting the Boost Mobile Mustang race ready, and I think we have a pretty solid car underneath us. I think we can still get into the mix tomorrow, you can win this race from anywhere so we’ll just take it lap-by-lap and stint-by-stint, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end.”
Tim Edwards, Team Principal
“Anytime you have a shot at pole here is special, obviously we didn’t quite get there but it was great to have two cars in the Shootout and I think we have three strong cars for tomorrow’s race. It’s been a big week for the team, but we have plenty of reason to be confident and we’re ready for the opportunity. There’s no better way to finish a big year than with a win, and we’re going to have a red hot crack at doing just that tomorrow.”
DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES
The Dunlop Super2 Series completed its 2021 season on Saturday with an abbreviated Race 10 that was again disrupted by several Safety Cars. Starting from sixth, Zak Best (No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X) avoided a first lap crash to advance to fourth, and held position for the remainder of the race, collecting third place for the round. The result also allowed Best to claim second in the Super2 drivers’ standings, an admirable result for the 20-year old ahead of his Bathurst 1000 debut alongside Jack Le Brocq.
No. 78 Best Leisure Industries Ford Falcon FG X
Zak Best
Race 10 Start: 6th
Race 10 Finish: 4th
“Same as yesterday, fourth is okay but I was hoping to have a crack at the podium, the Safety Cars got in the way of that, but to get the round podium was cool, and second in the championship is really good. We just took it round by round and had a really consistent season, there are a few little things I need to improve on but overall it’s been a really good year, hopefully we can finish it off with a strong run tomorrow in the ‘1000.”
DUNLOP SUPER2 SERIES STANDINGS
1) Broc Feeney – 1254 points
2) Zak Best – 1077
3) Jayden Ojeda – 969
Ends.
