Brad Jones Racing storms through the field to cap opening round
Brad Jones Racing's debut as a Toyota team has been highlighted by all three GR Supra Supercars finishing inside the top ten. The awesome results were complemented by both Super2 cars in the ten.
All three of the Brad Jones Racing Toyota GR Supras finished inside the top ten on Sunday at Sydney Motorsport Park.
After a difficult Qualifying session earlier in the day, all three of the cars started near the rear of the grid in Race 3.
Cameron Hill in the #14 Dare Racing entry came from the back row to 7th, amassing a mammoth 16 place move up the field at the chequered flag.
He was even briefly facing the wrong way on the first lap, but with weather and Safety Cars playing a part, Hill was able to race his way back into the thick of things.
After the opening event, Hill sits 10th in the Driver Championship and is the second highest Toyota driver in the standings.
Andre Heimgartner finished ahead of Hill on track and but had incurred a 5 second penalty for a track limits violation.
It was a great strategy call for the R&J Batteries crew that catapulted Heimgartner forward, and he was 8th on the road.
The penalty dropped him back to 9th.
Macauley Jones had been beside Hill on the grid and despite being caught in some early race drama, he was also able to push himself forward.
The AlphaTheta GR Supra had some serious race pace and Jones was to record a 10th place finish.
Brad Jones Racing now works to prepare for the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks (March 5-8).
Super2
The final day of action in the Super2 series has concluded for the weekend with Brad Vaughan leaving Sydney equal first in the Series.
The #80 Dare Iced Coffee Racing ZB Commodore driver saw himself line up in 9th to start the race.
The young driver fought hard and crossed the line in fifth, securing himself 2nd place for the round.
Team-mate Matt Hillyer showed promising speed during his first round for Brad Jones Racing.
The #2 Kangan Institute Racing ZB Commodore driver found some speed overnight and took off from 10th in the race.
The Melbourne-based driver crossed the line 7th but an unfortunate penalty bumped him to the order to 9th.
There is a break between rounds for the Dunlop Super2 series with Round 2 not until the Darwin Triple Crown on June 19-21.
QUOTEBOARD
SUPERCARS
Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“A solid day for the team. It was good to have all the cars in the top 10 so that's cool. We’re doing lots of different setups and trying different stuff. So we have a lot to take forward.”
Cameron Hill, #14 Dare Racing Toyota GR Supra
“It was a really strong finish for us in that last race. We obviously had a poor qualifying and I also got spun early in the race, so it wasn't looking good at the beginning, but the safety car gave us another opportunity and then we capitalised on the drizzly conditions. The car felt quite good in the second half of the race and to have a top 10 finish for all five Toyotas is a big achievement. I'm really proud of how we improved over the course of the week. It's early days for us still, but I'm excited to keep pushing forward.”
Macauley Jones, #96 AlphaTheta Racing Toyota GR Supra
“A bit of a work in progress still. Qualifying felt quite weak this morning. I feel like we just need to keep tuning that side of things and learning this new car and whatnot. But in the race, it felt pretty chaotic. A really good result in the end for all the team which was cool. Being the top 10 is a solid result for us in what was a pretty hectic race. I feel like we’ve still got a bit to do with tuning the car but we're getting there. So progress is progress.”
SUPER2
Brad Vaughan #80 Brad Jones Racing ZB Commodore
“Awesome weekend here in Sydney. Finished second for the round but tied on first place for the championship. So awesome way to start the year and looking forward to Darwin in a couple of months’ time. Huge thanks to TK for all his efforts in the off season to build up the almost new race car. A huge shoutout to the people that make it happen, Dare Iced Coffee, Budget Petroleum and Dormer HVAC Services.”
Matthew Hillyer, #2 Brad Jones Racing ZB Commodore
“Cool to wrap up Round 1 here at Sydney Motorsport Park. Awesome first weekend with the BJR crew in the Super2 series. Crossed the line in P7 for both races this weekend but, in Race 2 I got a five second penalty which meant I dropped to P9. A big thank you to all my sponsors, Kangan Institute and Lloyds Auctions.”