Heimgartner catapults into top 10 in final Christchurch race
Brad Jones Racing celebrated an excellent drive and strategy from the R&J Batteries crew that saw Andre Heimgartner finish 8th.
The BJR contingent all made big moves forwards during the longer format race and the result buoys the team as they head into a month long break before the next event in Tasmania (May 22-24)
Race 13
Andre Heimgartner (R&J Batteries GR Supra) qualified 20th
Macauley Jones (John West Logistics GR Supra) qualified 22nd
Cameron Hill (ElectroVoice GR Supra) qualified 24th
Heimgartner made up an enormous 12 positions through some good race pace and an excellent strategy call. The Kiwi’s crew executed an early stop and was able to capitalise and make positions to finish 8th.
Hill stopped for fuel under the first Safety Car on Lap 1, which helped to maintain his strategy later in the race. Hill was also a big mover in the 61 lap race, coming across the line in 12th, making up 10 positions.
Jones was caught in a bit of a battle early on and had a moment off track which meant he was running at the back for the early stages of Race 13 but he came through to 16th.
There were two Safety Car periods in the race totalling 4 laps
The inaugural Christchurch event saw a bumper crowd with 60,806 fans through the gates over the three days. Saturday the Ruapuna venue was at full capacity.
QUOTEBOARD
Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“Another difficult day and then not a bad result. Got a top 10 from it but overall, sort of still finding our feet. We haven't quite hit our happy spot with the car, and we’re sort of moving problems around a bit. Looking forward to resetting, having a bit of a break and then getting into Tasmania where we can hopefully find our mojo again.”
Cameron Hill, #14 ElectroVoice Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Bit of a roller coaster today. We didn't do very well in qualifying. All three of us were at the back and I qualified last. We were just trying to obviously sharpen the car up but just really lacked rear grip and then sort of went back to what we had yesterday because we thought that wasn't too bad for the race. I think we played a played a good race. We went long in the first stint and that helped us later on. We moved from 24th to 12th. So it's 100% improvement. It feels like it anyway. So, a big thanks to the team for the amazing pit stops as always. There's a lot to a lot to analyse in the break. It's been a tough two weeks, but we'll bounce back.”
Macauley Jones, #96 John West Logistics Racing Toyota GR Supra
“My day was a work in progress to be honest. Struggled a little bit with the balance all weekend and couldn't really get quite on top of it. Some good and bad things to sort of take away. But a bit of work to be done. I feel a little inconsistent still and need to work on some things ahead of Tasmania.”