Heimgartner Races into the top ten on Saturday on the Gold Coast
Andre Heimgartner has raced his way into the top ten after a brutal encounter on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, there was heartbreak for the SCT Motorsport crew and Jaxon Evans.
Evans was unlucky when the car ahead of him had an incident at the Beach Chicane, causing a wheel to detach.
The #12 Camaro struck the loose wheel, sustaining extensive damage which ultimately led to a DNF for the team.
Heimgartner showed strong pace throughout the day after starting from 13th on the grid.
It was unfortunate that the Kiwi missed out on the Top Ten Shootout.
His final flying lap in qualifying was disrupted by a red flag, leaving him just shy of the cut.
Despite that setback, the R&J Batteries Camaro proved quick over the 85-lap race.
Heimgartner made consistent progress through the field and was only caught in a train of slower cars during his final stint.
He eventually crossed the line in eighth place, securing a valuable top-ten finish.
Bryce Fullwood wasn’t far behind in the #14 Shure Racing Camaro, finishing just outside the top ten in 11th position.
It was an excellent strategic drive from the #14 crew, who climbed from 21st on the grid thanks to smart strategy calls and consistent pace.
Macauley Jones was also on the move in the Pizza Hut Racing Camaro.
After a small error in qualifying left him 24th on the grid, Jones showed impressive long-run pace to finish 16th.
The team will regroup and refocus for Sunday’s action on the Gold Coast, with qualifying scheduled for 10:00am AEST.
SUPERCARS RESULTS
Qualifying Race 28
13 - Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
21 - Jaxon Evans, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
22 - Bryce Fullwood, #14 Shure Racing Camaro
24 - Macauley Jones, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
Race 28
8 - Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
11 - Bryce Fullwood, #14 Shure Racing Camaro
16 - Macauley Jones, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
DNF - Jaxon Evans, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
SUPERCARS QUOTEBOARD
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
“Good day here, pretty happy with that. I think could have been a lot better given a couple of things, but everyone has that story. We seem to have a bit of continuity which is nice and the way I need to drive the car has been pretty consistent which has been nice. Sort of rolled out and basically did what we did last year. So I’m pretty happy. Tomorrow’s a bit dependant on weather, we'll just have to see what it's like. But pretty happy with today and we'll see what tomorrow brings.”
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars driver, #14 Shure Racing Camaro
"We didn't qualify very well today. Unfortunately, the car is a little bit tweaked from my crash yesterday, so we're just trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got. I was probably a little bit tentative in the chicanes, and I don't think the car was suiting the super soft tyre as much today. We didn’t qualify as well but in the race, Phil [Keed, Race Engineer] and Jason [Bonney, Data Engineer] did a mega job of the strategy. They made us jump a heap of cars and I felt like the speed wasn't too bad once we got there but that was absolutely down to Phil and Jason so big thank you to them. Happy to have moved up a lot of spots and learn a lot about the track and I’m excited to go again for tomorrow.”
Macauley Jones
Supercars driver, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
"Pretty disappointed with qualifying. I sort of made a mistake and went down the escape road there which was a bit frustrating. The race wasn't too bad. I felt like the race car was quite strong. Made a mistake there and just hit the wall on the exit of the chicane which changed the strategy a little bit but went from 24th to 16th, so not all bad. There’s a few things I can tidy up for tomorrow and we’ll try and have another crack at qualifying.”
Jaxon Evans
Supercars driver, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
"Rough quali, just didn't quite nail the car balance so when trying to maximize, couldn't really find any more time. So started 21st but after the first safety car, we made some positions in the lane due to some double stacking so we were running 11th, I think. Actually was pretty happy with the car balance and unfortunately was just an innocent bystander in someone else's shunt and ran into a wheel that was no longer attached to a car which obviously tore the right front out of my car. The guys and girls did a great job getting me back out there, but unfortunately it just felt a little bit too unsafe to keep driving. It was a lot of risk for not much reward there. So we pulled the car and are focused on tomorrow.”