stronger Qualifying, tough Sunday race for Brad Jones Racing
BJR endured a really tough Sunday race after a promising qualifying earlier in the day.
BJR started off the third and final day in Townsville with a Top Ten Shootout appearance by Andre Heimgartner. The Kiwi claimed 9th which the team were very happy with.
With a short turnaround before the next event in Perth (July 31 - Aug 2), the team will delve into the data back at their base in Albury.
Race 22
Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries GR Supra) qualified 9th
Macauley Jones (#96 AlphaTheta Racing GR Supra) qualified 18th
Cameron Hill (#14 Dare Racing GR Supra) qualified 20th
Jones was caught up in a Lap 1 incident that substantially damaged the #96 Supra. He was able to drive the car back to pitlane and retire the car.
The #8 R&J Batteries entry was spun on Lap 1 and Heimgartner developed larger issues following that contact.. He reported some engine problems, he came to pitlane and the team were able to inspect the issue with Heimgartner eventually having to retire from the race.
Hill had a relatively clean race but the team are still chasing some pace in the car.
QUOTEBOARD
SUPERCARS
Andre Heimgartner, #8 R&J Batteries Toyota GR Supra
“Had a positive start to the day with qualifying. Felt like we really unlocked some speed and got a bit of direction. Unfortunately, wasn't able to see if it came to anything in the race mainly due to some engine issues. So, not ideal. Second major thing we've had so far. That's of course a DNF so it puts a bit of a dampener on our finals hopes and almost kills that. So now just looking forward to try and execute some races and just try and build up for next year now.”
Cameron Hill, #14 Dare Racing Toyota GR Supra
“Another tough day for us. The highlight was probably Andre's qualifying speed. Was good to at least see him make a shootout but for us, again just sort of lacked the speed. I thought the car had potential in quali but we couldn’t quite put the lap together and then we really struggled in the race. So hard weekend overall. We will have to do some homework before we go to Perth.”
Macauley Jones, #96 AlphaTheta Racing Toyota GR Supra
“I made some changes overnight and I felt like we made a little bit of progress in the first qualifying this morning. We’ve still got a little bit to learn there and then just disappointing in the race. Had a really good start and then just got caught up in the turn one cluster and our day was over so it's a bit disappointing and a bit of a tough weekend all round for us. It’s a bit of a work in progress and we’ll look forward to Perth.”