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TEAM 18 CONSOLIDATE IN CHAOTIC TAUPO OPENER
MEDIA RELEASE/Team 18 – Photos: Velocity Magazine
In a frenetic debut Supercars race at Taupo Motorsport Park, DEWALT Racing’s Mark Winterbottom and TRADIE Racing’s David Reynolds demonstrated their mettle, navigating through treacherous conditions to secure commendable finishes of 11th and 16th place, respectively.
As the rain-soaked track continually evolved, Winterbottom faced the challenge of navigating through traffic during Qualifying, ultimately setting the 19th fastest time due to compromised flying laps. Meanwhile, Reynolds battled with balance issues, securing the 21st spot on the grid.
As chaos erupted on the track during the start, Winterbottom and Reynolds steered clear of trouble as others faltered in the frantic rush into Turn 1.
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The safety car was deployed a second time, prompting most of the field to pit for their first compulsory stop. During the pit stop sequence, Reynolds encountered a delay while exiting the pits amidst traffic, while Winterbottom was forced to double-stack and copped a hit in the lane.
Reynolds was working his way forwards when he was caught up in an incident with Kostecki and Courtney at Turn 1 and had to charge forwards again.
Both drivers pitted for home under green just after half race distance, emerging out of the pit stop cycle in 11th and 15th.
Reynolds moved up to 12th, posting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 37.
Winterbottom brought home the DEWALT Camaro in a hard-fought 11th place, while Reynolds was escorted off the track by Payne in the closing stages and recovered to 16th.
Tomorrow’s action sees Qualifying at 10:45am, the Top 10 Shootout at 12:25pm and Race 8 of the Repco Supercars Championship at 3:05pm. All the action can be viewed live on Fox Sports and Kayo.
Mark Winterbottom, #18 DEWALT Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying: 19th
Race 7: 11th
“Not a bad day. We had quite a few things go against us. In qualifying I had a bit of traffic, I thought we could be top ten. Then in the race, we moved forward, double stacked, moved forward again. Actually had really good pace but in that last stint, after five laps, something’s happened to my right rear, so really struggled for tyre life after that. We’ll have a look, see if it’s the tyre, or I’ve bent something in the car, but we were looking good for probably seventh, I think without the issues.
“All in all, finished 11th, survived, but a day that could have been a lot better if things went our way. We’ll come back tomorrow, try again and hopefully it’s dry and we can see what pace we’ve got.”
David Reynolds, #20 TRADIE Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying: 19th
Race 7: 16th
“After yesterday I was all like gee’d up, I was super positive about today’s performance. I knew something special was going to happen and nothing eventuated.
“Qualified 21st in the kind of dampish, dryish conditions. It was a very hard session this morning. I had no radio comms, which throws everyone off a little bit. But we just didn’t have much pace.
“I started 21st in the race, got a reasonable start. My car was actually pretty fast in the wet, like, but there were various times where I was very slow, and various times where I felt very fast. So, it was just a very odd race of snakes and ladders. I’d make it through the field and then have a crash with someone. I had probably three separate incidents that were unavoidable. That sort of ruined my day. One was quite costly and then that put me on the back foot and then I’d come through and then had another crash, dropped back and then I ended up 16th overall.
“That was not the pace of the car. I definitely think I should have been in the top 10 for sure. It was a very frustrating day. I got out of the car quite angry, frustrated, because nothing seemed to be working for us today. But, tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully we can put ourselves in a better position in qualifying, and we don’t suffer the mid pack mentality and start getting accidents you don’t need to get involved in, so hopefully we can qualify better and have a better day tomorrow.”
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