Tickford Racing
26 SEP 2020
Waters, Le Brocq go 3-4 in Race 28
Tickford Racing drivers Cameron Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) and Jack Le Brocq (No. 55 Supercheap Auto Ford Mustang) have finished third and fourth in Race 28 of the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park. The result is Waters' 16th career podium and first at The Bend, as he retains third in the Supercars drivers' championship following today's race.
After sneaking into the Top 15 Shootout in 15th place after Q2, Le Brocq posted a Shootout lap that qualified him in fourth place, a career-best starting position. The 28-year old had a great start and leapt to second in the early stages of Race 28, before Waters and eventual second place finisher Shane van Gisbergen passed him in the race's pit stop cycle.
James Courtney (No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang) qualified fifth and finished seventh in Race 28, his ninth top 10 since he joined the team earlier this year.
On a cold and windy day in South Australia, Lee Holdsworth (No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang) struggled with a lack of grip on new Dunlop tyres, citing a challenge in building temperature in his "green" tyres. Holdsworth qualified 13th – albeit two tenths of a second from Le Brocq in fourth – and finished in the same position after getting stuck in a train of cars in the race's closing laps.
The Bend SuperSprint 2 concludes on Sunday with Race 29 and Race 30 qualifying at 9:10 a.m. ACST, followed by Race 29 at 11:50 and Race 30 at 2:20 p.m.
DRIVERS' VIEW
No. 5 Truck Assist Ford Mustang
Lee Holdsworth
Practice 1: 1m15.97s, 6th
Practice 2: 1m15.72s, 13th
Race 28 Quali: 1m15.81s (Shootout), 13th
Race 28 Finish: 13th
"We started out of position, we just had trouble switching the green tyre on, it's a bit of a problem being faster on an old tyre than a green, so hopefully we can work that out for tomorrow. Starting where we did I got caught in a bit of a train, and it's very hard to pass when you're only a tenth or two quicker than the guys around you, so hopefully we'll start up a bit further tomorrow."
No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang
Cameron Waters
Practice 1: 1m16.27s, 17th
Practice 2: 1m15.80s, 16th
Race 28 Quali: 1m15.28s (Shootout), 2nd
Race 28 Finish: 3rd
"It's good to collect another trophy, I'm kind of happy with third. I had a shocking start, but the Monster Mustang was pretty solid, we probably had similar pace to Scott (McLaughlin) and Shane (van Gisbergen), we just lost track position early on. Big thanks to the team and our sponsors for all the hard work, these back to back weekends are tough on them and this is our third one, but they've all kept going through the grind. Hopefully tomorrow we can qualify up front again and get a better start and more strong results."
No. 44 Boost Mobile Ford Mustang
James Courtney
Rookie Practice (Feeney): 1m16.52s, 4th
Practice 1: 1m15.48s, 1st
Practice 2: 1m15.76s, 14th
Race 28 Quali: 1m15.60s (Shootout), 5th
Race 28 Finish: 7th
"It's better than eighth, but not as good as sixth. We struggled with push early in the race, and by the time we got it sorted out with the (anti-roll) bars we had used the tyres up so we couldn't really gain much more track position. Overall not a bad day, Broc did great in the rookie session, we led first practice, fifth in the Shootout, so pretty good all up, but we'd like to make tomorrow a bit better."
No. 55 Supercheap Auto Ford Mustang
Jack Le Brocq
Practice 1: 1m16.09s, 9th
Practice 2: 1m15.65s, 11th
Race 28 Quali: 1m15.60s, 4th
Race 28 Finish: 4th
"I had an awesome start and we got up to P2 which was quite good. We came in early and tried to do the undercut to get ahead of Scott (McLaughlin) and obviously that didn't work out, but fourth is really good. The Supercheap Auto Mustang was on fire, the engine coughed in the middle of the race because it's so cold, that rattled me up a little bit but we pressed on, and I'm still over the moon to bring it back fourth. I can't thank the guys enough."
Tim Edwards, Team Principal
"Cam and Jack drove really well today, as did JC. To have three cars in the top seven, you take those days whenever you can get them. Obviously Lee's looking for a bit more out of the green tyre to help in qualifying, but overall for the team it was a strong Saturday. We'll see what more we can conjure up overnight and go again tomorrow, hopefully for some more silverware."
On Le Brocq's engine cough:
"It's just so bloody cold here, the engines don't get much temperature in them, that cough was a product of the engine just being relatively cold. It's pretty rare but a fairly easy fix so we have no concerns about it heading into tomorrow."
