Bathurst 1000 – Practice 3, 4, & Qualifying Results
Will Brown/Scott Pye – Car #87
Practice 3 – Ninth (2:07.2703)
Practice 4 – Eighth (2:06.8692)
Qualifying– Fifth (2:05.7663)
“Stoked to get in the top 10, and to be starting off 5th for the shootout, but it was a hard day. We didn’t feel like we had it earlier in the day. I was out of the 10 before the last run. So, there’s a lot of pressure on us, but really stoked to get in there and be in the top 10. You want to start up the front here every time and try to stay out of any trouble for the race but, it was cool to see 88 so fast. He nearly got first but the red flag was unfortunate. It’s always awesome. You always want to be in this shootout. The fans go crazy, and it’s always a good time of the day while the sun’s setting. It’s an amazing place to do a shootout.”
“I felt a lot more comfortable with the car this morning. It was great to get a run in that 1st practice session. The plan was to get me in twice, but after the first run, I felt much more comfortable and was happy to let Will run the rest of the sessions out for today to focus on qualifying speed, but I’ll have another go tomorrow. But all in all, the guys have done a really good job. I felt like they worked hard all day on the #87 side. And to get in the shootout and feel as confident as they did at the end, I think it’s a credit to them. They all worked really hard, and I can’t thank the Red Bull Ampol team enough because I created a lot of work for them last night. So, they’ve done an amazing job to get the thing back to new and to have both cars in the shootout.”
Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Practice 3 – First (2:06.7842)
Practice 4 – Third (2:06.5275)
Qualifying – Third (2:05.656)
“I think it’s been a pretty good day, we’re in a better position than we were yesterday. We did some pit-stop practice this morning, and then pretty much started tuning the car overall, but starting to head into qualifying. So, we’ve made the car a lot nicer than what it was. It was fast, but we’ve made it nicer to drive. So, finished the day in the top three which is good. Qualifying was hectic. I don’t know what it is. I think the track’s quite dirty, but, there are a lot of mistakes going on. It’s just it’s super hard out there at the moment, you’re on the limit, but you do have to bring the car home in one piece. You’re certainly pushing out there, but you’re seeing a lot of crashes. So, it’s very much a balancing act, but my car feels really good, and I feel super comfortable in it. So, we’ll just keep tinkering away, but I think we’ve got a good base now for the rest of the weekend. It’s the best lap of the year. There’s nothing better than a shootout at Bathurst, and to do it at the 1000, I certainly look forward to that. The goal was to get into the shootout today and we’ve achieved that. I think tomorrow we can focus on some race car stuff because we’re pretty confident in our qualifying car.”
“We’ve evolved a lot today with the car. The car was quick, but it certainly was hard to drive. And now it’s much, much nicer to drive and, in particular, Broc’s really happy. So today couldn’t have couldn’t have got much better. We’ve got the quickest car, but it’s actually nice not to be at the top of the timesheets, to be honest. He just towed the other cars around behind him and went third quickest. He actually did the lap time, but the red flag flew with 2 seconds to go. Couldn’t be happier. We’re at the top of the 10 as well, which is important because when the weather cools off here, it’s always fast at the end of the shootout. So, to be out fifth and second last is perfect.”
