Heimgartner climbs into the top ten from the back of the grid in Race 16
Rounding out the Perth Super 440, Race 16 has had it’s share of surprises with three of the Brad Jones Racing drivers making significant moves up the field over the 83 laps.
Jaxon Evans, Andre Heimgartner and Macauley Jones all started near the back of the field on Sunday’s afternoon race after some troubles in qualifying.
While Bryce Fullwood in the Mr Umami Camaro had made his way through to the Shootout and lined up 9th.
Heimgartner was given a late penalty after qualifying, putting him in 24th on the starting grid, however the Kiwi and his team didn’t put a foot wrong in the race.
The R&J Batteries Supercar made up 14 positions to come across the line in 10th.
Fullwood unfortunately ran off track on lap 45 after a lock up, he picked up an enormous amount of dirt and debris in the run off and was forced into a lengthy stop in pit lane to clear it.
Just before that, the SCT Motorsport Camaro was run off the track by Aaron Cameron.
Cameron copped a penalty for it but Evans, who had made decent headway to that point was now running at the back again.
However, a turn of fortunes with a good stop under Safety Car and some pace in the car saw Evans finish 12th.
The Pizza Hut Racing Camaro of Jones came through the field as well to come across the line just behind Evans.
There’s a quick turnaround now for the BJR crew until the Darwin Triple Crown (June 20-22).
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
"Bad start to the day. Just had a bit of a hangover from the contact yesterday with the steering, which the guys fixed. At the start of the race today, had a bit of out of body feeling of actually passing people. So that was nice, and the car was pretty speedy. Just was in the right place at the right time. As the race went on and executed the pit stops well. So really good recovery. Got some work to do to try and tidy up our issues. Looking forward to getting to Darwin and pushing on."
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars driver, #14 Mr Umami Racing Camaro
"Really tough end to our weekend here in Perth, which has otherwise been quite positive. Was really cool to qualify fifth into the Shootout. We started all the races from ninth this weekend, which was inside the ten and that was really good for us. Unfortunately made a mistake in the race. Put us way out of contention of any of any kind of results. Really sorry to all the boys who worked really hard this weekend, but excited that we've got some speed and looking forward to darling."
Macauley Jones
Supercars driver, #96 Pizza Hut Racing Camaro
"That was hard work. This track is pretty physical and we're still just not quite there with qualifying. I feel like we've improved the balance over the weekend, but it's a really finicky track to get the technique right when you're sort of swapping around with setup. I found it a bit challenging to chase. The long race though was better. Our longer stint pace was strong. Sort of got lucky and unlucky at the same time with the safety car falling when it did, but all in all it is a better result today. So, yeah, some progress."
Jaxon Evans
Supercars driver, #12 SCT Motorsport Camaro
" I made a mistake in qualifying on the new set of tyres, locked up, didn't set a representative lap because of a track limit. So started last. Race was going pretty averagely. Then I got sent through the gravel and then just did a really long stint, hoping for a Safety Car, and we got one. So in the end, we finished 12th. It's a nice recovery with a bit of luck, which I feel like we deserve. But all in all bit of work to do before Darwin."