Top-ten speed on show from Heimgartner on the streets of Surfers
Andre Heimgartner’s runs in practice have shown what’s possible for the Brad Jones Racing squad at the Gold Coast 500.
The R&J Batteries driver has been inside the top ten in both of the practice sessions on Friday on the streets of Surfers Paradise.
Finishing second fastest in the midday outing, Heimgartner’s rambunctious style was then the highlight of the latter session.
The first of the BJR drivers to wipe off a mirror on the tight track, the #8 Camaro was still 7th fastest.
Curbs have proven to be difficult to navigate with a number of strikes falling against all of the BJR drivers during the day.
While Jaxon Evans has particularly had an initiation of fire at the Boost Mobile GC500.
The rookie SCT Logistics driver lost most of the first session due to an issue with his transaxle and then had his first real taste of the challenging street circuit this afternoon.
Evans finished Practice 2 in 24th position but will take the opportunity overnight to learn from the vision and data before qualifying.
Macauley Jones in the Pizza Hut Racing car was a multiple-victim of curb strikes, falling foul of the sensors across a number of laps.
That led the #96 driver to sit 21st on the timesheets.
Bryce Fullwood meanwhile had a few issues across both sessions which the crew are hoping to get on top of before tomorrow.
Qualifying for Race 21 gets underway at 11:00am AEST tomorrow morning.
Supercars Quoteboard
Andre Heimgartner
Supercars driver, #8 R&J Batteries Camaro
“A good day here today. Was a solid first session for us and the second session wasn’t too bad. Just built it up and the car feels alright but there’s still some improvements that can be done. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. I think we’re in a good position so far.”
Bryce Fullwood
Supercars driver, #14 Middy's Electrical Camaro
“A challenging day for us. We had a few issues through both practice sessions today and that put us on the back foot. We’ve got lots of homework to do tonight and a lot of speed to find. Hopefully we can come back better tomorrow ready for qualifying and the race.”
Macauley Jones
Supercars driver, #96 Pizza Hut Camaro
“Interesting day. It's always a fun time around the Gold Coast. It's always a bit of a mess with the curb sensors and what they decide to do on the day or not do on the day. It's a hard one to navigate at times, but just chipping away. I feel like the cars not bad. We need a bit of work, and I need to figure out a few lines at different spots at this joint so all in all, a productive day. There’s definitely some improvements to be made.”
Jaxon Evans
Supercars driver, #50 SCT Logistics Camaro
“Feels good to do some laps here on the streets of Surfers Paradise. Obviously, the day didn't get off to a great start with no laps in the first practice due to a gearbox issue, but felt like it was a semi-good recovery considering the field had a bit of a head start to me. Lots of homework to do overnight and hopefully we'll come back and have a better day tomorrow. Big thanks to the guys for changing my gearbox in between those sessions.”