SUPER SATURDAY: PERTH SUPERSPRINT
A three-part qualifying started things off in Perth as David Reynolds and Matt Payne set out to repeat their impressive run in Practice the previous day.
Dave set great pace in each qualifying topping the timesheet in stage 2 and despite encountering a gearshift sensor issue in stage 3, he qualified third with Matt close behind in fifth.
Both drivers did a great job off the start and maintained their positions in the early laps leading up to their pitstops.
Dave came out from his pit stop in the lead before Brody Kostecki eased past, and into the lead. Van Gisbergen pitted late and slotted back in behind Dave and Kostecki setting up an enthralling finish which the top three battling for position over the closing laps.
Matt came out behind Will Davison and eventually made a clean pass however Hazelwood was on a hard charge with fresh tyres and stormed past. Matt finished a fantastic P6; his first top ten race finish.
Reynolds achieved his 2nd third place of the season. A great result for the Penrite Racing team with solid team championship points banked.
David Reynolds said:
“We had a small drama in Qualifying which stopped us from getting pole, but we started from third and finished third, so all in all not a bad day. We lost a bit of time on the track with tyre life but Matt did a good job as well today and we brought home some solid results. Looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.”
Matthew Payne said:
“We qualified fifth which was really good, we made it through the three stages of qualifying so we were really happy with that. I got a good start in the race but was hurt by tyre life in the end. We still finished 6th which I was really happy about. It was car #19’s first top ten and overall, a really good result for the team. We were highest point scoring team today, so we moved up in the Team’s championship. Really positive day for us.”
Sunday action will start with Qualifying for Race 8 and Race 9 at 9:15am local time.
CONTACT:
Alison Powell | PR, Media, Marketing Coordinator | Grove Racing alisonp@grovegroup.com.au +61 04542 518 061
