Bathurst 1000 – Practice 3, 4 & Qualifying Results
Zach Bates/Craig Lowndes – Car #888
Practice 3 – 17th (2:05.6501)
Practice 4 – 10th (2:04.9660)
Qualifying – 16th (2:04.4843)
“We had some great track sessions today. Our main focus for practice two was to get ourselves ready for qualifying. Craig went out and did a race run, so we ironed out a few little niggles, but then we turned to qualifying set up which turned out to be really positive. We made some smart changes ahead of the session and I tried to make some improvements around the track which I was really happy with.”
“Our biggest focus now is fine tuning a car that we can race all day on Sunday. We’ll make sure we have something that looks after itself and is mechanically sound. Craig’s done a lot more race runs so far, and it’s been great to have his input around this track. The whole Supercheap Auto Wildcard team is working well and I’m sure we’ll also look at what the Red Bull Ampol team are doing too so come Sunday, hopefully we’re competitive.”
“Tomorrow Craig and I are going to continue to learn how the track will evolve. Lots of rubber goes down between now and Sunday, but the biggest thing tomorrow is to give our pit crew some practice ahead of the race. We’ve got plenty of guys in there that are really excited to jump on the guns, so I’m sure it’s going to be a big day for them as well.”
“I’m excited to be looking down the barrel at my first Bathurst 1000 with Supercheap Auto and Craig Lowndes, It’s incredible. I can’t really believe it! Typically today is our first day on a normal weekend. So, its time to put our head down and get to the pointy end of the pack.”
“Zach went out early in practice this morning and did a couple of qualifying runs, and then I did a bit of a race run. Between the sessions, we made some setup changes but unfortunately we went the wrong way, which was a good thing to learn. So we reversed that and then went back to a qualifying set up, put Zach back in and simulated for qualifying. It’s just a matter of making sure that we’ve got the speed when we need it, but at the moment, the qualifying car looks really positive.”
“It’s a lot hotter today but importantly, the UV is higher. I think that changes the circuit and means more rubber is going down because we haven’t had any rain. So the track’s going to rubber up and we’re going to make sure that we keep chasing the track as it keeps evolving.”
‘I think these conditions suit us really nicely – the warmer the day the better it is for us. I do prefer a dry race, obviously, but it’s just a matter of what comes our way. The long-range forecast is to have a sunny day like this, which really suits us.”
“I’m still focusing on a race car set-up. Every time I’m in the car, I’m simulating full fuel tanks and longer runs. Zach can focus on the qualifying pace. At the end of the day, we’ve got to find out where we start and then we’ll work it out.”