Melbourne: See what’s next
While we may have driven ourselves to podium finishes in Adelaide, there’s no doubt the event was a fast-tracked learning curve for the team.
The first event of the season seemed ‘sweet and sour’ for our Red Bull Holden crew.
“The sweet was the podium,” said J-Dub.
“There’s 24 cars out there and only three can get on the podium, so being on the podium is fantastic.
“It’s good to start the year strong,” he said.
“The low point of Adelaide was the second qualifying on Sunday; not getting the job done and the first time not being in the top 10 in 14 years.”
Despite the short turnaround time between races, Team Manager Mark “Dutto” Dutton, believes the team has made substantial progress and adjusted for Melbourne.
“We focused very hard on some areas of the car where we thought we were deficient.”
“We didn’t have a lot of issues with the cars in Adelaide, we just didn’t have the level of consistency that we had set for ourselves for the event,” said Dutto.
GALLERY: Relive Adelaide with the crew
When asked about the new breed in the paddock, (yes talking about them Mustangs) there wasn’t a flinch of interest.
“We’re focused and concentrating on the job ahead and not looking or worrying about anyone else said J-Dub.
“They won both races and congratulations to them, but there are plenty of areas where we can fix our car and our performance which is our full focus heading in Melbourne.”
Clearly, there’s no time to dwell on the past as the team refocuses and take charge moving forward.
“We keep chasing that little something which we can never have enough of ‘it’,” said Dutto.
“It’s all about the knowledge and understanding to keep getting better.”
That ‘little something’ isn’t the only thing we can’t get enough of heading into this weekend, the atmosphere and F1 racing is a favourite among all.
“Most of us are racing fans so we love fast cars and there is no cooler car than an F1 car,” said J-Dub.
“There’s a big international European crowd in Melbourne watching the race so to be able to race our cars in front of that crowd is fairly special.”
Melbourne 400 action starts on March 14 and we have it all covered with live race updates on our Twitter account.
Jamie’s Predictions for Melbourne:
Fastest lap time on the track – 01:56.05
Who’s the one to watch in Melbourne – Nick Percat
Biggest Challenge in Melbourne – Staying warm
F1 winner – Lewis Hamilton
Melbourne in three words: … but the weather
Shane’s Predictions for Melbourne:
Fastest lap time – 01:56.50
One to watch – The racing
Biggest challenge – The braking
F1 winner – Charles Leclerc
Melbourne in three words – Fast. Smooth. Fun.
