TRADIE Beer Racing’s David Reynolds secured a top-ten finish, coming home in tenth place in Race 22 of the Gold Coast 500, while Cub Cadet Racing’s Mark Winterbottom battled to 12th after an eventful race.

Both drivers miraculously avoided significant damage in a chaotic multi-car incident at Turn 11 on lap one, ultimately allowing the team to finish the weekend on a high note.

The day began with both Team 18 drivers showing competitive pace during Qualifying, with Reynolds on track to challenge the top of the grid until a red flag interrupted his fastest lap.

A switch to fresh tyres altered the balance of both cars, resulting in Reynolds qualifying 14th and Winterbottom 16th for the start of Race 22.

The opening lap saw both drivers skilfully emerged unscathed through a multi-car pileup at Turn 11, where Reynolds received a bump from behind and briefly made contact with Courtney, while Winterbottom had a close call, narrowly avoiding major damage after contact with Percat. Despite minor cosmetic damage, both cars continued the race.

Reynolds executed a consistent run, capitalising on strategic pit stops to move up to 10th by the checkered flag.

Winterbottom’s strong pace and pit strategy had him hold out for a Full Course Yellow that could have elevated his position. Unfortunately, a mishap during a pit stop resulted in a 12th-place finish.

Reflecting on the weekend, Reynolds expressed confidence in the car’s race pace and strategy, looking ahead to the season finale in Adelaide with optimism.

Winterbottom acknowledged the difficulties in the pit lane but was pleased with the car’s pace.

Team Principal Adrian Burgess praised the team’s hard work in bringing a new car up to speed since Bathurst, emphasising the team’s commitment to improving for the final round.

Team 18 heads to the final round of the 2024 Supercars Championship at the VAILO Adelaide 500 on November 14-17.

RESULTS & QUOTES

David Reynolds, driver #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P14
Race 22: P10

“Today we rolled out for qualifying full of confidence. The track was really fast and slick and the first run I would have been around P4, then I was on a better lap which would have put me probably second but then the red flag came out. Then we put some other tyres on after that and I could never really match the same time again, so we ended up 14th which is pretty average.

“We started 14th for the final race on Sunday and we were actually going okay. We pulled a bit of a different strategy with a short fill at the start trying to undercut everyone and then two long stints.

“We managed to get to 10th, which is actually not a bad result. We lost a bit of time in the pits. We probably should have popped out 7th or 8th,

“t was a really tough weekend, bouncing over the kerbs, it’s a really intense track to drive now. They’ve gone away from all the kerb strikes and all the sensors and it’s just almost self policing in a way. It’s crazy but heaps of fun, cross the back chicane, four wheels off the ground, heaps of air time.

“It’s really exciting, but requires full concentration, full intensity for 85 laps each day. It was really tough.

“Looking forward to Adelaide, one of my favourite tracks to go to, really cool race and I did really well there last year so looking to end the year on a massive high.”

Mark Winterbottom, driver #18 Cub Cadet Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P16
Race 22: P12

“Finished up on the Gold Coast.  A tough weekend again. OurcCar was really quick in that race, good tyre life.

“We had a cross threaded wheel nut. The car got dropped without a wheel on it, the car went back up, the spare wasn’t ready, the gift that kept giving. Probably should have finished seventh or eighth, just behind Andre there.

“We got the car fast, but things didn’t go our way. Thank you to all the people who wore my gear and shared their photos on my socials. The support’s been awesome.”

Adrian Burgess, Team Principal – Team 18

“Big week. big turnaround from Bathurst. So first of all, I need to thank the whole team, all the guys, all the girls for building us a brand new car. She rolled out here after a quick shakedown really well, actually, and Dave was really happy with it.

“We had some good pace obviously yesterday, managed to get Dave in the shootout, which was good considering the last couple of events.

“We had a good race yesterday, finished sixth with Davey, which was probably our highlight. We carried some confidence coming into today and again, just like Tasmania. Dave was really on fire, we were running fourth and on a good lap that would have probably put us second and easily got us into the ten, but then we had the red flag so we didn’t finish that lap.

The next set of tires just wasn’t a balance for either of the drivers. So we dropped back to 14th and 16th. So we had a bit of work to do, but encouraged we had pace.

“In the race, we decided to get Davey out of the traffic, get a good first lap, managed to avoid the accidents going on, put him on an alternative strategy, got him up to 10th. We probably should have been 8th or 9th, but there’s a few things going on in pit lane with with refuelling, but we’ve got a bit of work to do with our refuelling process.

“Frosty was trucking along again on a different strategy, trying to mix the cars up. He was going really long which was starting to pay for him and then bungled a pit stop. Frosty unfortunately went a bit long, that just knocked the wheel out the way and a whole chain of events which was very disappointing to see that happen, but we work as a team, we win as a team, we lose as a team we’ll go back and regroup.

“Looking forward to Adelaide, we’ve gone well there in the past. We need to send Frosty off with the best possible result. He’s been a great ambassador for the team over a long period of time so we want to go there and all of us have a great weekend together and send him off in style.”