Cub Cadet Racing’s Mark Winterbottom stormed through from 23rd to ninth in Race 18, the second and final race of the Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains Raceway.

Qualifying saw TRADIE Beer Racing’s David Reynolds progress through to Q3 as the fastest car in Q2 and qualified third on the grid. However, he could have well been on a lap for pole position if it weren’t for a stuck gear coming out of the hairpin. Winterbottom struggled for balance on his flying lap in Q1 and qualified 23rd.

Reynolds dropped to fourth off the start, before he was turned around by Kostecki at the Turn 4 Hairpin on Lap 7, bringing out the first safety car of the race.

Reynolds rejoined the field two laps down and circulated to the finish to place 22nd.

As Winterbottom came in for his first pit stop, he was hit hard in the right rear corner by Kostecki who was exiting his pit box after his stop.

A second safety car period saw Winterbottom hit the lane again for a fresh set of tyres, and charged through from 19th to ninth with a clean set of heels to rescue a top ten finish on a challenging day.

Team 18 head to Winton Motor Raceway for their pre-enduro test on Tuesday 3 September, ahead of the Sandown 500 on 13-15 September.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Mark Winterbottom, #18 Cub Cadet Racing Chevrolet ZL1 Camaro

Practice 3: 18th
Qualifying: 23rd
Race 18: 9th

“It was a weekend of just missed opportunities. The cars were fast, Dave was very fast, he did a very good job this weekend.

“We adopted his car for that last race like for like and my thing lit up as well and was really fast. I qualified 23rd today and drove through to 9th, which was great. So as   a team it obviously was a very strong weekend.

“Now we have a good starting point for Sandown because the way the cars handle here and the setups often trend really well for Sandown,

“It’s a good few weeks coming up now. We test and then we start our endurance campaign which hopefully is quite strong given the way the car’s finished here.

“It was nice to see Cub Cadet on board too. The plan of doing a burnout on the grass, we’ll have to wait till Sandown.”

David Reynolds, #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Chevrolet ZL1 Camaro

Practice 3: 14th
Qualifying: 3rd
Race 18: 22nd

“Unfortunately, didn’t end up the best, but it started the best. I started third today but probably should have been pole. I got my first gear stuck out of the hairpin, and lost a tenth, which would have put me on pole.

“We started well before I got turned around, by Brody, and then I was just a wounded soldier after that a couple laps down.

“Once I got going, I was probably one of the fastest cars, even though I was two laps down.

“There’s lots of positive we can take from the weekend. We had car pace, Mark did a good job to drive through to ninth. So, we’re gaining momentum.”