It’s been another challenging weekend for Andre Heimgartner, yet despite failing to make the top 10 the young kiwi remains adamant the team is on the right path. The WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint burst into life on Saturday morning with the NED Whisky Racing Mustang completing the short session in P15. Changes to the set up failed to improve car #7’s qualifying pace with Heimgartner slipping to P16 for Race 17. “We tried a few things to settle the car for qualy, but I just wasn’t able to capitalise and we unfortunately started in P16,” said Heimgartner. A brutal opening lap found Heimgartner caught up in trouble resulting in a puncture. From there Heimgartner was left chasing the field without enough laps to make huge gains, yet the Kelly Grove Racing star never gave up. In a brilliant display of maturity and patience, Heimgartner picked off several spots and brought his Ford Mustang home in P19. “It is what it is – when you’re stuck down the back you inevitably get caught up in dramas. All you can do from there is stay focussed and salvage a result,” said the 26-year-old. There remained an air of confidence within the team, with both cars searching for better set ups and strategy for day two. It wasn’t to be however, with qualifying leaving Heimgartner to start Race 18 in P16 and Race 19 from P19. “Unfortunately, we were unable to put ourselves in a decent position for the races,” said Heimgartner. There was no shortage of drama and aggression throughout both races. Heimgartner however seemed to find trouble wherever he placed the #7 Mustang, delivering incredibly exciting racing in hot conditions. At times Heimgartner looked like he’d deliver miracles, pushing his Mustang to the limit on occasions. However, neither race proved to offer rewards for effort with the Kelly Grove Mustang coming home in P20 and P16 respectively. “I can leave the weekend knowing we threw everything we had at it,” a buoyant Heimgartner said.
“We’ll regroup back in Melbourne and work with the whole team for a plan for the next round. We really need to bank more points before Bathurst to give us the chance of getting back into the top 10 of the Championship.” Heimgartner leaves the Townsville double header events in position 12 of the Championship standings, just ahead of teammate David Reynolds. The Repco Supercars Championship next round is still to be announced as a consequence of changing border restrictions.
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