John Bowe's mid-season report card - Part 2

David Reynolds - Erebus Penrite Racing

Qual average: 9.4Best race result: 3rdChampionship position: 10th

As a team they’ve had a really impressive uplift in their performance and David is clearly a very good, freestyle-type driver.

You need all the ingredients to go well and they’ve put together a select group of good people that have managed to get the best out of David.

It’s not a political team and I think it really suits David’s personality. You can see how happy he is down there.

Dale Wood – Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing

Qual average: 20.2Best race result: 8thChampionship position: 24th

Dale is a bit of a mystery and without seeing all the data out of every car it’s hard to know exactly what the difference is.

He has days or moments where he shows that he can do it, but on the whole his results haven’t matched the potential that’s there.

He’s obviously alongside one of the top drivers in David Reynolds, so the benchmark is ahead of him to chase.

Michael Caruso - Nissan Motorsport

Qual average: 15.9Best race result: 5thChampionship position: 16th

The job that each driver is doing at Nissan Motorsport is very hard to assess because the form of the team is so up and down.

Michael has struggled this year compared to last, but I wouldn’t say he’s doing a bad job. The car seems to have a very small set-up window and the new tyre has only made that worse.

Michael flies the flag for Nissan in terms of their factory colours. I’m sure Michael is frustrated as anyone with how the year is going.

Rick Kelly – Sengled Racing (Nissan)

Qual average: 10.9Best race result: 5thChampionship position: 17th

When you look at the year for the Nissans, the fact that Rick was on pole in Darwin shows that the car is capable in the right conditions. Rick obviously still is as well.

But then you look at the fact he was outside the top 10 the next day (in qualifying) it shows how hard the category is, no matter how well you’re driving it.

I think running the team has to put a huge load on both Rick and Todd, which can’t be helping them either.

Todd Kelly – Carsales Racing (Nissan)

Qual average: 13.4Best race result: 6thChampionship position: 19th

It’s as above for Todd, but perhaps even more so on the workload given how involved he is with the engineering side of it.

There have been times where he’s been the top Nissan this year, but he’s nowhere near consistent enough.

But at 37, there’s still time. There’s always external talk about when he will retire, but I think that’s got to be up to him. He shouldn’t be influenced by what the media or what anyone else says.

Simona De Silvestro – Team Harvey Norman Nissan

Qual average: 20.1Best race result: 13thChampionship position: 23rd

Having watched Simona this year I’m convinced she’s the real deal. The way she applies herself, presents with the media, all of that, it’s top class.

It’s a very, very tough category and I think results-wise she’s on target for where she should be.

Whether she can move that forward or not and become a factor is hard to say, but she’s learning the category in a disciplined way and I’ve been really impressed with how she’s gone about it.

Lee Holdsworth - Preston Hire Racing (Team 18)

Qual average: 13.1Best race result: 5thChampionship position: 12th

Lee is a great little driver and I think to be sitting just outside the top 10 in a one-car team is a really strong job.

When you look at the equipment he’s up against and not having a team-mate to compare with, I’ve been in that situation and it’s very difficult.

They had a tough year last year but they’ve worked hard. The challenge is obviously to be consistent, which they’ve not quite managed, but I’ve certainly been impressed by the job Lee has done.

Check back to Supercars.com tomorrow for Part 3 of John Bowe's mid-season Supercars report card.