Caruso delivers at the 'concrete canyon'

Michael Caruso proved successful at the 'Concrete Canyon' yesterday, recording his equal best 2014 race result at the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.

Caruso and co-driver Dean Fiore were the first Nissan home, taking the chequered flag in fifth place after yesterday's 300 kilometre haul, while they were the sole Altima in Saturday's ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout.

Although the #36'sassault around the streets of Surfers Paradise was hindered by a delaminated tyre earlier on in the 102 lap race, the strong form of the Norton Hornet prevailed to deliver what Caruso called a much deserved result for Nissan Motorsport.

"The car was very quick in the race; had it not been the flat tyre earlier on in the race with Dean we potentially could have been out in the surf tomorrow morning with some new boards!" he told v8supercars.com.au.

"But it's fantastic to bounce back after a couple of disappointing races for our car, in particular.

"It's great to get a really good result for, not just myself, but for everyone at Nissan Motorsport. We've sort of set ourselves a really high bar at the moment, and to continually be at the pointy end is very encouraging for everyone here."

The 31-year-old's feature in yesterday's Top 10 Shootout was welcomed by Caruso, after he was denied a spot in the coveted Bathurst shootout due to a starter motor issue.

"It's always hard to not think about Bathurst because it obviously means so much - you can't help but be disappointed about how our weekend was," he said.

"So, it was great to get into the shootout. I think I put a better show on for the crowd rather than what my shootout lap performance was!" Caruso joked about the moment in his hot lap that compromised his time.

Now after yesterday's strong form, Caruso has his sights sets on today's final race, and is hoping he and Fiore can reward Nissan Motorsport by bringing home a couple of surfboards.

"I think the great thing is that [yesterday's result] sort of takes a little bit of pressure off our car," he said.

"It's sort of set the bar to go a couple of better, and hopefully we can come home with some trophies because everyone deserves it in the team, to be honest.

"They've worked very hard and we're getting to the end of the season, and this is when it's going to start to count."