Goddard in for second Sydney round

Zane Goddard will steer the #34 Matt Stone Racing Commodore when Supercars return to Sydney Motorsport Park on July 18-19.

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As part of a rookie driver share program, Goddard and Jake Kostecki are splitting the season in the UNIT-backed Holden.

A full schedule for each driver had been drawn up but given the current fluidity of the 2020 calendar as the COVID-19 situation evolves, MSR are more so operating on a round-by-round basis for now.

With Kostecki having been behind the wheel last month for his solo debut, Goddard will get a crack at the Truck Assist Sydney SuperSprint, which will include a Saturday night race plus two Sunday heats.

Goddard impressed on debut at Adelaide, matching up well for pace against Garry Jacobson in the #35 sister car and bringing home a solid double of 18th and 16th.

Team owner Matt Stone confirmed the tentative plan is for Goddard to then continue on to compete at the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown on August 8-9, before Kostecki takes over for Townsville later that month.

It’s unsure who will drive at Sandown and beyond, other than that the pair will team up as co-drivers for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

On the whole it was a tricky first round back for MSR, with Jacobson’s 16th in the opening race their best result of the weekend.

Stone though was unconcerned, aware the team’s expansion and its associated recruits will take time to hit their straps.

“With the degradation the way that it is [at Sydney Motorsport Park], it’s very tough for the newer or rookie drivers to qualify,” he told Supercars.com.

“There’s literally no second chance on that tyre and it degrades so quickly in a qualifying session that it’s hard to maximise it.

“Our set-up wasn’t optimal for qualifying; we had quite a good race set-up, so we have been working on that, ready to go for next week.

“And that was Jake’s first race in a car since Sandown last year.

“I wasn’t unhappy. We showed, by Race 3, Jake’s race pace was really quite good.

“Garry’s race pace was great all weekend, we just obviously suffered in qualifying and then his starts for the races weren’t spectacular.

“But yeah to me, I saw a lot of promise in there.

“We need to remind ourselves that we are a rookie driver line-up and the newest team on the grid, so I’m not really too concerned and I think going back to Sydney is good for us because it gives us a chance to improve on it and go one step better.”

Stone also confirmed the team will not join the Dunlop Super2 Series action at SMP, but will field a couple of Super3 entries.