How 'Class A' Slade is pushing Blanchard squad forward
05 Nov 2021
CoolDrive Racing team manager Brendan Hogan has paid tribute to "Class A" driver Tim Slade for aiding the team's rise up the leaderboard.
Slade has flown under the radar in recent rounds, with the 36-year-old quietly piecing together a smart campaign.
To this weekend's ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight, Slade is just 134 points behind ninth-placed Will Brown -
Dating back to May's OTR SuperSprint at The Bend Motorsport Park, Slade has recorded nine top 10s in his last 12 starts.
In those 12 starts, he has gained an average of 3.1 positions per race; his average starting position is 12.9, and improves to an average finish position of 9.8.
It all comes after Slade suffered a weekend-ending Race 1 crash in Bathurst, leaving the team with a badly damaged Mustang Supercar.
Fast forward eight months, and with the help of race engineer Mirko De Rosa, Slade continues to push the single-car Blanchard Racing Team to new heights.
Last week, Slade was one of a handful of drivers to finish in the top 10 in all races of the Bunnings Trade Sydney SuperNight.
"He's a class A driver; if you give a guy of his class half a sniff, they'll deliver," Hogan told Supercars.com.
"Sladey probably picked the best year to miss out; last year, with the COVID-affected season, he didn't really miss too much.
"The last three tracks we've been at - Darwin, Townsville and Sydney - we've been top 10 at all of them
"It's a credit to Sladey and Mirko to how they've got the car operating. For the car to work at different tracks is proof of their hard work."
Having missed out on a full-time drive for the 2020 season, Slade returned in 2021 and surprised all by dropping the #3 CoolDrive Ford on the front row in Bathurst.
Fate intervened in the race, and Slade left with zero points. Tricky rounds at Sandown and Tasmania followed, but fortunes turned in Tailem Bend.
Slade qualified third for the first Sunday race, and although he was taken out on the first lap, it was clear the team had regained what it found in Bathurst.
Since then, Slade has been a constant fixture in the top 10; his best season finish of fourth in Townsville came from 19th on the grid.
For Hogan, the current performance is clear indication of driver and team finding synergy, even if the team lacks in some areas.
BRT was a mechanic short last weekend, and Slade was only able to take two tyres at each of his compulsory pit stops across the three races.
He still brought home finishes of 10th, fifth and ninth, with impressive tyre life, smart racecraft and clever strategy getting him towards the pointy end.
However, the goal remains clear for BRT, which is just eight rounds into its current guise as a fully-fledged Supercars squad.
"Tim is driving well, there's no doubt about that. But the car preparation from Tim, Mirko and everyone at the team has been great," Hogan explained.
"It's been about making sure that everything Tim touches in the car feels 100 per cent perfect.
"There are no shit parts are on the car; it's either in the bin, or on the car. There are no two ways about it.
"We're not here to finish 10th. We have to keep pushing, and keep stringing races together like we have been.
"We're here to win races. We're not here to come 10th and make up the numbers."
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume this weekend at the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.
Tickets for the three upcoming Sydney events are on sale now.
