How PremiAir Racing fared in debut race

The newest team in pit lane is focusing on "key learnings" in its first ever Supercars round.

Both PremiAir Racing drivers finished the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight opener.

Chris Pither and Garry Jacobson both made gains on their qualifying positions; Jacobson finished 18th and Pither 23rd

It marked a smooth return to full-time competition for Pither, having left Team Sydney in 2020.

"It’s great to get race one under my belt, 300 kilometres was a bit of a shock to the system," the Kiwi said.

"It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a race of that length, so I’ve adjusted now.

"Overall, a great effort to the entire team to have two cars out there running well.

"Obviously, we want to be further up the grid. I had a few issues in qualifying that we rectified for the race and helped the balance a lot.

"I just need to qualify better tomorrow with some stronger speed.

"I ran relatively smoothly, a few little changes we’ll make overnight so I’m a bit more comfortable in the car but nothing major.

"A big thanks to everyone at the team and our partners, it’s great to get this one under our belt. On to better tomorrow."

PremiAir Racing put both drivers on different tyre strategies for the 77-lap opener, which was won by Shane van Gisbergen.

Pither was one of four drivers to start on the Super Soft tyre.

Jacobson began on the Soft compound and climbed to 16th by lap 20.

Jacobson finished 18th

Having successfully executed a two-stop strategy, Jacobson was buoyed by the team’s quick progress.

"Race one done for the season; I was a bit rusty off the start line, so I’ll get that better for tomorrow," Jacobson said.

"In terms of the car pace, it was quick. We took a pretty big swing at the setup to change it back to something I was used to from the four races we did last year.

"I feel like I got my speed back which is promising for tomorrow.

"Tyre deg was strong too so I just need to work on a few things over night, not go too much on the kerb strikes and hopefully come away with a better result tomorrow."

Cars will return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying on Sunday at 11:05am AEDT. CLICK HERE to view the race schedule.

CLICK HERE to purchase your Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight tickets.