Pye aims high

After two seasons racing for DJR Team Penske, Scott Pye has backed himself to produce results at the new-look Walkinshaw Racing in 2017.

Pye highlighted Walkinshaw Racing’s previous successes and believes the team deserves him to be fighting at the front.

“I have high expectations for the season. It’s a great team,” Pye told Supecars.com.

“They showed it last year with the results they got, winning some of the biggest races of the year, so I think that we can all hope for really good things.

“I don’t think anything other than [being] at the pointy end is going to be good enough for any of the guys at the team. They all deserve and expect me to be right at the front, so I’m looking forward to that,” Pye said.

Despite outlining high hopes, Pye noted the difficulty in setting any expectations until you’ve made it through the first round.

“I take it one race at a time,” Pye said.

“I think at Clipsal you need to keep an open mind until you get through that event, and just get the best result possible without any dramas because that really sets up your season.

“Coming into a new team there is going to be a transition there, learning a completely different car. I want to get through Clipsal, probably one of my favourite places to race, and obviously being on pole there last year my expectations are high to be at the pointy end again”.

Pye said he is confident his past experiences learning a new team’s package will be beneficial at Walkinshaw.

“It’s about making the most of the package I’ve got week in, week out and making sure I do the best job I can in the car. That’s all I can do,” Pye said.

“Given the experience I have had working with a team to improve a package that wasn’t at its best will put me in strong position for this year and onwards”.

Pye emphasised his enthusiasm to work alongside 2010 Supercars Champion James Courtney.

“James called me as soon as he found out I’d signed, and I think going forward he will be a great teammate, someone for me that’s obviously been in the category a long time and he’s won the Championship,” Pye said.

“There is a lot that I can learn from him and hopefully we can learn from each other going forward.

“It’s certainly a team with a great bunch of guys and I’ve already been in the workshop this week, met them all and I’m looking forward to working with everyone. It’s nice to be with a bunch of guys that are just racers and want to go and win and do it in a similar way to I think I do”.

Pye said his decision to make the move from Brisbane to Melbourne wasn’t a difficult one as he believes it’s one of the most important elements to be close to the team.

“I think being close to the team is a really important thing and your relationship with the guys is probably one of the most important parts, so that’s why I was fully committed as soon as I signed with the team. I was ready to up and move, get down here and get this next race started,” Pye said.

“For me, I’m not married with kids so it wasn’t a difficult one for me and it’s such an exciting opportunity I just wanted to throw myself all in and get to know the guys and push forward. It shows [that] coming into Clipsal I’m fully committed and ready to go”.