Reynolds 22nd in ‘struggle street’ qualifying

David Reynolds remains confident he can win Sunday’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, despite struggling to 22nd in Friday ARMOR ALL Qualifying.

Penrite Racing star Reynolds’ love-hate relationship with Bathurst has continued this weekend, after winning the 2017 race before a heartbreaking loss last year.

The 2018 polesitter has had a rollercoaster weekend to date, showing strong early speed on Thursday before a heavy crash for co-driver Luke Youlden in Practice 2.

An overnight rebuild meant the car returned for Friday practice where, in the primary driver session, Reynolds was on the pace but was hurt by red flag interruptions.

His speed evaporated when the rain hit before qualifying, however, never looking competitive to end up 22nd on the grid.

“If it was dry, my car’s good enough for the front-row,” said Reynolds after the session.

“It’s easily a mid-3 car, but in the wet it’s a mid-40 and I’m lucky to do a mid-30.

“It’s struggle street in the wet. It’s weird, it’s so good [in the dry] and so bad [in the wet].

“That was our wet set-up, so probably our dry set-up is better for the wet, if that makes sense.

“We did our best, but it’s been an inherent problem with our car for a while.

“We’ve had speed in the wet at times, but not of late.”

Teammate Anton De Pasquale scraped into the Shootout in 10th, with Reynolds unable to explain why his own car was so bad.

Despite the lowly starting spot, Reynolds is convinced he and Youlden can win the race on Sunday and has promised an aggressive approach in the early stages.

“I’m really looking forward to it because it’s going to be fun lunging people,” he said.

“I’m going to have to get busy behind the wheel, but I’m looking forward to it.

“I’m two sessions behind everyone but I’m still as fast as everyone.

“I just wish I had a crack at the Shootout because I was looking forward to getting up on that wheel and having a crack.”

Reynolds paid tribute to the effort of his team to rebuild the car following Thursday’s accident, saying it was “perfect” when it returned to the track.

“They spent all-night on the car, that’s why I feel so bad,” he said.

“They worked so hard and are so buggered and to end up 22nd. But that’s Bathurst.”