Walkinshaw cautious after flying start

Ryan Walkinshaw says Walkinshaw Andretti United won’t “get too far ahead of ourselves” following its flying start to the season at the Superloop Adelaide 500.

High-profile recruit Chaz Mostert made a strong debut with the squad, capped by a second-place finish on Sunday, matching the team’s podium tally from the entire 2019 season.

Mostert signified his arrival by topping Friday practice, before qualifying fourth and finishing seventh on Saturday and then managing fifth in the Sunday Shootout.

Although all highly encouraging, the caveat is WAU has traditionally performed strongly in Adelaide and at other street circuits, before struggling on circuits with longer-radius corners.

“We’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves,” Walkinshaw said.

“It’s a street circuit, we’ve got a long history of being relatively competitive here, even if the last couple of years not so much.

“It’s a solid start. It’s not a win, but getting a podium in our first weekend together is a good way to start the relationship.”

Walkinshaw hailed Mostert as “someone you can build a team around”, emphasising his mentoring relationship with young teammate Bryce Fullwood.

The reigning Dunlop Super2 Series winner had a challenging debut weekend, qualifying 18th and 17th for the respective races, which he finished 21st and 17th.

Walkinshaw says his refreshed squad, which also recruited Mostert’s engineer Adam De Borre for 2020, has a new vibe.

“The atmosphere of the team is really, really good,” he said.

“That’s not just my view, it’s the feedback we’ve been getting from loads of our partners and friends of the team who’ve known us for a long period of time.

“They can feel there’s a real energy this year which we haven’t had for a long time, which is really encouraging.”

As for whether the team’s off-season work gives any confidence for the long, sweeping corners of Albert Park, Walkinshaw added: “We’re not going to know until we get there.

“Everyone has been busting their arse for the last few months to improve their cars and we’re no different.

“We want to make sure we do the simple things well and continue to grow as a team.

“If we do that then hopefully the results will start to come.”