Cindric wants top five finishes

Penske Racing heavyweight Tim Cindric expects DJR Team Penske to establish itself as a top five player this year, after expanding to two cars in the V8 Supercars Championship.

Cindric was present at the team’s 2016 launch at Queensland Raceway yesterday, as the team unveiled Scott Pye and Fabian Coulthard’s Shell-sponsored Ford Falcon FG Xs ahead of the Clipsal 500.

Joining the category and merging with Dick Johnson Racing last year, Penske’s foray into V8 Supercars was not as smooth as hoped with the shock step-down from two-time champion, the returning Marcos Ambrose.

But the group’s ability to overcome the hurdle impressed Cindric, who spoke to v8supercars.com.au.

“I felt like in 2015, for sure it didn’t go as planned for obvious reasons, but the team [was able] to regroup with Scott there and to continue to put our goals in mind,” Cindric said.  

“We’ve always said we’ve felt like there was a three year progression to get it right and we felt like in the first year our expectation was to, by the end of the year, feel like we were a top 10 team. And in that you’ll get some occasional top fives and fortunately we were able to achieve a podium.

“I think we got back on track, which is a testament to the team.”

Pye earned DJR Team Penske’s and his first V8 Supercars podium in New Zealand, two events after it was decided the group would expand to run two cars and offered Pye a permanent seat for 2016. 

“For this year, to be able to expand to two cars was a late decision for us but one we felt was a really good one because it’s what we’re going to have to do to get to that level of championship contender,” Cindric explained.

“This year we feel as though our expectations are to try and establish ourselves as closer to a top five team. With that, maybe we’ll achieve a few more podiums and maybe we’ll get in ‘victory lane’.

“We felt like the third year would be the year for us to actually feel as though we could challenge for the championship. Obviously we’d like to do that this year but realistically we have a lot of different people … we’re trying to look at ourselves as a team that’s up-and-coming rather than one that’s already there.”

The team has bolstered its engineering group with the addition of Phil Keed and Adam De Borre, joining technical director Nick Hughes and Mark Fenning. There’s seven new staff in total, and Cindric said having the right team behind the scenes was key to success on track. 

“People are the things that make the difference,” he said. 

“You could come in with the biggest budget in the world and not be successful. Obviously you have to have the drivers to do the job, but the team is the one that has to really execute … they have to be like-minded people, I call it.

“And they have to be ones that can work together – the more resources you can have and the quicker you can get different ideas to the race track, the better we can be … really, that’s what we like to invest in, is quality people.”

While the Penske way is to develop the team’s own people, starting out in the category meant hiring some established players in pit lane.

“It’s difficult when you get started because you don’t have a lot of time or the backbone to build your own people, but I think you’ll see over time … how we do that, rather than recycling people throughout the paddock.”

Cindric was present at last year’s season opening Clipsal 500, as well as Perth, Darwin and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Both he and motorsport icon Roger Penske were hoping to attend a number of V8 Supercars events this year, depending on scheduling.

“Most of our schedules are dictated by the IndyCar schedule because we play a role there. Not that one’s more important than the other, but that commitment is there … I would expect on both fronts for a similar attendance.”

Last year’s Clipsal 500 did come with good news for DJR Team Penske, with Ambrose qualifying for the ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout last year, making him the best placed Ford in the Sunday session.

This year the team is hoping to build on the momentum gained in the second half of last year. The Adelaide circuit is Pye’s home race, and Coulthard heads there as one of the defending race winners.

Coulthard shook down his brand new car at Queensland Raceway yesterday, and the team will test next week.