New boss's PremiAir assessment after team debut

PremiAir Racing’s new team boss Matt Cook says there is "no silver bullet" for the team following his first event in charge.

The high experienced mechanic arrived as PremiAir's new Team Principal ahead of the Pizza Hut Winton SuperSprint.

It comes after Cook’s departure from Triple Eight Race Engineering was made public last Wednesday.

PremiAir Racing recruits Garry Jacobson and Chris Pither had challenging weekends in Winton.

Notably, Jacobson suffered a gearbox issue in Race 14.

The Shepparton local recovered to record a personal best result of 16th at the regional circuit in Sunday’s finale.

"It was a good weekend," Cook told Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast.

"I wasn't under any false illusions; I knew what I was in for.

"The team needs some direction and need some guidance, but I think as a whole it went quite well.

"Obviously, the one-percenters need to be fixed in a lot of areas here, and there’s not just one silver bullet.

"It's going to be six months in the process, it's going to take some time, but I’m happy to be a part of it."

Cook was impressed by how the team bounced back after Jacobson’s reliability issues.

"We replaced [the gearbox] last night," he said.

"There were some shifting issues, and we didn't want to bring it into Sunday’s qualifying and race without doing anything about it.

"The right thing to do was change it out.

"It didn’t really rear its head in qualifying because they didn't do enough laps, but in the race, the gearbox temperature was too hot.

"We came in and removed the blanking, but by then you are a couple of laps down and just got to go out and circulate and try and learn something.

"You're always learning something, so it's always best to get the car back out.

"The team has done a fantastic job in the last four events, and it is all those one-percenters we will focus on now to improve.

"Ahead of Darwin, we'll be going testing Monday week and working on getting the drivers more comfortable.

"We're learning as much as we can to make some changes to get the cars further up the grid."

Jacobson was happy to end the weekend on the up, securing his best Winton result. 

"We fought hard in that final race to get P16," he said. 

"I love the feeling of getting better as the race weekend goes on.

"It was awesome work by all of the PremiAir Racing crew to get my car back out there in time after the gearbox drama in Race 14.

"We had been approaching the top 15 after a good start and finding my rhythm."

Pither, meanwhile, is already looking forward to the next round in Darwin. 

"Winton is a track where there is not a huge amount of passing," Pither said.

"We did improve our race pace in the final race of the weekend and moved up a couple of positions as a result.

"We have been making some steady progress in the previous rounds.

"Overall, the team did a great job, putting a lot of effort in as always. We will pinpoint what we can change for Darwin and come back stronger."

The 2022 season will resume in Darwin next month. Purchase your tickets now.