In-form Heimgartner bolting into happy hunting ground
Andre Heimgartner has no qualms about his winless run with BJR as he readies to tackle one of his strongest circuits in Supercars.
The Brad Jones Racing driver is enjoying a strong sophomore season with the Albury team, having joined in 2022.
Heimgartner is sixth in the championship off the back of six podiums, and has four front row starts from his last six races.
The Kiwi was unlucky not to win in Sydney last month, suffering a steering rack problem after scoring pole for the opener.
A day later, he snatched the lead from Shane van Gisbergen off the line, only to be passed by the reigning champion shortly after.
Next weekend’s OTR SuperSprint sees Heimgartner return to a happy hunting ground, with the 28-year-old’s sole Supercars victory coming at The Bend in 2021.
Heimgartner has nine top 10s from 14 finishes at The Bend, including his breakthrough win in 2020 and a runner-up finish in 2021.
'The win will come eventually… I'm not too stressed about it'
The run was marred by an horrific start-line accident last year, which left Heimgartner and Thomas Randle nursing soreness in hospital.
Regardless, few drivers can match the Aucklander’s form of late, but the driver himself is undeterred by his run of near-misses.
When asked if he is irked to still be winless this season, Heimgartner said: “Not really.
“We’re obviously trying to win, but we’re trying to get that consistency, which is the main thing.
"I’m not too stressed about it — it’ll come. We keep putting the car on the front row and first couple of rows.
“The win will come eventually… it’s alright, I’m not too stressed about it.”
BJR’s last win came in Sydney 2020 courtesy of Nick Percat, with 10 of Heimgartner’s 14 career podiums coming with the team.
Heimgartner scored pole in Sydney
Team owner Jones is pleased with his team’s performance, with Bryce Fullwood also moving into the top 10 in the championship across the Sydney weekend.
“The guys are working really well together, and I’m very happy with where we are and what managing to achieve at the moment,” Jones told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.
“With these cars, you’re either on or you’re not. The pole position was fantastic, it was just a pity we couldn’t convert.
“We had a problem with a rack in the car in qualifying, and we changed it, and it basically blew a seal the minute he started the race.
“Once the edge went off the tyres, he could steer the thing properly, so we went to a one-stop strategy, and it looked we could still sneak a win.
“Sunday, another day, and the guys were on fire, it was great to get a result.”
Supercars will hit the track at The Bend Motorsport Park for Practice 1 at 9:50am local time/10:20am AEST on Saturday August 19.
