Randle backs Waters for instant rebound
Cam Waters 20th in standings after Round 1
Qualifying yellow flags and broken spindle hurt Saturday efforts
Thomas Randle impressed to fourth in Bathurst 500 finale
Thomas Randle is backing Tickford Racing teammate Cam Waters to rebound in a big way at the Australian Grand Prix after a tough Round 1.
Waters’ efforts at the Thrifty Bathurst 500 were undone by bad luck, as well as bouts of dizziness and nausea.
The Mildura-born star was forced to abort a flying lap in qualifying due to yellow flags for the bogged Matt Payne, consigning Waters to 20th on the grid.
Waters then copped rear damage early in the race, before a broken spindle ultimately resulted in a 22nd-place finish, five laps down.
A day later, as Randle sailed to fourth in the race and seventh for the weekend, Waters battled from 18th to 16th, and is 20th in the points heading to Melbourne.
Randle, however, expects both Tickford Mustangs to be fighting at the front at Albert Park, which will host four sprint races across March 21-24.
“There's no question of Cam's ability. He knows how to drive,” Randle told Supercars.com.
"I mean, the guy has put it on pole at the [Bathurst] 1000 multiple times, he won two of the last four races at the end of last year.
“I guess it was just one of those weekends for us as a team — we definitely struggled initially. Rolling out on Friday, we had that wet practice too, which made it tricky to find out if we'd improve the car from Practice 1 to qualifying.
"Cam was on a lap [in Race 1 qualifying] that would have been good enough to go in the top five, but he got caught out with yellows at the last corner.
“For me to come away with fourth on Sunday — and I felt like it was a genuine fourth — was a really positive step for the team. I think that puts us in a good spot for the Grand Prix.
"We’ve shown we can be fast there. Obviously the aero packages between the two cars is pretty much spot on now. Sunday at Bathurst, we showed that we can do it.
"No doubt, I think Cam and I can be mixing it up the front at the Grand Prix.”
Tickford’s rebound — illustrated by Randle’s run to fourth in Race 2 — impressed new CEO Simon Brookhouse, who expects his team to “come out fighting” at Albert Park.
The efforts weren’t lost on Randle himself, who said the team so easily could have dropped its head following the Saturday woes.
"I actually think we improved the car in the race on Saturday. That was probably the best balance I'd had at that point,” Randle said.
"We put our head down and improved the car for Sunday, and I got into the Shootout.
"My Shootout lap could have been slightly better if I hadn't had touched the wall on the exit! But, I put it all on the line, which is what you've got to do.
“Fourth in the race was an awesome way to bounce back, the front three guys were super quick. It was definitely a big improvement from where we were on Saturday.
"I think it just shows how well we can rebound as a team. It's so easy to just get lost and keep spiralling, and have a repeat day on the Sunday, which would have been very tough.”
