Reynolds loving Team 18 despite emotional rollercoaster
Veteran David Reynolds loving new life at Team 18
Reynolds fifth in drivers' standings after Bathurst 500
Team 18 recruit impressive despite “emotional rollercoaster”weekend
David Reynolds is loving his new life as a Team 18 driver despite an “emotional rollercoaster” weekend at Mount Panorama.
Reynolds left the Thrifty Bathurst 500 fifth in the points, with finishes of eighth and sixth, aboard his #20 TRADIE Beer Chevrolet.
The 2017 Bathurst winner arrived at Charlie Schwerkolt’s team off the back of four straight podiums in 2023 with Penrite Racing.
After a solid test day, Team 18 — with Adrian Burgess now at the helm — was on the pace in Bathurst, but it wasn’t straightforward.
Reynolds copped a puncture before his Saturday Shootout lap, and was forced to nail one lap at the death after a technical issue in Sunday qualifying.
It didn’t deter Reynolds and his team, with the veteran bringing home two top 10 finishes to help Team 18 to fourth in the teams’ standings.
“It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster already,” Reynolds told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.
“We have cars that are fast, we've got speed, it's actually a good start to the year considering it's just a new thing.
“Man, I'm really loving it, I turn up happy every day, Charlie's awesome, he's such a good guy, such a lovely person to work for.
"Adrian’s hilarious, and he's really good. We’re gonna build this team into, hopefully, one of the best teams in pit lane.
"I'm always pretty positive, like I didn't know how I was going to go this weekend. Sixth and eighth is not too bad, I'm fifth in the championship, we're fourth in the teams’… it's a really good confidence boost.”
Teammate Mark Winterbottom battled for one-lap pace, but he passed more cars than any other driver across both races to give Team 18 an additional boost.
"We obviously had a big rebuild here at Team 18, and for me, a new engineer, new philosophy, new setups, a bit of weather on Friday and stuff like that which put us behind the eight ball a bit,” Winterbottom said.
“In [the Sunday] race, the car was really fast, so I now feel confident that I can take that car into qualifying and get up the front which was a good feeling because the race pace is strong.
“Our quali speed was weak, but the way the car was in the race really makes sense to me, so we finished on a high. Our position wasn't great, but we passed seven cars in both races and were one of the fastest cars on track.
“All in all it was a good weekend. We’ve just got to get qualifying better. If I can get my car to qualify it's gonna be game on in the race. So all positive, straight cars, lots of knowledge and and quite a few points in the bank.”
Team 18's 2024 campaign will continue at the Melbourne SuperSprint on March 21-24.
