Supercars' newest team thrills fans at ride day
PremiAir Racing, the newest team in pit lane, has surprised fans at its first ever ride day.
Fresh off its first Supercars round, PremiAir Racing hosted sponsors and members at Sydney Motorsport Park on Monday.
The team entertained guests with a DJ in its pit lane garage with a flash mob-style dance performance.
Drivers Chris Pither and Garry Jacobson were on hand to provide hot laps around the Eastern Creek venue.
Several teams completed over 1000 joy rides for fans and members on Monday.
Red Bull Ampol Racing, Shell V-Power Racing Team, Erebus Motorsport, Tickford Racing, Penrite Racing, Brad Jones Racing and Team 18 all took part.
It marked the first ride day of its kind since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
For PremiAir Racing team owner Peter Xibberas, it was an opportunity to leave a lasting impression for fans.
"We wanted to provide our partners and special guests with a great day on track," Xibberas told Supercars.com.
"Usually, on ride days, guests turn up, do their lap, and leave; but that’s not how we wanted the day to go.
"We wanted to provide an exciting day so our guests could mingle; meet each other, enjoy a hot lap, have a go themselves on the Skid Pan and then enjoy some lunch while watching the flash mob and listening to the DJ.
"Our partners and guests are very important to us, so we wanted to create a great day to say thank you for the support they’ve shown us.
"Ride days haven’t taken place for two years now, we wanted our first one to be memorable.
"It was a fun, exciting day and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did."
It came as both PremiAir drivers showed glimpses of speed at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.
Pither recorded his best qualifying result at Sydney Motorsport Park to start 13th for the Sydney finale.
Jacobson also found pace to start 16th for Sunday’s 77-lap race, which was won by Chaz Mostert.
As he did for the 300km opener, Pither began on the Super Soft compound and climbed to 11th in the opening lap.
The New Zealand driver made a memorable overtake on Will Davison to move into the top 10 before variable weather conditions brought his race undone.
Changing to wet weather tyres on lap 9, Pither was caught out when the heavy rain didn’t eventuate.
Forced to head back to pit lane to change to Softs, Pither returned the #22 Coca-Cola Commodore to the race in 23rd.
For Pither, who returned to full-time driving this season, it was a case of what could have been.
"I feel much better hopping out of the car on Sunday than I did on Saturday with ergonomics of the car," Pither said.
"My hip and leg felt better and didn’t go numb so that was nice.
"I think our race pace on Sunday was much better although we didn’t convert the result we wanted, there were some positive signs on track.
"Made up a few places on lap one which was good.
"Then, unfortunately, the rain didn’t come when we predicted it was going to, so we just didn’t have the right tyre at the right time due to tricky weather conditions.
“Ultimately, there was a lot of good things to take out of today, even though I was a little out of sync we had much better competitive pace, and I could run with a few of the guys that were running at the front.
"Happy with the gains we made today, and we just need to continue making big gains each round.
"A huge thank you to everyone on track and at home for the support across our first event."
The 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint. CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.
Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.
