Fullwood thrilled to reward hard-working BJR crew
Bryce Fullwood ‘Bradburyed’ his way to third on Sunday in Tasmania
Fullwood finished third on road in Melbourne last year before being penalised
Tasmania Fullwood’s best weekend since season opener in Bathurst
Bryce Fullwood has credited his Brad Jones Racing crew for a remarkable turnaround in fortunes at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.
Having struggled all season in the Middy’s Camaro, Tasmania was the first time Fullwood featured in the top 10 across all races in a single weekend for 2024.
Entering the weekend, BJR only had one car in the top 15 in points, with Andre Heimgartner 12th thanks to his standout win in Taupō.
It has been a much tougher season for Fullwood, who entered the weekend 19th in points with a best finish of seventh in the first race of the season at Bathurst.
Talking in the post-race press conference, Fullwood sung the praises of BJR, who have had a torrid 2024 after starring last season with regular top 10th and podiums for Heimgartner.
“It means a lot, we all put our blood, sweat, and tears into our racing. This sport really has a knack of really kicking you when you’re down,” admitted Fullwood.
“For us, we’ve really struggled in this first part of the year, we had a really good Bathurst [500] and then the rest of the year has been really, really tough.
“Obviously we were really strong last year, and we haven’t quite got on top of the cars, but the guys and girls at BJR have had a really big couple of weeks, they haven’t slept a lot.
“They’ve done a lot of work, and they’ve really turned some stuff around for us, so it was awesome to repay everyone for that.”
Fullwood finished 10th on Saturday to claim his first top 10 finish since the season opener, but then starred on Sunday to claim his first podium for BJR in his third season with the team.
Fullwood was running fourth after the pit stops, and capitalised on the controversial late race clash between Thomas Randle and Broc Feeney to climb onto the rostrum.
“I Bradburyed my way through that didn’t I?” Fullwood quipped in PIRTEK Victory Lane.
“I don’t know what the race was, but from my perspective it was action-packed, there was a lot going on.
“Obviously Randle was super fast but he was out in the dirt and backwards and all over the place.”
The increase in performance day-on-day came as a surprise to the Territorian, who admitted he didn’t think there was any more performance left to extract after Saturday.
“But for me, I qualified really good in sixth, but I just wanted a top 10, I just wanted to consolidate. This place is so hard to pass, it’s really dangerous in that respect," he said
“The car has been great, yesterday it wasn’t too bad in the race, but Phil [Keed, engineer] to his credit I actually said, ‘The car is really good I’m not sure what you can do to it,’ and he sprinkled some fairy dust on it overnight and it was definitely better today.”
Fullwood later reflected on a missed podium at the Australian Grand Prix last season, finishing third on road in Race 5 but copping a post-race penalty for an unsafe pit release.
“I felt like I had one hand on the trophy at the AGP last year and lost it, so I’m pretty happy that they can’t take this one away from me,” Fullwood told the broadcast.
Fullwood is now firmly focused on the enduro season, where he welcomes new co-driver Jaylyn Robotham aboard the #14 Camaro.
With new-found pace across both his and Heimgartner’s Camaros, Fullwood is eager to jump into the enduro season.
“Andre was a little unlucky, early on in the weekend he had a couple of little setbacks, but he’s right there with us, and it’s been a really strong showing for us," Fullwood said.
“The cars have got speed, we’re just looking forward to Sandown now and seeing if we can continue the momentum.”
The enduro season begins with the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 from September 13-15.
