Tickford keen to recapture past Bathurst success
Cam Waters claimed three straight Bathurst podiums before DNF last year
Tickford jumped WAU for second in teams' standings after Sandown
Ford sqaud hasn't won at Bathurst since epic 2014 race
Tickford Racing is heading into next month’s Repco Bathurst 1000 looking to recapture their previous strong form at Mount Panorama.
The Tickford organisation hasn't won at Bathurst since 2014, when Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris won one of the most remarkable editions of The Great Race.
That was the second consecutive Bathurst win for the then-Ford Performance Racing, when Mark Winterbottom fended off Jamie Whincup to claim victory alongside Steven Richards.
Although Tickford haven’t claimed the Peter Brock Trophy since 2014, they have gone close on several occasions with Cam Waters, who has one of the best track records of any current driver on the Mountain.
Waters finished on the podium each year from 2020 to 2022, with his streak broken last year after co-driver James Moffat hit the wall at The Dipper.
Waters also had a difficult start to 2024 at the opening round of the season at February’s Bathurst 500, battling with illness and claiming a best finish of 14th on Sunday.
Teammate Thomas Randle jumped out of the gates to claim fourth on Sunday in a strong start to his 2024 Repco Supercars Championship.
Tickford Racing enter this year’s Bathurst 1000 off the back of a quiet day at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, with Waters/Moffat claiming seventh and Randle finishing 13th with Tyler Everingham.
However, despite a quiet day, Tickford were able to jump Walkinshaw Andretti United in the teams standings, and are now the top Ford team in second.
Team owner Rod Nash admitted that Sandown wasn't the event that Tickford wanted leading into Bathurst, but is confident that Bathurst can be a strong showing for his two Mustangs.
“The result wasn’t what we wanted, but at least both cars were strong. We’ve managed to keep the points ticking over and we’ve moved up to second in the teams’ championship which will give us a nice garage for Bathurst," said Nash.
“We’ve just got to push on. We’ve got to continue to focus on what we’ve learned from recent stops, then stay clean and sharpen the pit stops.
“I’m very confident that we’ve got a great four-driver line-up for Bathurst. We’re in good shape.
“Sandown is always the warm-up race and now we’ve got the bug for Bathurst. We want to get up there sooner rather than later and get into it.” The 2024 Supercars Championship resumes at the Repco Bathurst 1000 from October 10-13. Tickets for the event are available now.
