Heimgartner needed epic charge to 'remind me I can drive'
Andre Heimgartner needed epic Race 16 charge to "remind me I can drive"
Brad Jones driver qualified 20th, 20th and 22nd for the three Perth races
Heimgartner charged from 24th to 10th in finale to retain top 10 spot
Black cats. Ladders. Broken mirrors. It seemed Andre Heimgartner had seen them all in Perth, but then, it all changed on Sunday.
The Brad Jones Racing driver qualified 20th, 20th and 22nd for the three Perth races, and started the finale from 24th after being hit with a grid penalty over impeding.
The Kiwi, who is based in Perth, looked set to mark his 30th birthday with a long and arduous afternoon in Race 16.
However, with a point to prove and a top 10 position to protect, Heimgartner powered from 24th to 21st on the opening lap, and was up to 18th by lap 5 in what he felt was an "out of body experience" passing cars.
Heimgartner was up to 14th when the race restarted after a late Safety Car, which became 11th in a matter of laps after Brodie Kostecki dropped back, and James Golding took out Ryan Wood. With Anton De Pasquale hitting trouble late on, Heimgartner finished 10th.
Speaking on Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast, Heimgartner cut a relieved figure, saying: "It's pretty decent.
"We got lucky with a few things, but the car is actually speedy, which is nice and perhaps some good spots. And luckily at the moment, the only thing saving our bacon is we tend to get some good results on Sunday."
That remark rings true; across the last three big-points, 200km races in New Zealand, Tasmania and Perth, only Matt Payne, Broc Feeney, Will Brown and Chaz Mostert have scored more points than Heimgartner.
The next step is cleaning up one-lap pace; Heimgartner is ranked 13th in qualifying, and eighth in races.
"We just need to try and figure out qualifying and I just need to get a bit of confidence back," the two-time race winner continued.
"When you can't really play a trick like that, you second-guess even the way you're brushing your teeth in the morning.
"It's nice to have a little race like that just to remind me I can drive and we can execute and all those things. So, just looking for a bit more momentum on our side of the garage."
Heimgartner has a strong record in Darwin with BJR, recording four top five finishes, including two podiums in 2023, with a race average of 8.5.
The BJR driver is ninth in the points, just 16 points ahead of 10th-placed Wood, heading to Darwin on June 20-22.
