From 'slow as hell' to 1-2 heaven: Inside BRT's Sydney stunner
12 months ago, Tim Blanchard shook his head over an “unacceptable” intra-team clash at pit exit.
Today, the Blanchard Racing Team is the toast of the town after an extraordinary 1-2 result in Boost Mobile Qualifying.
The James Courtney-Aaron Love clash last year could easily be considered the team’s nadir. Team cars crashing into each other? It doesn’t get worse.
Team cars scoring a 1-2? It doesn’t get better.
Much has been made of BRT’s new Triple Eight technical alliance, but on Friday, there was an overwhelming sense that this was a result delivered by grit, smarts and patience.
There's also been shrewd acquisitions made off track, the arrival of ex-Erebus and Team 18 Crew Chief Dennis Huijser midway through last year brought an upswing in performance, whilst the addition of ex-Brad Jones Racing engineer Tony Woodward has brought an immediate pole position.
While James Golding claimed the plaudits and the pole position stat on Friday, you could forgive Aaron Cameron for wanting to play a big role in the celebrations.
Last year, Cameron didn’t even have a full-time drive, and sat in the garage as the broken Courtney and Love Fords made their way back to the garage, BRT mechanics’ shoulders slumped.
"I've been here a bit longer than Jimmy, so I've seen a lot more go on here,” Cameron told the broadcast after qualifying.
"And we're at the end of the lane, which we wanna get further up and to have a front row lock out, like that’s... it's pretty freaking awesome.
“All the boys have been working so bloody hard. It's freaking awesome for them. Hopefully me and Jimmy tonight can get it done.”
Starting first and second from 7:50pm local time tonight, Golding and Cameron have the golden chance to convert into a remarkable victory.
Cameron had a taste of the front running last year, qualifying second alongside Broc Feeney for the second race in Adelaide. Cameron made waves when he bowled through the Senna Chicane and stole the lead.
It would be a brave move to pull on his teammate on Friday night, but Cameron — ever the team man — knows he and Golding need to play it smart, and not waste their chance.
"I think Adelaide last year we had a front row spot there, but you never know that's gonna happen again. And there probably wasn't enough trending that I thought we could do it, and I was struggling,” Cameron continued.
“Whoever gets a start will be playing rear gunner for the other."
BRT’s ride in Supercars has been a roller coaster. After a stunning front row for the team’s first race in 2021, Tim Slade crashed out of the weekend. Save for Courtney’s Perth podium, there have been few highlights since.
The scenes of the Courtney-Love clash were enough to make your skin crawl. Blanchard had, in a way, had his own name defaced by the incident.
A year later, the Blanchard name is Supercars royalty, Golding and Cameron being mobbed by fans in the paddock.
"I know we'd done a lot of work in the off season, so the cars have changed a lot and we've got a new relationship with Triple Eight,” Blanchard told Supercars.com.
“I was quietly confident that we were gonna have a strong start to the year and the test day was pretty positive as well. To be honest, we kind of thought we'd be in the top 10 somewhere, but to have the cars right up the pointy end was bit of a shock.”
Blanchard held his breath in the garage when Slade crashed, but reiterated that those moments are what make the team what it is today.
“We've had a fair few ups and downs over the years, obviously pretty happy with how that's ended up,” Blanchard added.
“We'll see how we go in the race. But yeah, it’s been a pretty tough few years and we kind of started to make some progress towards the end of last year. To be at the pointy end today is a really good start of the year."
Cameron added: "Last year we had, I think it was this qualifying session, we had two cars driving into each other out of the pit exit.
“We had sledgehammers and welders going on. We were P-nowhere and slow as hell.
“So, to come here now and be quick as a team... just the effort the boys have put in over the off season. I know everyone else is doing the same thing, but everything's gotta be perfect and I just love it.
“I can't wait for the year, and it's a good way to start. Hopefully we can keep it rolling and get some trophies."
