Randle fired up to continue revival

"The vibe is immaculate."

It was a telling start to an interview that shows Thomas Randle, supported by an in-form Tickford Racing, has his mojo back as he targets a come-from-behind Finals escape act.

After a trying first six rounds, punctuated by a DNS in Darwin, Randle arrived in Townsville feeling he had "nothing to lose" and needing to deliver in each race.

Save for some small errors across the weekend, Randle delivered when he needed to in Townsville, nailing his best weekend of the season to date, and slashing a whopping 74 points off his deficit to the Finals bubble.

Remarkably, he did so despite fighting braking troubles in the sole practice session, winding up 21st with just nine laps to his name through 45 minutes.

"I felt really comfortable and the car was in a good window," Randle recounted to Supercars.com.

"I mean, we didn't get many laps in practice, but the car was in a good spot and I felt really confident. It's nice when you have that confidence. Especially in qualifying, when you know you'll be in the 10. That's a good feeling.

"It's better than rounds prior when you're pushing pretty hard to get in the 10, but you're not even confident you'll make the 10. In Townsville, I just knew we had a strong package and I think we showed that."

Randle put a high price on small errors on both Shootout laps. Where he felt a Saturday front row was up for grabs, he qualified third. A day later, he started eighth. Tickford also had to massage a team orders headache on Saturday, with Randle moving aside for Cam Waters.

Regardless, Randle heads to Perth — where he has an average finish of eighth in his last five races at Wanneroo — brimming with the confidence he lacked in his #55 Castrol Ford in the opening rounds.

"Overall it was a very positive round," the 2020 Super2 champion said.

"It was a weekend that made a lot more sense, I guess, from a driver point of view. Hopefully we can carry that speed into Perth. I know it's been a relatively solid venue for us."

Having fallen as many as 230 points off the Finals bubble pace, he's back to 156 down with a maximum of 1230 points to win across the next four rounds and eight races.

"At the moment my head space is just taking it one race at a time," he said.

"There's still a long way to go. We've got two more sprint rounds, and then obviously the two enduros, and then it's not until after that do we lock in the Finals field.

"I'm certainly not giving up, and if anything, it's making me even hungrier and more determined to make the 10 because it's been a tough year.

"The icing on the cake was unfortunately having to sit out the Sunday race at Darwin. That hurt the points. At the time, I put my health first, but it's after that you go, 'Yeah, that probably cost a few points'.

"But if we can have some more strong runs like we did in Townsville — I know everyone's gonna be saying the same thing — but who knows what's gonna happen come enduro time.

"That's the beauty of motor racing, it's unpredictable."

Track action in Perth commences on Friday July 31.

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