'Head scratching': Tickford hunting answers after Taupō slump
Tickford Racing going back to the drawing board after tough Taupō
Former Ford factory squad tumbled down the order in one brutal day
Tickford first to fourth in teams', Cam Waters second to fourth in drivers'
There was cause for optimism for Tickford entering last weekend's ITM Taupō Super 440, having led the teams' championship, largely off the back of an ultra consistent start to the year for Cam Waters.
However, by the end of a truncated two-race weekend on the North Island, Tickford found themselves dumped back to fourth after a forgettable weekend.
Both Waters and Thomas Randle found themselves on the back foot throughout, with the Castrol Mustang securing the team's best qualifying result of eight, and the Monster Ford claiming the team's only top 10 finish of the weekend with ninth in Race 9.
Race 8 on the Super Soft tyre was a particular struggle, with Randle fading through the field in a hurry with extreme tyre wear on the Super Soft tyre, whilst Waters was spun out by an errant Jayden Ojeda in the latter stages, whilst also picking up a 15 second penalty for pit lane speeding.
Randle, meanwhile, is now 84 points outside the Finals bubble, and was keen to move on quickly, having entered the weekend off the high of winning the Bathurst 6 Hour over Easter.
"Tough day mate, tough day," said Randle on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast.
"The highlight was getting in the top 10 [in Race 8 Qualifying] on the Super [Soft], I had a good start, actually both starts weren't bad.
"Just a tough one after last year, we had a good result on the Sunday here last year, and on the Super Soft as well.
"Bit of head scratching I think, we'll be putting all our heads together over the next couple of days to try and make it a better weekend next time out."
Team owner Rod Nash was equally disappointed in the weekend's performance, which will have even more of an impact given the added race in Christchurch this weekend, and a tight pit lane to boot.
However, the former Supercars driver sees the extra race as a potential saviour, suggesting that anyone who rolls out on to the track with immediate pace could be set up for a fruitful weekend, which is worth 400 points given the added Friday 120km sprint.
“The weekend was not as strong as we would have liked. Qualifying was where we let ourselves down and we couldn’t get the rear grip into the cars," said Nash.
“Now we have a week to think about it and we’ll be focussed on qualifying at Ruapuna. Adding the extra race that was cancelled at Taupo means you can really get your mojo happening if you get it right.
“Sometimes it’s really good to have a busy race meeting. For everyone it will be fast and furious, and the fans in Christchurch will get an extra bonus.”
Track action in Christchurch begins with practice, qualifying, and a race on Friday.
