The strongest signs Tickford has flipped script

Stringing two strong rounds together and Thomas Randle delivering strong results proves Darwin wasn't a "blip" for Tickford Racing, says team boss Rod Nash.

The Ford team has pieced together two strong rounds in a row to put Darwin Triple Crown winner Cam Waters well into the championship discussion, with Waters winning the Friday sprint.

Save for a team orders headache on the Saturday, Tickford was among the best in Townsville, alongside Penrite Racing and Shell V-Power Racing Team, who were led by Matt Payne and Brodie Kostecki.

Crucially, though, Tickford had two bullets in the gun, thanks to Randle. After entering the weekend down on form and luck, the #55 Castrol Mustang driver finished sixth for the round, and was a constant at the front.

While Penrite Racing and Red Bull Ampol Racing are well up the road, Tickford has put breathing room to Walkinshaw TWG Racing and Dick Johnson Racing behind.

"It looks like we’ve turned the corner in this year’s championship. The team has found the way with car set-up and both drivers were right into it. Darwin was not just a blip," Nash said.

"The biggest positive of the weekend was that Thomas Randle was as quick — even quicker at times — as Cam Waters. And we got another win in the Friday sprint.

"The smallest of things can change to your advantage, so with both drivers up there it’s something really good for the team to work on. There are probably 60 of those one-percenters now for us to work on and keep improving.”

The improved performance was felt by the drivers, too, with Waters now determined to keep the ball rolling in Perth.

"Obviously Darwin was great to have that turnaround, and then it was all about coming here and hopefully having the same weekend and still being fast every session, which we ticked that box," Waters said on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast.

"And we learnt a lot as well this weekend, which was great. Two totally different tracks. We're being competitive, which is good. It's just about going to Perth, which is totally different again, and being faster."

Waters is now 103 points behind second placed Broc Feeney, with Randle improving his Finals deficit from 230 to 156 points.