Toyota teams deliver ominous Tasmania Supercars debut
Toyota teams deliver ominous Tasmania Supercars debut
Andre Heimgartner challenges BJR not to waste fast start
Ryan Wood top Toyota driver in points, in sixth
Toyota has made an early impact at Symmons Plains, with four Supras ending Friday in the top 10 in Tasmania.
Through two practice sessions in Tasmania, both Walkinshaw TWG Racing and two Brad Jones Racing Supras finished towards the top.
Andre Heimgartner was fifth with teammate Cameron Hill seventh, with Ryan Wood and Chaz Mostert eighth and ninth.
Homologation team Walkinshaw TWG has led the charge to date, with Ryan Wood winning in Taupō and claiming two pole positions to sit sixth through four rounds. It must be said, however, that both Walkinshaw TWG cars managed brake issues on Friday.
Supercars also implemented changes to the Toyota engine following a temperature study pre-Tasmania, regarding air inlet temperature.
Regardless, Friday delivered a strong outcome for BJR, which only had practice bests of 13th (Sydney), 17th (Melbourne), fifth (Taupō) and 12th (Christchurch).
Heimgartner, though, challenged his team to follow through when it counts, saying: “Solid day. Feel like we’ve picked up from a good base that’s sort of worked in our team before so pretty happy with that,” Heimgartner said.
"Just got to try and make the right steps. Been fast here in practice before and not been able to convert it.
“So just trying to understand where we need to go but I feel like I’m working well with Phil [Keed, engineer] and we're making some good steps in the right direction. It's good to have two top cars up there on the time sheets.”
It was a day of hope for Hill, who has started weekends poorly — he was 22nd (Sydney), 17th (Melbourne), 12th (Taupō) and 24th (Christchurch).
“The day was good. Obviously, it's pretty tight with two sessions back-to-back, but the car rolled out really strong,” said Hill, who has two top 10s in 13 starts with BJR.
"We tried a few things that we had on our test plan, and I feel like we learned a few things for tomorrow's qualifying session. It's very, very close out there, doesn't take much to go up or down.”
Track action resumes at 10:00am on Saturday morning with Boost Mobile Qualifying for Race 14 of the season.
