The 2025 change Reynolds wants head start on
David Reynolds hoping Team 18 starts 2025 on front foot with new tyres
The 2025 season will be the first with new Soft tyre construction
Reynolds went without a podium for just fourth time in 15 seasons
David Reynolds is hoping Team 18 get on the front foot with new-for-2025 tyres next season following a tough first season with the Chevrolet team.
The 2017 Bathurst winner beat outgoing teammate Mark Winterbottom in the year-end standings, but went without a podium for the first time in a season in four years.
It was just the fourth season since Reynolds' full-time debut that the Albury-born driver didn't bring home at least one podium finish, after trophy-less seasons in 2009, 2011 and 2020.
Reynolds showed glimpses of speed, but ultimately ended 2024 with crashes in Bathurst and Adelaide, and with a best of fourth in the third sprint at March's Grand Prix event.
The 2025 season will be the first with new Soft tyre construction, with the Super Soft carried over from 2024.
Radical new formats will be introduced in 2025, with both compounds of tyres to be used on the Saturday of all Super440 events, with each race and corresponding qualifying session to be held on different compounds.
Speaking after the Adelaide season finale, Reynolds is hoping Team 18 will start the year strongly once the field rolls out on the new rubber.
“Hopefully we can have a better year next year," Reynolds said in Adelaide.
"We’ll galvanise the team, come up with some beautiful set up ideas, and there's a new tyre coming next year which is going to change everyone's perception on set-up, and hopefully we're on the front foot for that."
Reynolds walked away from major crashes in Bathurst and Adelaide, having shown impressive pace at both events. Ultimately, he walked away with little to show for it.
“In the race, started 12th, didn’t get the best start, dropped back to 14th," he said.
"And then I actually felt relatively racey, made my way through to 12th and then I was hanging on to Percat, who finished six, but my tyre life just wasn't there today. I ended up getting spat out the back and we ended up finishing 11th.
“I've never worked so hard in my life to make up one spot on the grid. It was torture out there today, even though it was a much easier race than it was on Saturday. The pace is really hot, the cars are hard to drive, they're moving around all the time, but that's all she wrote."
Reynolds will be joined by Anton De Pasquale in 2025.
