The split second effort that saved Reynolds' race
A quick Grove Racing stop after a “crappy" first-lap disaster paved the way for a strong fightback by David Reynolds.
Reynolds finished ninth in Sydney’s Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight finale.
It was an especially impressive result considering he was just four seconds from losing a lap after suffering damage after the start.
Contact with Macauley Jones on the opening lap of Race 2 relegated Reynolds to the rear with a front-left puncture.
The 2017 Bathurst winner crawled his Penrite Mustang to pit lane, where the Grove squad got to work.
The team quickly checked every corner of the #26 Ford and desperately sent Reynolds out onto the track.
He emerged just four seconds ahead of leader Brodie Kostecki, and set about his fightback on fresh tyres.
By the first Safety Car restart on lap 35, he was 17th. By race’s end, he was ninth.
"If you told me at the end of the opening lap after the contact and almost going down a lap that I’d finish in the top 10 I would’ve taken it for sure,” he said.
"It was such a crappy way to start the day but it was head down, bum up from there to try and get something out of the day and we did with P9.
"We had a team goal to run top 10 and we did that in both wet and dry conditions this weekend so it's a small tick.
“We'll take plenty out of this weekend that will make us better next time out.”
He wasn't the only driver to put in a gut-busting effort; Shane van Gisbergen lost a lap, but finished sixth, all after starting 21st.
Will Brown and Tim Slade also reached the top 10 after starting 23rd and 24th respectively.
Reynolds was on for a Saturday top 10, but debris sheared a transaxle cooler and he dropped 13 laps.
Conversely, teammate and recruit Lee Holdsworth ran in the top five early in Sunday’s race.
He gambled to switch to wets as rain fell early, but it didn’t pay off. He would come home 16th.
While disappointed to miss a result, Holdsworth was pleased to walk away with a straight Penrite Mustang.
"I got off to a great start, jumped up six positions to be running P5 and holding down some great pace," the 2021 Bathurst winner said.
"It was a big improvement from yesterday’s car, we made some major changes overnight in the right direction.
"I had something to fight with today but unfortunately the call to go to the wet early was wrong in hindsight.
"The rain didn’t come and we were on the back foot for the rest of the day.
"We finished up P16, we probably should have been a solid top 10 which would have been nice to walk away from the first weekend.
“We’ll get back to work before the next round with a couple of straight cars."
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