Tricky Winton tests Gracie

Fujitsu Racing's Renee Gracie has marked her third V8 Supercars Dunlop Series start with another three race finishes at Winton Motor Raceway.

The 20-year-old rookie notched up two 19th placings and a 21st on the tight and technical 3km circuit in rural Victoria, and holds down 17th in the overall series standings as the series approaches its halfway mark.

Gracie battled to come to grips with the nuances of the low speed Winton layout in qualifying, and lined up 24th for the opening race of the weekend.

"After finishing as high as 13th in the last round at Perth, I came into this weekend with pretty high hopes to build on that, but of course it's not that easy," Gracie said.

"There is so much to this track - much more than you think on paper - and I struggled to find my feet in in the early part of the weekend, which meant I was chasing the 8-ball a bit"

The Fujitsu Racing driver made excellent progress on the opening lap, picking her way through carnage in Turns 1 and 2 to shoot up to 16th place. After Gracie's more experienced rivals dusted themselves off from the opening lap fracas, the Queenslander settled into 19th place.

A strong start to Race 2 saw Gracie move into 17th position before coming under fire from opening round podium finisher Aaren Russell and Macauley Jones, who eventually made a pass on Gracie following a robust battle.

In the weekend's third and final race, Gracie found herself in the thick of some closely contested action and emerged from the 18-lap affair in 21st spot.

Gracie and the Fujitsu Racing team will take to the track again in seven weeks time at the Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 (July 10-12).