Team 18 rue weekend of missed opportunities in Tasmania

Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds have both been left to rue a missed opportunity to score big points at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.

Team 18 came out of the blocks with impressive speed to finish first and fifth in Friday practice, with Reynolds topping the session, however that would prove the highlight of their weekend.

Both Camaros were caught out in Saturday qualifying by the red flag caused by Thomas Randle in Q2, with both failing to make Q3, though Reynolds salvaged ninth out of the race.

It would get even worse for Winterbottom on Sunday after qualifying back in 23rd, whilst Reynolds would realise his Friday potential to qualify third.

The 2015 champion would make the most of a second safety car in the race, and used a tyre advantage to climb through the field to ninth at the chequered flag, however he knew it could’ve easily been more.

“It was a weekend of just missed opportunities. The cars were fast, Dave was very fast, he did a very good job this weekend, said Winterbottom.

“We adopted his car for that last race like for like and my thing lit up as well and was really fast. I qualified 23rd today and drove through to ninth, which was great. So as   a team it obviously was a very strong weekend. 

“Now we have a good starting point for Sandown because the way the cars handle here and the setups often trend really well for Sandown.

“It’s a good few weeks coming up now. We test and then we start our endurance campaign which hopefully is quite strong given the way the car's finished here.”

For Reynolds, the promise of a strong result on Sunday got off to shaky start when he lost a position in the opening stanza to Broc Feeney.

The 2017 Bathurst winner would find himself in a fierce battle with Brodie Kostecki over fourth, that would end with the reigning champion tipping Reynolds into a spin at the hairpin.

Reynolds would get stuck on the inside of the hairpin, which would ultimately bring out the first safety car of the day and consign Reynolds to a 22nd place finish.

However, Reynolds revealed that if it weren’t for a mechanical hiccup in qualifying, it could’ve easily been a different story for the TRADIE Beer Camaro.

“Unfortunately, didn't end up the best, but it started the best. I started third today but probably should have been pole. I got my first gear stuck out of the hairpin, and lost a tenth, which would have put me on pole,” said Reynolds.

“We started well before I got turned around, by Brodie, and then I was just a wounded soldier after that a couple laps down.  

“Once I got going, I was probably one of the fastest cars, even though I was two laps down.

“There's lots of positives we can take from the weekend. We had car pace, Mark did a good job to drive through to ninth. So, we're gaining momentum.”

Team 18 will continue to employ the services of Michael Caruso and Warren Luff for the enduros, with Caruso reuniting with Winterbottom, and Luff to strike up a new partnership with Reynolds.

The Repco Supercars Championship switches into enduro mode at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 from September 13-15. Tickets for the 60th anniversary event are available now.